Wow, you guys, stuff is happening.
This was the best bday any art revolutionary ever had. I’m starting to get solid on birthdays, the last few have RULED, including my extra one earlier this year.
First of all I found a Che Guevara beret with a red star that was left at my house several months ago. I was overjoyed. A revolutionary thinking cap! Just what I have been needing!
I was having a phone conversation with Dave at the time. This was at like 7:30 am. We had a great argument about co opting a communist symbol and twisting it to my own ends. He thinks I am making nonsense of commonly understood symbolism. I say I am making nusense of it. Ha. I just tried that word out for the first time, its fun for lots of reasons. See, this is why you need a banner and a catchy name and a cool logo. It gives you something really great to play with and make fun of, and that’s what a creative revolution is all about.
So I said to Dave, define communism for me, and he said,
From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.
I said, cool, how does that relate to art? And he said, I don’t know, this is your stupid revolution, not mine. And I said, exactly!
I have no problem with that particular expression of the values of nu-clear realizm. I already said, these are not new Ideas. And if everyone thinks I am a commie, well, at least they’re thinking. And while I have their attention I will slip my Ideas into their awareness, and so the revolution will spread.
And this was all before 9 am.
The day was gorgeous. Ali lent me her green Oscar the Grouch trashionista t-shirt which I wore w/my beret, a black pvc mini skirt, red plaid belt and black boots. I was the stylinest revolutionary ever, or so I thought. So did several gentlemen hollering at me out of car windows on 17th ave later. It was a beautiful day for a strut.
I met up w/Cory and he gave me a red and black t-shirt he made for me that says
THE MOUTHPIECE OF THE REVOLUTION
I nearly died. It is so good to have that kind of support of my cockamamie Ideas. The supercool thing was that on the back it had a black 5 pointed star on red, which corresponded eerily to the red star on my black beret, like yin and yang, which corresponded to a conversation he and I had had a few days before. Talk about synchronicity. He did not know about my beret at all. It was awesome.
I got some wicked loot. My friend Charity loaded me down with 2 bags of stuff, wine, candles, soap, a beautiful scarf and lots of other things. It was amazing.
Ali’s present began a Happening, a very good public experiment in nurealizt thinkronicity. She brought me a gorgeous papyrus scroll with a scene of gods on it. She asked some people to pause their pool game so she could give me my present on the table. They swept their remaining balls into the pockets immediately to give us room. So we made a big ceremonial thing of it. When I unrolled it the strangers asked me "What is happening there? What does it mean?" We had not yet spoken to them of the revolution, it just happened naturally. It was all very weird and Synchronistic. So I told the story that I saw happening there on the papyrus. Then I invited them to come and share their own interpretations. There were some really beautiful readings. I was amazed. Then I went to get another drink and wound up taking 2 guys at the bar through the same process with a beer ad on the wall. It was for Tree beer, and it had a tree in green with all weird shapes and messages in the roots and branches. I asked one guy what he saw in it. He said, "Roots and leaves, why are you trying to overcomplicate this?" I asked what else. He said he didn’t want to see anything else. I said, that’s cool, all interpretations are valid. Then his friend and I had a really good chat about some arcane magic symbols that we found in it, and how we felt when we found them. So much to talk about in just a beer ad! Then I went upstairs and played pool.
When we left later some homeless people outside asked us for spare change, and we told them about the revolution, and they shared their poetry and rap with us. They got really excited too and we all stood there on the street talking about how art can change the world, because it gets inside of you and grows on its own.
I wound up walking home at 2 am, the stars and the moon and the air sang to me, I sang too, which weirded out some people walking up ahead. I got really sick of walking when I was still like 15 minutes away, I was tired and pretty intoxicated and was getting blisters from my boots, but meh, how many birthdays do I ever get where I can walk home at 2 am in a short skirt and light sweater? I dug it as hard as I could.
When I got home there was a comment on my last post that just filled me all up with warm fuzzies. Hooray Strixy! Truly, welcome. I thought you had dismissed me and my flakiness long ago.
Next morning I wore my revolutionary t-shirt to work. A lady with grey hair, probably mid-60s ish, asked me about it. I babbled excitedly about our Ideas for about 10 minutes while she listened intently. I finished by saying,
"It doesn’t matter if the ‘movement’ doesn’t ever turn into a big thing, the Ideas are what matter. You may not remember the words nuclear realizm, but you will remember talking to me, and maybe you will tell a friend ‘I met this weird girl and she said this crazy stuff’ and you guys will talk and you will both see the world a little differently afterwards."
She grabbed my hand and looked deep in my eyes. She said, "I will tell my friends that I met a great woman and she said important things. Your Ideas are wonderful. Keep the revolution going."
Woah.
And so, in spite of my detractors, for her, and for the many like her, we must.
We Will.
Long live the revolution.