May 15, 2024

The Dirk of Art

A new podcast with Adam Moss on The Work Of Art, some lines of Dickinson & my silent mornings, a little art, a couple of Instax prints, & more

The Virtual Memories Show News

A 2x/week email about a podcast about books & life

Podcastery

This week, I posted Episode 589 of The Virtual Memories Show, feat. hall-of-fame magazine editor Adam Moss. His amazing new book, THE WORK OF ART: How Something Comes From Nothing (Penguin Press), explores the artistic process with interviews of more than 40 creators about the evolution of a piece of their art. We talk about the archeology of early drafts and sketches, why he took up painting in recent years and how its vexations drove him into making this book, what it’s like to tour artists’ heads, the creative benefits of “the bounce,” the differences between collaborative and solo art-making, and the dizzying iterations of a single artwork by Amy Sillman. We get into how his 40-year magazine editing career began (and why he left New York after ~15 years), the process of figuring out how to write and edit his own prose for this project, the incredible design project of bringing The Work Of Art to life as a museum of creativity (& its early life as a ‘zine), what happened when he pitched Warren Beatty on this project, and his ongoing attraction to the artifacts of artists in the midst of artworks. We also discuss why I may be the ideal reader for this book, how the introspection of COVID & lockdown influenced The Work Of Art and its subjects, what he learned about interviewing (& which subject intimidated him the most), how he finally learned to stop waiting for a catharsis and learned to take joy in the making of art rather than the finished artwork, and more. Give it a listen, and go read THE WORK OF ART!

Last week, I posted Episode 588 of The Virtual Memories Show, feat. author, professor & philanthropist Randy Fertel as we celebrate his new book, WINGING IT: Improv’s Power & Peril in the Age of Trump, and explore the role of improvisation & spontaneity in the arts, sciences & culture. We talk about the importance of “Yes, And” in more than just a comedy context, the neuroscience of Hot and Cold Cognition, and the moment in grad school that started him down this path 50 years ago. We get into how improvisation underlies creativity & innovation, how Trump embodies its dark side, and how his upbringing in New Orleans may have contributed to his improv-epiphany. We also discuss how canonical authors & works began as outsiders, the importance of unmediated experience, his love for Jon Batiste’s 2023 Jazz Fest set, his project on the emergence of global pop culture, and more. Give it a listen, and go read WINGING IT!

Recent episodes: D.W. Young • Jen Silverman • Leonard Barkan • Emily Raboteau • Trillian Stars & Kyle Cassidy (bonus) • Leela Corman • Keith Mayerson • Edith Hall

Blast of Silence

Rehearsal to Ourselves
Of a Withdrawn Delight —
Affords a Bliss like Murder –
Omnipotent – Acute –

We will not drop the Dirk –
Because We love the Wound
The Dirk Commemorate – Itself
Remind Us that We died –

—Emily Dickinson, #664, per my Belknap/Harvard edition of her poems

That was part of yesterday morning’s reading, & this morning’s rereading. I keep working my way through, two pages at a time, trying to hear it without reading aloud too much.

Some mornings I wait a long time before I say anything. I’d say it’s monklike, but you don’t hear so much about vows of silence among Jews, for obvious reasons. The morning routine — bathroom, 15-min. exercise routine, coffee, Dickinson, journal, postcard — passes quietly, as though the first words I speak should be meaningful.

I fear a Man of frugal speech –
I fear a Silent Man –
Haranguer – I can overtake –
Or Babbler – entertain

But He who weigheth – While the Rest –
Expend their furthest pound –
Of this Man – I am wary –
I fear that He is Grand –

—#663, also yesterday/today

It can be two-plus hours after I’ve gotten up, when Benny shakes himself out and clacks to the top of the stairs, ready for walkies, that words pass my lips. But other times I just thoughtlessly talk to myself. Or I’m on the scale for my morning weigh-in and mutter, “Goddammit”. Or lines of a song are bouncing in my head. Or just “stop”. Stop.

And sometimes it’s a poem of hers that I’m trying to make sing.

Art

Something funny happened this weekend. I hadn’t gotten around to drawing anything AGAIN, but instead of looking at my scans of past art with rue, I picked up one of my sketchbooks. It’s just a graph-paper pad in which I drew a bunch of faces, but seeing them on paper resonated with me in a way they didn’t when I saw them on screen. I felt more in tune with my drawings, more like I had made something. So I looked over that web-page of people who’d died or been born on that day, and added a terrible DOTD sketch of JK Huysmans to the graph-pad. The next morning, I started a Japanese White Eye postcard for Adam Moss. I wasn’t super-happy with it, but elves fixed it up overnight a little. I’ll mail it out to him once I add branches, flowers, etc. 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

At the end of 2024, I plan to make a book of Instax photos (like a Polaroid) + text, similar in format to Valid Until Sunset by Jarrett Earnest (photo on left page, text on right). I took a couple more Instax photos in the past week. My challenge is not just finding something to shoot and maybe the right light, but also not taking the same sort of picture in every setting. I’m happy with both of these. Later this summer, I’ll start pricing out the production (& figure out how to scan/repro Instax prints w/out getting glare from the glossy coating), then get a Kickstarter going for it. 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 to this project — let me know.

Until Next Time

Thanks for reading this far! I’ll be back on Sunday with links, books, & workouts, and Wednesday with a new episode, maybe some art, & who knows maybe a little profundity or something.

No one’s fussy, I’m a target,