mist in the parlor

wraith; noun

1. a: the exact likeness of a living person seen usually just before death as an apparition
b: ghost, specter
2. an insubstantial form or semblance : shadow
3. a barely visible gaseous or vaporous column

eraser

I left the LARGE AND HEAVY Collected Poems of Kennith Koch at school today - it was just too much. To replace it I looked up some contemporary and conceptual poetry that was mentioned in Notes on Conceptualisms by Robert Fitterman and Vanessa Place. Below is an excerpt from one of those books. This is sonnet 63 from Jen Bervin's Nets. It is helpful to put this in context so here is the book's afterward, by the writer herself:

I stripped Shakespeare's sonnets bare to the "nets" to make she space of the poem open, porous, possible - a divergent elsewhere. When we write poems, the history of poetry is with us, pre-inscribed in the white of the page; when we read or write poems, we do it with or against the palimpsest.

Jen Bervin - sonnet 63 from Nets

It is nice to think about this type of erasure (a form/working method of appropriation based conceptual poetry) in relationship to this Robert Rauschenberg piece:

Robert Rauschenberg - Erased De Kooning Drawing (traces of ink and crayon on paper, mat, label, and gilded frame) 1953

And, to get all Lawrence Weschler, here is my take on the previous. (Plus a few more here)

Adam Farcus - Erased Rauschenberg Plate, 1 (page from Robert Rauschenberg monograph, eraser marks) 2009-2010

"learn to disrupt things, in a way that doesn't take anything away"
-steve roden, from a studio visit on 11/12/08

Poems Yesterday

Facebook Poem


and some found poetry:

stickers on a van window at the Rock Island Metra Line stop in Mokena, IL

outside LaSalle Street Station, Chicago (this pole often has flowers in it like this)

Poem a day

It's 1am and I've decided to add another daily project (in addition to my Daily Journals) to my practice.
I will, from today till an unknown date, write a poem every day. They wont all (most?) be good, but that is how this works.
Day 1:

Behr Premium Plus - 360A

Marian, a social butterfly—and knows it,
by the saddle of morning's sunlight, landed at our table.
        bent and pretty
        smoking cigarettes
        she handed us tarot cards
like retreating banana splits.

Rocks and Magic

a systematic cataloging of the talismanic rocks that I own (click on the image to read the descriptions)

I've always collected rocks. I'm just now noticing that I use them around my apartment as talisman that help the ebb and flow of my life. (kinda hippy, I know) So it seems no surprise that I've been making some work about magical stones. Also, at this site (crystalmaster.com) you can see a list of stones/minerals and their healing powers. I haven't been to this shop yet (it is in Chicago) but I did pick up a sheet detailing the same powers from their door. By this list an agate "discerns the truth, accepts circumstances, and is a powerful emotional healer".

Adam Farcus - We now use the country itself, as its own map (collage on paper) 12" x 12", 2011 [for Steve Roden, via my Preemptive Drawing and Small Sculpture Sale] - imagery is from my Boy Scout Handbook (10th edition), Birkby, 1990; Rocks and Minerals, Zim/Shaffer, 1957; and Astronomy (10th edition), Fredrick/Baker, 1976

Adam Farcus - Agate (cardboard, hot glue, acrylic, spray paint, and glitter) 6" x 6" x 6", 2011 [for Steve Roden, via my Preemptive Drawing and Small Sculpture Sale]

Adam Farcus - Agate (cardboard, hot glue, acrylic, spray paint, and glitter) 6" x 6" x 6", 2011 [for Steve Roden, via my Preemptive Drawing and Small Sculpture Sale]

some other rock pieces of mine are here (Weight of the World) and here (Rock for Brett Favre's Window)

I went to the MCA...

and my favorite thing I saw was a bird imprint on the second floor window.* (click for large version of the photo)


*Although, the Susan Philipsz pieces were nice too.

Fun, Finally (pt. 2)

Winter/job applications/lists/school has got me kinda down. So I've made another show of artwork that makes me smile. Here is version 1. I call this exhibition: Fancy Chicken.

Yelena Vorobyeva & Viktor Vorobyeva - I Prefer Watermelon (c-prints) 2003

Royal Art Lodge - Amplified Yelps

Jimmie Durham - Still Life with Stone and Car, 2008

Dan Rees - Rabbit (plaster, wood, paint) 2008

Markus Hofer - Thumb Sucker (color photograph) 2008

Bas Jan Ader - Tea Party (color photograph) 1972

Boris Achour - Sommes (4) (lambda print) 1999

Lawrence Argent - I See What You Mean, 2005

Cassandra C. Jones - Lightning Drawing 1, 2009