Grotesque

The word grotesque, originally a noun (1560s), from Italian grottesco (through Middle French), literally "of a cave", from Italian grotta (see grotto). The original meaning was restricted to an extravagant style of Ancient Roman decorative art rediscovered and then copied in Rome at the end of the 15th century. The word first was used of paintings found on the walls of basements of Roman ruins that were called at that time Le Grotte (The Grottoes) due to their appearance. These "caves" were in fact rooms and corridors of the Domus Aurea, the unfinished palace complex started by Nero after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64, which had become overgrown and buried, until they were broken into again, mostly from above. Spreading from Italian to the other European languages, the term was long used largely interchangeably with arabesque and moresque for types of decorative patterns using curving foliage elements.

Since at least the 18th century (in French and German as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, fantastic, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus is often used to describe weird shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween masks. In art, performance, and literature, however, grotesque may also refer to something that simultaneously invokes in an audience a feeling of uncomfortable bizarreness as well as sympathetic pity. More specifically, the grotesque forms on Gothic buildings, when not used as drain-spouts, should not be called gargoyles, but rather referred to simply as grotesques, or chimeras.

Grotesque (chess)

In chess, a grotesque is a problem or endgame study which features a particularly unlikely initial position, especially one in which White fights with a very small force against a much larger black army. Grotesques are generally intended to be humorous.

Examples

Ottó Bláthy

A particularly extreme example by Ottó Bláthy is illustrated in the diagram to the left. In the initial position Black has all sixteen pieces remaining and White has just a single pawn on its starting square, yet it is White who will deliver checkmate.

This position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) is : 8/8/8/2p5/1pp5/brpp4/qpprpK1P/1nkbn3 w - - 0 1

The solution is:

The fact that the black queen must be on a1 rather than a2 when White plays Nxb3 explains why 2.h4 does not work. Similarly, if the white knight takes a more direct route to the b3 square with 8.Ng6 Qa2 9.Ne5 Qa1 10.Nxc4 Qa2 11.Na5, Black can lose a move with 11...c4! 12.Nxc4 Qa1 13.Na5 Qa2 and there is no mate. This kind of precise timing is quite a common feature in this type of problem.

Grotesque (disambiguation)

Grotesque was originally a style of ornament in art, and today also means strange, fantastic, ugly, or bizarre.

Grotesque may also refer to:

Literature, film and television

Other

Sorgà

Sorgà is a comune with 3115 (2007) inhabitants in the province of Verona.

It is the birthplace of the Italian racing car driver Antonio Ascari, father of the Italian champion Alberto Ascari.

References

Enigma (Marvel Comics)

Enigma (Tara Virango) is a fictional character, a superheroine who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Tara is a native of Bangladesh and through her mutation from a nano-virus, she gained superhuman powers giving her some sort of connection to the Buddhist goddess, Tara.

Character history

Enigma makes her comic debut in Peter Parker: Spider-Man (vol. 2) #48. Tara seeks revenge against those who infected the Indian (Rajasthan) village of Malpura: AGK, Inc. She contacts Spider-Man in order to seek his help in bringing justice to the people infected and killed by the nano-virus. The AGK corporation was commissioned by the CIA to create an intelligent metal nano-virus capable of enhancing latent mutant abilities. AGK tested the virus on Malpura, killing four thousand people. Tara survived, but was infected with the virus, which granted her superhuman abilities.

Years later, Tara moved to New York City and adopted the identity of Enigma, patterning herself after the Buddhist goddess, Tara. She stole the fifty-million-dollar Star of Persia diamond from AGK's vaults and encountered Spider-Man, who she contacted mentally, giving him flashes of her memories of the Malpura disaster. The following night, she tracked Spider-Man to his apartment and led him on a chase across the city, ending when she presented him with a scarf and head-butted him. Upon waking, Spider-Man found that she had led him to AGK's headquarters.

Enigma (1982 film)

Enigma is a 1982 Anglo-American drama film directed by Jeannot Szwarc and starring Martin Sheen, Sam Neill, Brigitte Fossey, and Kevin McNally. Based on Michael Barak's novel The Enigma, the film centers on a CIA agent that tries to infiltrate Soviet intelligence in order to stop a murderous plot.

Plot

Alex Holbeck (Martin Sheen) is recruited as a CIA agent. He is sent to East Berlin on a mission to steal an Enigma code scrambler. This is part of an attempt to stop the Russian assassination of five Soviet dissidents which is planned for Christmas Day. What Alex doesn't know is that the CIA already has a code scrambler. By stealing the scrambler in Berlin, they are trying to convince the Russians that they don't have it.

On arrival in Berlin, Alex finds that the KGB knows he is there. Alex must use numerous disguises and escape from a number of capture attempts. He seeks shelter with his former lover, Karen (Brigitte Fossey) before moving on as this is too dangerous for her. Karen and a number of Alex's other old friends are arrested and tortured by the police in an attempt to gain information about Alex's whereabouts. As he gets more desperate, Alex enlists Karen's help again: she seduces Dimitri Vasilikov (Sam Neill), the KGB man in charge of the hunt for Alex, in order to obtain information. In the end Dimitri catches Alex and Karen and finds the scrambler hidden in an exhibition artifact. As he is in love with Karen, he lets them go, however, keeping the scrambler which was in fact not needed. On Christmas Day the assassination attempt is successfully thwarted.

Enigma (2009 film)

Enigma is a 2009 science-fiction short film. It is written and directed by the Shumway Brothers .

Cast

Production

Enigma was a pet project of the Shumway Brothers for five years. The project started with an idea to collaborate on a film. Jason being from the live action world and Matt from the animation world provided an opportunity to bring something unique to the independent film world. Since they both have a love of sci-fi, this turned out to be the perfect genre for them to create their first film together. Jason and Matt spent six months developing the script and pre-producing the film. Principal photography went over the course of six days, with two rounds of weekend pickups. Post production comprised the majority of the process, taking a little over four years to complete. With the tremendous amount of complex visual effects and having to hold down busy full-time jobs, the post production process was often a difficult task to juggle. Working long hours into the nights and sacrificing weekends provided the time to create the world of Enigma. Shumway Brothers are noted as excited to share their creation with the world. They reportedly received a standing ovation at the Hollywood Premiere. The Shumway Brothers are noted as "happy to see the long hours and several years of work be reflected with smiles and cheers."