Sunday, March 14, 2010

Iconoclasm in self expression, said Princess Haiku



It's an early Spring morning in Northern California and I found myself preoccupied with the idea of iconoclasm and the role it plays in our lives as artists, poets, writers etc.

Nature is itself iconoclastic and continually breaking up all patterns and formal designs. A friend has been complaining about bamboo ruthlessly taking over her garden and there is no artistic force as great as a blackberry patch.

I can feel myself getting ready to break out of old patterns of thought and have no idea of the direction in which I am poised. Inside teutonic plates shift slightly and far away in my dreams last night I heard a faint cracking of an iceberg. The words, Flash, Ink! appeared and disappeared before I was fully awake.

A former poetry teacher, Myung Mi Kim once suggested to me that I was too reserved and not getting "to my real stuff." In her own words "To radicalize anything starts at a point of rupture; naturally, change can't just happen along a continuum that has already established itself ..."

I know this is true but exactly how does a person break away? I imagine it's a manner of putting oneself before the real judge; the self.

What force of change do you detect in your own work these days and how are you breaking out? If you are an artist I would be happy to link to a visual response.

4 comments:

miz katie said...

You should try making an altered book. Do it!! Do it!! It's a lot of fun. And, just imagine..you have your own book when you're finished. I've made several, and I cherish each one.

Perhaps, it will help you answers some of the questions you're asking in the process.

Diane Dehler said...

That's an interesting thought.

Cergie said...

I expect nothing. For instance the picture of the lovers that you saw was a gift.
All my "job" comes from encounters, then je fais des recherches et enfin j'essaie de trouver l'essentiel dans ce que j'ai rassemblé.
Gather first, then choose > for instance on my today's post : the red arrow which is the sign of the artist was left alone.

Bette Norcross Wappner -- said...

Its so nice to meet you, too. I'm glad Gabi suggested it! I like your blog alot. I can really relate to the feeling of plates shifting and breaking out of old patterns. Putting oneself before the real judge...yes!