RAMPAGE
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Part 1 -
For me this image carries multiple meanings. It all depends on how your read or don’t read the text. Text is elusive. It seems obvious in it’s structure and appearance in time and space but challenges one to apply meaning to it’s existence. And that meaning can change with each individual as well as from one viewing to another. It seems that where text resists meaning and obvious understanding it becomes a spiritual art.
Below is an edited segment from the publication, THE BOOK, SPIRITUAL INSTRUMENT edited by Jerome Rothenberg & David Guss
The Thai translation of the word text is “bot” to perform a text is called “ti bot” which means to strike the text. Mattani Rutnin wrote about Thai dancers who interpret a “bot” (text): “Those who can interpret the bot successfully, i.e.., in terms of aesthetics, drama and emotion are said to “ti bot tack” (literally, smash the text to pieces…)”
I’ve been struggling to find out what text means to me since I’ve been including it in more and more of my digital creations – I’ve yet to find the answer. But I suspect I am trying to, in my own way, “smash the text to pieces” to either change or destroy what it means. I want to find the “blah blah blah”, “yadda yadda yadda” or whatever you want to call it. I do know that for me text started as simply a fascination with how it either filled or shaped the space. But that’s all I got for now.
—- still working on this notion.
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Part 2 -
The little giblet below came to me in a dream and startled me enough to wake me up at 2AM this morning. It seemed to fit today’s image. When I wrote, yesterday, about “introducing a darker theme” I had no idea I’d be posting this. Must’ve been the cheese popcorn I snacked on last night before going to bed.
MURDER SONG – for Tom
“Hey?” he said
as if he had asked a second time
”Have you ever been murdered?”
His raspy, crusty, whiskey-burned voice
squeezing out sound like a dead foot
dragged along a dirty wooden barroom floor
on a silent night
and the crowd went wild
raining cheers and applause… for
the singer and the song
He proceeded to weave a tale of terror
that was as mesmerizing as the dark pool
with the impish glint
that hung below the brim of his bowler hat
in a cloud of smoke that hung in the air
on the peak of mount baldy
from the cigarette pinched tightly
between two yellow-stained fingers
and the crowd went wild
raining cheers and applause… for
the singer and the song
I could feel the thunder and the heat
as he slowly and lazily sang
his drunken murderous threat.
My wife and I were in the mountains
…tied up in a red cabin…
hidden in the sycamore trees…
he stood before us…a dark threat
“Yeah, it’s time to leave now…
but first… I won’t leave you wondering…
I’ll make it quick for you…I’ll shoot you in the head, bang bang…
then I’ll make my getaway…bang bang, you’ll never know what hit you… bang bang…
hehehehehehe….” The lights went out
laughter trailing off in the darkness
and the crowd went wild
raining cheers and applause… for
the singer and the song
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Part 3 -
MAKE IT RAIN by Tom Waits (Live 2006 at the Akron Civic Theater)
One of the greatest concert experiences I’ve EVER had.
And an amazing video with a song from Tom’s most recent album BAD AS ME
HELL BROKE LUCE
What a lovely work. I like it as an abstraction. There is much to look at, and my eyes wander from lines and shapes, latching onto a color and following a color stream.
Superb.
Thanks TooL – you’re up early.
so you can’t sleep either?
wonderful!!!!!!!!!
Thank you Sir!
Hope you have a great weekend
With regards, Terry
…dark and beautiful!
Thanks my dear.
a very multi-layered piece of artwork with a lot of depth… i think every artist can relate to what you say about being not really sure what it means and where it takes you.. sometimes the things seem to come from somewhere deep down and take a bit until they surface to our consciousness..
THanks Claudia.
You could make money creating WP themes you know
Like the image (keep getting boats?) and the poem/song which does seem to fit in an odd way.
Hmmmmmm (sound of gears turning, smell of smoke at the thought of making money….)
Thanks Panda.
when I read the title I thought: “now, my translator is automatic????” What a surprise!…
number three, a spiritual number
“em três partes” – “ti – bot – tack”
Surpresa!
I’m trying to expand my vocabulary.
LOVE this!
THanks Susan.
This is without a doubt my favourite of your current series. Love the sense of aggression spliced with cold, multifaceted beauty and alien intelligence. Great work.
Lovin’ your notes. Thanks Richard.
Lots here to take in. The more I look at text, the less (traditional) sense it seems to make. That’s especially true with your images that include text. Not sure what else to say/write. Still taking it in.
Thanks Robin. Your comment has stimulated another thought for me. Text is itself an external abstraction of an internal idea. I wonder if we’ve come to put so much emphasis on that abstraction that the original idea has been lost. Maybe I’m working to abstract the abstraction so that people find their way back to the original idea which comes from within. Hmmmm – just thinking out loud again.
Thanks, as always for your thoughtful comments and remarks. I cherish them.
REALLY like this! [And I've been a fan of Waits for about 20 years now]- Oh, and I wanted to let you know that I nominated your work for “Blog of the Year 2012!” http://fictionalmachines.com/2013/01/13/blog-of-the-year-2012-two/ Keep up the great work & enjoy the day!
Thanks J.E.
(and as a side note – I don’t participate in the whole awards “thing” but thanks for the nomination anyway.)
Peace and many thanks for your kindness
No problem- I kind of figured as much, since I didn’t see any on your site, but I wasn’t sure. Well, hopefully it will at least direct some new people to check out & enjoy your work!
Thanks for understanding my friend.
This whole post, top to bottom, left to right, inside, outside, over under……………..
Just off the chart for me…………………
Top to bottom, left to right, inside, outside, over, under………………
Really, really.
hehehe. Thanks my friend.
This is an excellent post….coincidentally I had an evening very much like your writing….minus the threats of death…..but a very similar character with the bowler hat in my life…..I am still investigating a similar theme with text….I did a piece a while ago entitled Sous Rature…it’s on my website under mixed media….http://caitlinboyce.carbonmade.com/projects/2563490
Thanks for the inspiration!
Your post made me want to revisit the theme…..maybe some more text combined with encaustic.
Awesome. I’ll have to check it out. Thanks.
This is a dense, multilayered and inspirational post Terry. Your ‘Rampage’ and thoughts on text obviously intrigue me and I still look forward to featuring you somehow on my site, if only by re blogging. The ‘dream’ poem is a dark and true tribute to Tom Waits (eat more popcorn before bed). Waits has always been a hero for me and his live performance in Vancouver some years ago blew me away. The images in the first video reminded me of your photos of desolate and abandoned locations. What more can I say – your posts continue to evolve in ever more creative and absorbing directions…
THank you John.