Interview about theatre with Curt L. Tofteland

Please read the interview with Curt L. Tofteland about his method! http://scenotacja.comicgenesis.com/shakespearebehindbarscurtltofteland.pdf

Surazeus answers to questions from Piotr

- As the greek mythology says, Kadmos - who was the husband of Harmonia and a brother of Europa - has taught the phoenician alphabet to his people. Do myths explain anything to us?

Myths are like stories in newspapers or history books that record the dramatic process of human action where the character comes to symbolize the archetype of the human personality whose actions create new technology, like Kadmos teaching the alphabet, which inspires people to live better lives. Myths record the exploits of cultural heroes.

- I would like to ask about iambic pentameter and about blank verse (in Polish poetry something similar to dactylic hexameter is much more popular) - did you choose it because of the accent and melody of the English language?

Blank verse is the most natural rhythm of expression of accentual melody for the English language. Shakespeare, Milton, and Wordsworth employed blank verse as the most dynamic method of expressing narrative and lyrical self-expression, similar to the verse of Homer and Vergil. I also employ the thought-rhyming parallelism used in Hebrew poetry, where the concept of each line will echo the concept of previous lines, repeating the same concept in different words, expressing the opposite concept, or building on previous concepts.

- You write really a lot. Is it a form of expression for you?

I see visions of human life in my mind, so I craft elegant lines of verse to express that vision with coherent beauty, so poetry is the artistic representation of reality. I find myself inspired to write poetry every day.

- Your Hermead is the longest epic in western literature. How did you write it?

I was reading "The Western Canon" by Harold Bloom when I came on a passage where he talked about the history of poetry where gods, kings, and martial heroes are the subjects of epic poetry. I thought about how philosophers and scientists have had a greater impact on human history, so at that moment, the early evening of 16 July 2011, I was inspired to write the Hermead as an epic that presents philosophers as cultural heroes. The Hermead presents the lives and ideas of 26 ancient Greek philosophers, so it envisions the foundation of the philosophical tradition of Academia as the founding myth of Western Civilization.

- What is the secret of finishing large projects?

I set myself the goal of writing at least 100 lines of blank verse every evening, and so I was able to compose 126,680 lines of verse in the Hermead over 5 years from 2011 to 2015. However, the Hermead is only 1/5 of the project I want to write. Someday I may write more tales of scientists in the Renaissance and the Modern eras.

- You work as a cartographer. Why are maps so interesting?

Maps represent the physical reality of the world, just as lyric poetry represents the visionary imagination of the brain, and epic poetry represents the drama of human action.

- Are illustrations in books important? What do you think about illustrations of poetry?

I would love for artists to be inspired to paint illustrations of the Hermead someday.


The Hermead has been published in a single volume.

Hermead paperback in Poland
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0359794386

All Surazeus books
https://www.amazon.de/Surazeus-Astarius/e/B00G4CN6YU

Hermead paperback on Lulu
http://www.lulu.com/shop/surazeus-astarius/hermead-philosophers/paperback/product-24175712.html

Hermead hardcover
http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/surazeus-astarius/hermead-philosophers/hardcover/product-24175889.html

Interview with Dona Mayoora

 

- When you compose an image, do you think about frames as of a thing from comics or from films?

Both, but in an unfamiliar foreign language (which may not even exist) with no subtitles/translation, so that I could view/read/listen them with my own imaginations and logic to compose an entirely different visual language or take it as an abstract composition. In addition, I imagine a high speed bullet train passing through those images and I depict that image as abstract strokes and other elements, whooshing that train through different frames each time.

 

- Your works are full of details. How do you achieve so much precision?

I approach my works in two different ways.

1. Not approaching it at all, until inspiration takes me over. I will forever be grateful for these moments.

2. I carry an idea around for n number of days before I compose that image. My thoughts recapitulate that idea, exploring numerous styles and logics. This helps me to visualize a clear cut image even before I sit down to draw.

- Which form of expression do you prefer: asemic writing, computer art, drawings, or other? Or is everything poetry?

I like to view everything with the eye of poet. Everything else spread out from there. Some may think it’s ludicrous. We are not born with a user manual which directs us how to use our mind. We absorb actualities and details by seeing, hearing, and paying attention to our environs. Everything begins from there. We then decide how to process those thoughts and where to take those thoughts from there. If I don’t understand something, that shows lack of my knowledge in that area. I have a choice to remain ignorant or learn about it. Even then, sometimes we fail. Ten years ago or so, I have read somewhere about a scientist who dedicated his whole life studying about eels. But he remained unsure about the exact way eels migrate to Sea and reproduces. When somebody asked about his research, he recited a haiku about it instead.

Poetry shouldn’t be always in verses. It can take many forms especially if we try to see it with a different set of eyes. My preferred method of quick composition is always Asemic writing with ink on paper. I tried to explore on visual poetry using Asemic as a medium. But I like to work on all medium and interface. Last year I did a whole series (Minimal Asemic Visual Haiku) of work using a selfie App. If you give me a piece of paper, I will figure out a way to create a visual out of it. Creating shouldn’t be about the material we use.

- You use various kinds of iterations in your works. Do you repeat by creating the same thing from the beginning, or do you create variations of the first version? Or perhaps you have a different method?

If we analyze simple answers like yes or no under a microscope, we may suddenly realize that it act as a character from Roman Fleuves. Unlike language an image is a compacted form, but conveys several logics/views/readings from different perspectives. Sometimes I try to iterate an image to visualize each perspective. This may sound so automatic. Experimenting, even with poetry, is essentially automatic. But very exciting, because rePETition is different than repetITion.

- You often write titles or short comments about a form or concept of a work (for example "1 pm", "Two comic strip Senryu (human haiku) poems" or "Translating a poem"). How important are such comments and titles of your works?

My first preference is always titlelessness. Title is a closed see-through window, author is trying to impose something or guide reader/viewer/listener to somewhere even before they start to read/view/listen. Titlelessness is an open window, a bridge, silent abstract invitation, a blank canvas reader/viewer/listener could fill in later on. It can also be eye of the storm or calmness before Tsunami or a silent protest. Titlelessness is grain of sand on the shoreline. You may even find unnoticed autobiography of the ocean on that gain. Titlelessness lets you experience something on your own.

- Which form of presenting your works is your favorite? Exhibitions? Books? Chapbooks? Social media?

Being creative is my first priority. Everything else is relative. Being said that, my first choice of presenting my work is always on social media (I’m just a regular person; I do not have art agent, literary agent, publicist etc...). It’s also a platform where we can share our knowledge liberally with others. I also try to share my published poems form print media on one or more (depending on the friend-list) of my social media handle, because not everyone can buy and read printed periodicals. My second preference is book. When opportunities arise, I’m also open to other forms, including exhibitions, for presenting my works.

- How to promote innovative forms of art and literature?

Right now, through social media, a touch with our fingertip. We can always use various social media platform to find people with similar interests and could go forward from there.

https://www.instagram.com/dmayoora/
https://www.facebook.com/dmayoora/
https://www.facebook.com/CalligraphyStories/

Interview with Michael Orzechowski

How important is concept in art?

I think maybe it is relative to your audience and the individual creator. Personally for me it isn’t always that important. Most of my work is automatic, thoughts aren’t there while in the process so to speak. They are but it’s different. Important thoughts, ideas, patterns and performances come when I sleep, drive, do yardwork, or am just intentionally sitting still and existing.  I like and want to make conceptual stuff, but I don’t overthink it. When I come up with something conceptual it’s a spontaneous thought, the same as my non conceptual work. However, I want to comment on the state of the planet and humanity much more than I do. This is important to me, but the ideas don’t come as often as I would like, and I don’t force them. 

What do you think about variants and repetitions?

Variants are essential and necessary, If I understand this part of the question correctly. With variation a piece can go from good to bad, bad to good, good to great, etc…  Stories can be told with simple variants from one frame to the next. Even the simplest of variation. A 45 degree rotation.  I use repetition in my work often, in some cases it helps form a narrative. I have a repetitive technique that I use often, I’ll maybe touch on that in the next question. Variants are essential and necessary, If I understand this part of the question correctly. With variation a piece can go from good to bad, bad to good, good to better, etc…  Stories can be told with simple variants from one frame to the next. Even the simplest of variation. A 45 degree rotation.  I use repetition in my work often, in some cases it helps form a narrative. I have a repetitive technique that I use often, I’ll maybe touch on that in the next question. Variants are essential and necessary, If I understand this part of the question correctly. With variation a piece can go from good to bad, bad to good, good to better, etc…  Stories can be told with simple variants from one frame to the next. Even the simplest of variation. A 45 degree rotation.  I use repetition in my work often, in some cases it helps form a narrative. I have a repetitive technique that I use often, I’ll maybe touch on that in the next question. Variants are essential and necessary, If I understand this part of the question correctly. With variation a piece can go from good to bad, bad to good, good to better, etc…  Stories can be told with simple variants from one frame to the next. Even the simplest of variation. A 45 degree rotation.  I use repetition in my work often, in some cases it helps form a narrative. I have a repetitive technique that I use often, I’ll maybe touch on that in the next question.

How do you choose which technique to use? Can you tell us something about your favorite technique?

I might begin to sound repetitive here. I don’t really choose. I keep a lot of supplies and materials around me during the day while I work. I have a lot of things going on all the time. In many instances it’s the material and supplies that choose which technique.

One of my favorite techniques is a basic one. Rotate whatever I’m working on and repeat the mark in an adjacent area. Simple and effective. It is a symmetrical technique. In some cases, recently referred to as bio-symmetrical. I like the sound of that. 

There are lots of interesting spoons in your posts. How do spoons become artworks?

The spoons just sort of happened. Like everything else, I can’t explain it. A spontaneous event that blossomed into a lengthy ongoing series. The spoons are nonsense and I love this. Any object can become art/poetry.

You are the founder of ExperiMENTAL Comics group on facebook. How did you come up with the idea? Do you like being a founder, an organizer and a moderator?

I was looking for a place to post these kinds of images, there was nothing there, so I made my own.  I don’t necessarily like being a moderator. I don’t like the trouble that comes along with it. I don’t like enforcing rules and guidelines. [Administrating anything on the internet can be quite a psychological trip] For this reason the group didn’t turn out as intended. Originally it was called abstract comics. I had high hopes. I added many artists whose work I admire to the group. It just didn’t take off. I think if someone more well known had created this group it would have turned out different.   I had to change the title, which I like, to experimental comics in order to mold the group into what it developed into. I do like curating, finding work that I like and sharing it to the page.

You studied at The Art Institute of Atlanta. What did you learn there?

I learned where not to go to school for design. After one year at the AIA I switched to a non-accredited portfolio school called The Creative Circus. I went to the Circus for I think 3 or 4 semesters, where I learned a great deal about myself, design, book making, typography and typographic design. All of my time in college, as well as several years before and after, were troubled and are a cloudy part of my life. 

Do your followers influence you? a) yes b) no (just kidding, please elaborate).

Absolutely. I would prefer to refer to them as peers, friends, connections etc… Everything that comes into our range of senses is capable of influence. Once realized and it becomes a natural effortless ability. You have one more tool in your toolbox.

What would you like to achieve in art, poetry, in your creations?

I just want to feel good. I don’t want to worry. I don’t want to be anxious. Maybe selfish but I don’t just want these things for myself, I want everyone else to feel this way too.  

I would like to develop something I call neopoemics - the area where visual poetry and experimental comics overlap. What do you think about the idea?

I think this is a brilliant idea and I want to see more.

In which directions should experimenting with comics go?

Any and every direction anyone will take it in As long as it doesn’t lead to harm. 

Interview with Cheryl Penn

- I've read that your handwriting is really difficult to read. When does asemic writing begin and end?

Thanks for this opportunity to put my thoughts into words Piotr - it's a good exercise. I just want to say from the outset that although I have an academic background, much of work is done outside these parameters of learned knowledge. By this I mean, there MAY be theoretical references/guidelines, but my work and thoughts are mostly intuitive. As I have not formally addressed quite a few of the questions you raise, my views may change rapidly J!

Asemic writing - (we all know this): Exploration of the term ‘asemic writing’, reveals that there are very few variations in definition. It is generally perceived to be wordless writing, with open, or no semantic content. This means that it may actually be part of a preliterate phase, although it is often relegated to a post-literate phase. Pre-literate is lost when obtaining legibility. It’s almost the return to abstraction when very able artists - I think of Picasso started to shed reality in order to find an essence. One can replicate reality - and then what? One can write, and then what? How does the language artist use writing as subject matter? It cannot appear as ‘words’/phrases on a canvas - it appears as sentimental or obvious (not that I am against either in the right context); therefore writing becomes abstracted. Creative investigation into WRITING I think will naturally abstract it. Let me say too - a lot of what we see is without concept or philosophy, it appears just decorative - again, no problem with that, but the work has no depth and I think this lack is what causes many arguments as to the validity of this art form. So perhaps that's the beginning of asemic writing - before the start of legibility? Its end…we haven’t got there yet! Perhaps we will end up with minimalist works like Korean (1962 and 1963) by Jo Baer.

Through primary school we are all taught to write in a uniform way, but strangely, this drawing form has a life of its own. It’s not long before each student has his or her own interpretation of the alphabet and as adults; it is not unusual for many to return to a scribble form. So that would confirm the notion that asemic writing happens in many instances before even learning to write legible script?

I would take this to mean that it’s essence is childlike and intuitive, an abstract expression of what children see adults do. As their verbal skills may still be largely unformed when this play begins to occur, one could infer that the child’s intention is to communicate, but in a very personal way - a self informed way. A child’s line of writing scribbles may not even resemble letters or words, and as they can speak before learning to write, they attend to wholeness first (the lines) rather than singular units (letters). Learning to write, as we all remember, is a lengthy and complex process, bound by blue lines and particular size requirements. How I battled to conform and even now, the sight of official, tiny blue or green blocks into which I have to squash my garrulous, unruly letters becomes a cause for alarm.

Children also employ a multisensory approach. I term this ‘the zone’. I see it when students are working on an art piece they are completely engrossed with - they hone in as more senses are engaged, and they become one with what they are doing: concentration is sharpened as a faintly trancelike state is achieved. Asemic writing works the same way for me. My writing IS difficult to read - and that was done on purpose J - I had a LOT to say about a great deal of things, but they are secret things - things which need to be written, but not read. So, I just adjust the legibility of my writing in order to be understood - or not - depends on the audience. My writing is then a fluid space, dependent on recipient.

An important point here for me: many have said that asemic writing, because it has no semantic content has no meaning. I beg to differ here in terms of my own practice. This is of course where the discussions, contentions and debate enter the fray. What is asemic writing? How does the individual describe it, as opposed to a collective definition? Is it only asemic when it has no meaning? Does the vacuum of meaning asemic writing is intended to address mean that because I write with meaning that it is therefore not asemic writing, even though it is illegible? Is asemic writing just an extension of visual poetry? Is it possible that because I write with illegible intention, but with intention none-the-less, I leave no space for the viewer? Of course not! I know I create two types of asemic writing - the asemic glyph which is loaded with conceptual meaning - (I definitely load it - if the reader cares to load it - or not is not mine to determine), and illegible but meaning-filled script. An example of asemic glyphs would be the Bhubezi Alphabet.

- Over two hundred people sent their mail art to the exhibition "Mail Art Makes the World a Town" organized by you. How did you do that?

In 2010 I joined IUOMA - International Union of Mail Artists (Ruud Janssen, Netherlands). This move proved key to about 3 years of intense personal artistic growth and international outreach. Mail Art in South Africa is not a common practise at all - it’s very time consuming, demanding (if you want to be on top of the game) and, if you follow an unspoken rule - you return artwork when you are sent artwork. If one is generous with the network, it is very generous back, and in two years I had a massive amount of correspondents and was the proud owner of BOXES of Mail Art - all of which was viewed with my eyes only…I brought some South African artists into the ring, but sadly, I am not in contact with anyone in South Africa who is still a part of this practice.

Anyway, I decided to share the wonderful gleanings in the form of an exhibition. Something which still remains today as a result of that exhibition (as far as I am aware the only one of its kind in South Africa), is the assembly book - Mail Art Makes the World a Town - I borrowed the phrase from the Novgorod Codex - see: http://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?entryid=3909

 # 18 of this publication is about to be assembled. I will stop at 20 as that appears to be a good number and postage has become prohibitive. Some parts of the world are also charging for postal collections and some items are returned - Argenita for example is proving difficult. The assembly book collection has given the most intruiging results and some artists such as TICTAC (Germany) have participated from the beginning.

She and I still maintain very close artistic communication as I am in complete admiration of her work.

Another offshoot has been The New Alexandrian Library. I have one of the biggest collections of Artists Books in South Africa. I think there are over 1000.

http://www.cherylpenn.com/Mail_Art_Makes_The_World_a_Town___Catalogue_by_Cheryl_Penn_(South_Africa).pdf

- What is the key to good communication in experimental art?

Communication through successful, experimental art (I use this term in its imprecise definition except to say it is the exploration of new ideas in order to extend the boundaries of ‘art’) lies in the ability to adequately express the very personal realm of the subconscious. That I think, may be a key to success: it should be conceived and presented in a personal way, without resorting to shock value. It should be technically sound - by this I mean: those who try to pass off badly made, ill-conceived works as ‘experimental’, should rather keep those experiments as part of a visual diary and not expose the work to the public until the ‘experiment’ is ‘successful’. One does not feed a bad baking experiment to the public - ones’ close companions may be subjected to a ‘taste and tell’, but not the public. I would define ‘experimental’ as the making of thoughts flesh. Being able to communicate thoughts, realizing them from the abstract to reality. The result of a thought must be accessible - if that is ones intention. As I said, sometimes I wish to remain ambiguous, but in saying that I am still communicating in a respectful way to an audience who I hope will gain SOMETHING from what they are viewing. Very importantly, successful experimental art should have a conceptual/philosophical underpinning. I realise that may offend many, but nothing for nothings sake is not to my taste.

- Can you tell us something about your biggest solo artistic project?

I have had solo exhibitions, but I am essentially a collaborator - I far prefer the sound of an enormous choir and the impact it makes to a piping solo - no matter how beautiful. There is a power and togetherness that lies in working collaboratively. So my ‘solo-ness’ often lies in being the conceiver, executor, collector and curator of a collaborative project. For example, my biggest work (still ongoing) is An Encyclopedia of Everything. This is a collection of nearly 600 small books which deal with EVERYTHING.

See: https://an-encyclopedia-of-everything.blogspot.com

I have swopped book for book through this body of work, so I have made A LOT OF BOOKS! This goes back to your previous question - how does one successfully communicate through experimental art? Books for me are the perfect medium for experimental art - and vade mecums are even better still. Not all ideas are good, but all ideas crave a voice. In giving an idea a platform, one leaves space for better things to emerge - creative strangeness which often are hidden behind an intial thought.

Having said that, on the day you sent this list of questions I had decided to have another solo SOLO exhibition. This will take place D.V. at Eye4Art Gallery, opening 31 August as an ‘event’.

P.S. - the exhibition was VERY successful - for which I am grateful. It involved paintings with 15 layers per work. Yes - I suffer from ADHD!

Come to think of it, I have another very large project which is a few years old - The Authentic Massacre of the Innocent Image. I do paintings - some upwards of 3 meters long and cut them up. I will do a ‘performance’ - I’m not sure if I like that word - called The Sacrilage of Van Gogh on that day where I cut a very laboriously produced copy of Starry Starry Night into 24 pieces. I have cut up 105 paintings! There are pieces of my work all over the world, and quite a few are used as book cover for handmade books. I worked out that's nearly 200 square meters of work.

Another collection of books as I mentioned earlier is The New Alexandrian Library. This too is a collection of artists books - mostly unique, or limited editions where I have swopped with artists all around the world. I have literally hundreds of books to document - I think it will take me a lifetime - sadly, but I will put out a catalogue of at least 60 of them when I get a minute.

http://newalexandrianlibrary.blogspot.com

- I've watched a report about #FeesMustFall student strike in South Africa on Al Jazeera. What do you think about paying for studies?

To be honest I left lecturing at University because of politics - internal and student! I think studying is a privilege which comes at a cost because it has a value, but I think I will leave my thoughts there. I don't ‘do’ politics, although I do ‘do’ religion. I miss the days of constructive and respectful debate, before everything became politicized.

- You teach lots of courses, visual poetry, asemic writing... Is your teaching a form of promotion of experimental art?

Very definitely, but more than that, I think it is a gateway to intuitive creative freedom. There is always a product, but for me, as a process based practitioner, process opens many doors to intuitive thinking. The cross-pollination of disciplines creates new thinking patterns and allows successful movement from the concrete to the abstract and back again. The subject matter of my courses is writing - it could have been portraiture/landscape, but everyone can write - and have a personal form of handwriting, created from their own brain-eye-hand action. The following will give you an idea - it comes from my summation notes on the first module:

In the introductory class we saw that portraits operate on many levels, using different techniques. Although we are creating art, we are using a landscape of language to explore the visual image.

We are using words - their look and feel - their power to give a palimpsest quality to artwork. We have discussed the liminal space in depth: what is its function?

How does it function? What anxious, but exciting journeys open up for us in this space? A good thing to remember is that every searching person has liminal spaces in their lives. These spaces (the distance between what we know and don’t know, or the unploughed tract between where we are, to where we wish to be) exist in everyone’s lives: the trick is to grant them a voice. As soon as we acknowledge ‘I don’t know’, we begin the journey ‘to know’. 

We discussed the abundant metaphor of the seed, the fact that it is the promise of life, a liminal space where, with the right treatment, something miraculous happens. 

The courses are very experimental in nature, and some people balk at my methodologies, (which includes narrative therapy techniques) not quite GETTING their experimental nature - until they DO get it! I have wonderful success stories - which is great to me. Every time I give I class I take it too - I am teacher and participant, so I am as much involved in the process as everyone else. In fact, on Saturday an architect wrote and said that two years later she is still unpacking what she learnt on this different sort of journey.

- How can a hobbyist be a great artist?

Yes - by becoming proficient in their craft and expanding their own boundaries of what constitutes ‘ordinary’.

- When I had a short lecture at our library, I said that I'm a little bit afraid to say what you do to books. I mean Altered Books. How do people react to this kind of activity?

That makes me smile J . I had a friend who owned a paper recycling plant. I went through a tour of the factory and got the fright of my life! There were MOUNTAINS - and I’m not exaggerating of books with people sitting at the foot of these mountains tearing them apart from the spine. I immediately rescued the few I could (I caught a plane home) and these are the books I alter. They were ‘rescue books’. I was not allowed to even have them - so they were reborn into something else. I think it is a gift to take a discarded book and reuse it/re-purpose it into a unique artwork.

- I understand your Vispro as visual prose, that is prose that should be looked at, and not read. How would you like the field to develop? Do you think it can be widely recognized? And do you think I could use elements of visual prose in my neopoemics?

I coined the term ‘vispro’ because I was not satisfied with my work being categorized as vispo - visual poetry. In fact, I’m uncertain what ½ of the work categorized as vispo has to do with poetry. It feels more like prose most of the time, accompanied by an image of some sort - hence the new phrase. I’m not sure if it will be widely recognized now - perhaps I should have done more homework, but I was feeling quite strongly about that particular segregation one strange morning. Sometimes, as I’ve written before, its good to just give voice to an idea and expose others who may be interested to it and see where it goes from there? I WISH I had more time to explore the idea further - and I do, everyday that I work, but the theory of it will have to wait - as you said - too much to do! Neopoemics, which explores the territory of visual poetry and experimental comics (as I understand it) already seems to use shortened prose formats. Cross pollination of ideas, sharing and collaborations can only enhance ones own perceptions if correctly fed - like many clean rivers running into an endless turquoise sea, which will never be full, for evaporation structures clouds which restructure water, and on the cycle goes.

The wise man said “there is no new thing under the sun” and I think that is absolutely true. I also teach the history of language and writing in the course I run - understanding the history of anything allows us to contextualise ourselves, not matter how far we have gone from the source. I think that's an important thing though - NOT to stray too far from the source. The source is our own private engine of creativity, which ultimately is our own responsibility not to ‘pollute’. By this I mean maintaining integrity to the creative calling. I think vispro has actually developed itself, without being coined as a phrase?

While stating at the outset that I am not bound in my work to theory, although I know a lot of it, so this appears contradictory, much work is needed to formalize the elements/catagories of vispo in order for it to survive it’s history I think. Again, I know there is a perception that everything is a ‘free-for-all’, and people get offended by parameters, but I think such things enhance knowledge as there is something to push against.

- You wrote once about creating a mythology. Can you tell us something about it?

You brought up another of my favorite, neglected solo artistic works! One which I have taken out, and dusted off for the upcoming exhibition - so thank you. The Bhubezi Mythology (Bhubesi is ‘lion’ in Zulu) is the story of the Women Who Hold Up the World.

See: https://bhubezi.blogspot.com/

Basically it is the story of 10 women (at first there were 8) who are taken from history in one or another way, and it tells the TRUE story of these mystery women: Mona Lisa, Hatshepsut, Pandora, Magenta, Lyrech (that's me - my name spelt backwards as the scribe) - with her assistant Pehemefer the Egyptian, Hypatia, (from the Alexandrian Library), Empress Zhangsun, Shahrazad (from 1001 Nights), Cynisca (a Spartan woman who broke into the male olympic games and won a gold in her first chariot race) and The Traveller. There are a varity of assorted guardians of these women including the Global Flaneur, Pilot, Singer to Sleep, Tokoloshi, The Red Giraffe, Lammasseu - and not too many others that I can think of. The mythology involves their REAL origins - for example Pandora. She did not like the advances of a prominent townsman, so he slated her and blamed her for all the evils in the world by saying she was the origin of evil. In reality, she was the one who gave us blue butterflies and the Charlston.

Here follows the article for the limited edition catalogue for Letters to Spring:

The Bhubezi Mythology begins with the unraveling of a unique book titled The Chronicles of Lyrehc, found quite by accident in 2008 by a researcher in an unused library repository at the Durban City Hall. What follows is the story as best deciphered by the researcher who wishes to remain anonymous. The following has been garnered from her notes:

"The Bhubezi Tribe, a race of warrior women has been here far longer than we, living among us when need be, but generally inhabiting another 'olam'". They had migrated from the center of the earth to Durban (Nabrud) where, in the area of the Durban City Hall they constructed a transport machine with which they could do intergalactic travel.

Colonial architects designed and built the Durban City Hall, a classic neo-baroque structure right on that spot in the early 1900’s. Once the solid, physical structure of the City Hall was in place, the transport machine became increasingly difficult to use. This was due in part, to the extensive subatomic deconstruction of body molecules needed to bypass the monolithic edifice. Eventually, only one woman could do this - The Transporter. 

But all that is lost in the annuls of time. It appears as though the result of several attempts to use the machine in order to repair the Pillars of the World has resulted in Magenta and Sienna being lost Between. Their attempts to fix The Bridge at the divide requires certain KEYS. Since that time, others have cottoned on and an entire litany of people, some known to you, and some not, have entered the battle to save the Bridges Between. There are only two extant books relating to this mythology, Volume 1 (The Chronicles of Lyrehc) and Volume 2, which is on display for the exhibition. Whoever chooses this book, or rather, whoever this book chooses, will find themselves entwined within the mythology, voyaging with The Traveller and daydreaming with The Red Giraffe.

Just to let you know, history, much of it, should be re-written, but it’s convenient that it remains as is. This way, the Women Who Hold Up the World work undetected at keeping society functioning in a hostile world; they keep familes together while LIFE attempts to tear all the goodness from within fragile (more fragile than you would ever believe) human structures. We only have a feeble grasp anyway. You’d be SURPRISED at the people who have traversed the pages of history and who are part of this story: Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, Pandora, van Gogh, Hatshepsut: Hapshetsut - there’s and interesting person - let me just fill you in on some details regarding this Egyptian Pharoah-ess.

Hatshepsut is said to have reigned for 22 years - but of course we know this is not the case (refer Chronicles of Lyrehc). In EXACTLY 1510 BC, Hatshepsut had the vision of the loss of the Bridges Between. Together with Ineni the great architect, it became her ambition to build structures, which would house articles needed for Bridge repair. The buildings and their important contents would need to last (human time) until the appearance of the Red Giraffe and the Traveller - and appear they did - (See The Authentic Massacre of the Innocent Image, Paintings # 65, # 66 and #67). But lest I overwhelm you at this stage, I’ll leave the story here - after all, another portrait of this Bhubezi Queen WILL be found and the chronicle will continue. As for Hatshepsuts Needle - that's another WHOLE story!

For the exhibition, van Gogh and his younger brother were involved - the REAL Starry Night had to disappear into the hands of as many people as possible. It was a performance piece.:

The Sacriledge of Van Gogh

I’m sure you’ve read of Vincent’s tempestuous relationship with his brother Theo. But are you one of the few who know there was a third Van Gogh brother, Cornelius, who was raised in the Netherlands, but worked, married and died in South Africa - (don't believe all those

facts you read either). If you did know this, you DIDN’T know that Theo sent the painting The Starry Starry Night to Cornelius in 1890, just prior to his very suspicious death. It was sent that he could be the official custodian of this work, vital to mending the Bridges Between. Have you every wondered why Van Gogh painted like he did? He could actually SEE the portals to Between.

Back to Cornelius; in 1889, at the age of 22 Cornelius came to South Africa working as an engineer, first for the Cornucopia Gold Company in Germiston and then for the Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg-Maatschappij in Pretoria. He died (as history goes) during the Boer Wars, but actually, he was held as a prisoner of the Moorish Derwish until the end of the Second World War. He died, never revealing the hiding place of The Starry Starry Night. I cannot reveal how I came into possession of this artwork, but I have it in my custody as you see before us today. I also have a letter written to me by Cor Van Gogh, giving me instructions as to the fate of this fabled painting.

Khairulsani Ismail - Questions and Answers

Q - What techniques do you use in your works?
A – Mixed media technique is my main media in all artworks.


Q - Your drawings often show suicide. Why is that?
A – What we do in our present life ? Without personal boundaries people are actually killing themselves physically, emotionally and mentally and are always being manipulated, used, or violated by others. They allow us to separate who we are, and what we think and feel, from the thoughts and feelings of others. What I wanted to show is that in modern world we are just not killing others, but also are killed ourselves. We make our own problem. We killed others for that reason and at the same time we also killed ourselves with the problem we created.


Q - How important is calligraphy to you?
A – It shows beauty for the art works. Make it stand apart from others.


Q - What do you think about asemic writing?
A – To create something about thinking and creativity.


Q - Can you tell us something about PoemicsMag that you edited?
A – Very tedious job. It take a lot of time. And the first PoemicMag I made is about my political view about what happened in my country.


Q - You took part in two exhibitions of poemics in Lublin, your works were also present in anthologies of poemics, and you were/are a member of the poemicstrip blog. What do you like about poemics, and do you think it should be promoted more?
A – Poemics give you better visual on what you wanted to tell. It give a work more sense, scope and visualize it with deep understanding on the stories. I still used it in artworks for my art exhibition. So it should be promoted more with bigger audience.


Q - Do you keep in touch with many Malaysian poets and comic artists?
A – Not really. I’m not a poet or comic artists. I’m more on artist side, doing painting.


Q - What cultures - besides Malaysian - influence you?
A – All. We need to know others and to be fair to others. Know their cultures and it will give us better view and understand about them more. It will make world more colorful.


Q - Can you tell us something about your other activities and interesting experiences?
A – Doing painting and exhibit it. Exhibit the artworks will give you ‘something’, you can feel the viewers about what you do and thinks. It make you so close to them. You know some of you artworks is related to them. That is the best experience. When they debate your artworks, at that time you know your art are attached to them.


Q - What are your artistic goals?
A – Be more creative and productive.

Poemics Mag 1st edition, page 2, pen and ink on paper, A5.

Poemics Mag 1st edition, page 24, pen and ink on paper, A5.

Poemics Mag 2nd edition, page 13, pen and ink on paper, A5.

Seek, Run and Hide, pen and ink on paper, A5, 2017.

Equality, pen and ink on paper, A5, 2017.

Children dancing, watercolor, marker, pen and ink on paper, A5, 2019.

Kuching eating fish, watercolor, pen and ink on paper, A5, 2019.

Crying men, pencil on paper, A5, 2019.

We forget and let them all die and take care of themselves, watercolor, pen and ink on paper, A5, 2018.

Punch yourself, shake your brain, watercolor, collage, pen and ink on paper, A5, 2019.

Cheating, acrylic, collage, charcoal on paper, A5, 2017.

Interview with JC Mendizabal

- Do art and music have something in common with religion, for example with shamanic practices?
Yes, from my point of view they are two ways of looking at the same thing - two different approaches to working with spiritual or shamanic spaces. Through trance states (gained through breathing, dancing, fasting, drumming) or through creation, ritual, etc one can expand the underlying assumptions and vision that hold you tied to a particular complex of habits. It's not necessary for someone to be aware that's what they're doing (or to describe it in similar words) - the act of relating to the world in this creative way makes it "shamanic" or spiritual in the way I see it. When you work with shifting the way you see the world and yourself by creating you are working with "shamanic" or "psychedelic" spaces, even if you use different words to describe these spaces. Anytime you access areas within you (or outside of you) that are normally hidden or purposefully shut out, that is a "spiritual experience" from my point of view. That also doesn't mean that the art itself needs to have any specific references to religion or spiritual practices. The presence of "spiritual" signifiers is completely irrelevant to its inherent power to invoke an altered state or at the very least a momentary shift in perspective. Often the presence of such signifiers is a short cut to let the audience know what is happening (often as a way of marketing) - in the process framing the creation within a pre-established set of definitions.

- You come from El Salvador, and now you live in the USA. How do places where you stay influence your works?
Living in El Salvador allowed me to experience at least 2 or 3 different cultures - the city culture of San Salvador, which was very influenced by the USA but still had a particular character of its own, the countryside culture which was a lot older and grounded in a very different way of looking at the world and the culture that my grandmothers showed me which was even older, and rooted in a way of perceiving people and events that is almost lost now. I perceived an archetypal weight in almost every story my grandmother would tell me about the world - a weight that was (and is) nearly impossible to translate by simply repeating her words. In these stories and descriptions, I could perceive a kind of inherent magic which tends to be banished by the standardization of the modern city.  Moving to the USA allowed me to interact with the modern and postmodern culture of San Francisco directly, as well as encounter people that came from other places in the world. This opened me up to very different ideas and points of view.  It also opened me up to the psychedelic counterculture which evolved in the 90s in the Bay Area. This is where I first encountered electronic dance music, ambient music, ecstatic dancing, etc.

- I am interested in the field where poetry and comics overlap. Do you think there are works that can be both seen as experimental comics and as visual poetry?
Yes. Often that's how our work has been described - as a kind of visual poetry. (A friend said of our comics: "Sometimes when I read your stuff, I doubt my ability to understand English.") Many of our comics don't have a clear storyline and yet there is a relationship between the words and the images that is more poetic than illustrative.  As much as possible we strive to reach the edge of what can be understood - something that is just beyond language while still using language and other symbols and signifiers as imperfect pointers.

- How important is text in your works?
Although some of our graphic pieces are completely devoid of text, it is always present in one way or another.  There are some pieces where the text is gone because it was removed at the last minute - in other words, the piece was created around a piece of text. And then, when the piece started to take shape, I realized that the text itself may no longer be necessary. In those cases I still perceive the old text as a kind of absence that can be gleamed through the shapes and symbols that remain.  In other cases, the text is written first and the graphics are created around the text, to clash with it and somehow complement it.  Yet in other cases, the text is a final touch - an emergent meaning from a random scanned page or from a street advertisement, etc. In all these cases, the text is not meant to define the piece, or to communicate a final meaning. Instead it's meant as another element that adds to the complexity of the different elements interacting with each other. 
- What do you think about abstraction and asemic writing - are these things similar?
For me, asemic writing seems to imply a kind of meaning - it promises meaning and then doesn't fulfill that promise.  It's similar to what I do with music - where there may be a sample of text that is so buried in other sounds that the listener can perceive a voice saying "something" but they can't tell what the meaning is.  You can hear enough to tell that "a voice is saying something" - the primary message of the message is achieved: its existence as message. But no further meaning is forthcoming. So asemic writing, while not having meaning in itself, still holds on to "a meaning of meaning" - within a graphic piece it can hold the place of text, saying this is where the explicit meaning would be found if there were any. Abstraction would go a step further in breaking down any possibility of meaning - or simply allowing you to create or place meaning where you see fit.

- How should comic frames be used?
I don't think there's any rules for how they should be used or not used. In our comics, we have some books where there are clear comic frames in a traditional style and other books where there are no frames at all - just a full page collage or an implied sequence of scenes or chambers without boxes around them.
- Can you tell us something about Radio Free Clear Light?
RFCL was initially born as a music night of improvisation; an experiment in impromptu shamanic invocation. Eventually, it grew to become an identity around which we could experiment with all kinds of creation - including visual art. When I say "we" in relation to RFCL, in my mind I include all the many people that have been a part of it over the years (since 1995)whether they only worked on one comic, one piece of music, or whether they worked with me for years. One of the main principles of RFCL has been to focus on the process of creation rather than on the final result. We design a process and then see what comes out - instead of imagining a result and then trying to figure out a way to make that result happen.

- Your music was performed by an orchestra - how do such things happen?
I met the conductor of the Symphonic Orchestra in El Salvador during a visit to El Salvador. He listened to some chamber pieces I had written while studying classical composition. He liked them and offered me the chance to write a piece for the Orchestra. I jumped at the chance and spent approximately a year working on a piece: "Canto Para Ser Perseguido" which was eventually performed by the Orchestra.  It was a great honor to have my music performed by the national Orchestra - and even more, to see that the musicians enjoyed what they were playing and they were happy with it.
- Does your art influence people around you?
Since I try as much as possible to not focus on results I don't spend much time thinking about how my art will influence or not influence anyone. I simply know that I've put a lot of attention and effort into it, and if someone looks or listens (or reads) carefully, they will find it there. At that point, it's up to them to find it and convert it into something for themselves. My part of the equation is done.

www.blacknotemusic.com