Cras Melior Est
/The motto of the Lichtenbergian Society is Cras melior est, which as far we know translates to Tomorrow is better, i.e., TASK AVOIDANCE.
Yesterday, in a fit of TASK AVOIDANCE, I began to tidy the study. Between projects, as I am now, the study becomes an ungodly mess with pieces of Projects A, B, ∞, strewn across the landscape.
When I say “tidy,” I mean half putting things that have places in those places and half archaeological dig. In that spirit, I cleaned two-thirds of my drafting table. (I have an antique 4x8 oak library table for my desk; the drafting table directly behind me is for art stuff.)
What did I uncover?
From left to right: Look! A successfully ABANDONED project, the original WASTE BOOK for Young Person’s Guide to Lichtenbergianism resting atop two final edits; a really nice Moleskine music notebook, the only thing in it so far: notes (literally) for GALAXY Piece I; another Moleskine notebook, an accordion-style art notebook, containing a fair bit of mixed-media journaling on a bizarre but powerful image I had a few years back.
Ignore the unfinished art project on top. Cras melior est.
Speaking of unfinished art projects…
On the left there… remember the Paul Klee exercise? I swear I’ll finish it; it was just something to fill my time between projects. The music sheets are a bit sadder. They contain sketches for some themes for Seven Dreams of Falling, the opera I was writing in collaboration with the playwright Carey Scott Wilkerson. I had finished Dream One when we had to put the project on pause while Scott completed his PhD, and we let it fall by the wayside.
Tragically, Scott recently passed away unexpectedly, so Seven Dreams is unlikely ever to be completed.
I also found a copy of Scott’s book of poetry, Ars Minotaurica, autographed and gifted by him, which is a bit of a message from the universe, since the mutual friend who put Scott in touch with me has now suggested that we/I produce a song cycle of five or seven of his poems, selected from across his work. I promise this is going to be for a soloist, a piano, and maybe a cello.
At any rate, I know have a workable art space again, once I blog about the Young Person’s Guide to Lichtenbergianism materials and can toss the bulky final edits.
In other news, I got a sudden text on Sunday from the head of the art department of Alchemy. He said that the Chattahoochee Hills fire department was asking for drawings of our Large Art Burns. Who knows why? I’m sure it has to do with liability and deniability.
But hey, I dragged out some art stuff and whipped out:
It was, in fact, my having to use my desk to create this rendering that prompted the Great Tidying. Of course, who knows if Rage will look like the rendering once I finish prototyping some actual stuff, but it will be close — ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS >> GESTALT >> SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATION, amirite?
