You Know When It's Cool -- sketch by douglas brent smith, 24 August 1983
a truly eccentric person
the room changes
they enter
eyes turn heads turn new flows
over flow
a truly eccentric person looking
perfectly normal
now
we rely on that
until
that ready - steady rock - solid
presence presents change
smiling at you: in on it
lifting a secret door as
we wonder how do they know?
touching every single person
in the room
on the arm on the shoulder on the
top of the head on the lips!
opening the gates of possibility
inevitably
eccentric
uncle grant
uncle grant -- can't can't chant
pay now pay - for what we say
uncle chuck - can't trust your luck
tell us true - what do you do?
what's the price? the thought is nice
lift the lid? that's what we did
sign right here - and here, and here
grant three wishes - charity cheer
freestyle lifestyle paid with tax
scoop the art until it cracks
uncle grant grant us one wish
serve it up nonprofit dish
we will write your favorite book
paint your piece a proper look
film the scene that lights you up
fill the ever empty cup
uncle grant let's find the spin
show us how to cash it in.
-- douglas brent smith
Reactions to the Face On Mars
Reactions to the Face On Mars -- collage by douglas brent smith.
It seemed like a revelation, a sign. Pictures taken of the surface of mars seemed to show a face. Could this mean that there was an intelligent civilization there once upon a time?
Many years later, when our cameras produced much higher resolution images we saw that it wasn't really a face at all. It's just something that people do -- we see faces everywhere. We anthropomorphize wildly.
Well, the illusion was fun while it lasted. And it lasted long enough to be on my mind when I made this collage in 1993.












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