imagesimagesimages

We live in a visual culture. There’s no denying that. Visual imagery and, subsequently, visual influence inundates our perceptions at such a staggering rate that the idea of a visual artist (at least in my head) is so complicated that I am constantly conflicted (to a very frustrating point) as to where to take my work. Regardless, I still photograph, draw, and paint whatever interests me, and so have the following artists, and I’m very glad they have. steve bloom. Steve and I used to take Photography classes together. To be brutally honest, he never really pushed his photographic endeavors to a place where he created interesting and compelling work. Since then he has blossomed into an exceptional writer, and I very much enjoy reading his work and marking his growth. Recently, however, he enrolled in a studio (styled) art class, and so I am excited to see how he’s maturation and experience in other creative mediums influence his visual imagery. Below is a piece that I don’t know anything about. I don’t have a title, or dimensions, or really any information passed the statement that it kind of looks like some kind of collage piece. I like the inherent abstract nature of the aesthetic, however, I would like to know a lot more. Here it is.So i just looked at that image again.And i have to admit. I’m wondering if the “inherent abstract nature of the aesthetic” that I referred to above is totally bogus, and steve just sent me a picture of a robot and some stars, but he happen to send it upside down. If that is indeed the case, then I would like to say, steve…never trust robots. jessica krakowski.Jessica and I essentially met through our common interest in photography. We have had several classes together, and thus have watched each-others processes formulate and come to form on several different occasions. With that said, the following images are samplings of a project that I can honestly say is the most invested and meaningful work that the girl has ever done. I feel honored to have been present during the conception and execution of these images. While Jess will be very quiet and almost frustratingly vague when discussing her work, I would just like to take the time to express my support for what she is doing and hope she doesn’t stop working on this project, but instead continues woriking on the themes both photographically while also looking to other mediums for forms of release. Sorry for the rant, here’s the work. 

poetryplease.

I think the power of words is often overlooked in everyday life. That is why I like poetry. Because every word is so purposefully placed and carefully rendered and scrutinized. For me, writing poetry comes quickly and easiest (I know) after reading the work of other poets that I can relate to, agree with, or at least enjoy. So I hope the work of the artists listed below has a positive effect on you, but most importantly, I hope they influence you to put your own pen to paper and create.

nicholas wagenseller

I think this poem was written by nick at some point last fall. I also think it’s the definition of clever and really exemplifies the poets emerging dominance of bending and exploiting words and form for his personal usage in an excellently entertaining and thought provoking manner. I love it.

Pomme Pie

A poem grows on apple trees.
The fruit that bends
its aching
boughs and arch
its evening seat
–A grin content and patient
bitter, until ripened sweet –
dang-
ling

in front of passers-
by like dollars
on the sidewalk.

Pick the poem off
its branch.
Leave the leaves for flavor.

Wash it gently,
then
chop
it
up
into
sma-
ller
bites.
Let the bruises be.

Sprinkle in your
cinnamon, ground
the cloves and pinch the salt.
Stir the filling thick and thin.

And as it starts to bake,
open all your windows
so your neighbors smell exactly
where you’ve been all day.

anni satinover.

I know nothing about this poem. To be honest, when i put out a plea for entries for this blog I was expecting a recording exemplifying Anni’s borderline flawless singing skills. But I’m very happy that I received what I did. Below is a poem that I have trouble accurately placing the intent of, but there is no denying the intensity with which it confronts it’s reader, and for that reason I find it compelling. But it’s the progression of the descriptive details that pulls me in and exposes me to a world foreign to my senses yet captivating to my conscious. Good work Anni.

Fading Memory

Stained with time and battle scars
Of nights spent awake and deserted,
Alone and abandoned,
That face remains the same as it once was
When I knew it as I did,
As a child, an innocent,
Gazing into those shallow eyes,
Wrought with guilty pleasure,
Fear of the future,
Those transparent eyes,
Soon drained of their power.
A glimmer of recognition still catches
In the twitch of the mouth around the corners
When speaking of days past,

But it soon vanishes.
Washed away by the gray wisps
About the slowly fading eyes,
Now withered and thirsty for redemption,
Quivering lips bleeding with regret,
And unrecognizable cheekbones,
Once so lovingly touched,
While clutching for a fistful of recognition.
A blurred leftover sketch of a face remains,
Lines seeping into the back of my mind
To the corners of a fading memory,
Lines dripping into my consciousness,
Where their stain will linger about me
As only the face of a stranger can.

brooks morrison.

The following poem is very playful, yet it hits you fairly intensely on a deeper, intellectual level. Ironically (although not really), I think that description also works very well for the poet himself. I find this poem to be, above all else, enjoyable. So please, enjoy.

A long story short
is nothing but a sequence of events
carefully edited by one’s metabolic brain.

Allowing this butchering of history
is an upright downgrade from
its original storyline.

Whilst tempted to decipher
the original version as lengthy,
the truncated side is far less of a tale.

A long story short,
keep all long stories long
or suffer a loss of value.

Now please, go write.

Welcome.

I don’t know where this going.

I have a lot of things that I would like to share with a lot of people. And I have a strong feeling that those very same people have a lot of things to share with me, and subsequently all the other people involved in this potential cycle of sharing.

This blog serves as a prototype for some kind of system designed to connect the creative efforts of a small group of artists spread out along the east coast. My hopes are that it will develop into a more efficient program that generates both influence and criticism.

I have dreams of a coalition of close artists constantly pushing one another to create more and refine what is already there. I hope to be reminded that I, as we all are, am not only a photographer, but also a writer, a painter, a drawer, a musician, a sculptor, and a plethora of other titles, all of which denote a tendency to create.

Some times I dream too big. And sometimes I don’t.

With that said, please enjoy the work of artists kind enough to share with and influence me.