DIGEST 68: Go See a Star War

At Auction May 21-27, 2025

Andor is a televised, serialized prequel to Star Wars, chronicling the adventures of the titular Andor, a smuggler-turned-rebel (played by an excellent Diego Luna); its first season opens with a scene in which a kindly guard pleads for his life, only to be executed at point blank range by Andor. The scene telegraphs the show’s intention to upend the moralism of its source material: it is a show about moral agency under duress, about personal and ethical compromise and the impossibility of keeping one’s hands clean in a murderous age (Beau Willimon of House of Cards is the showrunner and one of its writers—his hand feels evident).

Andor’s foil, Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) is no Darth Vader (or even Inspector Javert); he is an Eagle Scout with comically perfect combed hair and a missionary zeal for the Empire’s promise of order and justice—a hero of his own imagination. The pair’s can and mouse game plays out far from the large figures of the source material; it probes the middle class lackeys and bureaucrats like Karn that jostle for some minor advantage, the would-be rebels who would prefer personal safety over glory. (Andor himself is a minor side character-in the Star Wars saga.) The series draws on characters from the far more convetional 2016 film Rogue One, in which (spoiler alert) Andor dies, freeing the show from being narratively structured around his living or dying. As such the show has a picaresque quality, exploring the edges of a world that we know is doomed to authoritarianism as Andor and the rebels begin to organize, guided by an antiques dealer (lol-is this why I like Andor so much?) played by an excellent Stellan Skarsgard. We see the brutal realities of stop-and-frisk and the prison-military-industrial complex in season 1, opioid addiction and PTSD in season 2. And yet some of the series’ best scenes play out as comedy, particularly between Karn and his diminutive, castrating mother, played by Kathryn Hunter (the cast is top rate if you have the gay mind disease where you are actively interested in female character actors over 40—Denise Gough! Fiona Shaw!; for what it’s worth, Forest Whitaker is also excellent.)

What is perhaps most puzzling to me about the show is how Disney allowed it to be made, with its Mother Courage moral logic and relative disinterest in plot (virtually nothing happens in the series finale which dropped last Tuesday). It is an unlikely Disney property (the production design, particularly in season 2 is scary expensive looking—apparently they built those sets—so thank you Bob Iger for that). If you can get over the pew pew cornballery of it all, you really should watch.

I am selling a bunch of stuff at Maiden here. Very nice, I must say. For my precious new subscribers: Landed cost (the final cost you pay) = the hammer price (the highest bid) + the premium (a set percentage added to the hammer price that the auction house takes) + shipping (you’re always on the hook for this) + sales tax

For sale: this etching. Richard Müller (1874-1954) was a German artist born in the Bohemian city of Tschirnitz (now part of the Czech Republic). He is famous as a master of the etching form and infamous for having condoned the dismissal of Otto Dix while Müller was president of the Dresden Academy. Müller himself only last two years before himself being ousted for the "degeneracy" of his work. His style was symbolist and surrealist, often mixing erotic and grotesque imagery informed by an interest in classical motifs. This etching, one of a run of 90, depicts a pilgrim covered in mice.

Also, now worth repeating: I don’t get a commission on any of these sales/am not involved in any way with these auctions. To the listings!

1. Guy Shaw “Tiger in Bamboo” Ojime Mammoth Tusk Carving

Ojime are carved beads, the carved tusk part is crazy, and apparently the eye follows you.

2. Antique Lace and Carved Bone Parasol

Someone should send this to John Galliano. More bone! And starting bid $25.

3. (4) 19th C English Gothic Revival Chairs

The way these mirror Gothic windows feels like there’s an element of humor here that I like.

4. French Wrought Iron Chaise Longue

Well, yes!

5. Herzog and de Meuron Leroy St. Model

I like looking at all the statement contemporary chandeliers when I pass by this building. Many of them are super ugly! But they are all expensive <3

6. Pace Gallery Carsten Nicolai Moire Invitation

This is v cheap and cool! Why do I never see nice ephemera anymore?

7. Michael Steiner Large Charcoal Drawing

I like a drawing for a sculpture that would be a real b to fabricate.

8. Kent Nollendorf Drawing

You never see Asian hog, and that’s something we need to work on. Fun gay auction, check it out.

9. Alfredo Barbini Murano Glass Lamps

These are kind of ugly but also kind of nice.

10. This Couch.

Ran out of space for number 10 (but my etching kind of counts no?). I have something special for you all next week.

May the hammer fall ever in your favor!