‘I think I’m maybe a trivial person in a serious world…’
The home of Robin Ash in Eggbuckland, England overflows with album covers that most people would find ugly, distasteful and often both. His collection of kitschy and campy album art from decades past includes such imaginative, perhaps regrettable images as a person in a gorilla suit playing accordion, a pop-up nativity scene and, for unclear reasons, the Bee Gees dressed in medieval garb as one of them holds a black moulded jelly. Although Ash savours the silly in these images, his passion for their peculiar displays of creativity is clearly one of genuine embrace rather than ironic detachment. The short documentary Sometimes Surface follows Ash as he searches for the record that accompanies his all-time favourite album cover – the easy listening/big band group Ray Ellis and his Orchestra’s Ellis in Wonderland (1957), which, of course, features an appropriately punny set of down-the-rabbit-hole costumes. Through his portrait, the US director Paul Szynol captures Ash’s joy in collecting and his bone-dry sense of humour, giving a view of his quiet life and quaint hobby in a rapidly changing world.
Director: Paul Szynol
video
Biology
Flicker through the eclectic beauty and biological diversity of 2,400 leaves
3 minutes
video
Animals and humans
What happened when one woman raised an abandoned squirrel as her own
8 minutes
video
Art
The female Abstract Expressionists of New York shook the world of art
15 minutes
video
Life stages
At 14, Asal is excited about her engagement. Her relatives all have their own opinions
33 minutes
video
The future
What’s the healthiest way to handle a creeping feeling that the world is ending?
15 minutes
video
Archaeology
From Roman pots to glass eyes, the shore of the river Thames teems with surprises
8 minutes
video
Psychiatry and psychotherapy
Pondering the peculiar one-sided intimacy of the client-therapist relationship
3 minutes
video
Biotechnology
What it’s like to wear a prosthetic that ‘feels’
6 minutes
video
Family life
Fifty years ago, a train collided with Jack and Betty’s car. Here’s how they remember it
9 minutes