On the way over. . .

Heidegger, Hide a grrr, Hi da girl, ugh can't twist free of Heidegger

2011-09-22T23:16:00.001-04:00

The past few weeks of movement from Philadelphia to Georgia, starting graduate school, learning egos, and finding new avenues for myself. . . I keep thinking about escaping the effects of WWII, and the philosophies of the early 20th century. As the baby boomer generation is peaking like maple leaves in fall, I find myself suddenly surrounded by the aftermath of their experiences and continuing experience. Even the later half of the boomers born in the 50's exude the opportunity/loss dichotomy of a world built on large scale war. Even, and for a third time even, even now I hear beating drums for war, while the same drum beaters scream we are in a moral crisis, a down trodden economy, and its because we are losing wars. Crisis. Crisis. Crisis. And this all goes back to some penis in a vagina. But who knows besides me what I'm ranting on about. I am waiting for a power shift. I am bidding my time. There are many of us that are.

I imagine death, the reasoning of it, evolutionarily speaking, (because cells split on indefinitely down the animal tree) is for the benefit of the young. We have a limited opportunity to learn from our elders, but are also limited in the world of their psychosis. And for the later part, I don't mind that one day down the road, (hopefully a long time from now for my own sake), I'll leave the younger generations in peace. The most moral thing to do is end morality? Think about that. No one with any morality. Don't let your own get in the way of you thinking about it.

It seems at time that as we go through the centuries, people seemed happier, we have their histories, things we think horrible. But, each generation had tools that the other did not. Buckminster Fuller was quoted as saying,(with out footnote) "you can't change people, only the tools that they use." Can we only hope to do worse to ourselves as our access to tools increases?

102% One hundred percent

2011-07-10T22:57:00.002-04:00

Having cleared the fund raising goal in my quest to reach Japan, I owe my backers my sincerest gratitude! Their efforts and patronage will extend for years in my own life and I hope to be able to act as a magnifying glass, exponentially distributing their contribution through this project. My expectations of funding this project have been exceeded through a long three months. I am trying not to have any expectations for the end result and hope that it leads to new roads and avenues of learning. I have had a fair share of dissenters an naysayers concerning my intentions but it is to be expected.
Its interesting how unwanted conflict can create beneficial results.

Within symptoms of disease and sickness silver linings may be found and exploited. As a result of the myriad mines laid out during the Vietnam War, tracts of land have become re-forested and species near extinction are thriving. It is a game of loaded dice: countless human limbs and lives lost, genetic traits wiped out and new ones formed, and the animals filling in the niche pried open by killing do so on a razors edge. Philanthropic organizations have sprouted to deal with the ordinances still killing after a third of a century, their goals are to plant trees where mines are removed, but as they do so they may disturb agent orange and other herbicides that destroy foliage and poison the population once again. I am not against a tree being planted nor am I for armed conflict, I aim to only illustrate that our actions have weight and we can only do the best we can and learn from past decisions.

Ideas don't always bring what we think they will bring and there is always the danger of them being turned back onto themselves in ways we can't imagine. In educating myself about view points of place and landscape I've started to read about Heidegger and topology. Its a task I didn't see myself in at the start of my project with Japan. His view points on being and place can lead to an overblown sense of nationalism; the Nazi Party used it as rationalization to dehumanize Romani, "Gypsy", and other nomadic people viewing them as less than human as they saw them with no physical place to create an identity.

http://www.gypsyloresociety.org/

We must be aware that what we do has outcomes we can't predict. I believe that Heidegger's philosophy on place and being can be beneficial in creating a localized/familial identity that strengthens and shares within a larger world community. I believe that through a philosophy of place and being we can bring together ideas peacefully that would otherwise only be exchanged through conflict as Macedonia or The Huns exemplified in our pasts. I believe that our myths, legends, and folklore are our entry ways into a more understanding future. It all may end up being wrong, but not as wrong as before. Its still a process. I'm looking forward to investigating; I thank you backers for helping me reach this critical step in achieving my goal.

On a different note, If you are in Philadelphia b/n this posting and August 28th, please visit Rodger LaPelle Galleries as a few of my pieces are on the walls.

The Squeaky Wheel

2011-05-25T19:17:00.002-04:00

Uh oh, I've been reading again. I've been reading more about the history of Japan, its mythology, and their relation to mainland Asia, in order to understand the people better. There are not many good books out there but I've found a couple to keep me busy for the summer while I try to become more familiar with the language as well. My kickstarter project, Send An Artist to Japan is now 36% funded which is good news, but I only have about 40 days left to raise the remaining 64%. If I am unable to find more backers then I do not receive any of it. I've looked into "buying" out part of the project so I would be able to utilize the funds, but it seems kind of shady and the website does not make it possible anyway. I don't want to cheapen, or change things on the people that have already backed this project. Everyone that helps to back this project does receive something in exchange, most of which is artwork. This is not money for nothing, and while I'm not quite in dire straights time is closing in.

I've traveled to different states to promote the project, approached businesses, and utilized communal networks. As the deadline draws near, a final campaign will be pushed. It is more about what I am learning and how it is informing my artwork, and how in doing so I am able to help others as well. Combining the two is no easy task.

Exciting is that I have already been able to set up an exhibition for mid March of 2012 for the works if the project is funded for travel.

As the Mississippi floods and tornadoes destroy towns, we are affected in our beliefs and daily lives. I believe it is important to be aware of our folklore, myths, and religions in relation to geology and meteorology. We can look at the modern history and back to the Mississippian Culture's mythology in how to better handle it cresting its banks. Egyptian river myths and Osiris are easier to hunt down, but still retain the basic principles of life along mighty rivers. I believe that by looking at other cultures in relation to our own we can gain valuable insights that will save lives and bring new awareness to our daily lives. In the past, different technologies were "shared" among nation states through warfare, as artisans and craftsman were made prisoners and relocated to the conquering states. In today's world, this is very possible through peaceful exchange. For those in the right positions, there are residencies and Fullbright scholarships. For others like myself it is a much more difficult task, to create a project, find people that believe in it, and raise the money for its completion.


The Apocryphal Pecos Bill.

As tornadoes shred communities, not only may we prepare through drills and shelters, we can tell our children stories that not only will connect us culturally with the past but provide guidelines in parable to the youngest in our communities. The information on how to prepare, act during, and deal with the aftermath can all be relayed through mediums while building a diverse and healthy culture. I believe it is essential and beneficial to augment the culturally shared movies, television, and online experiences with our own in a tangibly bonding way. An amalgamation of theories and processes are needed to deal with and understand the processes of the planet we live on. It is folly to believe that we have at this time the ability to completely control our Earth's geological processes even though we definitely affect them. By building levees along the Mississippi River, sediment isn't allowed to rebuild the southern marshes that help shield the state of Louisiana from Hurricanes. The differences in sediment deposits can affect algae blooms which affects carbon and oxygen levels in the ocean which can affect fish populations which affects what we eat. And so on and so forth. Everything affects everything and if anybody digs through my past artist statements, chaos theory has led me to this.

CERN Searching for Building Blocks of The Universe

This project is more than preachy environmentalism, I am looking to understand a part of humanity that is often overlooked culturally except what is made popular through an importation of cartoon's and film. Not that I have anything against them. I can dork out on some of them, but I wouldn't want to be represented by "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid" to the rest of the world even though its an awesome movie.

I am trying to dispel my own bias and rhetoric, in order to become something more than I am and share this with others. In order to do so it is imperative that I immerse myself within the Japanese culture whenever possible.

The first step to fully understanding a culture and language has to be an understanding of their mythology, folklore and religion. Can you imagine someone trying to read Shakespeare without any Christian referential points to rely on? So I delve into mythology to understand language. I try to understand language to become aware of landscape. I try to understand concepts and perception of landscape to explore geology. I try to understand perceptions of geology to understand people, and I try to understand people to understand myself. If I understand myself then I can change myself. If I can change myself I can change the world, right? I've heard that its easier to change yourself than it is the world, so I'll start there first.

While I try to keep all of that straight in my head, I'll be creating artwork that deals with all of these questions and tries to serve a larger community with out compromising. The question is, do people have a belief in what I am doing? Is this project viable, and interesting? Will this project happen this year or will it be postponed for a couple of years? If it is postponed will it ever happen? If you would like to help back my project please visit its main page by clicking HERE, and please journey back through the archives of my blog for more detailed information. For each Backer level there are awards! And they are well worth your venture.

Progression and Geomythology

2011-04-16T15:46:00.002-04:00

As the kickstarter project is 10% funded at the time of this posting I thought I might share a little about the beginnings of the grand tradition of "The Eight Views." To catch up on this topic just look back through the posts proceeding this one. For almost two thousand years now the tradition of interspersing landscape images with poetry has helped to provide distinction and tourism to regions throughout Asia.

The earliest known "Eight Views of Xiaoxiang," are of what is now modern Hunan Province, China, made by Song Di. As far as I can find out Song Di was a poet, painter, and government official during the Song Dynasty. His "Eight Views of Xiaoxiang" are embedded with deep symbolism referencing exile and enlightenment with references to other poets, plays on place names, and the cosmology of the time. The titles for the pieces were of as much importance as the poetry and paintings providing a frame of reference and deepening the levels of meanings within the pieces. Something to think about the next time an artist's titles a piece, "untitled." Is that to lose all point of reference, has Untitled now become a reference to other pieces untitled or a deflection of biased opinion? Any good opinion is biased isn't it? But back to the point.

During this time landscape painting reached new developments with the "Shan shui" movement. Meaning "mountain" and "river" paintings which had become a popular genre. As in many cultures mountains were viewed as home to the gods and immortals and were considered sacred. What a connection though, the Greece had Olympus; the Incans' had Machu Pichu; Mt. Ararat for Christians, Kharsag for the Babalonians; the aboriginal Guanches of Spain have, Teide; Mt. Killaraus for the Irish; Mt. Meru for Hindus and Buddhists who also have Sumeru. And then the rivers. . . I'm not even going to get into a list for those. But from these foothills of investigation is Geomythology, which only recently, in 2007, has published peer reviewed papers. Geomythology, strives to provide clues and information about past geological events alluded to in mythology: earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, impact events, and other events, which are otherwise scientifically unknown or difficult to trace otherwise.

A Namazu, representing the earthquake of Edo (modern Tokyo) in October 1855, is attacked by peasants and concubines in the background help for the catfish is approaching - craftsmen, who will take profit of the reconstruction of the city.

Geomythology is seperated from Etiological myths, which provide mythological reasons why things occur such as Namazu, the earthquake causing catfish, of Japanese mythology vs. naming of the constellations and their positions. It isn't scientifically proven, but is generally accepted within Japanese culture that erratic catfish behavior such as swimming near the surface and thrashing about proceed seismic events. The ways in which we are affected by geology are varied and deep for sure. It roots itself on both sides of our legends and myths. In our past it molded the stories for the catastrophes we experienced and we attributed the events to the mountains, waters, and mysterious creatures that dwelt within them. The gods, immortals, and heroes of our folkloric history provide us with archtypes to strive for or turn from. We are reaching further into our human potential to meet the deeds of these beings through earthworks and manipulations of our landscape. The question becomes: what aspects, presented to us by and through these storied beings, of the mountains and rivers are we striving to emulate or immolate?

Nanabozho in Ojibwe flood story from an illustration by R.C. Armour, in his book North American Indian Fairy Tales, Folklore and Legends, (1905).

Hidden Landscapes: Sympathetic Magic in a Post-Colonial World

2011-04-08T16:19:00.097-04:00

My interest in the "Eight views of Omi” is from a personal attachment to the people of Shiga, formerly known as Omi, Japan. I married into this wor(l)d two years ago this April, and have had a deep desire to investigate and understand my wife’s and new family’s culture and background in a direct and immersed way, assuming a state of alterity on different levels. It is a means to understand myself through others that had recently become close to me. I have met my wife’s parents and sister on three separate occasions in the past five years two of which were for short periods of time in Japan. They were open and generous, more than I thought my reception with them would ever be. Their attitudes determined me to become a better person for their sake and my own family’s and I’m sure its something that I’ll have to keep at for a while. During both visits I became drawn to, what seemed to me, extremes in the landscape. I felt childlike with everything glowing and shinning.

Shiga prefecture is mainly water and mountains with strips of land sandwiched between the two. The center of the prefecture is taken up by Japan’s largest lake, Lake Biwa, and the land outside of the lake is surrounded by mountains, some of which are “dead” volcanoes that still lend their heat to the many hot springs in the area. It’s quite a different experience than what I was used to growing up on the Piedmont of Georgia, and living in the urban clutter of Philadelphia.

Before teaching art, my wife taught college level Japanese for a couple of years while she was in graduate school for Fiber Arts. So, I’ve been studying her old text books and along with her corrections learning to speak Japanese. I am lucky for her patience and try not to tax her.

As an autodidact of history and science I have always been interested in connections, in relationships between events, concerning myself with manifestations and transformation of energy. As an artist I am interested in energy on both the metaphysical and physical planes; interpersonal relationships, communication, seismic events, cosmic collisions are all well within my interest and compete for my attention to their threads of connectivity. I suppose the psychology of how we perceive different types of energy is a close description of where my mind treads.

I had been searching and thinking for some time about how I could use my skills and find a way to investigate those interests within my wife’s culture. In the past I worked on a project that involved the 36 views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai, trying to trace the influence of Macedonia upon Japanese art and Japanese art upon the European and American arts as their influence went back into Japan and in turn Japan’s influence on our pop-culture. So again I started looking at Ukiyo-e and Hiroshige’s “53 Station’s of the Tokaido.”

The Tokaido was a trade route in Japan and the stations were resting-points or towns along the road. I started talking to my wife about it and she told me five of the stations were in the prefecture where she grew up. I searched through the titles in my book and couldn’t find "Shiga", and asked her about it, and that is when I found out Shiga used to be called Omi. From there I found the Eight Views and inspiration to revisit those sites.

Otsu, from Hiroshige's 53 Stations of the Tokaido.

Otsu, from Hiroshige's 69 Stations of the Kisokaido.

About that time the recent Japanese earthquake and resultant tsunami occurred. In Otsu, close to Kyoto, my wife’s parents experienced tremors above 6.0, and while it was scary no damage occurred in the area. Most buildings are built to withstand up to mid 7 scale earthquakes in Japan. My sister-in-law lives and works in Tokyo. We were concerned for her well being and kept NHK on tracking the direction of the wind and the different nuclear power stations statuses. We were relieved to learn that Tokyo was safe from radiation that it was in the immediate area of the reactors that was facing problems. People all over Japan are affected, and not only by the terrible loss of life. Japan’s economy still hasn’t recovered from the bubble it experienced in the 1990’s and I know that businesses all over the country have seen at least a 50% drop in sales and commerce. People are afraid to visit any part of Japan, mostly due to news agencies which haven’t been as responsible as they once were, now mainly looking for ways to increase revenue from commercials. Scare tactics seem to sell pharmaceuticals. I began to see how much was going to be affected by this occurrence.

I want to do more than just make a t-shirt for the "Hope of Japan." As the saying goes, "Hope is a good breakfast, but a poor supper." I want to affect things on a deeper longer lasting level. Robert Frost supposedly said, "Poetry is what is lost in translation. It is what is lost in interpretation." I aim to prove wrong this xenophobic statement. Poetry IS the translation, it IS the interpretation. The way in which we choose to view the world, is the poetry we understand. Francis Bacon espoused that anything can mean anything. Immersing myself into the landscape and culture I can translate to an audience what is veiled within mass pop-culture. The audience in return will interpret the encounters we will experience together. This will be more than a tangible artifact for my collaborators, this project will become as much a part of their life as mine. That is my hope. Now lets set the dinner table with something else.

There have been many catastrophic and extreme geological events in humanities history. The Toba super-eruption may have left only 3,000-10,000 humans alive on the planet. In recent historical memory, Krakatoa (less than fifty years after the publication of Hiroshige’s Eight Views of Omi) erupted in the loudest explosion ever recorded.

1883 explosion of Krakatoa.

Geology has affected us in so many ways from clearing out genetic evolutionary possibilities, guiding new genetic combinations, the distribution and form of language and wealth, sports, computers, I may as well start at the letter A in the dictionary and work by way to Z. Now as we become more populous we have started to affect the geological processes. Individually on small scales perhaps, but small things can lead to big differences on what we think of as geological time scales. Geological events can also happen more quickly than we usually imagine them to. Stress released in an Earthquake can change a part of the world in minutes or hours. Our world is dynamic and always changing, and we are caught in the process.

Our human potential can be seen in the gyres of trash through out our oceans, smog in our cities, and radiation leaks sterilizing environments. We are changing the course of our environment. Plastic ingested by fish may kill off a large population to produce an unusual layer of sediment that changes the movement or pressure of a fault-line by thousandths of an inch, which in a million years ends up affecting the formation of a new island chain that redirects the wind patterns, affecting the climate still. This change can be seen in what scientists call "Induced Seismicity." Earthquakes up to 7.2 on the Richter Scale have been attributed to the building of reservoirs, dams, mining, and geothermal extraction. Human changes to the environment have even been attributed to the nineteenth most deadliest quake recorded in 2008. Our potential for changing our world is very real, and while I don’t think we can undo the past I believe we can look to it for inspiration and understanding.


Simply because it is the largest in the world, the "The Three Gorges Dam" is a prime example.

Vajont Dam in Italy

It is hard to imagine such large timescales as a million years or even yet care about things that far in the future. Much of what we know becomes ephemeral at that scale. Many structures in Japan have been preserved for almost one thousand years. Festivals and traditions have been kept for over twelve hundred years in some areas. The Eight Views of Omi as printed by Hiroshige are now well over 150 years old. We can understand that timescale a bit better I think. We can evaluate change from then until now, and at least look forward into the future the same amount of time. Things are going to change. We only have now, and with drawings, paintings, and prints I can take a fragment of it and try to share. I can use geology and time as a bridge between cultures and for new relationships, further increasing our human potential and understanding.

Statue of Komukuten, in Nara Japan. With his brush and prayer scroll, he overcomes ignorance, evil, and all obstacles.

I believe that by simply traveling to Japan we can make an impact on the economy there. By me buying goods, most of which are manufactured there, or from here in the U.S., we will be changing an economic landscape. By producing and bringing artwork back to the U.S. of my own and of the region we will be affecting a larger economic and cultural vista. The affect will be deep and embedded like a grain of a dream in the shell of consciousness, a future pearl. By living with the people and deepening my understanding of their language I may be able to express to you their world in their terms and they may glimpse you through me. I do not view this project as a “first aid” to save lives, although it may. One never knows. This is meant as an appreciation of our time, of people and landscapes hidden by the horizon. By sending me to Japan you will change the course of our histories. What else is history but the future telling of now?

The Octagon

2011-03-29T13:05:00.001-04:00

As parts of my current projects unfold and manifest themselves in new ways I am scurrying to keep up with contemporary events in relation to what I am trying to accomplish. I have been accepted to present my project through a resourceful and respected website and am refining what exactly it is I am working on, and don't wish to let to much go before things are set up. I will be presenting my newest project through Kickstarter and hope that all of you will participate with me in making it happen. I am trying to get back over to Japan for a new series of direct observation landscape paintings and prints, specifically dealing with Otsu, where my wife and in-laws are from. Once I have spent my initial time in Otsu,(and funds lasting) I plan to travel eastward toward Tokyo stopping in at various towns along the way and sharing with all of you via a daily blog. But I am getting ahead of myself. I'm on my way to get a haircut tomorrow and to shoot a video for you all! I also have to finish writing my presentation and study some more Japanese so I'll keep you guys up to date on the progress for the project. In the upcoming week(s) I hope you keep me in mind and help me share my project with others. More on all this later!

PostColonials Post Opening

2011-03-22T18:15:00.002-04:00

The 18th of March followed a few days after the Ides and now we are into Spring. Do yourself justice and put a spring in your step to view Postcolonials at Linda Matney Gallery. You have until May to view stellar works by 9 different artists. Aesthetics and works on par with its NYC Chelsea counter parts make this a "Don't Miss" exhibition (and don't all American Galleries strive to impart that feeling?). The artists all have brought their "A" game and while they have come in peace, their art won't leave you without something to chew on or staring at your shoes. The works are diverse in approach and subject matter but connect on a higher ground as suggested by the exhibitions title.

Brian Hitselberger's gouache and pigmented ink piece is dazzlingly frenetic with its obsessive mark making that fades as one steps back to soft pinks and purples washing away and relaxing you from the claustrophobic experience of close inspection, as one might recess from hunting for historical facts to appreciate history's stories.

Anthony Wislar's works are pasted and painted oils on paper which at first glance seem sloppy and effortless except for what must have been countless attempts to make the marks just so in a first attempt, the effort re-appearing in pastiche, collage, and palimpsest images to culminate in a manner like reliving moments until you perfect them in your mind; until you have just the right come-back or successful explanation of facts to make your point.

Judith McWillie's monumental piece "Winter Sky North" is a rapturous work of glow in the dark pigment upon a Navy Blue field at least twelve feet wide and tall. As I think about the movements/migrations we've made on this earth, the different peoples looking at the same stars, and our foray into outer-space you can't help but be filled with wonder as a child might starring up at the stars glued to the ceiling casting off into sleep. "Winter Sky North" both transports you into the cosmos and grounds you with its referential points of direction and cosmic compass wrapping you in its monumental stature.

Photo courtesy of Lee Matney

Jeremy Hughes who co-curated the exhibition with Paul Thomas, is showing paintings that are brightly colored and full of sloppy bombastic paint which is confident enough that one can forgive a laziness of detail. Jeremy is a colorist at heart and it shows through in these works that exhibit a rainbow he has pulled out of his subconscious.

Zuzka Vaclavik's watercolors are mouthwatering and sensuous, begging to be looked upon and will colonize any ambitions you may have of collecting solid art work. Passages of the pieces perform like a lover's selective eye, or a mirror in which youth recognizes its own passions introspectively.

Hope Hilton's pieces are calm studies of plant life that may be found around the Williamsburg area from which her ancestors hail. Each print has been given loving attention to detail with quirky heartfelt line work. You would not find depictions like these in a field manual but perhaps in a personal manual of someone close to the land with an understanding of the plants personalities. They exude a patience that you would expect someone to cultivate over years of practice. If you make it out to the show you will want to purchase these works for your reading area or study.

Zachary Herrmann's glass pieces remind me of ice sculptures but with out the coldness and leaving you only with the mystery and sparkle of a winter night. Illuminated from the bottom the pieces seem like single malt scotch in a crystal glass through which you might stare at a fire and think. I never have done that, but it seems like something George Clooney would do and I imagine he enjoys it as I do those pieces. Herrmann has provided us with severed fish and human heads, that pulled my brain in the direction of Greek mythology, the works of a Medusa turning flesh to clear glass and stopping it up with wax as a bottler of fine spirits might seal his best brew.

Teddy Johnson's works depict urban landscapes with figures balancing or finding balance on top of high and low rooftops. The quality of the paint is reminiscent of a Hopper city-scape but the figures are playful as they seek balance; the city full of possibilities and habitable unlike the psychology of Edward Hopper. The buildings and streets in Teddy's paintings are alive with color and paint strokes that emphasize a playground for its inhabitants. His paintings are filled with a lust for life and we just hope no-one gets hurt on the monkey-bars.

Tyrus Lytton's work. . . wait, isn't that me? Ahem. . . Tyrus Lytton's work is brooding and mysterious. His images are appropriated from thrillers and mysteries of television and film that seem searching as they play with late night broadcasts and shared experiences to express difficult emotions extrapolated from B-movies and base entertainment that one might take for their own interpretation.

Having the opening weekend done and finished, I was/am more than thrilled to exhibit with these artists in such a nice space. We had a good turn out for opening night and expect more people through out the next month and a half. Paul and Jeremy did a fine job with the exhibition and the Linda Matney Gallery has much to promise in the future as a leading contemporary gallery in its area.
Cheers.

That Vagabond Narcissus the Hunter and Horseman of the Apocalypse

2011-03-01T11:56:00.003-05:00

After viewing Mike Calway-Fagen's art work at Vox Populi I decided to delve a little bit into his self myth and went through his website and read his artist statement there. I came across a word that I hadn't seen before: anthropocentric. Loosely it is the idea that humanity is the center of the universe and that everything is here to benefit man, be it at the expense of other lifeforms. To distill it further, that as a race we are egocentric. Mike states that this is the cause of our past, current, and future apocalypse. In a quick effort to bring us to a similar vein of thought and into my first assumption. . . I don't believe Mike means apocalypse in, what most of us associate the word with, the biblical sense. I assume he is using the term as "a major misconception of ourselves", a "veil to be lifted" from our metaphysical egos.

Setting those semantics aside for now I want to address the idea of anthropocentrism. To start off many people consider this a negative trait. That viewing the universe through an exclusively human experience is bad. I believe that one should remain open to multiple view points but retain an opinion. There have been many times I thought for sure that 2 + 2 = 5 to discover that the idea wasn't as solid as I thought. However, its the thinking part that is important. Instinct is to be respected, but thought furthers things a bit, huh? I don't think that anthropocentrism is a negative trait. I believe that it can lead to negative traits, but one can take cleanliness to a negative place as well. We are in competition with other species for resources. They more so than us, (ego?) but a natural competition anyway. Jump. Lets examine competition in a more facilitative way, say an Olympic foot race. . . and use this as an analogy for anthropocentism (and use an anthropocentric game to do so) In an Olympic race its fair to say that the athletes are in similar, if not the same, physical condition. What separates the medalists from the non-medalists are their view points of themselves. Winners tell themselves they are the best, the race losers tend to have nagging suspicions, lose focus. In effect Ego wins the prize. If you are running this race and a fellow sportsman falls, breaks an ankle, do you stop in the middle of the race to help or finish and come back to make sure he is tended to, or assume he will be attended to?

The crux. In an effort to achieve is it not right to assume we are the best, to tell your self, "I can?" be the little engine that could? Exclusive and excess outlooks of anthropocentrism could very well lead to a biblical apocalypse in addition to the other definition earlier talked about.
In Mike's work I see the Hunter. His pieces exude an outdoors man's, a huntsman's aesthetic including taxidermy, boats, animal motif's, weapons, and totems. Is this what it boils down to? An idealistic hunter who believes that he needs to manage his game population to continue both species well being? Or to keep his resource from depleting? Does he wonder if the animals have a mind/soul? Does he pick out their personalities and translate them into human terms? I can't translate my thoughts into a sparrow's or a deer's. Isn't that ego? To bend the terms of their understanding into yours? Colonialism at its worst? Are we trying to colonize the psyche of the animal kingdom with our own agenda? Of course we are. Does PETA have their own agenda?

Have they consulted with the whales and seals, or do they rely on human data? Maybe. I don't know. Its just a spur question. Is it really the thinking and trying that matter? Or is it only the actions? Or is the original message/action irrelevant? Was Aleister Crowley correct? "Do what thou wilt?" Is the only thing important the receiver's interpretation of the message? Francis Bacon's "Anything can mean anything" relies upon an agreed code. Can we alter the coding in our own nature or just how it is received? Anything can mean nothing. Are the veils of reality that we wear needed to be lifted? Are we afraid of what we might see? Would we sacrifice ourselves for beings separated/different from ourselves in order for our own apocalypse to happen? Mike Calway-Fagen's work is up for your own message receiving. At least its asking questions. I think. For more discussions and work visiting questions in an aesthetic manner visit the PostColonials Show at Linda Matney Gallery in Williamsburg, Virginia. Openings will take place on March 18th at 7 p.m.

Be there or be ^2.

By the Old Sea Shore, Not as Conceptually Oblique as You Might Think

2011-01-22T15:37:00.005-05:00

THERE were two sisters, they went playing,

Refrain: With a hie downe downe a downe-a

To see their father’s ships come sayling in.

Refrain: With a hy downe downe a downe-a

And when they came unto the sea-brym,

The elder did push the younger in.

‘O sister, O sister, take me by the gowne,

And drawe me up upon the dry ground.’

‘O sister, O sister, that may not bee,

Till salt and oatmeale grow both of a tree.’

Somtymes she sanke, somtymes she swam,

Until she came unto the mill-dam.

The miller runne hastily downe the cliffe,

And up he betook her withouten her life.

What did he doe with her brest-bone?

He made him a violl to play thereupon.

What did he doe with her fingers so small?

He made him peggs to his violl withall.

What did he doe with her nose-ridge?

Unto his violl he made him a bridge.

What did he doe with her veynes so blew?

He made him strings to his violl thereto.

What did he doe with her eyes so bright?

Upon his violl he played at first sight.

What did he doe with her tongue so rough?

Unto the violl it spake enough.

What did he doe with her two shinnes?

Unto the violl they danc’d Moll Syms.

Then bespake the treble string,

‘O yonder is my father the king.’

Then bespake the second string,

‘O yonder sitts my mother the queen.’

And then bespake the strings all three,

‘O yonder is my sister that drowned mee.’

‘Now pay the miller for his payne,

And let him bee gone in the divel’s name.’

I've heard people claim America's culture is bland, without a long history, and commercial in nature. While there are reasons and points to the previous claim, to make a general statement with out investigation is in no ones interest on this subject. Modern migrations have brought old histories and culture to obscure the American "native" one and time has gone on to obscure our shared histories and amalgamated them to where we can't always decipher what came from where. Modern Philosophies and "Avant Garde" art don't spring spontaneously from the ether and its easiest to be shocked by the things we choose to self censor. Many of the contemporary art movements seek to distance themselves away from 1960's art history and the idea of the object and viewer in a private space. I believe this distancing is un-necessary as more community based projects and performance art began to grow then along with Folk Music making a revival into the popular scene (an unfinished thought). At UnionDocs on February 10th and 11th you will have the opportunity to experience, with others, documentery films about the sharing of songs and stories, experience the songs performed live and artistic interpretations of the Child Ballads through paintings on exhibition.

Hey! Stay on track already. . . So. . . Child Ballad no.10, known as "The Cruel Sister", and "Twa Sisters" is an old tune dating to the 1600's; a song over 400 years old and still sung today; the Twa Sister's has been covered by Paul Clayton and even as late as Tom Waits in a 2006 recording. If my memory serves me right, Art Rosenbaum, who worked with his son Neil on one of the documentaries being screened at UnionDocs, recorded Mary Lomax singing this song or part of it. Whats important about Mary singing this song is that the song was passed to her by her father in a long line of oral tradition at which roots go back to the 1600's. Even though the Child Ballads are not totally inclusive of every single ballad, they represent a hefty cross section of what we may consider an American cultural equivalent to Beowolf or even Homer's poems. I'm sure if we dug deep enough both of those form an influence upon the ballads somewhere. The themes in the ballads are not necessarily restricted to Western, or European ideas and archetypes but can be found around the world in all cultures. The "Twa Sisters" design I developed is based on a variation where the sister that has been wronged has been made into a violin. When she is played before her parents, her sisters crime is found out. We always hope justice finds those who wrong. Unless sometimes its ourselves who are the cruel sister, perhaps then we wouldn't want "to face the music". Paying people there dues, many thanks to Teddy Johnson and Heather Fares who have done a tremendous amount of work preparing for the Child Ballad shows in both Baltimore and New York. They will be continuing to work together and are setting up a new exhibition for The Rotating History Project in Baltimore. . . --->http://rotatinghistory.blogspot.com/ .

Freed From the Gallows, Or How I Stopped Fearing Led Zepplin and Love the Ballad

2011-01-22T09:56:00.001-05:00

The new design I've been working on is Ballad No. 95, entitled "The Maid Freed From the Gallows", and is about a maid waiting for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner. Variants have been recorded by Ledbelly, Bob Dylan (recorded as Seven Curses), and Led Zepplin, among many many other artists. This design can be found HERE, as well as in New York, February 10th and 11th. . . at The Child Ballad Show at UnionDocs. For More information please visit http://childballads.blogspot.com/

O Hangman, stay thy hand,
And stay it for a while,
For I fancy I see my father
A coming across the yonder stile.

O, father, have you my gold?
And can you set me free?
Or are you come to see me hung?
All on the gallows tree?

No, I've not brought thee gold,
And I can't set thee free;
But I have come to see thee hung
All on the gallows tree.

Oh the briery bush,
That prickes my heart so sore
If I once get out of the briery bush,
I'll never get in any more.

O Hangman, stay thy hand,
And stay it for a while,
For I fancy I see my father
A coming across the yonder stile.

Repeat the verses above with
other relatives -
Mother, Brother, Sister, etc.
The song concludes with
The arrival of her "True Love" as below:

O Hangman, stay thy hand,
And stay it for a while
For I fancy I see my true love
A coming across the yonder stile.

O true-love, have you my gold?
And can you set me free?
Or are you come to see me hung
All on the gallows tree?

O yes, I've brought thee gold,
And I can set thee free;
And I've not come to see thee hung
All on the gallows tree.

O the briery bush,
That pricks my heart so sore;
Now I've got out of the briery bush,
I'll never get in any more.

The Crow Bites Everyone Eventually, Or Dawna Summers Eat Your Heart Out

2011-01-20T14:28:00.003-05:00

As I investigate the Child Ballads further I've created some designs for T-shirts (and soon to be printed) posters. If you are just starting to read my blog posts the past few have been on the subjects of history, Child Ballads, and interactions between cultures and etymology. Francis J. Child collected and traced the history of 305 Scottish and English ballads in their American variants that were prominent in the late 19th century, many of which can still be heard today through airwaves and just about anywhere you hear music. These ballads infiltrate rock n' roll, soul, spiritual, country. . . well almost anytime a story is told in song. The ballads cover superstitions, love, tragedy, non-tragic love, Robin Hood, Outlaws, Historic, Humorous and Semi-Burlesque themes. Brought to the forefront of my interest by the influence of friends and the inclusion in Art Exhibitions (including the first New York City show I'll be part of is Feb 10th and 11th - EXCITMENT) I've started to approach things through a print along with the painting side.

One of the latest print designs I've been working on is for Child Ballad #111, entitled "Crow and Pie." It is one of the older ballads having been traced back to the early 1500's by Mr. Child. This may be considered a tragic love theme. I don't think it would be fair to pigeon hole it as such as it becomes complicated in a contemporary interpretation. The ballad starts out as a "Gentleman" rides through the forest and spots a maiden singing, he approaches her and tries to seduce her by offering his love, and is denied with the phrase, "The crow shall bite you" (updated spellings there). The crow associated with death and suffering must mean in modern terms, "wander off and die please." He further offers her a golden ring, then a velvet purse and each time is refused and she tells him, "The crow shall bite you". After the third refusal he rapes her. She asks for marriage or some sort of personal token (as would prove he was of social standing versus some common person and would provide for the child if there was one) and with each she is met with a refusal and the sexuallized phrase, "For now the pie has pecked you," (again updated spelling). Pie is an older term for the English magpie, a Corvid cousin to the crow. Perhaps similar to "la petit morte" for him? Not quite the death associated with the crow but the pie is still a bringer of sorrow. The ballad serves as a cautionary tale to 16th century young women, to be wary and avoid rape. What I like about this ballad is the ending lines, the woman denied reparations for the man's act decides she will go on with her life, that she will not despair but recover. Some versions include the line "Neither dead no slow. . . " meaning she is alive and still has some wits about her, what a great line. What a song! I think this is where the ballads excel. Many of the ballads are filled with death and tragedy, but to have one that says, "No matter what has happened, I will survive." I think that this is a message that everyone can related to and should aspire to not give up. Geez, all this into a T-shirt. Yep. The things that go into design and paintings. So the next time you pick out that shirt to wear, whats on it?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/66353482/child-ballad-111-t-shirt

The Ship of So Long Farewell

2011-01-16T23:23:00.003-05:00

Transforming from being a place of (once upon a time) the largest maritime ship building complex in the world to an access ramp to I-95, the cramps building reveals itself brick by brick.

From being the leader in ship building, to the invention of The Slinky, the cramps building is taken apart to become part of another transportation system.

I suppose that history itself can not save a thing but can only aid in giving a thing added value. History can comfort us in that we are connected to something larger than our time and lives, and it can fade away. Who knows when structures will show their imprint on us in the future. In the distant future some satellite taking pictures of vegetative growth through infrared sensors may reveal clues to who we are to who we will be. We march through time because our 5th dimension self manifests itself in 3 dimensions as what we experience in our comprehension. Or something.

Neither Dead Nor Slow

2011-01-15T23:27:00.003-05:00

As things go. . . the Cramps building down the street where the Slinky was born is meeting its demise, the walls are being knocked down in its removal for an interstate access ramp. Tomorrow I'll go down there with a tripod and camera for some photos. If its a little warmer I'll take some paint with me. Its always fun trying to paint with frozen materials.

I suppose this is one way how the world will end, demolished to make way for something new, a la Douglas Adams. There is the thought that our Universe expands at the rate we gain knowledge; that our world gets larger as we find out more about it. Buckminster Fuller called it the Ever-Expanding Halo. I like the sound of it and while I can only aspire to match Fuller in his accomplishments I must insist that it is not ever-expanding, but has the potential for collapse and at best ebbs and expands. Eventually all things fade out of memory and even if physicists tell us information can't be lost doesn't it mean it can be accessed. In his book "Dragon's of Eden" Carl Sagan talks about our ability to accumulate extra-genetic and extra-somatic information, and that our bargain with nature for larger brains and prolonged learning has in turn lengthened childhood. This past week my wife met a couple who are in their early and late 50's who are having surrogate twins. As explained to me, they are both in respected vocations and their careers consumed their years. Some people think that moving to agriculture was a mistake, that as hunter gatherers we were more athletic lived longer and had more leisure time and once we farmed we weren't as healthy - our diet wasn't varied, we suffered from more diseases and shorter lives. Its took us a while to get past the down side of farming but I'm sure it was due to our accumulation of extra-somatic information. A couple thousand years isn't much time to the time that preceded that time. Bad Humor. With the new ways we've found to transmit and store information hopefully it will add new ways to help us. There is never enough tools to keep entropy and the loss of information at bay and none should be neglected. Feb 10th and 11th we will be celebrating Child Ballads and other traditional folk songs at UnionDocs. Art and Neil Rosenbaum will be exhibiting their new film, John Cohen will be showing one of his, music will be abound, and even a painting by me! So remember, we may not save your life but we will do our best to save your soul from the access ramp to the interstate of entropy. Stay Posted for more info!

Salad Days: Yokohama and A Different Floating World

2010-10-13T23:34:00.003-04:00

After many valiant harumpfings about visiting the Yokohama print exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I finally made the 5 minute trek to enjoy some great prints. After the ports of Japan were pried open to the west in 1859, cultural entanglements including misunderstandings and misinformation along with the flow of goods and money poured and flowed like the sailors' libations that had just arrived in town. Originally intended to be viewed by Japanese people to learn and vicariously experience foreigners some of the specifics of the cultures depicted were lost in translation due to the hurry meet the demand for the prints. Russian sailors next to Italian flags in front of French buildings is just one example. Seeing how the artists were coping with depicting the new textiles and animals coming into the island was very consoling as I struggle with painting and other works from time to time. These guys who were making these prints were masters of their trade and its always reassuring that no matter how long one works at their trade new things and changes will bring challenges. Unfortunately the museum decided not to print a book of the work so I've tried to cull some images that are close to what they have.*

Americans in front of a steamship

Beyond the strange images of Europeans watching Pygmies dance on tables I was attracted to the depictions of the hustle and bustle of the "new" daily life in the port. How crowded it seemed from the pictures, how exotic "we" seemed. Some of the patterns resulting from depictions of the "new" styles of dress undulates like fungal architecture. Only a handful of nations were allowed to legally trade with the Japanese empire but there were still depictions of people there that were not represented by the treaty of trade. There was a loophole of sponsorship. It didn't seem to matter what type of vocation the sponsor had as long as they were part of the party with papers from their government. Yokohama must truly be the first international city, even if the foreigners were quarantined off behind fences in their own part of the city. I'm sure at times westerners were depicted with some sense of humor and with varying degrees of subtlety. With out second guessing myself too much about the intentions of the artists of these specific portraits in the group I'd wager they were carried out with a little mirth mixed with boot shining. In the works there are depicted the varied subjects, for example, a "An American Merchant Greatly Please with the Miniature Cherry Tree He Ordered" and behind him/to the side of him is a bust portrait of his wife with a head four times the size of his. I can imagine her going to have the work commissioned, running into the problem of the receiver unable to read Japanese and the artist unable to write in English. Then solving this by the inclusion of their purchasers portrait and it must be big and important, because they must be reminded of who has given them this thing. Stupid fat heads. But that's all conjecture and Hollywood prejudice. Maybe. Here is a print of John James Audubon discovering that the drawings and watercolors he has made have been eaten by rats. Seriously.

It was nice to see and be introduced to these prints as so many that I've come across are of "The Floating World": Japan's aristocracy and pleasure gardens. If you are interested in the floating worlds and are in Philadelphia this weekend you should stop by the banks of the Schuylkyll River to view and interact with "Light Drift". Parker Lee of Parker Lee fame, has been in town working to install these works for Meejin Yoon of Boston so stop by and support their efforts to put some magic in your fall evenings. I bet you it will be better than an Applebee's Magician Night. Believe me no strings are attached, its free. More info can be found HERE. Time to get back to sailboats. . .

*After writing this and not wanting to take the effort to rearrange things once again HERE is a link to all 90 images in the exhibition on the Philadelphia Museum of Arts website. I guess I'll have to print my own book now, huh? Only $150 if you want a color print from the museum and a 4 week wait.

Confirmation Bias: Koans

2010-07-29T11:28:00.010-04:00

Another Etsy print utilizing "children's" art tools consists of MechaGodzilla getting a girlfriend as the readers of "The Inquirer" keep an eye on the relationship. It’s amazing to see how quickly ideas, archetypes, songs; well culture has morphed in the past century. I suppose we (the royal human we) have always acclimated quickly. I don't have as large a grasp on language as I wish I did, but am still enthralled with shared cultural words. Most times being used in mixed language sentences they lose a . . . je ne sais quoi. And yes, we do have to thank the French for the feminine blonde, while the rest of the English language is neutered. Like spoken English I've been interested in appropriating for a few reasons. It creates a dialogue with the past along with paying tribute it. Building upon ideas of the past is how we've advanced to the technological/digital age. I enjoy seeing things morph, figuring out (or at least creating my own theories) how they connect to the next gestation and adding to it. It is an instant personal gratification becoming part of something larger than myself. If it wasn't for a personal enjoyment I may even associate it with the loss of self. What is that anyway? "Is it alive, does it writhe? Can it survive under the sun?" The closest thing I equate to a gnostic experience is losing myself to the act of painting and becoming lucid to the fact that I'm awake and dreaming.

A question was asked of a Zen master, "What is the meaning of the ancestral teacher's (i.e., Bodhidharma's) coming from the west?" The master answered, "The cypress tree in front of the hall." But this is about transformations of ideas, traditions, and art. Knowing what has been is a good clue of what is and will be and like any good lie should be studied. The variations, the small differences are what have become interesting. How many times are you going to watch the same movie? I bet it was based on a play that was performed over two thousand years ago. There is some funny stuff in transitions for those of us caught in the middle. In a way, it’s like being aware of puberty, being in it, past it, and aware of it from the other gender's view all at the same time - and the whole time daises that grow from our ancestor's corpses towards the sun, bending in the wind laugh along. Oh, wait . . . we embalm and encase our dead like they are pharaohs. No wonder we have movies like "Night of the Living Dead". No, that doesn't make sense enough . . . let’s go with Brandon Frasier’s "The Mummy" as reference instead, using a shot of Brock from "The Venture Bros." fighting a mummy, even though "Night . . ." is much cooooler.

My third wish is there to be no more 1970-1990 horror movie remakes. We're supposed to change things, make them better damn it. I mean look what happened with Gojira. Someone transformed two Japanese words (and the Japanese do love to abbreviate/transform their words) for gorilla and whale and made up Gojira. Then it’s misinterpreted to Godzilla for the U.S. release. That is a radical name, and besides who would have wanted to go see a movie about a gorilla whale? It was something new [(ish) I'm not forgetting "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" or earlier stories dating back to St. George]. And then there was the 1998 U.S. Godzilla release promoted by Taco Bell. Hell, Taco Bell started out as a hot dog stand. What was my point with this? Ah yes . . . The Child Ballad Show. Having expressed the need to recognize the importance of "tradition" I think it’s fair to impose one's own will upon its impending change. The streets don't change but maybe their name . . . The only fear/sin against tradition is the same for history: forgetting it. Maybe forgetting should be replaced with "not learning". To do either would be missing a hold on it. "Is it numb? Does it glow, will it shine? Does it leave a trail of slime?" The most important thing to do with tradition is to play with it. Game the sh*t out of it. Most of the time all its doing is pointing out that you’re alive.
Speaking of transformations. . . I'm happy to be sharing wall space with Bart Lynch (image above) in September. In the past I've had the chance to visit him in the studio and its mind boggling how he works. To see these seemingly spontaneous calligraphic marks converge into an overall composition consisting of stories within stories within stories is something to behold. I highly recommend viewing his work when you get the chance. That's at least one thing that I'm doing at the Child Ballad Show in Baltimore. I just finished the painting for the show, and believe me I played the sh*t out of it. To answer some of you all's first questions reading this, "No, when making the print I was not consciously thinking about "Bambi meets Godzilla". Someone pointed that out to me the other day and I almost threw up in my mouth because I had forgotten about it. I'm more optimistic and think the relationship in my print will turn out better." Have I learned anything?

Don't forget the 5th law: A Discordian is prohibited from believing what he reads.
If you are having trouble with that, consult your pineal gland.

Time to get back in the studio.

Jiun, a Shingon master, was a well-known Sanskrit scholar of the Tokugawa era. When he was young he used to deliver lectures to his brother students.
His mother heard about this and wrote him a letter:"Son, I do not think you became a devotee of the Buddha because you desired to turn into a walking dictionary for others. There is no end to information and commentation, glory and honor. I wish you would stop this lecture business. Shut yourself up in a little temple in a remote part of the mountain. Devote your time to meditation and in this way attain true realization."

Flying in the Face of Tradition a Two Way Monologue

2010-07-22T17:00:00.006-04:00

Continuing to play with "children's" printmaking tools I've made a limited number of this print. A million in one names flies forth from the origin of the world. Superman exits the world's strongest vagina. My first pop culture experience with the female undercarriage was scripted as follows:

Lois Lane: What color underwear am I wearing?

Superman: [looking] Hmmm...
Lois Lane: Oh, gee, I embarrassed you, didn't I?
Superman: Oh, no, no, not at all, it's just that this planter must be made of lead.
Lois Lane: Yeah, it is. So?
Superman: Well, I sort of have a problem seeing through lead.
Lois Lane: Oh, that's interesting. [writes] Problem seeing through lead. Do you have a first name?
Superman: You mean, like, Ralph or something?
Lois Lane: [walks away from the planter] No, I mean like -
Superman: Pink.
Lois Lane: Hm?
Superman: Pink. [Lois walks back to the planter.] Sorry, Miss Lane, I didn't mean to embarrass *you*.

You can draw an analogy of Francis Child's collection of Ballads to that of comic books. Or I can later. The ballads offer up story lines that soap operas writers would drool over. One of my favorites is Ballad #295 The Brown Girl. Many of the ballads have to do with love, lover's lost, revenge, bloody justice, and heroes. And just a note to all who enjoy oceanic ballads we like to call chanteys Art Rosenbaum and his Chantey Singers are coming out with their 2nd CD. I've been leaked the song list and it looks like a great selection of songs, some of which will make you get up and jig. If you are into that type of thing. Jeremy Hughes will be designing the cover art so make sure you bug them for a copy when it is released.

295A.1  ‘I am as brown as brown can be,
  My eyes as black as a sloe;
  I am as brisk as a nightingale,
  And as wilde as any doe.
295A.2  ‘My love has sent me a love-letter,
  Not far from yonder town,
  That he could not fancy me,
  Because I was so brown.
295A.3  ‘I sent him his letter back again,
  For his love I valu’d not,
  Whether that he could fancy me
  Or whether he could not.
295A.4  ‘He sent me his letter back again,
  That he lay dangerous sick,
  That I might then go speedily
  To give him up his faith.’
295A.5  Now you shall hear what love she had
  Then for this love-sick man;
  She was a whole long summer’s day
  In a mile a going on.
295A.6  When she came to her love’s bed-side,
  Where he lay dangerous sick,
  She could not for laughing stand
  Upright upon her feet.
295A.7  She had a white wand all in her hand,
  And smoothd it all on his breast;
  ‘In faith and troth come pardon me,
  I hope your soul’s at rest.
295A.8  ‘I’ll do as much for my true-love
  As other maidens may;
  I’ll dance and sing on my love’s grave
  A whole twelvemonth and a day.’

Beneficial Conflict

2010-07-17T22:39:00.005-04:00

How much more of that "Hell, yeah!" guy can you take? I've been reading "Industrial Society and Its Future" by Ted Kaczynski, and the tragic thing is that such a brilliant mind never learned how to take advantage of the institutions he was revolting against. I'm not quite half way through reading it, and you can feel his self-loathing and personal conflict in his projections of societal problems. I don't want to detract too much from, what so far as my lame brain can tell is a frighteningly prophetic view of today's culture and problems from a few decades ago. Although many artists question how to draw more attention to their views and exhibitions, I've never been so drastic in my views that I thought I needed to send mail bombs to express my views, or rather; obtain a larger audience. From an artistic view point, blowing people up to gain notoriety is kind of slutty. It’s like wearing the shortest pair of jogging shorts you can find to the mall. It’s an attempt to spread as much seed as possible, which is what the selfish cell wants after all. I wonder how big Ted’s balls really were/are. I read in New Scientist the other day that the larger a man’s testicles are the more apt he is to cheat, or have multiple partners. I guess a guy just doesn’t need to produce that many mini-hims if he is only concentrating on one person. Makes you think about all sorts of colloquialisms about testes, doesn’t it?

I remember in High School wearing a gray hoodie and sunglasses for Halloween. I’m surprised I didn’t end up feeling like an ass like the time I wore a Ho-Chi Minh t-shirt to a party and a friend’s Dad’s friend was there and had served in Vietnam. He started chanting the marches they used to do along the Ho-chi Minh trail . . . after he had me smoke the most potent joint on the east coast during the year of 1995.

(Who needs Facebook for old embarrassing pictures when you have a blog?)The interesting thing is Ho-Chi Minh was out of power by 1950. That’s only 6 years after WWII. Right before the U.S. entered into WWI Ho-Chi Minh was living in Harlem, New York hanging out with Marcus Garvey. Shortly after leaving the U.S. he ended up in France learning about Communism. Thanks France, for the giant green patina statue in New York. I’m not sarcastic here, I’m not going to do something lame and ask for freedom fries. Besides, you gave us Duchamp. I guess it’s only fair we keep off of Polanski too. But I’ve digressed. The Vietnam vet singing me chants from the Ho-Chi Minh trail knew something about beneficial conflict that Kaczynski either knew too well, or not well enough. I haven’t decided yet. Our government was set up on beneficial conflict; on checks and balances.

The Child Ballad Show coming up is another example of beneficial conflict. This is an argument of, and between, the past and present. An argument as a conversation meant to evoke a devil’s advocating of tradition. Tradition and rebellion have always been on the different sides of the same coin. Some of our founding fathers wanted to make a tradition of rebellion. Well, we still have fire-works; Ted’s still alive at ADX Florence. Making tradition out of rebellion is Art Rosenbaum, who will be performing and exhibiting at The Child Ballad Show. Art and his wife Margo have chronicled many of the Ballads for over 50 years as they appear in the present day by those who have learned them honestly. No pirating or stealing of songs but passing them around from person to person like a potent herb. Their musical magnum opus can be found here at Arts website. For those of you living outside of Baltimore or its surrounding states, you should make the effort to experience rebellion. Art has a lust for life that is catching and comes through in his art work and Music. A lust for life is the ultimate rebellion. Who wants to be a rock when we

can roll? So roll on down to the G-Spot on the 11^th of September. And do I really need to mention that you can purchase the "Beneficial Conflict" print of Godzilla creeping up on the personification of civilization at my Etsy site? Yes. Yes, I do. And perhaps Ted didn't want to be self sufficient after all, but taken care of for the rest of his life away from the contact of other people. And maybe not. You decide.

Your story is like a mountain of . . .

2010-07-14T15:23:00.006-04:00

According to folk-lore, in Japan's distant past poor families would take their elderly, who had become a burden in providing for the new generation, and leave them in the wilderness of mountains. The custom is called ubasute and there is a mountain in Nagano, Japan that the locals refer to as Ubasute-Yama. Nowadays robots are being built to take care of the growing elderly population. So are you ready for a piggy back ride along the mountainous terrain of my imagination? Enma Dai-Ō is the Japanese name for the Buddhist god of death. It’s been transliterated from Yemma which is a form of the Sanskrit Yama. As a type of homophone, yama is the Romanized spelling of the Japanese word for mountain(s). The literal translation of Yamaha is "The Mountain." YAMAHA is one of the largest robotic companies in the world. "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" has nothing to do with the production of this blog.

The stories of the elderly being taken away to die have been embedded in Japanese folklore, and may have never actually been a widespread practice. In researching to create my new folk-lore I came across a Buddhist allegory of a son carrying his mother on his back, and while they are going up the mountain she reaches out to break branches so he can find his way back home. Wikipedia (reliable as folk-lore) presents this un-authored poem that commemorates this story:

In the depths of the mountains,

Who was it for the aged mother snapped

One twig after another?

Heedless of herself

She did so

For the sake of her son

The Child Ballads that are the center of the upcoming show at G-Spot in Baltimore contain some of the oldest stories of folklore for Western Europe that we in United States know well. Out of the wilderness and forested mountains come King Arthur and a rather large collection of songs about Robin Hood. While hardly mountainous, Sherwood Forest contains an ancient meeting spot called Thynghowe. Howe is derived from the Old Norse word Haugr which means mound. When used in place names haugr many times indicates a burial mound. Traipsing around the forest Robin Hood stole from the rich and religiously greedy to give to the poor; the antithesis to a modern Japanese helper robot which takes care of those rich enough to afford its care and avoid the mound of poor and uncared for. Jeez, it’s not my fault people. . . it’s been rainy and dark all day. Unlike King Arthur, Robin Hood's only chance at immortality is in song and story. Lesson: no matter how much you try you will never have the same rights as those with more money and power. Even if you take it from them, your psychology will forever be in with the have-nots. Hey, at least we have a real life that hasn't been airbrushed for consumption. At least we have the Child Ballads. I'm sure on a sunnier day, or a sultry night I would have chosen to connect mountains to the act of copulation, to the Freudian defeat of the mother by the wife. I could have talked about the mound or mountain as synonymous to a rising male interpretation of mounting female pleasure . . . to the French term "La petite mort" and the allegory of Sisyphus in relation to the working class of the Appalachian mountains. I may even have suggested the shock theory that the burial mound as a meeting place to be influenced by dead ancestors is like the essential gangbang of ancestral DNA upon the female mound during copulation. But its gloomy out and all of that would just be a tease. There is nothing like some warm green tea to bring you out of a funk. See you next time.

Is There Anybody Out There? No(H)Va

2010-07-10T12:30:00.008-04:00

Continuing to work with “children’s” art tools and Yuzen, this print is entitled No(H)Va. It plays with the archetypes of American Steel and Japanese wood. The Chevy is a masculine form that we American’s love to see women drive, this particular Noh mask is feminine in form and is used by male only theatre groups.

What I’m interested in right now (concerning Child Ballad #278) is “Woman” on par with “the gods”, meaning that a western cultural perception of Woman is as the Greeks perception of Love, War, or Nature. Love is like a god, war is like a god, etc. etc. The pervasiveness of the representational sexuality of the sexes in our culture surpasses any cult of the ancients. We pick out 14-15 year old girls for Pop Stars because we have a need to watch a metamorphosis of innocence into a fully sexually charged thing that we eventually want sacrificed to purify our collective guilt. See South Park season 12 on that one. Bacchanal revelry usually doesn’t end well; it’s like a lot of hangovers and personal moral questioning about the dead hooker on the floor. But let us not get too sober in the midst of it. With all this in mind I’ve been trying to break down the aspects of the song. . . It presents itself through humor (most times sung that way too), and gives you the story of a woman more powerful than the Devil. She did not defeat the Devil by resisting temptations in life, but subdued him by force alone. In effect she has put herself outside of the realm of consequences and has made God and the Devil as irrelevant to her as her husband’s emotions: someone needs a spanking. Maybe I should paint a fish riding a bicycle in the background. Humor is definitely one of the best ways to disarm and bring someone in on a serious matter. And this is life or death. Well, more so afterlife intruding on real life. To think this is a song the Irish gave us and was given an African back beat in the Appalachians and made some inroads into indie-pop and grunge. So the strong Irish woman of John Wayne movies meets Foxy Brown meets Courtney Love. Let the wine flow. I’m not the only person in The Child Ballad Show to associate these stories and songs with modern film and music, just check out some of Jeremy Hughes work, and don’t forget that you can find my “Child” Prints over at my Etsy shop HERE.

Whip It Up

2010-07-07T11:06:00.008-04:00

"The wind blows and the sales of baskets go up," is an old Japanese saying meaning that some cause and effects are not always direct or visible. Bob Dylan wrote, "The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind." I've always had a penchant for secret histories, micro histories, and generally the way things work. At times, the challenge for artists is to find a specific subject or theme. Its always nice when someone approaches you and starts a conversation about a subject that jives with your line of thinking, as happened with the invitation to "The Child Ballads" show curated by Teddy Johnson at the G-Spot Gallery in Baltimore. I had a chance to visit the location a couple of weeks ago and was impressed with the space and am looking forward to the event on the 11th of September. There is a great collection of painters that are exhibiting and musicians to perform the songs as well, included in both categories is Grammy award winner Art Rosenbaum. Art has been an inspiration, for many of us in the exhibition, to delve into the history of American music as well as learn and perform it.

Out of the 305 songs in the Child collection I've chosen to create a piece of work based on number 278: The Farmer's Curst Wife. A very brief accounting of the song is that a farmer had a bad wife so the devil came and took her away, when they reached Hell she made things so bad for the devil he took her back to the farmer. The variations of the songs have different conclusions, that either women are so far worse than men that they get kicked out of hell, or that women are stronger than men as they can beat up on the devil. Now that sounds like a fun piece to paint! How does this all draw back to secret histories, micro histories, and all that jazz? The influence of this song, after centuries of swirling around the Appalachian Mountains, previously having crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, landed in the 1960's. Folk music was being expounded by various reviver cliques, but I believe a mainline influence ran into the exploitation films, which ran into Quentin Tarentino and influenced his film depictions of women as both strong, able to take down the modern equivalent of the devil, and at times be worse than the devil. My methods are a bit Microftian in their research but the winds of creation are blowing.

As a side project I have been working with "children's" printmaking techniques in conjunction with the yuzen stenciling technique I learned while in Japan. I wanted to work with a printing process that was as immediate as possible with as little set up as possible because space is always an issue. The pieces that I've made I will post in conjunction with the first 4-5 Child Ballad blogs. Like the women represented by archetypes in art the Noh mask only has to have light shined on it from different angles to express a variety of perceived expressions or traits. With the Noh mask the lighting doesn't even have to change only your position to it. It makes me wonder about the Theory of Relativity and how sometimes the answer really is too close to find. Isn't that the Hollywood love story? You can find these inexpensive prints for sale HERE at my etsy shop.

Crash Bang and Boom: It All Comes Down to the Tunes

2010-07-04T23:20:00.004-04:00

Working towards a new show in September, it is apt that this part of the blog starts on the 4th of July. I have been invited to exhibit, with 12 other artists, at the G-Spot Gallery in Baltimore Maryland. The show will revolve around paintings inspired by the 305 ballads collected by James Francis Child. The Ballads are a collection of some of the oldest recorded songs that are still sung today, in different variants having passed through appalachian folksongs into present day rock and even anti-folk. I've chosen to create a painting based on ballad #278 and will write about it in the upcoming weeks.

The Laser Sound of Our Cosmic History

2010-06-28T12:01:00.011-04:00

"What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs, and makes a slinkity sound?

A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing! Everyone knows it's Slinky.

It's Slinky, it's Slinky. For fun it's a wonderful toy.

It's Slinky, it's Slinky. It's fun for a girl or a boy.

It's fun for a a girl or boy!"

So in my search for Philadelphia History I've come to this cosmic connection: The Slinky. 300 million Slinkies have been sold around the world. We've shared in walking it, putting it up to our ears and shaking it for laser beam sound effects, pinching our selves in its coils, and untangling it from itself. I find it perfect in its ingenuity, its simplicity, its working class affordability. Why would you let your children play with the mercury from a thermometer or roll each other down a hill in old tires when you can buy them a shipyard spring to slink down some stairs? Perhaps the most fun to be had with a slinky is setting up a course for it to walk down. The Cramps Shipyard, where the Slinky was invented, is bound for demolition. It is the last building of the preeminent ship building facility of the 19th century. It fell into disuse in 1947 and will finally be laid to waste by a junction of on and off ramps for I-95. Not a five-minute walk from our front door and you can see the overgrown bank of the Delaware river where the main Cramps building used to be. A few minutes walk back and you’ll see the building planphilly.com wants to conserve. It’s all looming angles and giant glass panes. It looks like a giant lego-brick airplane hangar. You may find this small painting HERE at my etsy store.

Don't Stop Till You Get Enough

2010-06-25T17:27:00.010-04:00

So I almost forgot where I was when Michael Jackson died last year. That is how it starts, and then the memory eventually becomes like a deserted industrial building retaining the ghostly lettering of a business that no longer exists . . . eventually. It will be a long time before the estate of M.J. lets the money making machine of his cult of personality die. As this most recent series of paintings are of Philadelphia buildings I thought I'd delve into Philly's relationship to the King of Pop. In the mid 1970 two albums for Jackson and his brothers were produced under the Philadelphia International Records label. The albums were "The Jacksons" and "Going Places." According to news reports of the time Jackson wanted to start making songs with messages. I was old enough to remember "Thriller" coming out, but unlike my older brother, too young for parachute pants. And oh, was I jealous of all of those zippers and pockets. I mean what frog-string-stick-toy-penny in my pocket-kid wouldn't envy those. Granted the pants were too tight to make the pockets practical, and I already wore a pair of Roo's with the pocket on the side that I would get my milk money stuck in. At least they weren’t penny loafers. But that was in Georgia . . . in the shadow of Stone Mountain. This is about Philly, where everything is annoyingly spelled with a PH instead of an F. So like almost everything else in America's history Philadelphia can lay claim to another first, as the first place after Motown Records the Jacksons decided to record. Of course if you want to scrutinize it that is how most of Philly's phirsts are. They are kind of firsts. What I'm concerned with is more the demise of Philadelphia's landmark history. This painting is of the Edward Corner Marine Warehouse, and it’s deserted and the lettering has become ghostly. I've placed it in the background to further emphasize the fading memory of Philadelphia's maritime history. While M.J. is/was an international phenomena and maritime trading brought the world closer together, the cosmic unifier I started this series out with is more subtle. Its more tactile and is perfect in its American Ingenuity. Curious? All will be revealed next time.

If you like this painting and are interested in purchasing it please click HERE.

Rambo: Schemes of the Rich and Mo' Power

2010-06-24T15:31:00.013-04:00

What is one of the more interesting "historical" places on paper that can’t really be seen anymore around my neighborhood? Gunner’s Run. It was a creek turned into a canal that was used as an investment scheme and is now paved over. Hey, that does not sound cool. Well, boys and girls, it’s named after Gunner Rambo ca. 1847. I don't think its a stretch to connect it to Sylvester Stallone. . . . We have a Rocky Statue in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, now I suggest, no, demand that a statue of Rambo be place on the paved over-overgrown-Aramingo Canal where it once met the Delaware River. What could be more American than a statue of Rambo planted over a historical Philadelphia money pit? The new Delaware River Green Way welcome entrance could be a bronze statue of a savage man with a bowie knife in his mouth, a bow and arrow (tribute to Native Americans), and a plaque that reads: 1st capital of the United States, 1st continental congress, 1st Blood. If you don't like the bow and arrow Idea go HERE. Wasn't that what Rambo was about, opposing corrupt and bad American ideas? A little further North is The Richmond Power Plant. It is butted up against the Recycling plant and shipping wharves of Port Richmond. If you'd like to hang out by the high tension lines and listen to the hum of transformers for a while or two you may just be lucky enough to see a gleaming silver ACES train pass by taking people to Atlantic City.

You can litteraly feel the power in the air by the Betsy Ross bridge. When the 1876 World's Fair was happening, I imagine, they imagined future architecture to look like power substations. Just imagine thinking about the future at the exposition of A. Graham Bell's telephone, a typewriter, Heinz Ketchup, and another failed american project - Kudzu as an erosion control plant. Kudzu now spreads at a rate of 150,000 acres annually, according to Science Daily. It produces ground level Ozone for the South East enhancing the drawl of all in Y'all. If you are interested in purchasing a painting of an imagining of imaginings visit my Etsy site HERE. Kudzu and Rambo are still not the cosmic connection of generations that I"m leading up to though. 2 more posts and we're there. We're there already but I just have to reveal it slowly. I don't want anybody to be scared of the final surprise sprung. You're not a scaredy-cat are you? Then read on in a few.

The Power Hour

2010-06-23T00:07:00.006-04:00

What else might be of importance to Philly’s younger years? Two defunct power plants, one in some active shipping yards, next to the recycling plant, and the other one adjacent to our neighborhood park where William Penn signed a treaty with some Native Americans. They were really surprised to see electric lights along with Penn’s boomstick. These Paintings are of the Delaware Power Station next to Penn Treaty Park on the Delaware River.

The above painting is of five of the eight stacks at the power station may be purchased at Etsy click HERE. The more I think about electricity the more it resonates with the city. Magnetic in its attraction, like a cat's tail rubbed over amber. I'm getting to Ben Franklin and his mystical-magical kite. That old philanthropic philanderer helped to issue in modern life by selling his possessions to research electricity, a step toward the second industrial revolution in the midst of the first. While this may tie us all together it is still not the cosmic connection we'll be arriving at by the end of the week.

The painting below is of the loading pier for the station on the Delaware river and may be purchased HERE.

If you are interested in further information about the power plant follow the link attached to the title as well as planphilly.com .

Philadelphia Burning

2010-06-21T09:51:00.008-04:00

With our recent trip to Japan I began to get used to all of these ancient land marks surrounding us. I began to wonder what we walk by everyday at home, in the U.S., and don’t even know or care is historic. We do live in Philadelphia, some big history for the country there, but what about our neighborhood? What do we have in our ‘hood that is similar in importance to what is in Motoko’s Parents in Japan? Is there anything? I drove around our neighborhood and tried to explore some areas that the local preservation group is trying to have deemed important for Philadelphia’s history. I was a nice day out so I brought along the camera to shot some photos for painting references, and sketched some as well. I started out at planphilly.com and looked through the points of interest, chose our driving path of least resistance, and hopped in the car/truck thing to go and breathe some fresh (questionably) air. It was fresh. The area we live in is up for, a name calling, debate. Things can get heated between city folk about where they are from and what neighborhood is what and authentic real estate agents will get into fisticuffs over it. Being a transplanted southern boy now living in the lowest part of the North’s denial, which it’s the same as the southeastern coast, I had to define again where I live and joined in on the fun. Technically we live in what was historically called Olde Richmond. It is now considered part of Fishtown (sigh of relief). So what is all this coming to? I can proudly stand up and say, “I have had a connection to my current neighborhood all my life!” If you are, not quite a person of a certain age, are a person of a certain age, or progeny of said people you too have this cosmic connection.

I’ll start at the beginning and we'll work our way to the cosmic connection by the end of the week.

My first stop was the music club The Barbary has been around since 1969 and is up for a nomination into the historical preservation society. Their page= www.myspace.com/thenewbarbary

That Music Venue that is so cool it is almost historical, but would never claim outright that it is because that - would be uncool.

According to wiki-travel it is “Hipster Heaven.” I can’t find any information about its importance to music except that it’s been around for a while. Someone let me know about that one please. Its name is interesting in context of the city considering this: the USS Philadelphia was lit aflame by its own people in the first Barbary war.

I will be posting a new Philadelphia 19125 painting every day over the next 5 days. You can purchase them off of my etsy site for $60.00 eachHERE. These paintings are mounted onto 6"x8" frames. Hey, even figure painters need to paint landscapes. After these it is on to the Child Ballad work, http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Child-Ballads-Show/127757983923416?ref=mf .

With a Heave and a Ho!

2010-06-09T16:29:00.005-04:00

Yorikiri! (yorikiri!) Yorikiri! (yorikiri!) Its a "frontal force out"! The losing opponent is forced out of the ring by wedgie. For the winning move to be a yorikiri the winner must keep his hands on the other fighters "mawashi". Mawashi are the sumo wrestler's "belt" which is a single piece of fabric about 30 feet long and 2 feet wide weighing about 8 lbs. They will actually tie it dependent on their wrestling tactics, leaving it loose so its hard for their opponent to use the yorikiri move or tighter and splash water on it to avoid it being gripped.

It seems that the Japanese culture has a penchant for folding things... metal for swords, mawashi, kimono belts, origami paper... at least most things people associate with traditional Japanese culture. Specific ways of folding things that seem to become ritualized object transformation. Most cultures have transformative beings in their folk-lore... its an interesting and beautiful thing that is metamorphosis. Thinking about it makes me want to buy some tad-poles. Topologically speaking, I suppose if it can revert back to its former state than it hasn't changed but we're only seeing it at different angles. Isn't that what we seek from sports? Transformations? To be turned into a winner? To show off a different angle, to change our psyche? Its all something that leads to a better understanding of ourselves, even if we can't verbalize what it is. Side notes abound. The Wrestler in the right panel is Baruto. He is originally from Estonia and is one of my favorite wrestlers to watch. You can read his bio HERE. He is considered to be a true sportsman within the Sumo world. He is ranked as an Ozeki, which is 2nd ranking only to Yokozuna. If you are interested in any paintings from this series please visit my Etsy site here. I'll be letting some prints into the wild and writing about some local landscape paintings I finished a little while ago. What!? I thought this was a figure painter's blog... WTH.

The Cold War is Over! Let the Battle Begin!

2010-06-06T12:37:00.003-04:00

After the initial psychological/cold war tactics ritual the wrestlers engage! Its the Tachi-ai, the initial clash of the titan-esque men in the left panel. The wrestlers are vieing for a hold to unbalance each other. Any move to give them an edge. Well almost any move. Although Sumo is the most ritualized of the Japanese martial arts it still has 70 acceptable or legal moves to choose from. That is quite a few for any combat sport! The Panel on the right depicts an attempt at an Kotehineri, or an arm-bar twist down. A typical Sumo match will last under a minute but can go for up to 4 until a break is called. There are very few ties or draws, the last one being in 1974. To find out how the match finishes come back in a few days. To purchase these 2 panels visit HERE.

If you are interested in a full list of the Sumo Techniques please visit this site.

Face Off

2010-06-04T13:02:00.007-04:00

Dealing with this small series of paintings I can not avoid the subject of Manga. A guilty pleasure in my adulthood, comics were one of the biggest draws into art for me in my childhood. My first job was working at a comic book shop. I could go on about the unparalleled experience of awe standing in front of a heroic painting that transcends itself and time but I will leave that for another post. I feel my own hesitance to delve into the subject as its a perceived lowly status pervades the idea of bad undergraduate art. Granted it was college age kids in the 80's and 90's who provided a market for Anime which led to Manga's translation in the English language. Manga, the word for Japanese comics, translates to "whimsical pictures". Its permeating influence in the Japanese culture is unrivaled to what we think of comic books in the U.S. Manga should really be viewed as literature suspended in graphics, as its subject matter ranges the gamut of traditional literature. As its influence becomes more embedded in western culture I am sure more people than I can draw connections to Ukiyo-e's influence upon the impressionists. One of Japan's biggest export, like the U.S., is its culture. As Manga is a proletariat /blue color art form I've tried to bring its accesability into these small paintings through the universal recognition of origami paper and their more than affordable prices for a one of a kind artwork. While looking at these images it is important to remember that each panel is 4"x5". As an artist I use these as a toehold to understand a little more of my wife's culture. The thing about visiting other cultures and lands is that you tend to learn more about your own. If you are interested in this painting please visit HERE.

Rokurokubi Spectators

2010-06-02T12:20:00.005-04:00

The Horror! The Horror! Always wanting to keep some humor in my works I've introduced 2 Rokurokubi yokai into the sequence of paintings. As the sumo wrestlers perform the cleansing of the ring and driving out of evil spirits these monsters zoom in from the nosebleed section to get a better view of the commotion. Rokurokubi are japanese folk-lore monsters that appear human, and at times try to blend in as such, but have a tugging urge to elongate their necks in attempts to mostly scare humans. Some can be sinister hunting men and drinking their blood. Others try to blend in or don't even know that they are yokai (monsters) and their necks elongate while they sleep as they have odd dreams from interesting viewpoints. Some variations of the Rokurokubi claim that they became yokai as going against the Buddhist path. I imagine it was originaly a variation of "If you keep making faces it's going to stay that way!" But wait, why am I bringing a Buddhism influenced monster to a Shinto sport/ritual? Because, Japan is like a tossed salad of Buddhism and Shintoism. Described to me as: Shinto in life and Buddhist in Death. Traditionally Japanese ghost stories are only told in the hot months of summer when the chill that runs down your spine cools you from the heat. This pair I think is only wanting to get a better view. They may think about eating the loser, I just don't know. You can find these paintings listed on Etsy HERE.

Mounting the Dohyo

2010-05-28T14:54:00.001-04:00

Continuing the dainty daily sumo paintings... a little more history about the match preparation paraphrased from wikipedia, "On mounting the dohyō, which takes its name from the straw rice bag which mark out different parts the ring, the wrestler performs a number of rituals derived from Shinto practice. Facing the audience, he claps his hands and then performs the leg-stomping shiko exercise to drive evil spirits from the dohyō as the "Gyōji, or referee, who will coordinate the bout announces the wrestlers' names. Stepping out of the ring into their corners, each wrestler is given a ladle full of water, the chikara-mizu ("power water"), with which he rinses out his mouth; and a paper tissue, the chikara-gami ("power paper"), to dry his lips. Then both step back into the ring, squat facing each other, clap their hands, then spread them wide (traditionally to show they have no weapons). Returning to their corners, they each pick up a handful of salt which they toss onto the ring to purify it."

The literal translations of power water and power paper remind me of my early child hood. Running around the woods making forts and popping sweet-tarts claiming they were power-pellets when we needed the extra strength to move a tree or quickness to catch a crawdad. It was ritual to flick them into one's mouth, flex the guns, and if something needed stomping to stomp it. I'm sure it was all due to some strange Pac-man/G.I. Joe/M.A.S.K./He-Man influenced sugar high. Early sumo was a rough-and-tumble affair combining elements of boxing and wrestling with few or no holds barred. I'm sure they would have liked some power-pellets to go along with the water and paper. Especially since there are no weight classes. A wrestler can easily find himself up against an opponent twice his size.

Looking back at some of my favorite paintings made by George Bellows of the Ashcan school, (early enough in the 20th century that New York artists would come to Philadelphia for inspiration) I can see how the physicality and meat-like quality of the pugilists spill into their opponents.

While I enjoy these grisly paintings and have tried to retain some of the "weight" of the opponents, the atmosphere in which I was brought to Sumo wrestling was not as bloody or seedy. Well maybe seedy in a different way. Insinuating how we think of origami and painting these larger than life men on floral origami paper I wanted to emphasize the ritual of the event and juxtapose their girth against an ostensibly fragile plant. Sumo, after all, did have its origins as a Shinto agricultural planting ritual in hopes of a bountiful season. The Sumo ring is topped by a "tsuriyane", or suspended roof, that resembles a Shinto shrine. This diptych is before the match as the dohyo is physically and spiritually cleaned. I have left the standing wrestler "floating" a little to further emphasize this part of the ritual as the wrestlers will become more grounded as they engage.

To purchase these paintings or look at others click HERE.

Next time the Evil Spirits will be driven away!?

Another One for the Road

2010-05-26T20:56:00.001-04:00

It seems that when everything fails and you keep on trying somebody should just lock you up. Avowing success another figure painter starts down a road of best intentions. What have I gotten myself into? Back from Japan for about a month now and I've decided to start keeping a blog on the works I've been working on from there as well as what they morph into, while hopefully lending some insight into what I'm doing and giving you the reader a chance at the artworks before I sell them in the city. The first series of paintings I've been working on are mix and match sumo diptychs. They are about 4"x5" and are acrylic painted on origami paper mounted on panel. The plan is after compiling 6 sets to issue a small number of related prints and handmade book. As I'm working on these they will lead into how I am approaching a gallery show in Baltimore this September. That will be a busy month of migrating around for sure, with another gig in Savannah. The Sumo paintings are loosely based on the recent matches in Osaka this past March. I've always been intrigued with idea of martial arts and the spiritual mystique of late night black belt theater on T.V. but to be honest I never was into Sumo that much. This changed as I found myself absorbed in watching the televised matches while I was in Japan. Watching over live broadcast I found the matches to be as unreal as those 2 a.m. kung-fu movies. They were, just beautiful. These 2 massive guys enter into a ring, sizing each other up, intimidating each other, slapping themselves like slabs of meat the butcher is showing off, and finally, with speed that is astonishing for these hefty men, they are battling/maneuvering/dancing their opponent by not just brute force but gravitational cunning and in some cases a great deal of grace. Sumo is like a judo match on steroids. As well as combat, sumo is associated with Shinto ritual, and some shrines carry out a ritual dance where a human is said to wrestle with a divine spirit. I've never seen this dance carried out but I choose to imagine it as a Sufi Dervish dance for now. It was also a court ritual called sumai no sechi, where representatives of each province were ordered to attend the contest and fight. On top of that they had to pay for their own way there. Sumo is only practiced officially in Japan but there are a considerable number of foreigners who participate. My favorite being !Baruto! who placed second last March with a 14-1 match record. The Panel on the left has already been sold in conjunction with what will be the last panel in this 12 painting series. Don't despair! There will be 10 more paintings along with a few related prints and a limited edition handmade book of the panels in sequence. To purchase the painting on the right its as easy as clicking HERE which will direct you to my Etsy page! See you in a day or two for the next part. So the beginning of the match starts: