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Repository 234: Start Close In
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – Buckmeister Fuller It has been two years since I posted on my beloved Mindmarrow blog. When I should have celebrated 10 years of writing and commitment to an invisible and caring art loving community, I took a grand pause. The collective and my private life forced me to pivot to listening mode. I observed the systems thankfully…
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Repository 229: Imagination Breeds Empathy
Once upon a time in Maryland a young boy named Deamonte lived with his Mom and brother. When he was 12 he came down with a toothache. His Mom looked all around for a dentist to care for him, though no one would take Medicaid. Deamonte did not complain. At the same time in 2007, though up north in the borough of Queens New York, a woman took a cab to the old building of Ps1 which is now the…
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Repository 225: Coronacation | When Things Fall Apart
Do not censor yourself right now – make, write, do without judgement. Censorship* is the height of vanity as Martha Graham said, and now is a time where you must create, and destroy outdated definitions of your “self” and do it freely. I am speaking to you – self identified non-artist, or fully indoctrinated “artist” – we are ALL artists, it’s time to be meaningful. We are in crisis mode throughout the world and the only thing we can do…
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Repository 223: Joke’s on You | Failed Comedian Kills A Bunch
Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP Sometimes I like to dip my toes in what “everyone’s” watching, eating, listening to or reading. It’s usually a fun, inconsequential romp through billion dollar commercial successes. Last night’s particular romp has me reeling and worried. While the laughter sequences carried my interest (actually really well done along with the makeup), everything else was a complete disaster. To preface – I love disturbing films Amores Peros is one of my favorites, and I watched…
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Repository 215: When the Private Must be Public | Interrogating the Home in Art
One had to build shelters. One had to make pockets and live inside them. -Lorrie Moore, Like Life. Vintage, 1990 If home is sweet home, then why is the domestic sound terrifying? Horror stories are rooted around a home, or collection of homes we call a town. Countless artists have avoided direct representation of the home unless it’s a subversive attempt to expose the dark, inner sanctum of the familiar. Naturally artists remove sweetness from the domestic. Sweetness is heavy,…
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Repository 209: This is Not a Gun | Smart and Urgent Work by Cara Levine
“The world is violent and mercurial – it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love – love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; being a writer; being a painter; being a friend. We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love.” – Tennessee Williams Everyday I write on the top of…
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Repository 207: Bon Mot | Book Review “The Amateur”
Do not be fooled by the title of this book “The Amateur” and its sweet cover with arty paint splotches. This is nothing short of a revolutionary manifesto of independent thinking. Much like the book “Skinny Bitch” was titled as such to lure the innocent, naive and possibly desperate diet-trodden reader to pick up/buy or borrow the book: it was a blood-filled vegan manifesto designed to convert people to stop supporting the meat industry and eat plants and plant products…
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Repository 205: Super Size Me: Emotional Fodder in the Age of Unreason
A quick note to share some serious observations on the tenor of movies I’ve noticed lately. Logically if you have an emotional public that is increasingly numb from information and entertainment overload you try hard to bolt them from their seats, minds or otherwise. For over 15 years now I’ve observed a huge uptick in emotionally oversized movies. Since I have three small children, and a screen-free house, we do participate in family movie night once a week, and once…
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Repository 200: Le Painting | Mark Making
Dear Matthew Collings, Recently a friend sent a link to a discussion forum where you and her exchanged thoughts about whether painting is dead – you are in the camp of yes, it’s dead, and she in the camp of no it’s not. Simply speaking. Before responding I made sure to see more of your writing and thoughts on the matter. I very much enjoyed your series on the BBC “Rules of Abstraction” – it was a fair and benign…
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Repository 198: Art is the Highest Form of Hope
Today and yesterday I’ve received some of the most gracious, inspiring and hopeful notes from fellow artists. We are all inspired to focus on creativity, to focus on flux, to stay open, to keep breathing, to cry if you need to. We’ve reminded each other that it’s not about running away, but to sitting deeply in the situation we are confronted with and to our work on change through and with our art. The root problem in our society is…
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