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 -

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Going Up?

Going Up? collage, mixed media by douglas brent smith, from Journal #33, Life In Progress, 1998

Still Going Up?

Still Going Up? -- mixed media, collage by douglas brent smith, 1998, from Journal #33, Life In Progress. NOTES: Usually, I crop the spiral binding out of the picture. This time I decided to leave it in and show the whole page. It provides some idea of what each of the journals from this period are like. Big pages and many of them. The clip art that makes guest appearances is primitive, sure, but maybe a little charming, too?

thanks, pal

if you want to hear the truth ask a child before an institution pinches their constitution blurring all intuition leaving the squared off from the perfectly rounded whole if you want to stay honest raise a child listen like a student trust as a friend follow with enthusiasm the perfectly rounded sound of truth if you want to grow learn from a child -- doug smith 4/21/1988.

Drive Dougie Drive

Drive Dougie Drive - mixed media, collage by douglas brent smith, 1998

Platform Flyer

One of a series of mostly black and white mixed media/collage pieces with a photo-copy base. Here's the poem that is on the facing page in the journal: we're not perfect but we are trying trying to get along to talk to touch to see each other's point of view we're not perfect but we have a history that is wrapped in strands of perfect moments perfect steps perfect strings of perfect love. 23 April 1998 Platform Flyer - mixed media sketch by Douglas Brent Smith, 1998, from Journal #33, Life In Progress.

Contrary Facts

it was a fortune in facts tested against emotions processes swirling we sat by the fire mumbling vague traces of truisms we did not believe there was a time when a fact was a fact where is that now? Contrary Facts - collage, mixed media sketch by Douglas Brent Smith, from Journal #33, Life In Progress, 1998

A Day At The Beach

A Day At The Beach - Digital collage by douglas brent smith, 22 January 2024

Lift and Separate

An unusual feature of this collage is that it is assembled in landscape mode instead of portrait. It feels more informal than usual for me, also. Lift and Separate - collage by Douglas Brent Smith, 1998, from Journal #33, Life In Progress

Terra Cotta

Whatever floats your boat matters. Send yourself on a journey unique to your character, special for your strengths, resilient to your challenges. My dad once made a canoe. He carved it out of a single piece of wood. He told me that it floated, the way a canoe should, but it leaned to one side. I never got in that canoe but I did see it. It's a gift to be able to make things out of wood, even if the first time you try it comes out a little wabi sabi. Terra Cotta - collage by Douglas Brent Smith, 1998, from Journal #33, Life In Progress

Mineral Wealth 2

Mineral Wealth 2 - pen and marker sketch boy douglas brent smith, 1989. An album cover for an unrecorded, unreleased album. Here is the full page in Journal #26, "Communication" where the concept of the album, song titles, and evidence of water damage all appear. Clearly, I was having both a) fun with markers, and b) delusions of grandeur. Mineral Wealth 2 with song titles

douglas brent smith

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