Notes: July 27, 2022
… 230.2 lbs…
… somewhat restless night…
… when i step out of the bedroom i can feel the air is cooler than it has been… once downstairs, i open the front door and lock the storm door as i usually do… the air is almost crisp… as i make my way back to the kitchen, i open the dining room window… once in the kitchen, i open the kitchen window over the stove… a morning routine to flush the air in the house… so is letting the dogs out, feeding the cat and taking my meds and vitamins… after returning the dogs to the bedroom, i sit down to read and write…
The Great Naturalist John Burroughs on the Art of Noticing and What Artist Can Learn from Naturalists… these quotes from John Burroughs…
The habit of observation is the habit of clear and decisive gazing. Not by a first casual glance, but by a steady deliberate aim of the eye are the rare and characteristic things discovered. You must look intently and hold your eye firmly to the spot, to see more than do the rank and file of mankind.
This is just as necessary to the naturalist as to the artist or the poet. The sharp eye notes specific points and differences, — it seizes upon and preserves the individuality of the thing.
… i do this when i find distinctive traits in the people of the cafe… i name them with these traits… i invoke them in my journals with these names…
Interference Archive’s Democratic Approach to Preservation
Run entirely by volunteers, Interference Archive is a true alternative to the city’s market-driven gallery scene. All of the workers make a living elsewhere, largely in nonprofits and creative industries. Despite a non-hierarchical approach to organizing, the archive runs smoothly and without conflict, speaking to the sustainability of art spaces without a profit motive.
GL: Everything we acquire now is donated, and the collection is composed of works that were made for widespread distribution. Our focus is on accessibility, and we do not want to endanger anyone. For that reason, we largely collect zines, newspapers, posters, and print ephemera, rather than records of organizing that would expose sensitive personal information.
… i scan the article for ideas of a different way to conduct ourselves… i am not convinced on this one… it’s a utopian corner… does it scale?… dependent on grants and donations, in turn dependent on capitalism… volunteer labor that feeds and houses itself through other paying endeavors… a buddhist economics model?… one does what the do to sustain themselves, and then does something else with their free time?… space, utilities and supplies paid for, but not people?… hmmm…
… K&C…
… delicate tattoo barista at the helm today… she was late to work and is in a frenzy to try to catch up… the decaf isn’t ready… i treat myself to hot chocolate…
… still thinking about Interference Archive… still thinking, what is the alternative to capitalism?… is there an alternative?… how can the dominant system be undone without massive upheaval, or does the upheaval happen first?… that seems likely the way it will go… J is involved in trying to make it sustainable… she thinks it can be… can it?… i don’t think so… if i don’t think so, how to prepare?… or… will the collapse happen after i am gone?… a system as ubiquitous as capitalism would have to collapse under its own weight if something new is to take its place…
… a text from B that the meat chics have arrived… i ask her when she needs me… no response yet…
William T. Riley’s Wild Art Legacy
Maija Peeples-Bright, “Parrot Carrots” (1978), acrylic on canvas with artist’s frame, 30 3/4 x 24 3/4 inches
Climate Change Activists Glue Themselves to Priceless Botticelli Painting… getting the attention of the elites?…
What Viktor Orban Revealed This Weekend
In Bibó’s analysis, existential fear leads to “anti-democratic nationalism,” a form of nationalism that appeals to ethnic or national groups that fear they will lose out in a democracy.
… this aligns with White Patriarchy behavior in the US…
The indispensable figure of a non-democratic political regime, Orbán has managed to become the political embodiment of every latent pathology in the Hungarian national character.
Orbán believes in, and is banking on, the demise of the West.