Tag Archives: Writing

Feature: Jorge Pascual Blanco

Jorge Pasucal Blanco esta en motión. Nació en León donde desarolló su creatividad y empezó de destacarse como actor y escritor. Cómo actor, ha interpretado monólogos como una adaptación de  la obra de Michel Houllebecqe comp parte de la presentación “Ampliación del campo de batalla,” en la Facultad de Cine, La Bañeza. También interpretó “Polizones,” presenaciones multidisciplinarios en el Centro civico León-Oeste

Como escritor, ha sido publicado en Leteo varios veces: ““Morir de viento,” y  “Petit Comité.” En 2006 recibió un Accessit en el premio “Eugenio de Nora.”

Su estilo personal y emotivo viene de su experiencia multidisciplinaria. Acutalmente presenta obras innovadores como “Pilasia,” que se presenta como una mezcla de pilates y poesia. Abajo aparece la entrevista y ejemplos de obras del artista.

Jorge Pascual Blanco is a person in motion. He first developed his creative interests as an actor and writer while growing up in his hometown of León in Northern Spain. As an actor he interpreted stage productions of Michel Houllebecque’s “Ampliación del campo de batalla,” in the Facultad de Cine, La Bañaeza. He also performed “Polizones,” a multidisciplinary presentation at the Centro civico León-Oeste.

As a writer he has been published various times in Leteo: “Morir de viento,,” and “Petit Comité,” represent two of his most important works, among others. In 2006 he was awarded  an Accessit for the prestigious “Eugenio de Nora,” award.

His personal and emotive style is informed by his multidisciplinary background. Currently he performs innovative works such as “Pilasia,” which mixed pilates and poetry. Check the interview below and links to examples of Jorge’s work.

Para empezar con algunos puntos básicos, de dónde vienes? Dónde estás?

Leading off with some basics, where are you from? And where are you at?

JPB: Yo vengo de aprender mucho en algunos cursos de formación teatral y sobre escritura creativa, performances y sobretodo he aprendido en otro nivel en algunas exposiciones que he hecho de mi trabajo en varios locales aquí o allá. He oído recitar y expresarse poéticamente de manera muy personal y en otros casos de manera muy pobre.

Así que ahora me falta regresar a la teoría un poco, probar a mezclar estos lenguajes artísticos, experimentar otras cosas. Leer mucho de la vida y de los libros..     

JPB: My backgrond is in theater, creative writing, performance, and I have done various shows and expositions at various venues. I have heard poets and other artists express themsevlves in a a moving and personal way and also others in a much less interesting way.

I need to revisit theory a bit, to try and mix these artistic langauges, and to experiment with new things. Also, to read from life and read from books…

Que quiere decir reflexión y respuesta para ti?

What does reflection and response mean to you?

JPB: Yo, como ya he dicho vengo del mundo del teatro, aunque me guste todo tipo de lenguajes.. eso depende del qué hacer.

La reflexión para mi es todo el proceso que consciente o inconscientemente te ayuda a recopilar información para echarla a la “pila” del mundo emotivo o sensitivo o mundo más visceral.

La respuesta es todo aquello, que después de haber pasado la parte de reflexión, se acumula, para de manera consciente, mediante impulsos, transcribirlo al lenguaje creativo, sea el lenguaje que sea.

Por supuesto que el orden no tiene por qué ser lógico, se puede por supuesto tener una reflexión profunda después de una respuesta, incluso esto es más artístico si cabe.

Para mi “respuesta” es el poema en sí, y “reflexión” es todo aquello que influye a la hora de escribir el poema, ya sea mucho antes de haberlo hecho.

Puede  pasar, que se tenga un poema y no se llegue a escribir nunca. Eso pasa porque no se indaga qué herramientas hacen falta, o son más necesaria, para ese poema…o puede ser que no llegue el momento preciso para hacerlo. Puede ser que cuando nos encontremos en la vida ante algo que queremos que pase,  ese poema salga solo por pura inercia, por tanto pensar en ello, en ese viaje, en esa chica, cuando no te enteras estas recitándolo. ¡Eso es GRANDE! .

También.. yo definiría reflexión como una consecuencia de estar en contacto con el mundo en todo su lirismo, por ejemplo estar en contacto con elementos, objetos de un personaje ficticio de teatro, entonces esta respuesta se podrá dar de manera muy lúcida como pequeñas verdades al actuar, segundos perfectos que sacarán al espectador de su butaca.

 “Debes comenzar a amar el arte en ti mismo y no a ti mismo en el arte” K.Stanislavsky

JPB: As I mentioned before I come from the world of theater, although I do enjoy all types of creative language…depending on its use

For me, reflection is a concious and or/unconcious process that helps one take in information in order to access the emotional/sensisitive/visceral world.

Response is all that information accmulates after reflextion has occured and can be translated into creativity through concisous or impulsive action.

The order in which the two processes occur isn’t necesary logical: one can experience profound reflextion after response, which can be an artistic triumph.

I would say that the poem itself represents “response” and reflextion is all that influnces its creation, from a long while before the writing to the event of makign the poem. This happens because one need not invrstigate tools or methods that aren’t being used, are needed for whatever poem, or because the right time for the poem never comes. Perhaps a poem comes out when we find something desirable in life and we think in that event, trip, that woman, without knowing. This is HUGE!

I would also define relfexion as a consequence of being in contact with the world and all it’s lyrcism, with natural elements, ojects that belong to created characters onstage. This makes for a lucid response with small bits of truth, seconds thta transport the audience from thier seats.

“Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.” K.Stanislavsky

Cómo se mete tu arte en esta definición?

How does your art fit in with this definition?

JPB: La poesía es pura intuición.. pero claro.. si sólo me fiara de mi intuición, escribiría poco..jaja.. Uno escribe con intuición (..cuando la tiene..), pero debe recopilar toda esa intuición.. Darle ritmo, sonoridad con sonidos de “r” o de “L” o escribirla con forma de desierto o de mar, o darle aspecto de plato con esa forma oval..

Hay demasiadas estructuras, herramientas estilísticas, para darle forma a un texto, lo que hace falta es conocer su por qué y así darle la forma adecuada, usar las herramientas precisas para darle ese por qué  y pueden ser muy variadas si el texto tiene fuerza.

Si uno sabe el por qué se ha escrito ese texto.. puede ser un texto amoroso y darle una forma de diálogo de una mujer y un hombre, así uno se puede acercar a uno mismo y sentir qué cosas diría o no..

Mi arte se mete en la idea de la vivencia personal. Yo escribo de determinada forma, triste, melancólico, onírico, dependiendo de qué vivencias tengo , eso es para mí “reflexión” y luego tengo multitud de “respuestas” en torno a ese poso de experiencias que pueden ser rabia, amor, expectación, ensimismamiento.. etc como todos tenemos respuestas, yo tengo esas respuestas que se crean automáticamente en mí, en mi arte, como consecuencias de esas vivencias; mediante una especie de liberación.

Hay una liberación en el arte, el arte es algo para mí liberador, y muy estimulante, ya que en ese proceso, nos conocemos a nosotros mismos.. esto es labor de toda una vida.    

JPB: Poetry is pure intiuition..but of course… if I only trust intuition I would write little..One writes wit intuition (when its there) but that inutuion should be compiled together and igven rhythem and sound with sounds such as “r,” or “L,” written as if it were the desert or the sea, or given the oval shap of a plate.

There are so many structures, tools, amnd skills,to form a text however with a reason for a text an artist can choose its form and use skills and techniques that convey this meaning. Good texts can have various techniques that work to convey meaning.

When one understands why he or she has written a text, be it a romance between a man and a woman, one can get closer to the self and feel thigns that the artist feels.

My art comes from personal experience. Depending on events in my life, I write from various perspectives, sadness, meloncoly, dreamy. These perespectives are my reflexion and then there is a multituld of reponses based on these emotional deposits such as rage, love, hope, enthusiasum, self-absorbtion..etc just as we all expereicne responses, these are examples of responses that automotically come from me and through in my art as a result of these lived experiences.

Within art there is a liberation: art is important stimulant for my inner liberator. It’s stimulating because we get to know ourselves much better which is a lifelong search.

Que más estás haciendo actualmente? Que proyectos estás pensando trabajar próximamente?

What else have you been working on recently? What are you looking to work on next?

JPB: Estoy intentando acabar un poemario para mi novia que se va a ir a San francisco y no voy a verla en tiempo, y eso es importante. 

Quiero seguir aprendiendo a recitar con “free jazz” igual algo más ligero..ufff

Quiero hacer algo con un escultor en una galería de arte Amancio González a través de dibujos y poemas y el hilo conductor del vino como elemento socializador (..)

Y no sé qué proyectos me deparará el destino. Escribir algo que refleje cada vez más lo que siento en ese momento..irme acercando a mi verdadero lenguaje interior.

JPB: I am trying to finish a book of poems for my girlfriend who is going to San Fransisco soon, whish is important for me.

I want to continue learning how to recite with “free jazz,” and something lighter…

 I want to do a project with scultpor Amancio Gonzalez withdrawings and illustrations, poems, with the focal point as wine.

Who knows what projcts destiny has in store for me. I will focus on writing poems that focus on the current moments..approaching my true inner language.

Quien o que te inspira?

What or who inspires you?

JPB: La similitud de la naturaleza con las sensaciones y vivencias humanas. El amor. Las mujeres que saben ser ellas, los hombres que saben ser ellos.

La debilidad humana. La pasión. El romperse por dentro haciendo algo..

La manera de amar.

Un botón, un alfiler, unas zapatillas, la distancia entre las personas ..las físicas y los obstáculos que nos ponemos.

Un niño mirando las nubes. Una chica que se peina.

 Garazi.

JBP: Similarities between nature and human emotion and lives expierence. Love. Women that know to be themselves and men that know how to themselves.

Human weakness. Passion. Breaking up inside doing something.

Ways to love.

A button, a pin, shoes, distance between people, physics, and obstacles that we creative.

A child lookign up at that clouds. A girl combing her hair.

Garazi

Hay algo más que quieres que sepa el Collectivo?

Is there anything else you would liek the Colective to know?

JPB: Querría saber más del colectivo y conocer más sobre sus inquietudes.

Pero así en general que estoy abierto a escuchar proyectos e investigaciones, colaboraciones para aprender.

“El arte no imita a la vida,  la vida hace el amor con el arte..”

JPB: I would like to learn more about the collective and more about it’s fears.

In general I am open to new projects, investigation and collaborations to learn more.

“Art doesn’t limit life, life makes love with art.”

Saludos a….?

Shout out to?

JBP: Peter , Gracias por todo.

Garazi que tengas buen viaje…

JBP: Peter, thanks for everything.

Garazi, have a safe trip.

Ahora pasan las hojas anegadas de tiempo por la lluvia reciente..
Pasa el viento como las ráfagas de los flechazos, como pasado esparcido en el rostro
y agua fresca arrojada al despertarse..
como recuerdo

Kilómetros: Una colaboración con ilustrador Pablo García.

Kilometers: A collaboration with illustrator Pablo García

Snapshot #1

Shanpshot #2

Poesía grabada en casa de Alfonso en León:

Poem recorded at Alfonso’s house in León:

Reflection and Response.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Porch Swing: Word of the Day

Reflection and Response.

Samuel Bostick

@THEREALSHANTS

the LIFESTYLE’s role is to create collective space for active Reflection and Response through the arts. This space is built around dialogue, expression, collaboration, and artistic (ex)change involving international craftspeople and their realities. The Porch Swing series opens up a Reflection and Response residency where we feature a Collective member’s ongoing project through weekly installations.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

The Porch Swing: WORD of the day

WORD of the day XIX, by Samuel Bostick.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, Jim Natale.

Opportunity n. 1) A favorable or advantageous combination of circumstances; a suitable occasion or time. 2. A chance for progress or advancement.

WORD of the Day: Opportunity

Never quite seen it come a’knockin on my door, more so it has been revealed a door itself. A door locked and fastened. An attractive door, calling to pursuit, a capturing of the moment. Make the most of it all, not to take advantage instead to cherish advancement. The lock set taunt the seal fastened, the key to both lay in the mind. Experience advises that not all doors are meant to be opened, not all of them true. Some may be distractions some imposters, others may even be time sensitive, a few that last a lifetime or even those renewable. Bottom-line: choose and pursue dreams. Chase down greatness, its already there to be earned now it’s a matter of achievement. Will it be reached for?

Unfold the possibility, expand into a whole new level. Experience advancement and leave the past where it lay. Tend to the living and leave the dead to care for their own. Guided by ambition, anchored in strength, moved by diligence, conviction in fate; A new life, a new way each and every day. A chance, a gamble, a leap of faith, a power move, however it may be—name it yours and stand firm next to that move. Be straightforward yet think ahead. Wisdom gained by choices past; both good and those that could have been better. In opposition to wisdom is condemnation. Condemnation is created from a regretful mentality, from a mind carrying thoughts of what could have been or what never was.  To live and learn is progress. To build character and stand in those principles is revolutionary.

We don’t all move the same yet progress its good for us all. Things come up and things are never exactly how we planned or imagined, still it’s how we move forward that determines the value of that experience. Stay true, do what YOU do, and let go of those woes and excess baggage that’s weighing you down. Head fixed forward, doubts gathered and pushed to the back of the mind, steps oriented toward success and altogether working towards that next level. Achievement.

Reflection and Response.

Samuel Bostick

@THEREALSHANTS

the LIFESTYLE’s role is to create collective space for active Reflection and Response through the arts. This space is built around dialogue, expression, collaboration, and artistic (ex)change involving international craftspeople and their realities. The Porch Swing series opens up a Reflection and Response residency where we feature a Collective member’s ongoing project through weekly installations.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

The Porch Swing: WORD of the day

WORD of the day XVIII, by Samuel Bostick.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, Jim Natale.

Grub n. 1) Food that may be eaten at any time, and appropriately so. 2) A savory morsel always too quickly consumed and never lasting quite long enough.  –v. 1) To digg on a meal in a savage or vicious way without the sacrifice of table manners.

WORD of the Day: Grub

A Sure Staple

The Sandwich. A building block to satisfy any man’s deserving hunger.

To begin Cut the bun, roll, or bread. Next apply the spread; honey mustard my choice of late. Break down the lettuce and do what it do. Thin cut a portion of onion and put that on over the lettuce. Slice tomato and toss it onto the greenery, [Fact- Tomato is a fruit. Particularly, the ovary of a flowering plant. Yumm. Grandma’s Wisdom claims it good for the prostate as well. Go figure.] sprinkle it with pepper and salt. We’re building here now! Follow that up by grabbing desired amount of choice meat, preferably fresh and deli sliced, layer that onto the ‘mato. Now here comes the fun, quickly cook an egg over med-to-hard and crown the beast! Aww Sookie Sookie now. Furthermore put on some good cheese and don’t be modest about it, slap on a Steve Urkel grip. Be it manageable, make the cheese deli cut or at least off a block, ya-mean. Don the whole thing with the other piece of bread and there it is, simple and plain.

Now that all the composition is complete throw some Kettle chips on the side and grab a frosty Budweiser and there you have it. Take a step back to appreciate the dish in all its beauty and in the immortal words of Hamilton ‘Ham’ Porter, “Then you Stuff”.

All that Said,

bon appétit

Reflection and Response.

Samuel Bostick

@THEREALSHANTS

the LIFESTYLE’s role is to create collective space for active Reflection and Response through the arts. This space is built around dialogue, expression, collaboration, and artistic (ex)change involving international craftspeople and their realities. The Porch Swing series opens up a Reflection and Response residency where we feature a Collective member’s ongoing project through weekly installations.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

the LIFESTYLE Turns ONE!

This past Friday, August 31 was the (official) ONE YEAR mark for the LIFESTYLE: Reflection and Response! From Archival posts twice a week, to the Feature Series, to Throwback December, to Snapshots from the Collective, to Talk of the Town, to the Patchwork project, to The Porch Swing, to Events from the Collective, to the Artist Of The Week Twitter-series, to Original Mondays, to the production of Shake This Maze Editions I and II, to Reflection and Response: The Zine, Volume I, its been a powerful experience working with the Collective to create this space. The foundation has been built. Thank you all for the support and participation throughout this past year. We’re excited to move forward into Year 2!

For this celebratory occasion, we’d also like to send shout-outs to the following Collective members for their memorable “first” contributions in getting the LIFESTYLE project off the ground last year:

  • Pablo Rojas, the LIFESTYLE’s first WordPress comment
  • Grant Bristow, the LIFESTYLE’s first Facebook “like”
  • Megan Branch, the LIFESTYLE’s first Twitter mention
  • Samuel Bostick, the LIFESTYLE’s first Twitter boost

Thanks y’all!

Reflection and Response.

P & V

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Porch Swing: WORD of the day

WORD of the day XVII, by Samuel Bostick.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, Jim Natale.

Smooth n. Free from difficulties or impediments. 2) Even and uninterrupted in flow or flight. 3) Expressively and artfully suave. 4) Not sharp or harsh. 5) Free of lumps. 6) Serene, Equable, Amiable, Courteous.

WORD of the Day: Smooth

Days rearranging, season near changing. Earth’s crusade to maintain peace and wisdom. To each his own: Own Path, own Pace, own Wrath, own Conviction, own Voyage.

It is about Character. Each moment defining the who and each choice adding to the mold. Smooth. Take it to the rooftops and shoot it at the stars. Let those worries pass, relax, take your time, unmask. Leave the weight of the world at the door alongside tired shoes, enter into the soul jazz groove. Kick-back in a proper way and dust off those inner-city blues. Endure the passionate lure of uninterrupted concentration.  Indulgent retreat from the daily woes, no surrender rather regroup and soul medication. Yea, it’s a good thing, it’s a treatment of wellness, be enrichment. Fall in. Inevitable stumbles and rough patches as splashes of color are to green grasses; integral addition to life’s canvas.

Vibe to it y’all; the soulful sound, acoustics unbound, melodics found. Something to see…a surprise indeed! A criminal in its own function, that like none the other, sly be the call, the name of smooth’s brother. The spirit of savoy is strong with this one. Forceful motions carried out with seamless finesse. A brute in a cold blooded suit. Damn that smooth, damn it! Vascilando, loitering, no good sons of guns—trimmed from the Zoot. And now where’d they go? A smooth get away is one thing, on the other hand its downright culprit to disappear. On the Roam again…or is it on the road again? Either way it goes it is gone. Solid gone jack.

A course unimpeded, steady rollin’, feelin’ good, fly strollin’.

Reflection and Response.

Samuel Bostick

@THEREALSHANTS

the LIFESTYLE’s role is to create collective space for active Reflection and Response through the arts. This space is built around dialogue, expression, collaboration, and artistic (ex)change involving international craftspeople and their realities. The Porch Swing series opens up a Reflection and Response residency where we feature a Collective member’s ongoing project through weekly installations.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

The Porch Swing: WORD of the day

WORD of the day XVI, by Samuel Bostick.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, Jim Natale.

Why adv. 1) For what cause, reason or purpose.

WORD of the Day: Why

 

I do it cause it gives me relief

This was never something I dreamed of

Not something I ever thought was cool nor planned.

No

I do this cause I must.

It has called me the same way adventure called Beowulf;

It’s a matter of the heart.

It has become a passion. Revealed itself as a gift.

I would be ungrateful to not do it.

Blasphemous denial to not.

(Thas not by any means an option)

 

Its creative, its expressive,

it unwinds the knots in my mind.

Its an exercise.

Before this I was much more unsettled.

The torment is undeniable, never ending, still it helps to have a release

A productive release.

This is my art, I take this shit serious.

I’m sensitive about it sometimes.

I am but a man.

My soul on the other hand…thas another story, another many stories.

 

Before this I was reckless, I cared too much.

I was lost even.

I’ve found a voice, my voice in this.

Don’t get any crazy thoughts, there is much more to me than what I do when the pen is in my hand.

I’m just saying.

This is One of my Tools.

And I love it.

I am captivated with it.

 

I once had no beliefs.

Resentful

Self-hate, confusion, silence

 A number in the scheme of things.

 A patron to the matrix.

Hi infidelity

I found lust before I understood passion

Before I was brave enough to really search,

Before I was bold enough to fully be myself.

I’m not trying to get all sentimental, this is a Word about Why.

A word about purpose, reason and cause.

 

I write cause this is what I’m meant to do,

I write cause I want to.

I write cause I can.

Above all, I write cause I must.

Its not an option…

 

Thank you to those who helped me recognize my gift, for those who believed in me and still do. Those who saw something in me before I even did.

 

All that said, That’s why.

Reflection and Response.

Samuel Bostick

@THEREALSHANTS

the LIFESTYLE’s role is to create collective space for active Reflection and Response through the arts. This space is built around dialogue, expression, collaboration, and artistic (ex)change involving international craftspeople and their realities. The Porch Swing series opens up a Reflection and Response residency where we feature a Collective member’s ongoing project through weekly installations.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

The Porch Swing: WORD of the day

WORD of the day XV, by Samuel Bostick.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, Jim Natale.

Haunt n. 1) To visit often. To continually seek company of. 2) To have a disquieting or harmful effect on. To recur constantly and spontaneously to. To reappear continually in. 3) To visit or inhabit as a ghost. | v. 1) To stay around or persist. 2) To appear habitually as a ghost.

WORD of the Day: Haunt [Part II]

A pensive mind, passionate, in search of answers. Heavy Shadows. Never can satisfy that one prompt; why –> Why –> WHY…it goes on and on. Still I digg, whether the digging is into a grave or an escape there from is uncertain. That, only time will tell. It is the hunt that gives me the courage to persevere, the strength to endure.

Compelling to the point of frightful exclaim. Revisiting; pulling pulling pulling in opposition to the times. Birthed of darkness; A seed of the misunderstood, the feared. Those eyes speak unforgettable terrors. No comfort, empty hearts, cold shoulders—heavy with chips inherited from our parents (or lack thereof), and our parents’ parents, on and on. Generational curses. Attempts to ward off with proverbs, prayers and purple smoke. Numb to the ills, hyperactive youth, rebellious souls, sophisticated transgression.

Understood that understanding is not the framework of the visit, nonetheless there must be reason, some cause to this affect. Living yet not alive. A matter of time and space infiltrated by unbreakable will. That which understands oh too well that sleep be the closest kin to death and has refused to accept it both in this life and thereafter.

The wandering waves of apparition, frightening fantasies of time turned back. Late. With grave sensitivity if I may interject—I must repeat, Late. Dreams, ambitions, kindness, anger, that revolutionary will to live, the lust for life that keeps expired eyes ablaze…All Late. Let it be as is, may it pass. Let go. For the tighter the grip the more it must be pronounced…L-A-T-E. The more desperate the cling, the greater the denial, the more power time has, the greater its rule. Has it not already become the master of precarious life?  The preoccupation of that final chapter; a tale past its prime. Death the peacemaker, what a grim truth indeed, still it is and has always been. The equalizer, that weighty sentence of that very first sin.

Never more glorious a fall, never an exile of such epic proportion…Paradise Lost and furthermore to be determined. A scale set for that of the soul caliber. Choose wisely and understand your character, develop that to the fullest. Play toward your strengths, take mind to liquidate any weakness.

Cold mallets clapp, hammering down the rustic rhythm, beating out the Fearful sounds. The icey chill off the warped amusement of sonnets never quite heard before nor reproduced. No, this place has a sound of its own. An eerie mystique—smoldering, foraging about where peace once was. That sly devil, oh that crafty harlot. It has been told No Church in the Wild, this on the other hand is a sanctuary, a place of darkness. Breathtaking. The soar of unsettled minds, demons abound, rage un-cooped, yes freed of pious subscription. A mysterious sort of orchestration; Dark enchantment, how wonderful the allure.

How it comes alive, whizzing round and bout, lifeless spirits thriving on only a strong disdain for death and that has become almost life in itself, again precarious in situations, nonetheless life. Parasitic life. The air thick, smoldering, suffocating bombardment, pushing invasively the heavy stench upon the tongues pallet summoning up bitter bile held back only by tightly sealed lips. No breathing rather heavy seething death gulped down to the lungs. Grasping at the throat, tighter a cling as the seconds pass…The ecstasy irreplaceable, euphoric captivation of the spirit, the numbing to deaths grip, soon realizing that it is not longer the hand of grimace upon your neck, rather your own. How peculiar…How oddly removed. Has it not always been? No real answers not here…each a captive to own ills…to those character flaws and murderous claws of demons within…those haunts never spoken of. Shhhhh, silence! It may hear you…it may show up…don’t call it! Do not wake the beast!

All an illusion; a drama enacted, to hope, to feel, to despair that there is some authority, that somehow control is ours. Don’t sleep then. That is my only advice. I have been there once before. Darling do not sleep. My dearest friend fast from slumber! Brother, sister of mine hold out on sleep, stay woke!

Heavy eyelids. Inevitable hope. There it. Woke again.  Fighting fright. Is that? No don’t. Come Back. Far Gone. Death ushered. Night spell. Stay strong. Arm yourself.

—————————————————————————————————-

In this hour, that of the haunting, do not fall ill to weakness.

Reflection and Response.

Samuel Bostick

@THEREALSHANTS

the LIFESTYLE’s role is to create collective space for active Reflection and Response through the arts. This space is built around dialogue, expression, collaboration, and artistic (ex)change involving international craftspeople and their realities. The Porch Swing series opens up a Reflection and Response residency where we feature a Collective member’s ongoing project through weekly installations.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Reflection and Response: The Zine, Volume I

Reflection and Response: The Zine, Volume I is a project we have been working on for the past couple months. This collection of thought, craft, and experience is rooted in the processes of Reflection and Response through the artS. We decided to compile many of the installations from the first 9 months of our Feature series into a pressable format in order to fully appreciate and expand the timeless dialogue that these artists have engaged in. the LIFESTYLE collective presents this Volume with hopes of building further dialogue, collaboration, action, and artistic exchange locally and globally.

A true thank you to the following nine contributors for bringing their powerful and inspiring work to the collective:

  • Samuel Bostick
  • Megan Branch
  • Danny Kaufman
  • Diana Cervera
  • Stefan Paul George
  • Vatche Donikian
  • Leopoldo Pérez Obregón
  • Vivian Garcia
  • Ellie Cross

The Zine is available for FREE.

In order to grab a copy:

Directly from Peter in Leon, España or from Vicken in New York City…contact the.lifestyle.rr@gmail.com.

Online ($5 flat shipping cost)…

 

 

 

Thank you for supporting the LIFESTYLE collective’s first publication!

Reflection and Response.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Porch Swing: WORD of the day

WORD of the day XIV, by Samuel Bostick.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons, Jim Natale.

Haunt n. 1) To visit often. To continually seek company of. 2) To have a disquieting or harmful effect on. To recur constantly and spontaneously to. To reappear continually in. 3) To visit or inhabit as a ghost. | v. 1) To stay around or persist. 2) To appear habitually as a ghost.

WORD of the Day: Haunt [Part I]

Allotted time past, still living in the moment. Finding life in the haunt; refusing to let go, constantly presenting in this moment. Uneasy death, no peace in rest, those ‘things’, phantoms refusing to lie still. Pressing constantly on the memory, revealing itself with spontaneity. Once it takes habit in the frequent, the repetitious visiting, it has made its mark, claimed your space its own. Yes, most peculiar is that spontaneity of the haunt. Predictable? Never. Passing in and about as found suitable only to unruly agenda. And so it begins… the terror not only lie in the visit—no, its not so simple. A proper haunt never leaves, always present, even in absence. Each moment it could appear. Each second an opportunity for a fantastic visit. Without presence still ever plaguing the present. Your mind; memory of the last, anticipation of the next. A past with a mean potential of reoccurrence. The threat of a phantom visit, the anticipation of when or where; pressing, consuming, weighing on those nerves that were once so steady, so innocent. Nerves never to be the same, Not after the haunt at least. Not After The HAUNT.

That is the haunt… dancing upon each silent note, treading through each rest, measure by measure; six eighths timing—music rolling, tension winding. Twisting silent anguish upon the taunt of the next eerie note. The thrilling sense that it knows just what it is doing, almost premeditated. Mockingly chewing away at your peace, piece by piece. Most odd, you finding yourself wishing it back already, that it would just appear, that it would show its ghoulish self so it could be over and done with…silence…if only it were imagination; a game your mind has played. On the contraire, it is a game being played upon your mind…a nocturne of chords keyed out that mimes fingers…hypnosis; body and soul… the cold reality, too sensational for doubt. Something beyond the tangible.

Reflection and Response.

Samuel Bostick

@THEREALSHANTS

the LIFESTYLE’s role is to create collective space for active Reflection and Response through the arts. This space is built around dialogue, expression, collaboration, and artistic (ex)change involving international craftspeople and their realities. The Porch Swing series opens up a Reflection and Response residency where we feature a Collective member’s ongoing project through weekly installations.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,