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simon pettet + jack kerouac + michael lally ...
jack kerouac spoke to me tonight ...
saying more than before
in a 'flat-footed', non histrionic way -
as etta jones would say,
to me and thirty other people
at the open center on spring street, nyc ...
remarkable, insightful, enlightening ...
lally and pettet - notable poets in their own right,
'dialed into' kerouac's spirit
of casual articulation, rapid fire entente,
and voices of experience -
things these guys know ...
the newly published 'scroll' edition
of 'on the road' is now out there -
a remembrance of things past,
too bad only thirty of us were ever there ...
jack is back,
gotta go ...
‘other’ dialogues ... familiarity - current insight - experience - vagaries the moment circumstance visceral language surfing - driving - diving virtuosity artist against - with unknown chops skeleton process creative artist exposing whatever forces dynamic sounds extended - happening conceptual ‘out-takes’ stuff - intent finesse - form choices - what not to consciousness elevating impact tones, colors, vibrations, and energy - natural ineffable difference profound accumulation intimate - chants tonal navigating - vibration operational frequency clear channel recipient - host appropriate tonality [mantra] ‘voice’, harmony, and rhythm slowly - searching ‘vehicle’ - journey tapestries sound experimentation, dissonance, rhythmic patterning mesmerizing trancelike and meditative transition exercise losing ‘self’ consciousness transcending beyond conventional code flow stream ‘collective consciousness’ interval current - ‘vehicle’ state of consciousness intuitive focus eloquence - interchange concentration alpha, beta, theta,delta sustain simultaneous rejuvenating intensity condensed mastery intuition - extrasensory - liminal ... found passage gradual - frenetic - abrupt dissipated new accessible mediums ...
apophysics + space / time model + vibration frequency + chakras + color frequency ...
dictionary definitions:
makeshift, ad lib, extemporaneous ...
inaccurate ...
what is improv ... ‘other’ dialogues ...
familiarity with the idiom, environment, instrument, materials, audience, spirituality, knowledge, the current, the past, the present, insight, experience, and a list of vagaries too innumerable to mention ...
for most of my life, i’ve enjoyed improvisational music
as long as it remained dynamic -
first with the sounds of flamenco virtuosity,
later with extended rock solos,
happenings, jazz, and conceptual performances -
i’ve also enjoyed the ‘out-takes’ of audio recordings, video, and film -
stuff that ends up on the cutting room floor ...
it shows process and intent -
the artists’ ability to finesse, sculpt, or form a concept -
choices - what to show and what not to ...
and at times, with live music and ‘good’ painting,
the consciousness elevating impact of
the right tones, colors, vibrations, and energy -
[something so natural and ineffable]
proves that the difference between before and after
the experience is profoundly recognizable ...
some insights into ‘improvisation’
became known to me through an accumulation of experiences
marked by two distinct events:
one was an all night, ‘holy’, zuni tribal celebration
at their pueblo in new mexico
at the beginning of the winter solstice;
the other at an intimate cecil taylor performance
at lehigh university in pennsylvania ...
both began with quiet voice chants
or humming or tonal navigating
until it seemed that a certain vibration was located -
in both cases, the pitch became the operational frequency -
the clear channel or line of communication
to whatever recipient the host was looking for ...
once the appointed ‘leader’ found the appropriate tonality [mantra],
they invited others to find their appropriate ‘voice’, harmony, and rhythm ...
it started slowly - searching -
gradually building the search
and suitable ‘vehicle’ for a journey;
with the zuni, it took more than an hour -
with taylor, perhaps twenty minutes -
but the tapestries of sound, playful experimentation,
dissonance, and rhythmic patterning
was mesmerizing - trance like and meditative ...
this transition seemed like a necessary exercise
toward losing ‘self’ consciousness -
a period of transcending
toward something beyond conventional codes ...
if a flow, stream, or ‘collective consciousness’ exists,
this is the interval where the artist skirts the banks
on their way to their place in the current ...
once found, maintenance of the ‘vehicle’
[ state of consciousness ]
becomes an intuitive focus
while participants develop dialogue ...
this is where skill, experience, virtuosity, and eloquence
become necessary tools for effective / meaningful contributions
to the energy, prayer, or interchange ...
the concentration required;
both physical and mental
[alpha, beta, theta,delta],
to sustain this level of involvement
is simultaneously exhausting and rejuvenating,
and stamina seems dependent upon familiarity with the idiom ...
the zuni ritual lasted twelve hours
accompanied by scores of replacements sustaining their intensity ...
taylor’s concert was a condensed,
focused exhibit of energy, mastery, and commitment
to a form that speaks to intuition - extrasensory - liminal ...
the endings were quite different ...
taylor, gently found passage from a journey -
back to the real world ...
whereas the zuni,
after twelve hours of gradual crescendo,
frenetic dancing, chanting, and drumming -
stopped abruptly -
the moment the sun appeared
above their sacred mountain ...
everyone departed, dissipated, quietly ...
left in the middle of a desert
at a new time, new day,
and a new beginning;
with the experience
that there is something
much bigger than all of us,
accessible
through appropriate mediums ...
so i ‘chatted’ with a guy this morning from the contemporary art center in lithuania - that just left an ‘art discussion’ room in berlin - who talked to a friend in beijing who was setting up his show - who spoke to a performance artist in tokyo - that’s going to london to speak at a symposium - with a friend in nyc - who has a studio down the road - that i’ll be showing with at moma - inside out ...
entropy + black holes
[ inspired by keith jarrett's 'out-of-towners' ]
to qualify ...
how far out of ‘town’,
or off the mainline
in this megalopolis,
or global village,
do you have to be ...
what do you need
to ‘not’ look at,
or read ...
how many
city streets, traffic jams,
garbage piles, cabs, cars,
buses, subways,
bridges, tunnels, and people
do you need to refrain from ...
which search engine,
operating system,
cable subscription,
radio, web host,
or chain of bookstores,
and cyber cafes,
chat rooms,
or magazines,
and newspapers
should you avoid ...
how many times a month
do you need to visit
galleries, museums,
lectures, parties, meetings,
friends, restaurants, and shows ...
what dialogues, diatribes, or soliloquies,
secret handshakes,
or life-altering trends
at ‘next’ big things
can one miss
to fulfill ‘hip’ ...
the fast faceted ‘inside’,
compared to other worlds, outside;
the scale of concrete and steel to nature,
maintenance, diversity ...
centralized
being ‘in’,
fitting ...
in footprints of trophies,
fearlessness, arrogance,
causes, humility,
varieties of survival ...
there’s no one
nowhere
that can’t speak,
or email,
or communicate
with anyone
at any time
anywhere
day or night
if they answer ...
connected ...
a little south of chelsea,
east of hollywood,
north of the liberty bell,
a safe distance from d.c.,
as far west
as i want to go
before running into my self again,
twenty minutes from
any airport in the world,
just a ‘click’ away,
just outside
your insides ...
in or out,
sides ...
touching,
versions of reality ...
a click away ...
[ most times, the left hand doesn't know
what the right hand is doing ]
contrast
unbearable heat
intolerable cold
darkness and light ...
incomprehensible scale
measurable components
universal digestion, assimilation
constant transformation ...
changing
nothing static
adapting
mixing ...
sensory
wonder and amazement,
serenity, fear,
majesty, brutality,
sublime creation
evolving ...
mind map no. 1, 24" h x 18" w .
acrylic paint on paper. © 2007 .
i’ve always been interested in what lies beyond
what we see and appreciate ...
components of the present ...
their evolution and potential ...
variables of change ...
consequence ...
editing ...
i’m interested in contrast , interacting rhythms and melody,
cumulative harmony and disparity ...
in part, i’m influenced by the work of:
tiepolo; graceful lines, composition, unique perspectives, and heroic themes -
masson, dufy, kandinsky, gorky, mompo; their lyrical, playful assemblage of image and color -
pollock, motherwell, de kooning; the physicality and complexity of their ‘marks’ upon a surface -
rauschenberg, tapies, baselitz; circumstantial composition and pedestrian palettes -
schnabel, basquiat, kiefer, twombley; their brutal and erratic approach to materials and image -
smithson, rabinowich, serra, rockborne, polke; their conceptual organization of focal points ...
i’m interested in the appearance of ancient and prehistoric works;
cave drawings, frescoes, pottery, manuscripts -
their effacement, disintegration, encrustation, patina, and palimpsest ...
i’m interested in time as an element, and the components of a thought as ingredients to the notion of painting ...
[ to be continued ]
no. 9, ink on paper . © 2007 .
too much data, to consolidate, to develop ‘one’ today ...
yeah, it’s about improvisation, free form, abstraction, expressionism, inclusion, reductionism, lyricism, nature, alchemy, editing, materials, techniques, outsider, palimpsest, morphology, philosophy, spirituality, art histories, music, poetry, dance, literature, politics, sociology, science, and any number of additional things in the course of the day ...
a song, a symphony, a composition, a dream, a prayer, a news clip, birds chirping, wind, light, temperature, words filtering through, structures, color, pain, and all the things they conjure up in terms of memories, issues, debates, responsibilities, methods, etc. ...
yet i still feel obliged to complete a task; i’m told, would benefit my work and career - after more than thirty years of painting and drawing nearly every day - chasing down solutions, experimenting, and manifesting images - marketing, working the systems, inventing some, and keeping the studio afloat - i’m asked to define ‘it’ ...
what ‘it’ is i do ...
there’s a simple answer, a complex answer, and countless paralyzing choices in-between ...
