civilized ku # 2561 ~ poetry / photography

Some of the stuff above the kitchen sink ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenFor those of you who have been following the progress of the nascent pictures + words project and might be wondering what the point of the endeavor might be, consider this:

Photography has many similarities with poetry. There's not a strong relationship between the disciplines, but there is a tight one between the sensibilities. ~ Larry Towell

That written, if poetry - or in our case, poetic verse - isn't your thing, and, if looking at pictures in the manner as described by Nathaniel Hawthorne is not your thing ...

Nobody, I think, ought to read poetry, or look at pictures or statues, who cannot find a great deal more in them than the poet or artist has actually expressed. Their highest merit is suggestiveness.

... or in the manner suggested by Ernst Haas ...

...one of the problems of photography, it tends to be a surface sort of thing if we are not careful ... take a picture and move on. Make a picture of what something looks like, but that's not at all what photography is. We have to learn to photograph not what it is but what else it is.

... then in all probability, pictures + words ain't your thing as well. Which, of course, is fine. Cindy and I are well aware that our project will not appeal / resonate with everyone. In fact, we realize that we are creating something which only a small segment of the picture viewing audience will "get" / appreciate, or, for that matter, even attempt to "get" / appreciate. Which, once again, is fine with us.

And, lest anyone think we are trying to be elitist / arrogant / effete artists, we are just operating under the assumption that, as Julian's grandmother used to say, "every pot has a lid".

diptych # 39 ~ 30 yards apart / reckoning truthfully

Evening light / morning light ~ Taylor Pond - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen

The doubt that the work celebrates is not the same as the angry alienation of the fashionable rejectionist; neither is it the passivity of the man who counts all evils to be equal, or who calls a flawed good no better than an evil because it is imperfect. It is, rather, the active refusal to render the world beautiful just because we desperately want it to be that way, combined with the refusal to render it ugly just because we distrust our longing for beauty. It is at all times reckoning each against the other, and it is authentically hopeful for as long as the doubter can persuade himself that he is reckoning truthfully, of which he must of course persuade himself anew, every moment his eyes are open. ~ Leo Rubinfien

My blog entries have been somewhat few and far between and short on writing due to the fact that summer is flying by. It's been filled with travel, getaways, and work for clients and my pictures + words project amongst other things. And, from here on out, it doesn't get any less busy - next week is the Jersey-Shore-from-hell week and, the week after we return, it's off to Rist Camp - a beautiful rustic Adirondack camp - for 4 weeks. During those 4 weeks, I also am taking Hugo to Rochester for a 5 day hockey camp.

The Rist Camp is only 40 miles from home as the crow flies but 80 miles as the car drives. I will be stopping home from time to time during those 4 weeks, so I will be posting now and again - maybe more, depending upon internet access at the camp.

That written, my thanks go out to those who have stuck with me, blog wise, during this lean period. Hang in there and your patience will be rewarded after the summer is over.

BTW, hope you are enjoying your summer and having as much fun as I am.

pictures + words # 5 ~ diptych # 5 / words e

# 5 • click to embiggen

Walking to work, reading, fondled by breezes, my mind has been swimming in perplexities following a Japanese tale in circles, listening to clairvoyant sisters with Greek island names. Murakami speaks to me.

ku # 1250 ~ 1 thing I saw over the past week (more to come) / idyll with still life

Idyll with still life ~ Taylor Pond Wild Forest, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenA 4 mile paddle to the end of Taylor Pond - 8 miles from our house - brings one to a rather idyllic section of wild forest where a primitive campsite can be found where upon one can idle away, say, 3 nights and 4 days within earshot of laughing loons, hooting owls, screeching eagles, water-slapping beaver, and croaking frogs (to name just a few melodious delights). So the wife and I + some family and a friend made the paddle, set our motors on idle, and set about idling away.

pictures + words ~ pictures 1-4, words a-d

# 1 • click to embiggen
# 2 • click to embiggen
a • click to embiggen
b • click to embiggen
c • click to embiggen
d • click to embiggen
# 3 • click to embiggen
# 4 • click to embiggenAs previously noted, the pictures + words project was introduced to the gallery-going public on Saturday last. The work from this nascent project, a collaboration between myself and a writer, Cynthia Hecht, was exhibited in a group show at a gallery in Phoenica, NY. At this early stage of the game, we were grateful for the opportunity to exhibit the work and garner some feedback - a kinda "taking the show on the road" in order to polish the act sorta thing.

Our work, which was exhibited alongside a broad range of artwork, genre wise, was most definitely the most demanding work in exhibit. That is to write, if one were to "get it" or even just try to "get it", it required a concentrated effort in assimilating both the writings and the pictures (diptychs) and addressing the notion of how there are related. Add to that endeavor the thought involved in determining how the individual pictures in each diptych are also related* ... it takes a fair amount more than a glancing look to get into the work.

That written, a reasonable number of attendees did take the time to get into the work (favorite comment = "This is serious work."), especially so considering the fact that there was prodigious amount of cheap wine swilling, homemade finger food munching, and socializing afoot.

In any event, Cynthia and I came away from the event feeling good about the work and energized to "keep on truckin'", project wise. (FYI, that last phrase was influenced by the fact that, with Phoenica's very close proximity to Woodstock, the gallery audience was heavy weighted toward the well-age 60s counterculture - aka, hippy - crowd).

FYI, the pictures in the exhibit are exhibited as a grouping which is separate from the grouping of the writings. As previously noted, the writings and pictures are not related to one another, as in, specific writings are not caption-wise related to specific diptychs. It is our intent to let the writings and pictures stand as independent thought invoking entities. Although, it is our hope that observers of the ADjoined / COjoined works will make the connection between the two seemingly different works.

*As a kinda visual helper, I did include one diptych in the exhibit in which the individual pictures were quite obviously connected - a diptych which provoked some laughing-out-loud reactions. Don't know if the diptych will remain as a permanent part of the project.

# ? • click to embiggen

civilized ku # 2552-60 ~ some things I saw this past weekend + the pubic debut of pictures + words

pictures + words ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Park Park • click to embiggen
Recycling ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Park Park • click to embiggen
Produce / fruit ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Park Park • click to embiggen
Screen door / kitchen ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Park Park • click to embiggen
Bathroom stuff ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Park Park • click to embiggen
Magic House ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Park Park • click to embiggen
Pool drama ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Park Park • click to embiggen
Bicycle ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Park Park • click to embiggen
Old railroad car ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Park Park • click to embiggenLast Friday, the wife, Cindy, Hugo and I went to Phoenica, NY (in the Catskill Park) at 85-90mph to visit family and attend the opening of the group show in which 5 pieces of the pictures + words project were exhibited. Some people got it while others didn't seem to try to get it. There was wine and food and a big crowd. It was enjoyable and it was hot. We had ice cream cones to cool off. It was all good.

While hanging out with the wife's brother and family + friends, we drank some spirits, 7 naked women took a night swim, the kids played, food was cooked and consumed, showers were taken, and there was a good bit of just sitting around watching the world go by.

Even though I had to get up off my ass, I did make some pictures of the world as it was passing by.

Update on Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 11:44AM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: John Linn wrote: "Wow, they did not give you much wall space ...."

my response: Even though the gallery is rather large - 2 main rooms + 2 smaller rooms - space was quite tight due the number of exhibitors + their artworks. However, we were very delighted to see that our work was the only work to have an entire wall (in one of the small rooms) devoted to a single exhibitor's work.

That was very good thing inasmuch as our work did not have to compete visually with surrounding work on the same wall.

civilized ku 2547-51 / ku # 1249 ~ some things I saw over the past week

Hugo's penalty shot ~ US Military Academy / West Point, NY • click to embiggen
Porch thru screen ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Mountains • click to embiggen
Dining thru screen ~ Phoenica, NY - in the Catskill Mountains • click to embiggen
View from our porch ~ The Haus / Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
On the deck ~ High Peaks Resort / Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
On the roof ~ High Peaks Resort / Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
Large and small tree with shade and wild growth ~ Plattsburg, NY • click to embiggenWent to West Point last week to watch Hugo's final game at hockey camp and then went to Phoenica with Cindy to present our picture + words project to a gallery where we were immediately offered the opportunity to exhibit 5 pieces in a group show with an opening this Saturday. Upon my return home, the wife and I went to Lake Placid for 4 days/3 nights where we had my birthday dinner and she attended a conference. After that little trip, I went to Plattsburg to run a few errands and I saw a tree and then I made a picture of it.

More about the exhibit in tomorrow's entry.

civilized ku # 2540-46 / ku # 1248 ~ what I saw on the 4th of July (Independence Day)

American Bald Eagle ~ Fern Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Boat parade ~ Fern Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Boat parade ~ Fern Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
4th of July cake ~ Fern Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Waiting ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Waiting ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggen
Waiting ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenNo more waiting - fireworks ~ Lake Placid, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenLate yesterday afternoon, the rain stopped, the sun came out, an American Bald Eagle landed close by in a tree, boats festooned with 4th of July paraphernalia paraded by, the wife baked a 4th of July flag cake, went to Lake Placid and passed time with a beer while waiting for fireworks, and then climbed in our canoe and paddled out to position ourselves at a spot on the water where the fireworks would explode over our heads. After which the fireworks exploded over our heads.