So many insights here. I love Cage’s idea of sounds as active, “just as they are.”

A wise man I know saying some things about being an artist. What touches me most seeing him cut paper with scissors. He has the most unforgettable hands.

lola lemire tostevin, from "For Peter"

vacant mouths gaping on the shelf  sallow skull

of the eastern moon minus its black tongue  bivalve

sunrise unhinged  hollowed red tooth shell  the closing

of their form postponed  (it is because there are empty

spaces we are able to use them)

as a child I believed everything ever said would be heard

again  the slow accretion of every word  every sound

as in the conch my aunt kept against her living room door

when pressed to the ear the far-off roar of an island

a muffled heart  a droning of no song

John Cage: Empty Words

John Cage: Empty Words

Paris Air Original Version: Dec. 1919, Paris Philadelphia Museum of Art The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection glass ampoule (broken & later restored) readymade 13.5 x 20.5 cm

Paris Air

Original Version:

Dec. 1919, Paris
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection
glass ampoule (broken & later restored)
readymade
13.5 x 20.5 cm

Martin Creed Work No. 268 Work No. 268: half the air in a given space2001 Black 16-inch balloons Overall dimensions variable Installation at Yokohama Museum, Yokohama

Martin Creed Work No. 268

Work No. 268: half the air in a given space
2001
Black 16-inch balloons
Overall dimensions variable
Installation at Yokohama Museum, Yokohama

U B U W E B :: William S. Burroughs "The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin"

U B U W E B :: William S. Burroughs “The Cut-Up Method of Brion Gysin”
At a surrealist rally in the 1920s Tristan Tzara the man from nowhere proposed to create a poem on the spot by pulling words out of a hat. A riot ensued wrecked the theater. André Breton expelled Tristan Tzara from the movement and grounded the cut-ups on the Freudian couch…

Yvonne Rainer, Trio A

prayer by bp nichol

teach me song, i
would sing, teach me
love. i would
i were open
to it. teach me
to pray
privately, praise
quietly
those things
i should. show me
the grace
of movement
& touch – that much
i would offer
to her. teach me
more – a way
for me
to reach her
who beckons
hesitantly. teach me
to be sure.

an inventory of suffering

Scalp condition
Swelling and water retention around face and neck
Hemodialysis shunt in neck
Blood blisters on face
Sore on ear from oxygen tube
Thrush
Sore neck, shoulders, and back from lying in same position
Imprint of folds on back (red and irritated skin)
Incision beneath shoulder blade for drainage of left lung
Skin abrasion from tearing of dressing on skin near armpit
Stomach tube for feeding
Sore backside from lying in same position
Extremely dry cracked skin on arms and legs
Blown veins from unsuccessful IV attempts
Holes on wrists from being poked for IV
Swollen wrists from effects of chemo-therapy (when hands were in constant pain)
Sore red heels from lying in same position
Cold feet from poor circulation

Additionally:
Pneumonia in left lung then right lung
Coughing with need for suction
Coughing to the point of vomiting

After dialysis:
Increased heart-rate (heart racing)
Low blood pressure
Light-headedness
Fever

Ongoing:
Depression