Scrimp and Save.

JW Mark

All in static black we scrimp and save

Despotic in our malcontent

For what could be, (but never is) the end

Of hunger, dread and doubt.


Feigning sleep to wake at mid-day

when the sunshine spent (now lost)

We leave in hopes to find a cloudy indecision

                  black sheet focus/ rain swept fortune

                  All in torment of our purpose and our course


Wander pathways paved of horrors

Find a someplace white inside she screams

                 Disenchantment held inside her vowels, she says,

                 “I think I cry torrential downpours” and


Presumed escape from some entrapment

held inside her mind and treading in misfortune

All is scattered, lost and lazy




JW Mark is a poet living in Sagamore Hills, Ohio. Among the publications to include his work are The Ampersand Review, Eunoia Review, The Midwest Literary Magazine, flashquake, and The North Chicago Review. He is the author of a novel, entitled Artifice, as well as a book of poems entitled Patched Collective. He can be contacted at jwmarkmail@gmail.com

THE WEEK: APRIL 16-20.

EDITOR’S PICKS:

Cross-Reference: A Collaborative Exhibition Featuring the work of Hans + Gieves
http://www.likethespice.com/Cross-Reference-Hans+Gieves.html
04/20/2012-05/27/2012

Like the Spice gallery presents Cross-Reference, a collaborative of Nashville-based painter Hans Schmitt-Matzen and Brooklyn-based photographer Gieves Anderson. It’s fitting that Hans and Gieves begin the works in their latest series in libraries, which the two artists consider sanctuaries of thought. Duly titled Cross-Reference, the series enables a philosophical contemplation of color and composition through an alchemy of the disparate mediums of photography and painting. Libraries’ unbroken rows and columns of books were the artists’ inspiration for the new works, and Gieves’ large photographic prints of the buildings’ interiors and exteriors form the multicolored surfaces to which Hans applies oils in thick gestural strokes made with brushes, blades, and customized squeegees.

Marc Brotherton – New Work
http://www.causeycontemporary.com/node/marc-brotherton/6235?tpl=tpls/exhibitionpressrelease&location=6235
04/20/2012-05/27/2012

Causey Contemporary is pleased to present two solo exhibitions this April, New Paintings by Marc Brotherton and Acid Bath by Nina Carelli. Marking his third solo exhibition with the gallery, Brotherton will present his newest series of bold, mixed-media paintings, which explore ideas of new technology, communication, color and design. Marc Brotherton contends that living in the twenty-first century, we are constantly bombarded by input– be it from televisions, news sources, the internet, or one of the many communication gadgets. In a way, Brotherton’s paintings are a form of communication, which address technological and political quandaries, but also banalities of daily life. The outcome of his work is a materialized investigation into the perplexing world in which we live. Brotherton states that his incentive to make art comes from an “…inner curiosity, a personal necessity to acknowledge an awareness that we are here together inhabiting an increasingly chaotic world.”

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THE WEEK: Dec 5-9.

MONDAY:

Photographing the Dead: The History of Postmortem Photography from The Burns Collection and Archive
Postmortem photography, photographing a deceased person, was a common practice in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These photographs, from the beginning of the practice until now, are special mementos that hold deep meaning for mourners through visually “embalming” the dead. Although postmortem photographs make up the largest group of nineteenth-century American genre photographs, until recent years they were largely unseen and unknown. Dr. Burns recognized the importance of this phenomenon in his early collecting when he bought his first postmortem photographs in 1976. Since that time he has amassed the most comprehensive collection of postmortem photography in the world and has curated several exhibits and published three books on the subject: the Sleeping Beauty series. Tonight, Dr. Burns will speak about the practice of postmortem photography from the 19th century until today and share hundreds of images from his collection.

FIRST BOOK BROOKLYN HOLIDAY PARTY & FUNDRAISER
first book–brooklyn is a nonprofit organization dedicated to getting new books to children in need.  join us tonight for their first annual holiday party and fundraiser.

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The Weekend:Dec 2-4.

FRIDAY:

TED BROOKLYN:
We’re living in what is commonly referred to as the “Information Age.” With the emergence of social networks, we build new communities by pressing the “Like” and “+1” buttons and becoming fans. As we become increasingly interconnected with the Brooklyn community in these new ways, we find ourselves grasping for a new common ethos. In other words, we are striving to refine and define “better.” On December 2 at Brooklyn Bowl, we will address these issues with talks from the best and brightest minds of Brooklyn and beyond.

OPERA ON TAP/Roulette Sisters.
Opera is fun. Most people don’t seem to realize how much fun it really is. In order to prove it, Opera on Tap has taken its act to barrooms where they found out that beer on tap enhances the operatic experience. The company is made up of young singers and instrumentalists who relish the direct contact with audiences not inhibited in their reactions by the looming menace of giant chandelier.The Roulette Sisters have been turning heads and stopping traffic since forming in the cold winter of 2003. Noticing that their warm velvet harmonies and spicy hot licks were melting the snow outside, the sisters realized that they had started something not only weather-altering but soul-stirring as well. The sexy sisters play a hip-shaking blend of American country blues, traditional songs, popular tunes and old timey music from the first half of the 20th century. With Mamie Minch: resonator guitar, Meg Reichardt: electric guitar, Megan Burleyson: washboard, Karen Waltuch: viola.

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Video Weekend: My Tooth is Looth/Tooth Decay.

 

VIMEO PAGE.

An experimental piece exploring the reasons why people dream about their teeth falling out.
10 different scenario’s in the piece which are all proven reasons why people dream about their teeth falling out.
See if you can figure them out.
This was a collaboration with Ashley Wituschek, the piece also goes along with a sculpture she created of about 5000 cast teeth for an installation project.
Winner of Best editing and best experimental in the 2010 Diamond Screen Film Festival!

“Tooth Decay” Black Moth Super Rainbow from mark armes on Vimeo.