"Surely all art is the result of having been in danger, of having
gone through an experience all the way to the end, to where
no one
can go any further."
~Rainer Maria Rilke
Thursday 27
Studio 19.
The best place to find a helping
hand is at the end of your own arm.
-Swedish
Proverb
Wednesday 26
More Snow. It is snowing--again. I
heard from a stock photo agency in Germany the other day; they feel
they can sell some of my work in Germany. It costs me nothing. I
simply need to upload some images to their site; this is what I will
do today. At some point in the day, I googled
Imogen
Cunningham and
Judy Dater. Later, I discover a new stock agency in Boston; I
begin to build a site there as well.
"In 1979, Judy Dater
published Imogen Cunningham: A Portrait, to celebrate Cunningham's
(1883-1976) life and work as one of America's most important
photographers. Coming out of the feminist movement of the 1970's,
Dater and her photographs raise questions about societal gender
roles and female identity. In Dater's photograph "Imogen and Twinka",
Dater asks the viewer to think about preconceived notions of age and
beauty.
In 1979 Dater was the recipient of a Guggenheim and her work has
been featured in many important exhibitions around the country. She
has three books published of her work: Women and Other Visions
(1975), Body & Soul (1988), and Cycles (1994)."
PeterFetterman
Judy Dater, Imogen Cunningham and Twinka
Yosemite, 1974
Image Size: 8 x 10 in.
Gelatin Silver Print
Signed on verso in pencil, $2000
"The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do
not understand."
~ Frank Herbert (1920-1986)
Tuesday 25
The Book of Job.
I am wondering if it is possible to illustrate
The Book of Job with industrial imagery. I think it is.
1MAKE HASTE, O GOD, TO DELIVER ME;
MAKE HASTE TO HELP ME, O LORD. 2Let them be ashamed and confounded
that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward,
and put to confusion, that desire my hurt. 3Let
them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say,
Aha, aha. 4Let all those that
seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy
salvation say
continually, Let God be magnified. 5But
I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my
help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.
~Psalm 70
Monday 24
A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose.
Finally: a man from Boston who visited Studio 19 in June (In June!), during the
Art Walk when my work was on display, e-mailed today saying he
wanted to buy two of my prints; two of "Who Says
They Cleaned Up Times Square;" and a man I have been talking
with in Chicago about Helena's work finally bought a print today.
Patience, Bruce, Patience. This will help to pay down some debt. One
small step and one giant step.
Sunday 23
Tilton Hilton. The house across the
street from where I live is condemned.
Saturday 22
I See Signs.
Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.
~Marie Curie
What does not destroy me, makes me stronger.
~Friedrich Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols (1899)
I was recently asked to think back to 11th
grade and remember what happened:
1969, I was sixteen years old. A lot happened
that year. We moved from the town where I grew up to a new town,
much smaller and now that I think of it, one without any people of
color. Lyndon Johnson was president. And then Richard Nixon.
Woodstock was held in Bethel, NY on August 15th - 17th:
Over 500,000 hamburgers and hot
dogs were consumed on the first day of the festival. The cost of: hot dogs $1;acid and
mescaline $4.
Approximately 400,000 people attended the show
and another 250,000 never made it to the site. Only 30,000 to
80,000 people stayed to watch Jimi Hendrix’s closing set.
A four door sedan cost $6,411. Sen. Edward Kennedy
pleaded guilty to leaving scene of fatal accident at
Chappaquiddick, Massachusetts. Apollo 11 astronauts—Neil Armstrong and Edwin E.
Aldrin, Jr.—took the first walk on the moon (July 20).
The cost of a first-class stamp was $0.06.
The NY Jets
defeated Baltimore (16-7) in the Super Bowl. The NY Mets defeated
Baltimore (4-1) in the World Series. Midnight Cowboy won the
Best Picture Oscar, the first and only time an X-rated movie received
the honor. The FCC banned all cigarette advertising on television
and radio. Children's Television Workshop introduced Sesame
Street.
Best-selling books included:
John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman
Mario Puzo, The Godfather
Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint
Jean Stafford, Collected Stories
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
Nobel Prize for Literature
was awarded to Samuel Beckett. Record of the Year: "Mrs. Robinson,"
Simon and Garfunkel. Album of the Year: By the Time I Get to
Phoenix, Glen Campbell (Capitol). Song of the Year: "Little
Green Apples," Bobby Russell, songwriter. Judy Garland died in
1969. And Jack Kerouac.
A three bedroom home cost $25,600. And Average
income was $9,433.
"Scooby Doo, Where are You" was first aired
and the Beatles "Abby Road" was released.
I was a star football halfback and was captain
of the track team. I was elected
Student Council President. I had a few girl-friends (Sue, Joyce,
Katie) and many
friends. It was a great year. That was then. This is now:
________________ .
______________________________________
"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back."
--Arthur Rubenstein
Friday 21
Dust to Dust. Each and every day the
cemetery out my window changes.
In sure and certain hope of the
resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we
commend
to Almighty God our brother <name>; and we commit his
body to the ground; earth to earth; ashes to
ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless him and keep him, the Lord
make his face to shine upon him and be
gracious unto him and give him peace. Amen.
~Book of Common Prayer (based on Genesis
3:19)
Past the gravestone
markers this section of town was once called Canary Town; the
housing was for laborers at a local factory which painted all
the homes canary yellow. I guess, then, the people buried here
are Canary Town residents, but I do not know for sure.
"I have learnt silence from the talkative, tolerance from the
intolerant, and kindness from the unkind."
Meatballs. Daryl and Danielle (and
Kiley and Mike--and Daisy) came over tonight for baked shells and
meatballs. Daryl had another operation this past Tuesday; he seems
to be recuperating rather well--despite some pain. We watched a dog
show on TV while we ate.
And thinking of meatballs (and Daryl) I am
reminded tonight how he and I would lay in his bed when he was a
little boy and read "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." I
love
this book.
Of Course. There is
Ralph Gibson. Ah,
Space Art
just reminded me I wanted to go to The Air Force Academy when I was
a child. But if I had gone to The Air Force Academy, I would not
have been able to spend my summers life guarding:
Fascinating day:
Christophe Brunski, who
had called earlier in the week to inquire about Studio 19 gallery
hours, stopped by to see the show and to see
Helena's prints.
And old man from Easthampton, who had seen the
story in Sunday's paper, stopped in and chatted with me for a rather
long time. "Call me nosy," he said. I learned that during WWII the
building was used as a manufacturing plant for the war effort and at
one time also as a tobacco warehouse.
Thursday 13
Fog.
Wednesday 12
Maggie Nowinski. I wrote a letter of
recommendation for her today.
And last night Danielle and her friends came
to Studio1 9 for their Annual Secret Santa.
Photos.
Sunday 09
Photo and Story. Story reprinted below
news clipping:
EASTHAMPTON - On a sunny morning, Bruce Barone's Studio 19 on the
fourth floor of the Eastworks building offers a long view of distant
worlds.
From his oversized window in the space that is both residence and
gallery, Mount Tom stamps the horizon with a dark purple slash,
mimicking the flat expanse of industrial rooftops that frame
Barone's immediate view.
Inside the studio, the burnished wood floors and stark white walls
offer 19 very different world views.
In the recently opened studio's second show, called "19@19," Barone
exhibits the photographic prints of 19 international women artists.
The show runs the gamut from Australian photographer Anjella
Roessler's black-and-white landscapes of her country to Portuguese
artist Ana Ribeiro dos Santos' difficult- to-describe manipulated
photos of her paintings and watercolors. In between, there are
figure studies, florals, a series of red eggs in white liquid, and
nudes.
There is a surprising number of self-portraits in the show, none of
which are more jarring than the four, in-your-altered-face, black
and white close-ups of Florida photographer Caryn Drexl.
"They are so passionate," said Barone, gazing at Drexl's work. "She
is constantly exploring her identity."
He calls her photographs "haunting." On an eerie evening of dusky
light, the portraits might be called downright spooky. In one, the
pores of Drexl's face are large, open, glistening. Barone identified
the large drops of viscous fluid rolling from her eye and lips as
"gold wax."
In a second portrait, Drexl's face is pasted with bits of broken
mirrors. A third shows a passive woman, face veiled in a net of
pearls. Most unsettling is the fourth photograph in which Drexl
peels a mask of latex "skin" from her face. "It scares me," said
Barone, "yet I can't turn away."
Canadian photographer Melyssa Anishnabie assembled and photographed
objects, then "manipulated them in Photoshop," Barone said. Her
bronze-colored photograph of her own pulled teeth, roots curled like
fish hooks and dangled from leads of twine is described as
"ritualistic."
Holyoke photographer Courtney Lynne presents herself in color,
crawling on grass in two startling prints. In another beautifully
composed photo, Lynne offers four full-figure silhouettes cavorting
in framelike windows. Barone describes her work as having an
"Alice-in-Wonderland feel."
Barone said that Lynne's work posted on the Studio 19 Web site
attracted two publishers who called him for information about her,
resulting in the purchase of her photos for use in two books.
The Internet plays a major role in Barone's search for promising
photographers, he said. "I spent a lot of time looking at this work
before I selected it for the show," he said.
In fact, he communicated "almost every day" with the photographers
in "19@19" via professional photographers' Web sites. In the end,
these 19 women were chosen, because "they have true commitment to
photography and a definite way of looking at the world."
Saturday 08
Weegee. I was thinking about
Weegee today ("He
will take his camera and ride off in search of new evidence that his
city, even in her most drunken and disorderly and pathetic moments,
is beautiful." - William McCleery in Naked City); looking at
his photographs (see photo below). And I spent hours studying images
at
Masters of Photography.
It snowed and rained most of the day. I walked
around the floors here at Eastworks
and took a few photographs.
Friday 07
Swept Away.
Thursday 06
Moxie Soda. Out of curiosity I bought a
bottle of
Moxie Soda;
and then I found this refreshing
website,
Hometown Favorites.
Wednesday 05
The Lonely Doll. Fascinating
interview on NPR this morning.
When she was growing up, author Jean
Nathan learned to read with a book
called The Lonely Doll. The
children's title featured photos of a
doll named Edith and stuffed bears who
looked so authentic that Nathan believed
Edith was a real girl.
Nathan has
written The Secret Life of the Lonely
Doll, a biography of the late author
and photographer Dare Wright, who
created a series of popular children's
books that scores of girls grew up with
from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Wright's troubled childhood was
reflected in the Lonely Doll
books. Her parents were divorced when
Wright was three years old, resulting in
her separation from her older brother.
"I think that was the central trauma of
Dare's life, losing both her father and
her brother as a young child, and was
something that stayed with her
throughout her life," Nathan says.
"All of her stories turn on aspects
of her own childhood, the fears of
punishment and being abandoned... that
then came out in these children's
books," the biographer says.
Wright, who died in 2001, "was
working out many of the things that
troubled her through these stories,"
Nathan says. "I think that the reason
that the books worked so well for
children is in a sense they were written
by a person who was a child herself."
This scene, in which Mr. Bear spanks Edith for misbehaving, was
reprised in several of Dare Wright's books, including 1964's
Edith and Mr. Bear.
The Lonely Doll, the first in a series, was published in
1957 and featured Edith, a doll from the author's childhood.
Edith and her companions, Mr. Bear and Little Bear
Every man should be born again on the
first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up
one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down
one, according to circumstances; but on the first of
January let every man gird himself once more, with his
face to the front, and take no interest in the things
that were and are past.
"Love is life. All, everything that I
understand, I only understand only because everything I
love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I
love."
~ Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
And today I start
In
Easthampton, Massachusetts
I went out early
On New Year's Day
To the Lower Mill Pond.
It is cold. It is gray.
I am alone, watching
The men on the far side
Of the Lower Mill Pond
As is their New Year's Day tradition
Burn their sins, words
On scraps of paper.
"Forgive me Lord," I imagine,
One man begins, "I am
Not always honest--not even
With myself. Reveal
The small lies and
Secret dishonesties
That I hide
In my life. Make me
Clean." And I hear a man say
As his paper scrap turns to smoke,
"Lord, help me,
Help me, not to crave
Things that are not
Healthy for me, making
Them my god."
This is this morning,
On The Lower Mill Pond
In Easthampton, Massachusetts.
It is winter.
I am not really alone. There
Are these men. And
Overhead the geese making honk honk.
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