art
Poem: Rewind Me Back To The Nineties
Rewind Me Back To The Nineties
If I search the recesses of my memory
I can recall a time before childhood trauma
was all the rage and we were blissfully
ignorant of how those we looked up to
as mavericks and rebels with or without causes
who opted for the crazy life suffered genuinely
from one or another personality disorder,
a schizo-this or complex-that, and the substances
they helped romanticise were really just
non-prescription meds helping them regulate
wild emotions or sedate their inner demons.
A time when each of us felt empowered to
do as we pleased and to go our own way,
not knowing how these choices, in truth,
were the dictates of neurological damage
or that our carpe diem paths were actually
well-trodden tracks leading to reservoirs
of shame which would overwhelm our mid-
life sense of self-worth while contributing
to the freakiest nightmares and breakdowns.
Today there are more than two hundred
classified forms of mental illness – so many
you feel like if you’re not getting with the whole
credential-accumulation game with your
little Fitbit and ultra-woke attitude then
you have a responsibility both to yourself
and others to reassess your life or get used to
being told you’re in denial.
Oh, rewind me
back to the nineties, when dysfunctional
was so much better than just functional,
critics didn’t begrudge artistic catharsis
and to be an in-your-face fuck-up –
yeah, nah, that was sweet as.
–
Why We’re Fated To Be Lonely & The Remedy
A 6min animated audio from philosopher Alain de Botton:
Doco Recommendo: Visions From The Obscure
If you feel like a heart-warming documentary about artists with disabilities or mental illness then add this one to your list:
The Intrinsic Value of Art
A short conversation about the value of the act/process of creating over the meaning/message of the piece:
Doco Recommendo: Creative Life
A documentary film about musician and composer Rebekka Karijord and her creative processes:
Doco Recommendo: Picasso and Braque Go To The Movies
Explores the influence of early film, poetry, and dance on the Cubist revolution:
An Hour Long WTF Podcast with David Byrne
An enjoyable hour:
The Oil Paintings of Brian Cirmo
Today I came across Brian Cirmo’s paintings in the current issue of Lunch Ticket:
http://lunchticket.org/patterns-cycles-and-change-oil-paintings/
If you are looking for a place to submit your art/poetry, Lunch Ticket is definitely worth checking out.
What Is Metamodernism?
Well, I’ve only just been introduced to the term myself, but after watching this short clip, I can think of examples, for instance, Leonard Cohen’s late poetry in The Book of Longing is an attempt to move away from the bleak irony of earlier work. I think that some of Billy Collins’ Sailing Alone Around The Room could be thought of a metamodernism too.
GD Bates 