Not Much Room For Guests

Not Much Room For Guests - collage by douglas brent smith, 29 May 1989

"Why don't you make bigger works of art?"

" Do mean, by size?"

"Yes. Yours all seem to fit in a notebook."

"That's the point. Large is hard to store, and I've moved around so much -- proof of the difficulty is that the larger works of art I did do have disappeared."

"Gone?"

"Yep. Some mysteriously, and some in a brutal purge after my last move."

"After your move? So you paid to have them move and then got rid of them?"

"Yes. I didn't even take pictures of them. They no longer pleased me. They no longer represented me. They were mostly paintings from my first stay in Chicago. They were fun to make. I remember episodes of The Match Game playing in the background and soap operas -- or listening to WXRT on my humble stereo. I really should have had a job, but instead, painted. I really should have made collages -- and sometimes did -- but mostly painted. Dreck."

"So no really big collages?"

"Unless you count some room-sized installation type movies that I made in the early 1970's. Recorded for posterity on 8mm movie reels -- also probably all gone."

"Like a legend."

"Or more like drafts not worth saving."

- dbS -

Comments

Transporting The Message Keeper

Transporting The Message Keeper -- collage by douglas brent smith

You Can Be Positive

You Can Be Positive - collage by douglas brent smith.

Spotted Off The Coast of Jersey

Spotted Off The Coast of Jersey -- collage by douglas brent smith

Examination of the Numbers People

The Examination of the Numbers People -- collage by douglas brent smith

Selecting Changes Using the Logical If

Selecting Changes Using the Logical If - collage by douglas brent smith

Attention Paid to the Spiritual Side

Attention Paid to the Spiritual Side -- collage by douglas brent smith I think I've used some of these images in other collages. That happens, sometimes. The context changes the meaning and justifies the redundancy. Or, at least I think it does. I gave some thought to coloring this collage and decided against it. Maybe later, with time on my hands, I'll decide to color it. Probably not though because that process takes many hours and there is so much new work to do. This piece is from 1994. I was a completely differently person then and so were you (presuming that you were even alive then!) We're changing every day. What color do you think that floor is? -- dbs --

instant breakfast dreams

scrambled dreams scattered schemes ideas flashed on the mezzanine the balcony's crowded with narrow scenes colorful dreaming liquid sleep poached eggs dreams wet and fried homage to the dreams that died rules that flutter into melted butter dreams design their own red line fried dreams my dreams your dreams ours evening slips and then devours sheets around us lights dimmed black shadowed visions on our backs your dream is my dream is our dream complete.

Levitating a Small Guitar

Levitating a Small Guitar - sketch by douglas brent smith (probably 1991). "Do you think that he could levitate a large guitar, that is to say, a normal sized guitar as well?" "No doubt. It might take some practice, though." "Does it come naturally?" "It comes with practice." "That is more like a ukulele than a guitar." "Nope. It has six strings. Guitar." "Small" "But he could also levitate a large guitar. Maybe one wasn't available." "Well, you've got to start someplace." "Yes." - dbS -

Worldview Built In a Day

Worldview Built In a Day - collage by douglas brent smith, 3 January 1988

Worldview Built In A Day With Fire

Worldview Built In A Day With Fire - collage by douglas brent smith, 3 January 1988 Something about this collage causes me to page quickly past it, yet if I spend more time absorbed in it there is more to see. I pondered cropping it. I cut out dozens of pieces of pictures that could go in with it, but found it hard to obscure the central image. Worldview? Examination? Built in a day? The hints of mixed media with the pen lines were attempts to draw it all together. Did it work?

douglas brent smith

Search This Blog