New Poems

Two new poems: Recollections of How I Smelled on I-90 and 22 For Babe's Blues (For Babe's 22).

An excerpt:

                I smelled like the exculpations of

                The weight of the world,
                The palimpsest
                Of justification
                And whateverness.

They are after "The Jump."

MONSTER HOUSE YARD SALE 6/5/2010

Entrepreneurship is the rumored heart and soul of the capitalist enterprise and therefore the ostensible lifeblood of our nation.

The "yard sale," as it is popularly known, is a reenactment and metaphor, based in nostalgia, for an utopian (as in no place) American entrepreneurship/citizenship.

We can think of the yard sale as saying, "Yes, I am American - I have a yard, my own piece of America. And I have objects, objects which I am free to include in the free-market."

It is in the hollow and temporary union of these two drives - economic and political, free-market and "free personhood," that we can understand what Americans think it means to be "American" - even as the true foundation of the American economy in the 21st century belies the notion that the individual has any agency in its machinations.

What we are selling and where after "The Jump."

PICS FROM 2012

Below are pictures and a video from a panel discussion on 2012 & Apocalypse Culture I was a part of at ROY G BIV gallery in Columbus, Ohio. Aarthi Suguness was my proxy/harbinger as I was in Chicago and could not deliver my speech. The speech is about the right-wing hijacking subjectivity and creating a conservative disbelief of "Truth" in America. Cassandra Troyan organized the panel as part of her month-long spree of outrageous, "wild" actions, drunken/high Nietzsche rooftop antics and seedy erotica reading/touching. 

Read my statement.
See my flyer for the event.
Pictures and video after "The Jump/Rapture."

Milton Friedman Switches Trains

                                                                Illustration by Sara Drake.

I wrote a new short story called "Milton Friedman Switches Trains." Read it after "The Jump."

JANUARY "RIOT ISSUE" OF CSBYS ALT MONTHLY

The fourth and best issue of Columbus Sucks Because You Suck monthly is out. Its theme is the history of riots in Columbus, which is a surprisingly fertile topic. Contents include Brian Deller's recount of streetcar labor riots in the early 20th century, Wes Flexner giving a slice of riotous memoir (written on a phone!), Martin Weedsteeler's avant-garde poetry, Miles dishing on media, a new Constance Taylor comic, illustrations from Troy and Ana, a poster by Ryan Eilbeck, a firsthand account of the 2002 Michigan game riots by Bret, a how-to on mastering recordings by Adam from Columbus Discount, some unfortunate, xenophobic rumours about Ali Baba and a recount of the 1970 OSU riots I posted here a few months ago, now complete with photos.

Whole issue after "the jump."

20 Years of ROY G BIV

From Mark Van Fleet's 2008 show at ROY.

ROY G BIV recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, staying alive through a period of time which saw the Short North go from child prostitution central to "used to be cool five years ago" affluence. ROY saw it all and showed everyone in the process. It remains exciting and incredibly valuable to Columbus due to its actual openness to showing actually new artists. The next season's lineup - top secret of course - piqued my interest. Surprises abound. And Cassie has a show there in February with Daniel Hoffman. Here is what my show there looked like in July.

Interview MP3 with Daniel Work, a founding member of ROY and former director, here.
Interview MP3 with Justin Luna, the current director of ROY here.

I wrote the story below for The Lantern (Lantern version here. Somehow gentrification becomes "Arts District" - just like the real world!) It's after "the jump."

A.A. Bondy Story

I was assigned a story about A.A. Bondy. This entailed talking to a real live music publicist who told me my admittedly long email address "wasn't making it easy for anyone." I'm lucky in the sense that Bondy isn't Red Wanting Blue or any of the more typical OSU bar bands the Lantern seems to cover. On the other hand, why I am writing public relations material for someone I really couldn't care less about? The whole practice of writing stories based on press releases and publicity contacts seems like a rather evil collusion for news organizations, even for the quasi legitimate stories of an "Arts Reporter." Bondy used to be in a pretty trite grunge "alt" band in the 90's called Verbena - here is the video for their big play into the mainstream.

I normally love (<3) nineties alternative music. But Verbena strikes me as hack work. Much the same can be said for Bondy's newer direction, that Dylan pose punk rockers often strike as they turn 30. There are some songs on his new album that I felt were good-ish... but it seems, like Pitchfork basically says, a soulless recapitulation of a genre's motifs. When that genre is punk, okay maybe, when it is "roots, blues, country influenced, Americana, singer-songwriter folk," no. Definitely not. I haven't retired to the land of NPR and concerts for the DNC quite yet.

I do manage to mention Merge Records and Thomas Function as well as make an allusion to This Bike is a Pipe Bomb.

After "the jump" is the story I turned in.
And the Lantern version.

Chris Burden's "Shoot"

Here is a section I left out of the essay:

In the background of one post-shooting photo a woman smiles, talking with an out of frame audience member. Her face is behind and to the left of Burden’s frenzied one. She could be in any gallery opening "Who's who" slide show or tagged on Facebook in one of her friend’s party pics. The installation of actual violence inside a gallery did not structurally change the dimension of spectatorship. “Shoot” did not necessitate a new viewership, one with moral obligations to the proceedings. This should not be a surprise – how many Communications studies' cases demonstrate the point that the disinterested public rarely reacts to violence in the public sphere? Compound that with art world traditions of not touching, and the posture of ironic removal endemic in art types. Extrapolating this to international relations of violence and we see the lack of international recourse to the “pre-emptive” invasion of Iraq as unsurprising. But it is too much for individuals to stop another individual’s artwork (or another nation's war). This is something Burden obviously thought about and fit into a career of similar actions. It would be absurd to ask otherwise of a select group of intimates and acquaintances privy to Burden’s modus operandi.

So, in some sense because of audience size and make up, “Shoot” is a
failure. What does it mean to not have someone intercede when there is
no likelihood they would do so anyway? To properly make this point
“Shoot” would have had to have been a more public affair, with the
artist’s intentions broadcast widely and clearly. If still no one had
interceded that would have meaning. Depressing meaning.

Essay after "The Jump."

Jay Ryan and Paul Hornschemeier at Wholly Craft. 11/13/09

Jay Ryan's "Animals and objects in and out of water."      Paul Hornschemeier's "All and Sundry."

Chicagoans Jay Ryan and (former Columbusite) Paul Hornschemeier recently stopped by Wholly Craft to sign, sell and talk about their work. Ryan silkscreens posters for bands like The Decemberists, The Melvins and Fugazi. Hornschemeier makes comics, writes short stories and also does freelance illustration for major media outlets. Some of his more recent comics he shared take on an illustrated prose form instead of comics.

                    I get this because I am taking Philo 101. From Hornschemeier's "three paradoxes."

Here is a MP3 of Hornschemeier reading from his book.
Here are two (1, 2) MP3s of Ryan presenting his work.

After "The Jump" is a transcript of an interview (MP3) with Ryan that touches of digital aesthetics, hand painted signs, business models of posters, design vs. art, etc. Also below is a copy of their tour itinerary.

LUC TUYMANS / T.J. CLARK

MP3 of the talk here.

Around 1:23:00 I ask Tuymans the following:

"Most of the work in this show deals with pernicious policies enacted by ruling classes, for instance Belgium's colonialism or, in America, the policies of the Bush administration. But because of the way your work circulates in the world, the people who benefit from these policies are the only ones who can own your work. Is this bothersome for you or do you view it as poetic justice?"

A review I wrote of the Tuymans show at the Wexner here.

A review I wrote for class of the talk after "the jump."

13 E. Tulane

Story below on 13 E.Tulane / itlookslikeitsopen project space/place. Sandy Plank and Jessica Alcalde have a show there December 5th that everyone should be sparkling about.

Lantern version here: (note - they are not current students.)

Andy tells me:

"I think I'm hanging some recent photos actually. And some paper things. All of it will be highly questionable of course.

Stacie Sells is a Film Festival Juror - Story About.

I wrote a story for the Lantern about Stacie being a Juror for the Columbus International Film and Video Festival. Exhilarating. It's after "the jump."