Thursday, November 08, 2007

how things, and people, burn


The above, titled pyromania, a study on the nature of burning is by Peter Schwartz, whose work I just love. I just added a link to his website on this blog's sidebar, under "Workers of the World Unite: Artists of Other Genres," and since I've just decided to start to somewhat-regularly post "spotlights"-of-sorts on various poets, artists, and organizations from my sidebar, I thought I'd start with Peter, because I soooo wanted to post this new piece of his. He's a nice guy, too. So I encourage you to visit his website, check out more of his work in Siren, and send him enthusiastic emails overflowing with support and adoration. But seriously, like most art of all genres, what he does is a labor of love, and we all like to know it's appreciated, so never hesitate to send artists a little love back their way.
**
Dustin Hoffman, who I pretty much worship, has talked about how he still marvels at, and is confused and bewildered by, the fact that he now receives millions of dollars every time he does the exact same work that he once could only hope that maybe someone in the small community theater audience would notice. Maybe buy him a cup of coffee. Maybe write a positive review in a small 'zine. When I go to a movie theater, I often think the film I see is well worth the eight dollars I pay for the opportunity. But certainly, if we pay that eight dollars every week or so, pay twenty dollars for every cd we buy, pay a few hundred dollars on NetFlix or buying DVDs every year, pay thirty dollars for every new hardcover novel we buy, pay twenty, fifty, one-hundred-and-fifty, to see a live concert, certainly the least we can do when we see a painter's work or read a poem or hear music in the subway that resonates with us is to in some small way show that artist that his or her work is appreciated and supported, as well. There's just so much beauty out there.

2 comments:

sam of the ten thousand things said...

That is a powerful piece of art. Really strong. Thanks for posting it.

LKD said...

What Sam said.

After surviving to what has amounted to an almost complete purging of ...
whatever the hell you want to call all the "things" one accumulates over the course of a lifetime (options: stuff, crap, things, trash, treasure, beloved objects)...and feeling, often, during the process a keen urge to just toss everything out into the yard, build a bonfire and burn it all, I have to say that this piece of art says everything I could not and would not say to anyone around me during the process.

So, thank you for posting it.