Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Five Observations

  1. That was fucked up that thing that happened to Old Yeller.
  2. The ureter as it turns out is not an ideal place for sharp objects.
  3. There are simply not enough steel guitars in contemporary mainstream country music.
  4. If they put a shit-ton more steel guitars in contemporary mainstream country music it would likely still be awful, but at least, you know, more steel guitars.
  5. Jim Morrison was neither a lizard nor a king.  Discuss.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2018

"I Was Born With a Tail"




















Lipstick, crayon, charred wood, pencil and glue on torn cardboard, 17 x 15 inches, Sunday evening, October 28th, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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"The Sacred Heart of Jesus on a Stick"




















Lipstick and crayon and torn pamphlet and torn sticker on piece of torn Ear Inn table cloth with glue, then glued to a broken stick, 10 x 6 inches, Sunday evening, October 28th, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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(Original Untitled IBL Art)




















Stamp and staples on page of torn propaganda from my mother, 6 x 3.5 inches, Sunday evening, October 28th, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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Thursday, October 25, 2018

"Torn Envelope with Plastic Window"
















Pen on torn envelope, 6 x 6.25 inches.  This one comes to me courtesy of my mother, who created it - I only had to add the title, which I did at the R Bar, Sutter and Polk, San Francisco, Friday, October 19th, 2018.

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Saturday, October 13, 2018

(Original Untitled IBL Art)




















Pencil, felt pen, crayon, charred wood and plastic cross on torn cardboard with glue, 15 x 15.5 inches, Saturday, September 22nd, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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(Original Untitled IBL Art)




















Pencil on torn page from a book of nun photos, 6.5 x 4.5 inches, Saturday, September 22nd, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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"We Do What We Can With What We've Got"




















Torn paper and napkins and menu and book spine with glue and red pepper flakes on broken wicker tray, and also a beautiful coaster Don Rudolph drew for me at the Little Red Hen in Seattle in likely 2013 or 2014.  I initiated this in the Spring of 2017 as we were leaving Seattle, and it got packed away for a year and now tidied up and ready for MOMA.  13 x 10 inches, Saturday, September 22nd, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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"The Wounds of Christ"




















Pen and felt pen on coasters with staples.  The coasters were completed April 18th, 2015 in Seattle, and I wasn't sure what to do with them - if they were a template or not.  On Saturday, September 22nd, 2018, in Cathedral Hill, San Francisco, the staples were added and now complete.  9.75 x 8.75 inches.

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Thursday, August 30, 2018

"I Made a Kite for Larry Nixon a Year After He Died and I Would Like to Believe He Would Have Enjoyed Flying It"




















The majority of this piece was an old discarded art project by Danielle McArthur, which is to say the paper base and the red and tan tissue paper glued to it.  She allowed I could reclaim it.  I added - the post-it note, the spine of Child of God for an extended tail, the postage stamp and the postal sticker, as well as the writing in pencil.  Conceived of in Seattle, the summer of 2016, about a year after Larry died.  The pieces were all mostly in place but it took me awhile to anchor them down in a final form.  Avoidance issues I would imagine.  20 x 14 inches, Sunday, August 26th, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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"A Life in the Woods"
















Paper doily, torn newspaper, torn Oyster Bar menu, torn page from an old copy of a Lawrence Durrell paperback (The Black Book) which came into my possession with some pre-existing writing; all this plus glue on torn cardboard,  6.75 x 9 inches, Sunday, August 26th, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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Wednesday, August 29, 2018

"But Those People Keep A Movin' and That's What Tortures Me"




















Pen, pencil and felt pen on cocktail napkins; cocktail napkins stapled and paperclipped to cardboard.  Cocktail napkins completed December 6th, 2017 at the Metropolitan Grill in Seattle.  Attached to cardboard Sunday, August 26th, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.  16 x 10.75 inches.

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"I'm Not Christ"




















Pen on paper, 5.75  x 5.5 inches.  The first version of this was created in Seattle in August of 2016 but lay fallow.  Then, on July 30th, 2018, here in Cathedral Hill, San Francisco, I tore off the bottom of the page and made it something different.  And so but then on Sunday, August 26th, 2018, also in Cathedral Hill, San Francisco, I decided to scratch out one last line, and now it's done.  Whatever that means.

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Friday, August 24, 2018

"Capucin Monk with Nail Through Head"




















Torn Mass card and nail, 1.25 x 1.25 inches, Friday, August 24th, 2018, Myrtle Street, San Francisco.

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(Original Untitled IBL Art)




















Torn paper, torn matchbook, matches, torn page from religious tract, chalk, felt pen, and glue on poster board, 13.25 x 10.5 inches, initiated Spring, 2017, Seattle; completed Saturday, August 18th, 2018, Harrington's Pub, Civic Center, San Francisco.

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Sunday, August 19, 2018

(Original Untitled IBL Art)
















Pencil, glue, charred wood, torn newspaper, torn matchbook, matches, film negative, torn book page and religious product packaging on torn cardboard, 8.25 x 10.75 inches, Tuesday, August 14th, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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"The Reflection of Visible Light"




















Pencil, lipstick, charred wood, glue, torn newspaper and sticker on torn cardboard, 5.5 x 3 3/8 inches, Tuesday, August 14th, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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"Doll Eyes, Doll Mouth, Doll Legs"




















Pencil, lipstick, charred wood, staples and torn newspaper on cardboard, 8 3/8 x 4.5 inches, Tuesday, August 14th, 2018, Cathedral Hill, San Francisco.

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Photograph of - (Original Untitled IBL Art)




















At Leslie Jirsa's birthday party at the Black Rabbit in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Saturday, April 21st, 2018, I saw a chalk board out on the back patio.  And, with some spiritual guidance from the Good Rabbi David Stein, I made my mark.  Did not measure this at the time, but to give you an idea it was probably 3 feet by 1.5 or 2 feet, something like that.

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"In the Field Where the Plane Went Down"




















The second of two completed right before we left Seattle (see previous post).  Honestly, one of  my favorite things I've ever done.

Colored pencil, charred wood and glue on paper, 8.25 x 5.25 inches, Saturday, April 15th, 2017, Moclips, WA.

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"American Ace, Universal Match"




















The first of two I will share completed right before we left Seattle.  We started packing in May of 2017, and I do believe this one and the next got caught up in a box to be shipped before they could be showcased here ("showcased").  Not to worry - making up for lost time, it hangs in our house in San Francisco now.

Torn match book, glue, tape, and torn page from religious tract on book cover (Novels of Dashiell Hammett, 1965 edition), 10.5 x 7 inches, Spring, 2017, Seattle.

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"Serious Gents Only"




















I did a series of these crosses in 2012, and the majority of them appeared in these pages in 2014.  But, unpacking after our move back to San Francisco, I found one that had not been dated or titled.  Rather than have you miss out on its majesty, I present it to you now.

Original IBL art - newspaper and glue,  11 x 8.25 inches, June/August 2012, Seattle.

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First Posts in Four Months

Apparently if you don't have a job for nearly a year, you have plenty of time for a variety of things - driving across the country twice, for example, and posting regularly to your blog.  I see now the last time I posted here was four months ago, from Pittsburgh, as I caught up on some of the last New York photographs I wanted to post.  But now, having returned to San Francisco, and setting up on Myrtle Street again while simultaneously going back to work 40 hours/week; well, it slows a boy down, I don't mind saying.  Happy to have a moment to get caught up and share a few things from the past and then from very recently - look for those later today.  Going forward I hope to keep it up more regularly than I have.

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Wednesday, April 25, 2018

" 'Skeletons Disputing A Smoked Herring' by James Ensor (1891) "




















An original IBL photograph taken Wednesday, February 14th, 2018, L Train, Bedford Station, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

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" From the Director of 'The Shallows' and 'Non-Stop' "




















An original IBL photograph taken Sunday, January 28th, 2018, Nassau Subway Station, Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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"Crazy Good Food"
















An original IBL photograph taken Friday, January 5th, 2018, Bushwick, Brooklyn.

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"Selfie with Greer Lankton Drawing"




















An original IBL photograph taken Tuesday, April 24th, 2018, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh.

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"Rumination"
















An original IBL photograph taken Thursday, April 12th, 2018, Greenpoint, Brooklyn ("Fallet", British-Swedish production, 2017).

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"Cross"




















An original IBL photograph taken Wednesday, April 18th, 2018, Union Pool, Brooklyn.

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Saturday, March 24, 2018

"He Will Crush Your Head, You Will Strike His Heel"




















Torn book covers (Twice-Told Tales) and glue, 10.5 x 7 inches, Friday, March 23rd, home of Michael Fox, Long Island City, Queens.

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"The House of the Seven Gables (II)"
















Torn book cover, and featuring notes in pencil likely by my aunt, Margaret Clay, circa 1922, 6.25 x 5.5 inches, Friday, March 23rd, home of Michael Fox, Long Island City, Queens.

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"The House of the Seven Gables (I)"
















Torn book cover, featuring notes in pencil likely by my aunt, Margaret Clay, circa 1922, 6 x 5.5 inches, Friday, March 23rd, home of Michael Fox, Long Island City, Queens.

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"Julius Caesar"
















Torn book covers and glue, and featuring notes in pencil likely by my aunt, Margaret Clay, circa 1922, 6.75 x 7.25 inches, Friday, March 23rd, home of Michael Fox, Long Island City, Queens.

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"An Explanation of the Dogs That We've Had (And Still Have)"




















Pen on cocktail napkin, 4.25 x 4.5 inches, Saturday, March 10th, 2018, Manducatis, Long Island City, Queens.  Drawing by Danielle McArthur; reclaimed and titled by Infection By Light.

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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

"The Easter Miracle"
















Las Vegas postcards, ink on cocktail napkin, masking tape, lipstick, pencil, crayon and glue on torn cardboard, 12 x 22.5 inches, Saturday, February 24th, 2018, Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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"Lester Ballard"





















Charred wood, lipstick, pencil, torn page from Twice-Told Tales, torn book spine, and glue on cardboard, 11.25 x 24.75 inches, Saturday, February 24th, 2018, Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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"For Warren"




















Lipstick, crayon, charred wood, pencil and glue on cardboard, 15.25 x 11.5 inches, Saturday, February 24th, 2018, Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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"How Is This Even A Thing?"




















Pen and lipstick on four cocktail napkins (Fall 2017, likely at the bar at Molly's Shebeen, Manhattan) glued to torn cardboard, 11 x 11 inches, Saturday, February 24th, 2018, Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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Monday, February 26, 2018

"I Don't Need My Name in the Marquee Lights"




















Crayon on guest check, 4  5/8 x 3  3/8 inches, Saturday, February 24th, 2018, Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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"Three Swans"




















Pen, cellophane tape, and typescript from elsewhere in the same story, on torn page from Twice-Told Tales, 6.5 x 4.25 inches, Friday, February 23rd, 2018, Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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"Oh, Sage Puss, Make Room For Me Beside You, and Remind Us of His Ding-Dong-Bell"




















Pen on torn page from Twice-Told Tales, 6.5 x 4.25 inches, Friday, February 23rd, 2018, Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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"Two Men Walking"




















An original IBL photograph taken Thursday, February 22nd, 2018, Court Square Subway Station, Long Island City, Queens.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2018

"Easter Novena"
















4 parts - prayer card from my mother smudged with lipstick and glued to cardboard; pencil, crayon and lipstick on three strips of cardboard.  Ideally proposed for arrangement at 13 x 19 inches but your mileage may vary.  Tuesday, February 6th, 2018, home of Michael Fox, Long Island City, Queens.

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"(In Which Our Messiah ...)"




















Four cocktail napkins completed at Molly's Sheebeen, Manhattan, on Saturday, July 15th, 2017 - pen, pencil, felt pen, lipstick and tape; mounted on cardboard with staples (4.5 x 18.5 inches) Tuesday, February 6th, 2018, home of Michael Fox, Long Island City, Queens.

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Tuesday, February 13, 2018

"Capucin Monk with Safety Pin Through Head"
















Torn prayer card from my mother, glue, safety pin and matchbox, 2 x 2.25 x .25 inches, Tuesday, February 6th, 2018, home of Michael Fox, Long Island City, Queens.

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"Dolly"




















Torn page from Lolita, torn portion of New York Public Library guide, glue and lipstick on cardboard, 8 x 7 inches, Tuesday, February 6th, 2018, home of Michael Fox, Long Island City, Queens.

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Monday, February 12, 2018

In Which I Fix Famous Poems - UPDATE

Yeah things got a little hectic around here and I missed installments 2, 3 AND 4 (out of a total of 6 (!)).  I promise to make it up to you.  I PROMISE.

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"Linden Track A"
















An original IBL photograph taken Sunday, February 11th, 2018, New Jersey Transit Line, Linden Station, Linden, New Jersey.

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