Capitol Punishment
No new podcast, but an update from Washington, D.C., more travel plans, art-book progress, and a greyhound sketch
The Virtual Memories Show News
A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life
Podcastery
No new show this week (and probably not next week) but last week I posted Episode 590 of The Virtual Memories Show, feat. archivist Jim Moske and his marvelous new book, DEATHS OF ARTISTS (Blast Books), where he explores art, mortality, media, fame and our secret lives. We talk about how the book grew from his chance discovery in the Met Museum’s archives of century-old scrapbooks filled with artists’ obituaries, his attraction to the obits’ brutal tabloid poetry, and how he fell down the rabbit-hole of figuring out the scandalous, redemptive life of their compiler, Arthur D’Hervilly. We get into the aesthetic pleasure & fragility of historical records, what these obits — and D’Hervilly’s life — can teach us about artistic reputation and the democratization of art, and why Jim considered doing this project as a ‘zine (just like last week’s guest!). We also discuss how he got started as an archivist, his favorite phases of the Met’s history, his archive of illegible historical documents (!), the impact of digitization and electronics on the archivist field, what we lose when materiality goes away, the oblique influence of Bolaño’s 2666 on Deaths of Artists, and why Jim regularly purges his own archives & records. Give it a listen, and go read DEATHS OF ARTISTS!
Recent episodes: Adam Moss • Randy Fertel • D.W. Young • Jen Silverman • Leonard Barkan • Emily Raboteau • Trillian Stars & Kyle Cassidy (bonus)
No, Seriously: HIATUS
Okay, I said I wouldn’t post a midweek email if there was no new podcast, but I lied. No new episode, but I figured I’d let you know I’m still alive-ish.
I’m in Washington, D.C. today for some lobbying meetings, then it’s back to NJ on the train, to hurriedly pack/prep for a SoCal trip. Big biotech trade show next week in SD, so I’m spending the weekend before that in L.A., where I’ve booked a couple of pod-guests and have tentative plans to visit some past guests to take Instax pix for The Book.
The new guests are both referrals/recommendations from previous guests, and I love that most, these tendrils of friendship and art.
For now, it’s time to sound authoritative about drug manufacturing quality, supply chains, etc.
Art
Didn’t sketch much this week, much less draw. Below’s a quick brush-sketch of Bendico on/dangling off of the sofa. You should go to the Flickr album of most of the art I’ve made & find something you like.
Postcardery
Let me know if you want to be on my postcard-a-day list. (Financial supporters of the podcast get a hand-drawn/painted postcard as a thank-you.)
Kickstartery
I recorded the June 11 episode last weekend with Stan Mack, and took a neat Instax photo at his apartment, so that’s another piece of the mismatching puzzle of my book project.
I can’t imagine any photo-/art-book publisher is dying to publish a collection of Instax photos taken in various artists’, writers’, cartoonists’ etc.s’ homes but not actually showing the artists, writers, cartoonists, etc., coupled with writing by some zhlub from New Jersey. So I plan on self-publishing it by running a Kickstarter later this year.
If you’ve got ideas about what sort of rewards I should make for different tiers of donors — like, things you’d love to receive if you contributed, say, $30, $40, $50 OR A WHOLE LOT MORE to this project — let me know.
Until Next Time
Thanks for reading this far! I’ll be back on Sunday with links, books, & workouts, but who knows if Wednesday will bring a new episode, art, etc.?
When all that’s to be said’s been said / What’s keeping you in bed / Is a fear inside your head / The fear of being misled,