And Everything Is Going Fine

| Paul Greer

Spalding

 

By A. O. SCOTT
NY Times Published: December 9, 2010

“Here is a description of some of the most innovative and important American theater of the last quarter of the 20th century. A man sits at a table and starts talking. If he has props, they are minimal — a spiral notebook, a record player, a box of pictures — and his costume is correspondingly modest, consisting usually of a flannel shirt, blue jeans or chinos, and sneakers. He speaks mostly about himself, digressing from anecdotes about his childhood and professional life into more serious confessional territory, though always with reserve and good humor.

When Spalding Gray, the man at that table, began performing his autobiographical monologues in the late 1970s and early ’80s — first as a member of the Wooster Group, then on his own — they felt radical and revelatory, like bulletins from newly discovered artistic territory. By 2004, when Mr. Gray committed suicide by jumping from the Staten Island Ferry, his work was a familiar and widely appreciated feature of the cultural landscape. He made occasional appearances in movies, television series and conventional plays, but his great role, his great project, was himself.”

via WolfAndFox

Saw “Swimming to Cambodia” when I was quite young and it made a huge impression on me, found & read transcriptions of his other performances (no internet). It hurt me when I found out that he had gone.

17th December 02:52am

Aside | | Paul Greer

This morning brought an end to 48 hours of mischief making, of which this is the only photographic evidence I managed to capture. It shows streetlights and the Moon reflected in the Bristol Cut.

Items of note:

1. Everyone should dance, a lot, even if you think you look rubbish, it doesn’t matter, it’s food.

2. That certain magic that hangs in the air like a spectre when you spend time with certain people.

3. A lovely singer who made me want to weep and swing at the same time.

4. No, no, no, you cannot control how you feel.

5. “Wit of the Staircase” is named so for a reason.

6. I needed help and the Hive Mind stepped up. Thanks Hive Mind!

7. I’m not sure where I am going.

8. I’m ready to sleep.

9. I test drove a basement.

10. Persistence is worthwhile.

DA VINCI’S BLOBS

| Paul Greer


da Vinci

Looking at a rapidly flowing stream or a thunderstorm leaves a strong visual impression, but many aspects of what is actually happening remain hidden from or are simply beyond the reach of observation, either by the naked eye or instruments. They have to be inferred from what can be observed, and this is a matter of interpretation, of imagination. It is very much the method Albert Einstein used in developing his theories of Relativity, because he could not directly observe objects moving close to the speed of light, or the movements of stars in interstellar space. In science it is called making a hypothesis, and the application of this method took modern physics far beyond empiricism (Newton had proudly claimed, “I make no hypotheses”), which was based strictly on what could be observed. Da Vinci, in this way as in others, anticipated future developments—he created hypothetical worlds that revealed the hidden structures of nature. These, in turn, helped him create paintings of great originality that are imbued with a lasting aura of conceptual power.

— Lebbeus Woods


Da Vinci


Da Vinci

more here

“The culture industry perpetually cheats its consumers of what it perpetually promises.”

Quote | | Paul Greer

“The culture industry perpetually cheats its consumers of what it perpetually promises. The promissory note which, with its plots and staging, it draws on pleasure is endlessly prolonged; the promise, which is actually all the spectacle consists of, is illusory: all it actually confirms is that the real point will never be reached, that the diner must be satisfied with the menu.”

—Theodore Adorno

“This is what democracy smells like”

Link | | Paul Greer

“It came as no surprise to me that the Government won its vote on tripling tuition fees, although the initial maths being passed among the crowd did seem to suggest more Lib Dem abstentions than votes against. But the pain and fury among the students – freezing, passionate – was as evident as it was heartbreaking. This unelected, unelectable cabinet of millionaires had persuaded the Commons to ignore an unprecedented wave of public anger and concern over a key plank of its policy. And sent heavily armoured goons out to apply state-sanctioned violence to those forced to suffer the consequences.”

–- read the rest at jhn brssndn!

“The Rake’s Song” by The Decemberists (2009)

Video | | Paul Greer

“The Decemberists have been a crescendo since their first album, a snowball of sound and fury. This song is the savage crab at their current high water mark. It is LOUD. Listen to it LOUDER. Verily, this is folk rock.”

— 3liza

 

“A stunning animated video for The Rake’s Song by The Decemberists, The Rake’s Song has been made by St.Martins College Of Art students. It was created and directed in Moscow, by Alex Dashino and Varvara Volodina. Alex and Varvara are second year students studying Moving Image at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London. “Any video referencing Baba Yaga, that lovable Russian folktale mainstay, is A+ in my book” Colin Meloy”