Here is my new year's resolution list in no particular rank or order:
eat more vegetables < less meat < sugar and do the raw thing
cultivate more patience/tolerance
stay in better touch with loved ones
visit Austin
visit Houston
learn Chinese
learn to drive (better)
be grateful to everyone
spend more time on photography
spend more time in the darkroom - PRINT PRINT PRINT
experiment with Polaroids -screw cost
lose 10 pounds before turning 30
write the libretto
setup an international residency
spend more time in the classroom
reconfigure fam memoir project
pay some debts down and stockpile some serious cash
play guitar more
take some yoga classes
This is sort of a yearly ritual for me, mapping out goals and re-evaluation of where I'm at. I also do this annually on my birthday.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Thursday, December 30, 2004
This new documentary looks simply amazing amazing. Alas, where can I see it locally?
Movie reviews:
"Spanglish" is a wonderful movie about difficulties of communication and the dysfunction and breakdown of a wealthy L.A. family. Flor Moreno leaves Mexico with her young daughter and migrates to Los Angeles where she eventually finds a housecleaning job at the house of John and Deborah. John and Deborah are far from being on the same page as to their parenting, and one of the best scenes in the movie is when they break out into a fight over their son George. Deborah alleges that John undermines her authority by setting up a dynamic of good cop, bad cop. John's character attempts to dismiss/lighten the conversation and tries to do so by cupping his wife's breast. She is, rightly so, infuriated and gives him the earful that he has coming. Deborah's idea of parenting when it comes to their slightly overweight daughter Bernice is incredibly screwed up. Deb surprises Bernie by buying her new clothes from a sample sale - in a smaller size than she actually fits into, in the hope of encouraging her to lose weight. The scene is entirely heartbreaking as disappointment dawns on Bernie's face and she runs into the bathroom. Witness to this interaction, Flor secretly takes the clothes and tailors them with a sewing machine to Bernie's size. Flor, who speaks no English at this point in the movie, learns the phrase from her daughter Christina "Just try it on." Though Flor's knowledge of English is limited, she repeats this phrase 4 times to Bernie before getting her to do as she requests, and as she goes through each phrasing of "Just try it on", the audience can read the emotional shifts and renewed intensity and desire to communicate with each delivery. Deb decides she wants to rent a summer home on the beach and gets Flor to move in as a live-in housekeeper, with her daughter. Deb is enamored of Christina, who is thin, appreciative, intelligent, but most of all, the perfect little girl that her daughter Bernice is not. Deb sneaks Christina off to shopping trips and gets her a scholarship to the private prep school that Bernice attends, and Flor is left to struggle with wanting the best for her daughter while being afraid of losing her. Another wonderful moment in this movie is when after dropping off the girls at the bustop, Flor protests against her neurotic employer. They have just left the bustop where Deb has given Christina a number of gifts for her 1st day at school, and Christiina has given a warm goodbye to Deb, and only waved at her mother. Flor starts walking back to the house as Deb lingers behind. And when Flor hears Deb running - she has an obnoxious habit of yelling out "left", "right" when passing others on the road, Flor says with great determination, "NO LEFT" and starts running in her skirt and flats. These were my favorite moments in the plot - ultimately, Deb has an affair which she confesses to John who has had a growing attraction and affection for Flor. Flor and John share a kiss, but Flor quits her job and Christina is taken out of private school and at the end we realize that through the many subplots, this movie is very much about love between a mother and a daughter.
More later on Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou...
Interesting to read on Ron's site about Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty". I confess to never yet having seen this movie, though I have heard it hyped, mostly by a male poet I used to know in Boston who praised it as his all time favorite movie. And so, how illuminating to hear about the fellatio scene with the beautiful Liv Tyler. Of course!
Movie reviews:
"Spanglish" is a wonderful movie about difficulties of communication and the dysfunction and breakdown of a wealthy L.A. family. Flor Moreno leaves Mexico with her young daughter and migrates to Los Angeles where she eventually finds a housecleaning job at the house of John and Deborah. John and Deborah are far from being on the same page as to their parenting, and one of the best scenes in the movie is when they break out into a fight over their son George. Deborah alleges that John undermines her authority by setting up a dynamic of good cop, bad cop. John's character attempts to dismiss/lighten the conversation and tries to do so by cupping his wife's breast. She is, rightly so, infuriated and gives him the earful that he has coming. Deborah's idea of parenting when it comes to their slightly overweight daughter Bernice is incredibly screwed up. Deb surprises Bernie by buying her new clothes from a sample sale - in a smaller size than she actually fits into, in the hope of encouraging her to lose weight. The scene is entirely heartbreaking as disappointment dawns on Bernie's face and she runs into the bathroom. Witness to this interaction, Flor secretly takes the clothes and tailors them with a sewing machine to Bernie's size. Flor, who speaks no English at this point in the movie, learns the phrase from her daughter Christina "Just try it on." Though Flor's knowledge of English is limited, she repeats this phrase 4 times to Bernie before getting her to do as she requests, and as she goes through each phrasing of "Just try it on", the audience can read the emotional shifts and renewed intensity and desire to communicate with each delivery. Deb decides she wants to rent a summer home on the beach and gets Flor to move in as a live-in housekeeper, with her daughter. Deb is enamored of Christina, who is thin, appreciative, intelligent, but most of all, the perfect little girl that her daughter Bernice is not. Deb sneaks Christina off to shopping trips and gets her a scholarship to the private prep school that Bernice attends, and Flor is left to struggle with wanting the best for her daughter while being afraid of losing her. Another wonderful moment in this movie is when after dropping off the girls at the bustop, Flor protests against her neurotic employer. They have just left the bustop where Deb has given Christina a number of gifts for her 1st day at school, and Christiina has given a warm goodbye to Deb, and only waved at her mother. Flor starts walking back to the house as Deb lingers behind. And when Flor hears Deb running - she has an obnoxious habit of yelling out "left", "right" when passing others on the road, Flor says with great determination, "NO LEFT" and starts running in her skirt and flats. These were my favorite moments in the plot - ultimately, Deb has an affair which she confesses to John who has had a growing attraction and affection for Flor. Flor and John share a kiss, but Flor quits her job and Christina is taken out of private school and at the end we realize that through the many subplots, this movie is very much about love between a mother and a daughter.
More later on Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou...
Interesting to read on Ron's site about Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty". I confess to never yet having seen this movie, though I have heard it hyped, mostly by a male poet I used to know in Boston who praised it as his all time favorite movie. And so, how illuminating to hear about the fellatio scene with the beautiful Liv Tyler. Of course!
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
New blog on the block:
Roger Pao's Asian-American Poetry
Roger's published poems in Gumball Poetry and Shampoo, two of my favorite e-zines. Please drop by and check out his site. Welcome, Roger!
Roger Pao's Asian-American Poetry
Roger's published poems in Gumball Poetry and Shampoo, two of my favorite e-zines. Please drop by and check out his site. Welcome, Roger!
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
I think the Marfa trip helped get my head straight. I finished my first project so far this Winter this morning, the Hyphen Mag article on Asian American lit anthologies. (email me if you'd like to read the unedited draft!) And I finally sent a few pages of writing to the folks at @tached document after initiating a conversation 3 months ago about the upcoming issue on poetic journaling. What's next? Job applications! That's right - time to buckle up and go back to the daily grind and start earning an income if I ever want to have some non-Texas options. And let's not forget planning for class.. driving around a large percentage of Texas was extremely useful actually - I've seen teaching positions posted for UT San Angelo and other remote TX towns in the past, and now I know what these places are like, nothing left to possibly project.
Monday, December 27, 2004
My desk is swimming in the following anthologies - a combination of class prep and my Hyphen article:
Pinoy Poetics (Meritage Press)
This Art: Poems About Poetry (Copper Canyon Press)
New American Poets of the '90s (Godine Publishing)
Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation (University of Illinois Press)
Screaming Monkeys (Coffee House Press)
and I just put this one on special order:
On Anthologies: Poetics & Pedagogy (Univ. of NE Press)
This last one looks like a very good one, useful for framing any discussion of the politics of the anthology..
Pinoy Poetics (Meritage Press)
This Art: Poems About Poetry (Copper Canyon Press)
New American Poets of the '90s (Godine Publishing)
Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation (University of Illinois Press)
Screaming Monkeys (Coffee House Press)
and I just put this one on special order:
On Anthologies: Poetics & Pedagogy (Univ. of NE Press)
This last one looks like a very good one, useful for framing any discussion of the politics of the anthology..
Sunday, December 26, 2004
We left on Tuesday morning via route 67 which took us almost all the way to Alpine, about 20 miles away from Marfa. We passed thru little West Texas towns - Venus, Erath, Comanche, Blanket, Brownwood, Alvorado, Valera, Ballinger, Early, Mertzon, Sherwood, Barnhart, Big Lake... Saw a number of parched golf courses along the way with yellowed grass, desolate. Signs we saw: "Vasectomy Reversal Procedures Here" and "Custom Slaughtering - Cow Pig Deer". Passed pecan groves and cotton fields, cotton bales. Checked into the Antelope Lodge on Tuesday night, had dinner at Casita's and walked around the highway stargazing. Wednesday morning got up at 8 to make it in time for the 10 a.m. tour at Chinati led by a nice kid named Ben, fellow grad of SAIC and a student of Candida Alvarez. Chinati is a 340 acre former military base, aka Fort D.A. Russell, which was converted by Donald Judd into the site for large-scale installation works, as an "alternative to traditional, anthology-sytle contemporary art museums". Started with viewing 2 buildings with aluminum cubes ("untitled works in mill aluminum"), then ceramics by Ken Price - organ like forms, a Russian schoolroom by Ilya Kabakov and than on to the Chamberlin metal sculptures which were located back in town in a building near the railroad tracks. Met this guy who was out from New York while on the tour.
Lunch break at Marfa Burrito where the propietor spoke no English and I got to practice my Spanish ordering veg for Kort. Funky little burrito joint run out of this senora's front room. The gringos go into the kitchen to point out what they want.
In the afternoon - started with the Flavin light pieces, and proceede to John Wesley paintings (largely figurative), graphite works by Ingolfur Arnasson, and poem works by the sculptor Carl Andre which were VERY interesting. One word sonnets repeated in 14 line patterns over and over again plus a series of alphabet poems.
In town, hung out at the Marfa Book Company which has a great art section and where I ran into Dawn Trook of Project Big Top who's gearing up for the project's first series of programs. The Brown Recluse is the other bookstore in town - used books and records, agua fresca, and empanadas. Picked up Pound's ABC of Reading and a book on raw "cooking" by Juliano, Demi Moore's personal chef who prepped her for her role in Charlie's Angels.
Thursday morning wandering around Alpine - 2 bookstores - 1 is an annex of the town library, junk shop, record store, and bakeries. Drive back to Marfa and check out Galleri Urbane which relocated from Silver City, NM and look at Polaroid works by Mike Slack and photographs by Michael Berman. This space is run by easily the nicest gallery owner in the world, Jason Willaford, who is himself an artist. At his suggestion, we walked over to the 2d gallery which is a transplant from Santa Fe, NM and which has a very Zen aesthetic - minimalist, spare, and clean-lined. A number of exciting artists in this space, among them Agnes Martin.
At 4:30, toured the Judd Estate on El Paso Road with Robert, a long time docent at Chinati. No photos allowed. The estate is surrounded by a tall adobe wall and inside the compound are 2 hanger style buildings, a lap pool, a grape arbor, a garden area, dog kennels, chicken coop, and greenhouse. The spaces in the compound respond to one another - the dimensions of the lap pool = equivalent to the dimensions of the herbal/veg garden directly opposite in the yard. The right side hanger housed 2 libraries of Judd's books, organized by subject matter (philosophy, art (subcategorized by country/culture), science, etc), and 1 gallery which houses Judd's first sculptural work which was made in 1962 after he quit painting. Through the alley between the internal and external walls of the compound to the 2nd hanger - more galleries and just opposite the bathrooms and sauna. End in the house where Judd first moved into with his 2 children when they settled in Marfa. Each of these buildings is filled with furniture Judd designed - chairs, beds, bookcases, etc.
On the drive home, a fine dusting of snow on the backs of cows. Trains and multi-colored boxcars, bales of cotton reminiscent of Judd's own structures. No sightings of the Marfa lights on this trip - too cold to be outdoors!
Lunch break at Marfa Burrito where the propietor spoke no English and I got to practice my Spanish ordering veg for Kort. Funky little burrito joint run out of this senora's front room. The gringos go into the kitchen to point out what they want.
In the afternoon - started with the Flavin light pieces, and proceede to John Wesley paintings (largely figurative), graphite works by Ingolfur Arnasson, and poem works by the sculptor Carl Andre which were VERY interesting. One word sonnets repeated in 14 line patterns over and over again plus a series of alphabet poems.
In town, hung out at the Marfa Book Company which has a great art section and where I ran into Dawn Trook of Project Big Top who's gearing up for the project's first series of programs. The Brown Recluse is the other bookstore in town - used books and records, agua fresca, and empanadas. Picked up Pound's ABC of Reading and a book on raw "cooking" by Juliano, Demi Moore's personal chef who prepped her for her role in Charlie's Angels.
Thursday morning wandering around Alpine - 2 bookstores - 1 is an annex of the town library, junk shop, record store, and bakeries. Drive back to Marfa and check out Galleri Urbane which relocated from Silver City, NM and look at Polaroid works by Mike Slack and photographs by Michael Berman. This space is run by easily the nicest gallery owner in the world, Jason Willaford, who is himself an artist. At his suggestion, we walked over to the 2d gallery which is a transplant from Santa Fe, NM and which has a very Zen aesthetic - minimalist, spare, and clean-lined. A number of exciting artists in this space, among them Agnes Martin.
At 4:30, toured the Judd Estate on El Paso Road with Robert, a long time docent at Chinati. No photos allowed. The estate is surrounded by a tall adobe wall and inside the compound are 2 hanger style buildings, a lap pool, a grape arbor, a garden area, dog kennels, chicken coop, and greenhouse. The spaces in the compound respond to one another - the dimensions of the lap pool = equivalent to the dimensions of the herbal/veg garden directly opposite in the yard. The right side hanger housed 2 libraries of Judd's books, organized by subject matter (philosophy, art (subcategorized by country/culture), science, etc), and 1 gallery which houses Judd's first sculptural work which was made in 1962 after he quit painting. Through the alley between the internal and external walls of the compound to the 2nd hanger - more galleries and just opposite the bathrooms and sauna. End in the house where Judd first moved into with his 2 children when they settled in Marfa. Each of these buildings is filled with furniture Judd designed - chairs, beds, bookcases, etc.
On the drive home, a fine dusting of snow on the backs of cows. Trains and multi-colored boxcars, bales of cotton reminiscent of Judd's own structures. No sightings of the Marfa lights on this trip - too cold to be outdoors!
Saturday, December 25, 2004
IMG_0860
Originally uploaded by shinyu32.
The Foundation also houses a number of works by light artist Dan Flavin who was a close friend and associate of Judd. The light works are installed in a series of 6 U-shaped buildings (which were barracks). The viewer walks through an entrance at one end of the U and the installation is at the far end of the vertical room. Directly opposite from one installation down a long horizontal hall is another light piece which can only be accessed through entering the other end of the U.
Monday, December 20, 2004
Blog hiatus for a few days as I head off to Marfa and the Chinati Foundation for a brief sojourn. In the mean time, for your entertainment pleasure, please go to DISPATX and read my friend Ruth Lepson's poetic collaboration with musician James Carson. Hooray, Ruth!
Sunday, December 19, 2004
This is a tres tres cool opportunity for the right person:
Luce-Terra American Art Research Fellowship at the Louvre
The Louvre Museum is seeking an American graduate student
to work for a 12-month period, between March 1, 2005 and
June 30, 2006, on a project to research and inventory
American art in French public collections.
The student will work closely with a French student under
the direction of Olivier Meslay, Curator of British and
American Art at the Louvre Museum. The project comprises
cataloguing and digitizing all of the work of American art
in the French public institutions, with the goal of
creating a database available on the web. The student will
travel to various museums in France, meet curators, look
at collections, and photograph works of art.
Period: 12 months, full time
Fellowship: $25,000 (inclusive of airfare, housing, and
stipend)
Eligibility:
- graduate-level in art history education with a
specialization in American art before 1939
- verbal (and written) fluency in French
- computer proficiency and familiarity with data base
programs
- valid drivers license
- museum experience preferred
Application:
Content of the application to be sent before January 10th,
2005:
- 1 page cover letter of motivation
- resume
- listing of American art-history classes
The selected candidates will have an interview with
Olivier Meslay in Atlanta during the College Art
Association annual conference, on February 16-19, 2005.
Please mail or e-mail applications to:
Camille Madelin
Direction du Developpement Culturel
Musse du Louvre
75 058 Paris Cedex 01
Camille.madelin@louvre.fr
Luce-Terra American Art Research Fellowship at the Louvre
The Louvre Museum is seeking an American graduate student
to work for a 12-month period, between March 1, 2005 and
June 30, 2006, on a project to research and inventory
American art in French public collections.
The student will work closely with a French student under
the direction of Olivier Meslay, Curator of British and
American Art at the Louvre Museum. The project comprises
cataloguing and digitizing all of the work of American art
in the French public institutions, with the goal of
creating a database available on the web. The student will
travel to various museums in France, meet curators, look
at collections, and photograph works of art.
Period: 12 months, full time
Fellowship: $25,000 (inclusive of airfare, housing, and
stipend)
Eligibility:
- graduate-level in art history education with a
specialization in American art before 1939
- verbal (and written) fluency in French
- computer proficiency and familiarity with data base
programs
- valid drivers license
- museum experience preferred
Application:
Content of the application to be sent before January 10th,
2005:
- 1 page cover letter of motivation
- resume
- listing of American art-history classes
The selected candidates will have an interview with
Olivier Meslay in Atlanta during the College Art
Association annual conference, on February 16-19, 2005.
Please mail or e-mail applications to:
Camille Madelin
Direction du Developpement Culturel
Musse du Louvre
75 058 Paris Cedex 01
Camille.madelin@louvre.fr
Friday, December 17, 2004
Hyphen Magazine in San Francisco has asked me to do a short write-up on the new generation of Asian American literary anthologies. The editor and I narrowed down works to be covered and looks like I'll be comparing Screaming Monkeys, the University of Illinois anthology, Son of the Dragon (forthcoming project of Nick and Marlon Esguerra) and Nick and Eileen's Pinoy Poetics. I've been reading Pinoy Poetics which is a fabulous and wonderfully edited collection of work with statements from the authors on their creative process and their feelings/experiences of cultural identity. I expect to blog more about the many new and talented authors in this collection that I am only just discovering. It's been an interesting exercise to look at these collections as I'm getting ready to teach a class at SMU and I have been feeling rather conflicted about the course book which I inherited and will be teaching this semester. There are some really great teaching resources out there and I will definitely be bringing in some supplemental readings...
As some of you who may follow the Buffalo List may have heard, the poet Michael Rothenberg has had a terrible tragedy in San Francisco - a house fire which destroyed much of his home, artwork, writing and archives. Please send your support to Suzi Winson at fishdrum@earthlink.net. Michael is on the board of an organization which has for years actually supported Poets in Need, but California law prohibits that as a board member of a non-profit service organization any of these funds should go to help Michael in his own time of need. Unfortunately these rules are inflexible and do not look at the circumstances of this particular situation. Michael is also the editor and publisher of Big Bridge and has done a lot for poetry and poets. Please send your help!
Lately, I've been morbidly fascinated with plastic surgery. A friend of mine just had some fat deposits removed from her eyelids and I've been reading about China's "Miss Plastic Surgery Competition".
hals und beinbruch
in the motherland not
just women and
dwarves who undergo the knife
an up and coming aspirant
in Beijing reports from
the operating table
I need to be at least five
foot nine to achieve what
I want in life
chisel and mallet
taken to the knee
clean snap of bone
heredity, bone stunt or
nanism, overturn a sentence
to new opportunities
in the government
a chance at law school or
to act in film
ugly duckling to
silly goose, the world
a stage break
a leg
hals und beinbruch
in the motherland not
just women and
dwarves who undergo the knife
an up and coming aspirant
in Beijing reports from
the operating table
I need to be at least five
foot nine to achieve what
I want in life
chisel and mallet
taken to the knee
clean snap of bone
heredity, bone stunt or
nanism, overturn a sentence
to new opportunities
in the government
a chance at law school or
to act in film
ugly duckling to
silly goose, the world
a stage break
a leg
Monday, December 13, 2004
This weekend we rented Zhang Yimou's newest movie "House of Flying Daggers" which is an unexpected and poignant love story. Who is that beautiful actor playing, Jin? None other than Takeshi Kaneshiro (doesn't he by the way resemble a young Andrew McCarthy circa "Pretty in Pink"?), born of Japanese/Taiwanese ancestry, and who I last saw in Wang Kar Wai's classic "Chungking Express". That's Takeshi in the first section of Chungking Express buying cans of pineapple and running until all the moisture has left his body so that the body can no longer make tears. Sigh.
I suppose it's worth mentioning that we saw "Sideways" several weeks ago - I liked Thomas Haden Church from his days on "Wings" and heard rave reviews of Paul Giamatti in "American Splendor". I have to say, I really hated this movie which seemed to me to be about 2 men, Miles and Jack, with 2 different addictions, alcohol and sex, and how they enabled each other's addictions in a very dysfunctional friendship. It was also awful to see Sandra Oh pimped out by her husband the director/filmmaker in her role as Jack's paramour, but it was rewarding to see her beat the shit out of Jack's philandering character.
I suppose it's worth mentioning that we saw "Sideways" several weeks ago - I liked Thomas Haden Church from his days on "Wings" and heard rave reviews of Paul Giamatti in "American Splendor". I have to say, I really hated this movie which seemed to me to be about 2 men, Miles and Jack, with 2 different addictions, alcohol and sex, and how they enabled each other's addictions in a very dysfunctional friendship. It was also awful to see Sandra Oh pimped out by her husband the director/filmmaker in her role as Jack's paramour, but it was rewarding to see her beat the shit out of Jack's philandering character.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Last night one of my neighbors in the program had a pre-holiday get together for the residents. Basically, I enjoy everyone's company who is a current resident except for one outgoing character who has one of the biggest egos I have ever encountered for so young an age - but perhaps the 2 go hand in hand. This is the guy who said to me the first time I met him that he's learned to "be nice to everyone" - in context - he's burned many a bridge and dissed classmates who've gone on to be superstars and curators. So for the first time last night in the 2 months that I have known him, he actually asked me a question about my work and I explained a bit about the collaborations I have been working on with Ferenc and David. Since David is a painter, that particular project, caught artist's attention who confessed that he would probably not ever be able to successfully collaborate with anyone because it requires 1) absolute trust and 2) a total dropping of ego. He related how he hated working together with classmates in grad school because they would inevitably "mess up" all his hard work and care that went into a piece. Further, he suggested that while one may drop the ego, the superego is always present, and it would not really seem possible to drop the ego. But since artist is now "loosening up" he becomes more open to the idea. I think at this point, or maybe even before, I tuned out and mentally left the room. Thank God he's leaving... this dude is also not a fan of "dumb girls" and related a story of a recent date he went on in which the girl said to him, "I just counted all my teeth with my tongue." At which point, the date was over. She doesn't have to be super smart or a rocket scientist, but no dumb girls. I guess he totally missed the suggestion/invitation that perhaps he might count along. But then who said I.Q is equal to E.Q.?
I got the brochure of programming for the Arts & Letters Live programming at the Museum and was somewhat shocked. The program has assembled an interesting enough spring season, although definitely catering to mainstream tastes - presenting authors in the "distingushed writers" series include Augusten Burroughs, Sue Monk Kidd, Anchee Min, and Salman Rushdie. Average ticket price is $25, with $35 for the Rushdie event. You could go see Rufus Wainwright at a concert for that price, or snag the cheap seats at a Bob Dylan show. No poets are included in the "distinguished writers" series - though in the past the program has brought in your basic standards: Billy Collins, Robert Pinsky, and Li-Young Lee. So who exactly is the lit audience here in Dallas, TX? And don't these prices seem more than a bit elite? While speakers don't come cheap these days and programs have to pass their cost benefits analyses at the end of the year - how does this particular program serve the "public"? Other events include dinner with Frances Mayes and a book signing at $50 a ticket. It is interesting to note that the "free programs" - that is "free" with museum admission are largely poetry events. Hmmm... disparity in values?
Here's an interesting nugget of historical information on Asian blepheroplasty which was passed on to me by my neighbor, Baseera Khan: blepheroplasty in this country caught on in the 1940s with Fred Korematsu, who when he had the procedure done was trying to look less Japanese so he could avoid the internment camps during WWII.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Monday, December 06, 2004
My friend, Tom, forwarded me a great news story on the military dropping origami "bombs" in Thailand. Isn't this the way it should be?
Sunday, December 05, 2004
So my friend Tia is heading back for her 3rd visit to the MacDowell Colony in January, my own number 1 residency of choice. What's so great about MacDowell? You hit the ground running there with your work and your every need is anticipated. Picnic lunches on your doorstep, regular runs to downtown Peterborough, an incredible library of books, film, and musical scores, a diverse range of artists and writers, lots of firewood for your cottage, solitude, quiet, the woods, and a fellowship in the largest sense of the word possible.
I've been back in Dallas for 2 months and have been reflective of the difference between this particular residency and the others I have been a part of. There have been many many logistical challenges, but I think the big difference is that this is a working artist's residency vs. a retreat. Most if not all of the artists here work and don't spend every moment creating new work. There is however amazing and wonderful support and a wide network for new opportunities at local universities and many resources so long as you investigate them and negotiate your own waters. We're in a very urban/industriial area on the edge of some gentrification waiting to happen. Drive the wrong direction on Lamar and you're in the hood. Across the street from us is police headquarters where you can fill out an application to do an "overnite" - i.e. accompany a squad car on its nightly rounds. Spanish speakers encouraged to apply. The "artist's quarters" is pimped out regularly for high profile parties which can mean revelers outside your door many nights out of the week which is not terribly conducive to work or rest or home. And I of course start my days by faxing collection agencies my police reports for the mail and identity theft which occurred here. Not griping, so much as reflecting. It's a young program, a work in progress, like my old MFA program, you make it what you want it to be and contribute what you can along the way to improve and refine the experience for the next generation.
I've been back in Dallas for 2 months and have been reflective of the difference between this particular residency and the others I have been a part of. There have been many many logistical challenges, but I think the big difference is that this is a working artist's residency vs. a retreat. Most if not all of the artists here work and don't spend every moment creating new work. There is however amazing and wonderful support and a wide network for new opportunities at local universities and many resources so long as you investigate them and negotiate your own waters. We're in a very urban/industriial area on the edge of some gentrification waiting to happen. Drive the wrong direction on Lamar and you're in the hood. Across the street from us is police headquarters where you can fill out an application to do an "overnite" - i.e. accompany a squad car on its nightly rounds. Spanish speakers encouraged to apply. The "artist's quarters" is pimped out regularly for high profile parties which can mean revelers outside your door many nights out of the week which is not terribly conducive to work or rest or home. And I of course start my days by faxing collection agencies my police reports for the mail and identity theft which occurred here. Not griping, so much as reflecting. It's a young program, a work in progress, like my old MFA program, you make it what you want it to be and contribute what you can along the way to improve and refine the experience for the next generation.
I went this weekend to an opening at the Barry Whistler Gallery in Deep Ellum, Dallas which included some works by one of the artists in residence here at Southside, Chris Jagers. It was a nicely curated show featuring both abstract and representational work - Betsy Odom had some nice drawings of squirrels up (which were much nicer than the animal images at the hyper-linked website), another artist had made a life-size 2D work which resembled a lace doily but was actually on closer examination a motorcycle constructed of acrylic paint peelings and held up by push pins. Another interesting series of work were 3 pairs of white oval carpets with black circles embedded in the white representing eyes looking in various directions.
On the way to dinner at Oishii, Kort's brother Chip said to me hey have you been to the Chinese art exhibit at the DMA yet? To which I replied, "No, I'm boycotting the Museum". Chip started laughing and said, that's right, you boycott that artwork and let that art know how you feel! Chip had a really good point. I am now lifting my ban on the Museum. On a totally unrelated note, Kort explained to us the difference between "oishii" and "umai". Both mean delicious but the former is the feminine version of the Japanese word. So if you're not obviously gaijin in Japan and you tell your sushi chef that the food is oishii - you will give yourself away as gaijin as you obviously learned the language from your Japanese girlfriend. It also seemed entirely appropriate that the Oishii sushi bar in Dallas should be on the edge of Boystown.
On the way to dinner at Oishii, Kort's brother Chip said to me hey have you been to the Chinese art exhibit at the DMA yet? To which I replied, "No, I'm boycotting the Museum". Chip started laughing and said, that's right, you boycott that artwork and let that art know how you feel! Chip had a really good point. I am now lifting my ban on the Museum. On a totally unrelated note, Kort explained to us the difference between "oishii" and "umai". Both mean delicious but the former is the feminine version of the Japanese word. So if you're not obviously gaijin in Japan and you tell your sushi chef that the food is oishii - you will give yourself away as gaijin as you obviously learned the language from your Japanese girlfriend. It also seemed entirely appropriate that the Oishii sushi bar in Dallas should be on the edge of Boystown.
Friday, December 03, 2004
An old friend from Naropa, Marcus Mennes, has a new book out called Gnome and Garden. Please check it out. Marcus was a wonderful and much overlooked poet in grad school - I remember classmates putting his poems down for lacking sense, narraative, direction, intent, etc. and likening him to a modern day Dr. Seuss. Yes, but there was always plenty of whimsy in his poems and I certainly did love many of his lines. Congratulations, Marcus, and if you're reading this, get in touch with me!
Also congrats to Jane Binns, another Naropa friend, for her new collection, Pocket Change (Eye of Tiger Press, 2004).
Also congrats to Jane Binns, another Naropa friend, for her new collection, Pocket Change (Eye of Tiger Press, 2004).
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Back from Connecticut and much to report. The America Zen reading at the Benton Museum was smashingly good - a great audience considering we were competing with a U Conn basketball game and some really blustery New England weather. Margaret read amazing poems from her collection Autumn Grasses (LSU Press, 2003) which included a fine poem on the "temptation of Siddartha". Autumn Grasses is a series of ekphrastic poems written off of works of art in the Asian collection sof the Met - the Siddartha poem takes on a scroll painting in which Siddhartha meditates on the banks of a lake - the amazing thing - there is no reflection of the Buddha which appears in the water. Margaret also shared a wonderful poem from the anthology called "One Body" about the practice in the South (Virginia) of mowing wheat in a circular pattern from the outside of a field in. When a small standing area of wheat remains, the mowers get their guns and shoot anything alive that has retreated into the remaining land. Easy as shooting fish in a barrel. Stanford Forrester spoke of how the audience/listener/reader completes the haiku and the space of the poem inside a haiku. He than proceeded to read his selections from America Zen, reading each haiku twice, which was a wonderful effect. Chase Twichell finished up the reading with poems from a new manuscript that is forthcoming from Copper Canyon. This was by far one of the best readings I have ever been a part of, on par with the La Alameda reading in Santa Fe earlier this year - I think something about the aesthetics of the readers and the sensibilities and spiritual values and connections shared - ay, my people!
Margaret did a wonderful job of organizing the reading and was a stellar host - I stayed with her and her husband, the poet and memoirist David McKain, in their 300 year old home in Preston, CT - a small farming village close to Norwich. Came back with a stack of books - titles by Margaret and by David and books given to me by Jeffrey of Tupelo Press. Tupelo books are amazing works of art, and the website hardly does them justice. So many new books to dig into:
Autumn Grasses, Margaret Gibson, LSU Press
The Flute Ship Castricum, Amy England, Tupelo
Mating Season, Kate Gale, Tupelo
American Linden, Matthew Zapruder, Tupelo
In the Mynah Bird's Own Words, Barbara Tran, Tupelo
Calendars, Annie Finch, Tupelo
The Common Life, David McKain, Alice James Books
Memories of the Future: The Daybooks of Tina Modotti, Margaret Gibson, LSU Press
Spellbound, David McKain, Touchstone
Darkling, Anna Rabinowitz, Tupelo
Buddha's Fingerprint, Stanford Forrester, Lily Pool Press/Swamp Press
I am particularly enchanted by Raibonwitz's book which was designed by Chip Kidd and makes use of text and images throughout the book. Heavy card stock for the cover, full color cover, detailed end pages, meticulous typesetting, french flaps...
Margaret did a wonderful job of organizing the reading and was a stellar host - I stayed with her and her husband, the poet and memoirist David McKain, in their 300 year old home in Preston, CT - a small farming village close to Norwich. Came back with a stack of books - titles by Margaret and by David and books given to me by Jeffrey of Tupelo Press. Tupelo books are amazing works of art, and the website hardly does them justice. So many new books to dig into:
Autumn Grasses, Margaret Gibson, LSU Press
The Flute Ship Castricum, Amy England, Tupelo
Mating Season, Kate Gale, Tupelo
American Linden, Matthew Zapruder, Tupelo
In the Mynah Bird's Own Words, Barbara Tran, Tupelo
Calendars, Annie Finch, Tupelo
The Common Life, David McKain, Alice James Books
Memories of the Future: The Daybooks of Tina Modotti, Margaret Gibson, LSU Press
Spellbound, David McKain, Touchstone
Darkling, Anna Rabinowitz, Tupelo
Buddha's Fingerprint, Stanford Forrester, Lily Pool Press/Swamp Press
I am particularly enchanted by Raibonwitz's book which was designed by Chip Kidd and makes use of text and images throughout the book. Heavy card stock for the cover, full color cover, detailed end pages, meticulous typesetting, french flaps...
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