May 2009 – Page 2 – Green Chair Press Blog

Tight Times

To be honest, my book and print sales this year have been dismal. It’s often hard to keep making things with older work going unsold. So it was heartening to read Tight Times Loosen Artists’ Creativity in the NY Times this morning. On their blog, they asked readers to comment on what effect the economy is having on their life and work. In the subsequent article, the author, Robin Pogrebin, writes: “Perhaps most striking about the comments was the considerable number who were defiantly upbeat despite grim circumstances. Many artists testified that the recession had strengthened their commitment to their work or allowed them to concentrate on their art — since the time spent on side jobs had diminished — or had even been a source of creative inspiration.”

Victoria May

Victoria May is a local artist who mostly does fiber art. Occasionally she makes bookworks too — she belongs to the PCBA and always has interesting things in our member shows (and I’m a push-over for any book with sewing in it). The last time we did a year-end exhibition of calendars, she made the one to the left (called Pocket Calendar, it’s made of Library book pockets, book pages, mull, thread, rust and dirt, and is very large). I also distinctly remember her Ocean Book — while it has no text, the colors and delicacy of it made me think immediately of lapping water.
Recently Victoria was the subject of a short documentary shown on Spark, a weekly television show about Bay Area artists and arts organizations produced by our local public television station, KQED. While it’s about her sewn artwork, it’s an interesting look into how she designs and constructs her work.

Poetry Jam

Tuesday this week, the Obama’s hosted a “poetry jam” at the White House (silly me, I thought the term was “slam” not “jam.”) John Stewart made fun of the evening — they were trying to be too hip — but I think endorsing spoken word anything is wonderful. You can see a review here.

Indexed

I’ve been overly busy doing non-book related things for the past couple of weeks, and neglecting my blog. But today I saw a mention of Jessica Hagy’s blog, Indexed, that made me stop for a minute and look. She draws little, seemingly simple maps or graphs or illustrations on index cards to help her understand the world. She says “This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.”

Origin of @

If I had to bet, I would say that @, or the at sign, is a recent addition to the symbols we use every day. But this NY Times blog post says I’m wrong. The symbol was first used by an Italian “in a letter written 473 years ago today, on May 4, 1536” (see the picture above). It was used then to indicate an ancient measure of weight or volume. The post is full of fun facts — such as the symbol is called a “snail” by Italians, and “monkey” or “dog” by Slavs.

Poet Laureate

This month Carol Ann Duffy became the first woman ever named Britain’s poet laureate. According to the NY Times she writes “often mischievous poems dealing with the darkest turmoil and the lightest minutiae of everyday life.” This post is a bit off topic, but I’ve been reading her poems for years, and one of my favorite poems ever is by Duffy — I’ve reprinted it below. You can read more of her poetry in the NY Times article and this article from the BBC.

Valentine

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring,
if you like.

Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.