12/3/2022 #91

Here & Now, "Dicta/Dictation," papermaking x 3, Kyle Chayka (via Conrad Panganiban), Nick Bantock, Concrete Poetry, Meryenda, Ariel Dunca, Arcade Fire, Ocean Vuong, Tokyo Paradise Ska Orchestra.

HERE & NOW

Keeping it simple tonight. It’s raining!

Six Questions are on hiatus at the moment and will be continued when my schedule allows for it.

I will be including more links on writing and readings of poetry and prose. In this issue I include a reading by poet Ocean Vuong in the Soundings section.

ART

Here’s another tiny book I made, called Dicta / Dictation. It’s an exorcism, of sorts, having to do with my upbringing, my work life, ideas about productivity, bla, bla, bla. The pages are accordion-fold, and constructed from the speed typing/dictation guidebook that I mentioned in Issue #90. I have a feeling I’ll be doing more “exorcist” art works in the future.

I recently learned from a video on Asao Shimura [see links below] that books this small are also called “bean books” which I think is wonderful. I imagine that if you plant them, they’ll sprout something.

I think a major inspiration for my tiny book projects was a commission I received from a friend to make 100 tiny drawings. That was a challenge! I’ll say/show more about that in an upcoming issue.

ART & CULTURE LINKS

• Three links about paper making: 1) Master papermaker Asao Shimura moved to Benguet 30 years ago, and continues teaching and making his art there. At one point he says “I’m almost Ibaloy,” but the title misquotes him as saying “I am an Ibaloy.” He talks briefly about the similarities between Ibaloy rituals and Japanese shinto:

• 2) Corey Morrison makes paper out of grass, and then laser-prints an image of grass on the paper.

• 3) Make your own paper by recycling paper scraps—from Nevermind Paper:

• Screenwriter Conrad Panganiban on sfba.social (Mastodon) pointed out this article by Kyle Chayka about the problematic optics of “#amwriting”: “Are you #amwriting?”

• Recently, I was gifted The Trickster’s Hat, a mischievous book of instructions for making art by Nick Bantock. Very apt for me, since I’m into generative art, and have been a fan of trickster figures ever since I wrote my B.A. thesis on Philippine trickster narratives (see also this essay by Mila D. Aguilar). You may know of Bantock from his famous Griffin and Sabine epistolary novel series. Bantock discusses his art and writing process in an interview with Bill Kenower:

• A “how-to” for creating concrete poetry from I Am Loud Productions:

• The latest Meryenda newsletter focuses on “Bringing the Culture Alive” —the art of fermenting (adobo-pickled mushrooms, among other things)!

• From Meryenda I learned about artist Ariel Dunca of Jun-Jun-Draw-Draw.

SOUNDINGS

• Kind of how I’m feeling these days . . . “Lightning I, II” by Arcade Fire:

• Ocean Vuong reads his poem “Headfirst” at the Silo City reading series:

• OK, to balance out your introspective mood from the last two videos with a little “whiplash,” here is the irrepressible Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, getting noisy in a hotel room at SXSW:

By the way, everything I know about ska comes from my son, Dana, the librarian/deejay.

Welcome to new subscribers! And thank you for visiting the Eulipion Outpost. Feel free to share this issue: