double

portrait, 2015

notes: the main benefit of art school is self-loathing.

THE MAIN BENEFIT OF ART SCHOOL IS SELF LOATHING

the desire & ability to interact with the world on a conceptual level.
THINKING. PUTTING ONESELF IN CONTEXT.
UNDERSTANDING ONES CONTEXT

Art is free. Free to make. Free to consume. Free to fake.

what’s bad is when you just start putting stuff out into the world without thinking about it at all. when you don’t have to examine your place or ask any questions. when you simply run around smiling like an idiot saying “I’m an artist” without the knowledge to investigate anything.

art is investigation.

we like to pretend that “there is no wrong answer” in art, in literature. BUT THIS IS A LIE. when shakespeare wrote; “love all // trust a few // do harm to none” he was NOT talking about giving daisies to kittens. if you believe he was writing about giving daisies to kittens you are WRONG.

instead of worrying about who gets to run around saying they’re an artist, we should be worrying about what the art itself ACTUALLY SAYS.

emily dickinson's 1129, original manuscript (johnson numbering)

(the first two lines of which is tattooed on my arm)

painting

mars spot red/gold & green/gold

water soluble wax pastel, watercolour, india ink, & ink on mat board. 2014.  

if your nerve, deny you-
go above your nerve-


-emily dickinson.

5 of wands, inverted

"learning how to focus energy
or direct enthusiasm in productive ways."

always a lesson worth repeating. 

the six parts of jesus

1.
teeth white like
bird shit on a black
honda parked
in the sun on a tuesday
in hollywood.

2.
a single red shoe
worn in & cracked
at the bends in the leather
laces never tied--
he trips often.

3.
attached to the back
of his head like voldemort
a second, feminine face
complete with a ring
of worn purple lipstick.

4.
two eyes.
two testicles.

5.
"I can't draw a picture
of my father because
I don't remember
his face."

6.
those pesky nails
crusting into his hands
& feet, "I've an itch 
I can't scratch"
he says.