ahhhh…ouch

I’m in a state of painful bliss right now. Bliss because I’m still basking in the multicolor afterglow of Radiohead’s concert last night. Painful because of my dancing for two hours on concrete in shoes with no foot support. Yes, my ankles and back are not feeling so great and my throat is a little sore from screaming. Ahhh…but the bliss, the bliss. What a terrific experience. Thom Yorke’s spastic dance moves on the stage pleased me immensely. There were many songs I hoped they would play that they didn’t, but if they had played all the songs I hoped they would play, they would have been performing for five hours instead of two.

There was a t-shirt there that I wanted desperately. On it was written one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite songs: “You’ll go to hell for what your dirty mind is thinking.” Eeep! Look at that shirt, I said to Spence as we were leaving. That’s the line I love! The damn thing cost $40. I didn’t think twice about walking on by–there was no way I could afford such an expense. Had it been $30, I would have lingered a little longer, thinking about it (tho probably wouldn’t have bought it then either), but $40 was out of the question. However, seeing the t-shirt and what it looked like (the line from the song looked like it was stencilled on an old shirt) has inspired me to create my own Radiohead t-shirt, using the line from above and the stencils I have at the house. Yay for frugality and Radiohead.

Click here for a photo gallery of Radiohead pictures from the Palm Beach Post!

And the idea of getting a tattoo has crept back into my mind. The idea comes and goes. Sometimes it lingers longer than at other times. It’s typically inspired when I see a design I like a great deal…something that encompasses a personal belief in a very unique and graphic way. Of course, there is still the issue of finances, so the idea will stay just that until I find a job.

Apr 3

Nude

I received this message today in my email:

To celebrate this week’s single release (we still have those in England) Radiohead have broken up the song ‘Nude’ into pieces for you to remix.

For those of you who enjoy this sort of thing, you can buy the separate components or ‘stems’ (bass, voice, guitar, strings/FX and drums) and remix your own version of the song. You can do this by adding your own beats and instrumentation or just remixing the original parts. More information here: http://www.radioheadremix.com/information/

You can buy the stems here: http://www.radioheadremix.com/buy/

You can upload your finished mixes here http://www.radioheadremix.com and be judged and even voted on by ‘the public’.

Okay. How cool is this idea? First of all, Nude is easily one of my favorite songs on the new album, and I listen to it compulsively. What could be better than listening to variations of it created by different listeners? Well, I suppose listening to the original is better (in my opinion), but hearing the interpretations of it is thoroughly entertaining.

I highly recommend listening to some of them.

Apr 3

Conceptual Poetry Interviews by Annie Guthrie

Question 1
Q: Much of your work suspends or refuses the privilege to any one reading. Can you speak about this tendency against the exclusive, and whether or not this choice is aesthetic, political, personal or any combination of the three? This approach to writing/readership as an extension of Barthes concept of the “death of the author” has accumulated quite a history and tradition in its own right. Some suggest, therefore, that it can no longer be considered avant-garde. Speculate about the whether or not this is so, or whether or not it is important. How do you see the evolution of this “tradition” as it might be surfacing today? Annie Guthrie

Kenneth Goldsmith: Each generation must determine for itself what it means to kill the author. My generation is faced with the unique task of killing the author by means of textual excess. Today, because of technology, there is an unprecedented amount of language; so much, it seems to me, that the writer’s job is not to create more language, but rather to engage in the management of this mass of existing language: How you find your way through this heap of language will distinguish you as a writer from me. The simple act of moving information from one place to another today constitutes a significant cultural act in and of itself. I think it’s fair to say that most of us spend hours each day shifting content into different containers. Some of us call this writing.
Read answers from Bök, Bernstein, Howe, Dwarkin, and Swenson here.

Apr 3

Realms of the Unreal

Lately, I’ve been thinking about Henry Darger. He was a man who lived in near seclusion, and made his living as a janitor. It was only after he died that people discovered he had spent his life writing and creating visual art. He made another world for himself and created an entire cast of characters (the Vivian Girls). There is a fantastic documentary on Darger called Realms of the Unreal–that’s how I was first introduced to him and his work. What I find myself lingering over is the fact that Darger had the impulse to create without the desire to bring attention to his creation. While he was alive, no one was aware of the artistic output that was happening in his home. I wonder if that means the work came from a more authentic place? When one creates for the sake of creating—is a slave to that creative impulse—and creates without compulsion to share the creation or bring attention to the creation (and creator), does that make the act more pure (because there aren’t any ulterior desires motivating the act…money, fame, aspiration etc.)? I don’t think I’m phrasing the question/idea properly. It’s not so much that one way is pure/authentic and one way isn’t, but when an artist chooses to keep his work to himself, and is very prolific in that work…isn’t that different than someone who seeks recognition for their work? Doesn’t that imply a different sort of motivation?

Maybe it’s the difference of how one identifies himself/herself. If one does not view himself/herself as an “Artist,” then perhaps one is not going to think his/her work is worth anything, and not think of it as something worth sharing.