Rules Will Set You Free
Or Give "Demon Inspiration" a Break
Hello. There was a moment when I started writing this (yesterday evening—or was it the day before? Each pandemic day/night seems to melt into the next, ad nauseum)—it was twilight; the light outside was luminous blue shading into a pink sunset; I was listening to some instrumental, bluesy jazz, and it felt SO good to just be sitting there in the almost-dark with my thoughts, writing some notes – but without the mental jostling that comes with spewing my thoughts, among all those other thoughts out there on Twitter or some other social media, or the deadening grind of work, also in front of a computer screen. Seriously.
I’ve been employing some constraints—rule-based procedures—to my art-making process. This is helpful to me during a period when I have a lot of editing work coming in, with little time to sit around and visualize the next art piece. It’s a way to maintain a certain steadiness of practice, without having to wait for the “Demon Inspiration” to hit. Each piece is “practice” and also potentially art. Also, it’s a way to keep in touch with language, with writing, while doing something purely visual.
Currently each type of mark is categorized by letters in the (English) alphabet, each one signifying which mark to make or thing to add: straight vertical lines, loose flowing lines, scribbles, handwriting, circles, dots, collage, etc. Letters in a randomly chosen word determine what will go where. The number of letters determines how many “units” (squares or rectangles) will go on the paper. Below are my first three pieces.
“Grizzly,” 8 x 10 in. Ink on chipboard.
“Parameter,” 9 x 12 in. Ink on grey mixed-media board.
“Despedida” 9 x 12 in. on white, heavyweight mixed-media board
The key word is chosen either from a dictionary or from an AI random word generator online. But hey, I can pull those words from any source containing words—from novels, poems, ads, social media posts or whatever. And they don’t have to be in English. So . . . that could be interesting. I’ll be making adjustments to the procedure as I go along.
Anyway, another aspect of this is that it tends to put my ego at a remove from the process. Without that pressure to create something “awesome,” I can more easily enjoy the surprise of what actually surfaces. Alongside this practice, I will certainly be creating other art more intentionally (or even in league with “demon inspiration”).
Do you have any rules or rituals that help your creative process?
Getting Out of the House, etc.:
And . . . now it’s raining. Good. Here in fire-prone California, we need the moisture.
In other news, I’m on the vaccination waiting list. Where are you in that process? Here’s hoping we all get what we need to keep us healthy, soon.
In the meantime, I’ve been walking (masked-up of course) with a friend, actually “hiking” once in awhile, and also thinking of buying a bike, maybe. Anything to get me out of the house and moving around. My freelance job has me sitting (and typing) a LOT. Here are some photos from my last walk; a certain cinder block provides a “canvas” for some great graffiti art, right on the beach:
“Late to the Party”:
Some years ago – well, a couple decades ago?—me and a friend, Elizabeth H. Pisares, as Tulitos Press, published the screenplay for The Flipside: a Filipino American Comedy, which included a narrative about the director’s adventures at the Sundance Film Festival (this was the first Filipino American film to be screened at Sundance).
The book accompanied Rod Pulido’s film, The Flipside. Publishing the book was a fun experience. More recently Rod has come “out of the closet” as bisexual. His story, “Late to the Party” contains some important reflections on publishing and this process of “coming out.”
I’m looking forward to reading Rod’s book, Chasing Pacquiao, and hope it will find a publisher soon.
On Substack:
four things: This newsletter, for some reason, calms me down. Need I say more? In his latest post (006 Tuesday March 2nd), Brian reveals some of his art practice and drawings/paintings of the pacific northwest area where he lives, presents us with a “knot poem,“ discusses the pitfalls of micro-unit housing, socialism (which I’m partial to), and shows us, step by step, his process of making a luscious “vegan crunchwrap” meal.
Ferlinghetti & the Department of Homeland Inspiration:
You may have heard, recently, that the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti died, at the age of 101: Badass San Francisco Beat poet, activist, co-founder of City Lights (literally around the corner from my first home), and a friend/lover of books and the arts. I immediately thought of my friend Melissa Smedley’s (aka Art Ranger) podcast, The Department of Homeland Inspiration, which on Feb. 11 included a reading of one of Ferlinghetti’s poems. Thought you might like to hear it. Btw, I love the homemade sound effects on this podcast, as well as the poetry and wit. In her preface, she writes:
“Six months ago, when we (pod)casted: A Book Fell Open Right There (8:06) featuring Art Ranger’s reading of a poem called: "Tentative Description of a Dinner To Promote the Impeachment of President Eisenhower” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, we didn’t imagine it coming in handy again so soon!! But alas, (history) melts and folds in on itself like plastic. In the wake of the inflamed meme of what we're calling “Corrumption” (attempted Poo d’etat #2) we hope you might enjoy having a listen to this (historic) poem treatment during “hearings” week. Then, if you’re then still on board, you could try: Vintage Feelings, also a performed Ferlinghetti.”
That’s it for this week. Thanks for checking in.
Oh, and if you enjoy this newsletter, please subscribe: it’s FREE!