Fairy Tales

100 Books

by mlleD · Jun 22, 2022

Three (ahem) years ago I published a post on Decluttering Books. I still haven’t finished reading the Felt—Fluxus, Joseph Beuys, and the Dalai Lama by Chris Thompson. Which isn’t necessarily an inditement on the book, but a reflection of how tough it is to get into the long form these days. Besides that pesky pandemic, there have been re-readings of Sherlock Holmes (perhaps the 19th re-reading?), Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God (definitely worth a deep dive, Armada by Ernest Cline (better known for Ready Player One), and countless mysteries.

At the time of this writing, on the solstice, I can’t think of a book that has grabbed my soul out of my heart and made me want to pass it on to everyone I know. That doesn’t mean I haven’t read one, it might mean I wasn’t paying attention.

What I have been doing is letting go of (gasp!) some books. 100 to be precise. 92 books donated to the wonderful, delightful free libraries scattered about town, and 7 books sold for the princely sum of $10 each.

Each book donated did feel like it was stealing a bit of my soul or character or something like that. Now that’s it done, I can hardly recall the titles. The whole process took about 3 months.

Decluttering Books

by Deanne · Apr 9, 2019

Was getting ready to Marie Kondo* some more books, to schlep them to the bookstore (one that specializes in rare books) and get the princely sum of $12.50 for which expeditionary result would likely be $150 worth of chiropractic fees lugging rare dusty tones to said store.

Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky – Heritage Press, 1949

But before I embark on the actual lugging, I start to read one of the philosophy books I bought on a trip to New York 8 years ago.
Felt—Fluxus, Joseph Beuys, and the Dalai Lama by Chris Thompson. The title was what plucked those American dollars ($27.50 + tax) out of my pocket . BTW this is not a review. I’ve only read the first 20-30 pages. It’s quite dense. One of those academic books that unless you’re in grad school, or a scholar, might sit on your shelf for quite a few moons, only imbuing you with its gifts via some kind of dust telepathy.

But I did reach a section – FRIVOLITY AND DANGER – where he mentions the philosopher Levinas’s work Totality and Infinity -“is very much an elaboration of a particular passage from Dosotyevsky’s novel…” which is lo and behold one of the dusty tomes – Brothers Karamazov that I’ve set aside to earn peanuts.

So I immediately rebel against letting go of all the dust. And I start to finally read the Brothers Karamazov, except I’m reading on my phone, not the actual precious paper tome. A limited edition I may ad. Published before I was born.

Which opens a vortex in the universe and creates a parallel reality where I am selling my artwork for $18,000 a pop.

Another option is to re-print the book (it must be in the public domain ?) with my own illustrations because hey, I think all these things might benefit from being revised by a gal’s touch such as mine.

But first I’ll have to finish the BK. Either on my phone, or in the tome.

p.s. I know that Marie Kondoing books is heresy to some. And I was in that camp for a long time. Recently though, I don’t have the shelf space, could use the extra cash, and want to either engage in the knowledge or liberate myself from the unfinished list. After all, it’s now a free download.

Pop The Balloon

by Deanne · Nov 27, 2018

I found out about the now infamous Banksy self-destructing artwork “Girl with Balloon” —- part performance, part stunt, a brilliant and deeply cynical gesture — on social media. Twitter, which although I don’t “use” it as much anymore, it still has the pulse on immediate information, despite having being upstaged by its more visual cousin, Instagram.

Watching “The Director’s Cut” video on YouTube, which perhaps purports that the image was intended to be entirely shred, and further mocks the elite art world, while yet still profiting from it, makes me realize that Banksy should clone himself and be a prof at most art schools. Or at least offer online workshops.

What would an application to the Canada Council look like that was shaped by a Banksy style intention?

Dear Jury Members, Deer Peers,

So I want to do this thing.

….//////////////////////////<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>
…|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
…_______________
…
.

Banksy shows us how to work the system and yet still, ostensibly, kick it in its backside.

Probably there are PhD students right now choosing his work as a thesis project.

——

I’m thinking about this as I decide whether or not to apply for a PhD, and whether or not to become more commercial in my approach to arts-making.

AS if there is a difference.

“

The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act

.” – The Creative Act, Marcel Duchamp, 1957

Softly

by Deanne · Jul 12, 2018

So on my art site, I just soft-launched my shop. By soft launch, I mean —— ssssh —— I’ve only told a handful of folks. I haven’t done any MARketing. Marketing. Mark making. Not a ting.

Why might this be?
Shame. Fear. Laziness. Introversion. Lack of Courage. Guilt.
Take any of those words and mix them together with old thoughts, and boom. SILENCE.

I was chatting with several artists recently about this phenomena. Why is selling “products” a dirty word in the art world? By art world, I loosely mean the academic art world. It goes without saying that those artists who have an Etsy shop presumably have no hesitation, internal conflict, or whatnot about putting their stuff out there with a price tag on it.

One gal commented that it is the censoring voice of one’s former prof —- who probably isn’t even making art anymore! [Meow] And, even if they are, they are tenured professors — so no need to get messy with the concept of money.

Or it might be that the BIG art market wants things to remain in the old system, so that pricing can be controlled and manipulated – like the stock market.

Who knows.

What I know for sure, as Oprah often says (blush) —— my shop is live. Check her out.
Right now there are two projects:
1) Contour line drawings (as fine art prints) from a project on Instagram where I draw my phone and hand first thing in the morning before turning the phone on.
2) Drawing/collage of hearts and the neural network.

A Fairy Tale About Five Seconds

by Deanne · Nov 21, 2017

Fairy Tale is one of the synonyms which came up when g0ogling for a synonym for Narrative which is just too darn heavy a word. Besides, I like fairy tales.

How much time does a fairy tale have to unfold in a 5 second universe?

A split screen, split attention, split second space where engagement is not within the refined confines of the white cube of the gallery, but within the little box that gives you text neck and changes your vision, both day and night, now enhanced with a filter for the night so you sleep better (ha).

How does narrative structure work in this 5 second universe?

You’ve probably seen those blog posts that begin with notifying you “5 minutes 37 second read” / “8 min read” / “Warning! 22 minutes read – your head might explode” – ok I made that last one up, but I do wonder. Is that how busy we’ve all become, we must know in advance how many minutes it will take to read, and who is creating that algorithm of pace?

Then again, with books, or even pictures in a gallery, you can tell at a glance how long it might take to engage. Proust is going to be measured in many hours. I just finished reading “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel, a whopping 672 pages, and I confess I did not propose it to my book club for fear that it would take too long for the group to read. It required engagement. A commitment to reading.

Now one must structure apps so that they respond within micro seconds or else your user is gone.

∞

Once upon a time there was a monk in an abbey somewhere, back in say, 1303, and he was turning 38, which was no doubt quite old back then. His eyesight was failing, well after all it would be given his job. Using a quill pen and precious ink, he was working on the letter R. After five days, (this was a commission), he started to see double.

∞

To be continued in 5 seconds in a parallel universe.

Digital decluttering and freedom

by Deanne · Feb 5, 2016

So, this blog is virtually invisible. It’s possible that way back in 2007 –

2007 kids

– I even set up an .htaccess file and/or robots.txt file so that the g-d g0-ggle doesn’t index this blog. I’m too lazy to verify.

But what I suddenly realized contemplating whether it’s worth it to keep this blog up for testing (themes etc) in the day and age where “staging sites” render that notion more or less obsolete, and that I’m hanging onto this site, wasting precious breaths reading it (while enjoying or shuddering at my younger self), that it’s anonymity/invisibility/etc is the perfect venue for me to just write without any concerns of judgement.

What stops me from blogging elsewhere (which I do, and have done) is basically something else I need to declutter — perfectionism. I like to craft each post with carefully created images, with logical thoughts, with “value”, with something that doesn’t just take up space and, all that. Whereas here, it can be whatever the frig it wants to be.

Frig, or Frigg. The goddess of Asgard, which I know not because I vaguely remember a first year university mythology class, but because we binge watched the excellent The Almighty Johnsons. For me it’s almost Trailer Park Boys meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, minus too much gore. There’s a bit of fire, as Loki is one of the characters. A comedy about a group of brothers, who are part human, part Norse gods, and their quest to find Frigg, Odin’s wife, who once found, will mean they get their powers back in full. It’s funny, wistful and ends before it turns into Friends.

Just typing that I feel a weight off my shoulders. Who cares if I keep or delete this blog? Should I import some of the archives somewhere else? It doesn’t matter. The forest will keep changing and keep remaining the same.

Fringe, not the festival

by Deanne · Sep 17, 2008

Given the time of year, as the crisp, clear, ginger air of September streams through Vancouver, when I first saw on the tv listings channel “Fringe”, I thought “Oh goodie, a show about the Fringe Festival“. Incorrect.

Fringe is like X-Files on speed. Blend in a touch of horrific sci-fi, the Sopranos grittiness and you’ve got the makings of a hit in a post-neuf-un-un era.

Enuf already.

Let’s not forget the movie with those twins. I forget which one, twins were big at one point. From really standing by your main, and then finding out he is a traitor and watching him die in your arms, to negotiating the corridors of proverbial power, Anna Torv plays Agent Dunham with pretty damn good poise.

It’s also a bit like watching Star Trek.

The good: the use of the science lab from the 70s replete with avant garde aesthetics, the quirkiness of the “mad” scientist, and the Anna Torv as the female lead. The corporation, here styled by the architecture of minimalism and wide open, empty space.

The bad: the above mentioned too many “notes” – self referentialism is done. the frenetic pace – hey ease up a bit, give a gal a chance to watch.

Look forward to seeing how they focus the plot and gel together the acting.