28 April 2010

PARATAXIS three

Artist Brian Fuata writes texts that are about nothing and everything. He homes in on the mundane everyday event then flies to the moon in the same sentence. His words are simultaneously concrete and abstract. They seem inexplicably poignant but I can't pin-point why.


I was extremely happy when Brian agreed to have a work shown in parataxis. He contributed a text piece that was not only itself somewhat paratactic but, even more interesting to me, aimed to play with the reading experience through experimentation with the visual representations of text. To this end, Brian collaborated with graphic designer and publisher Lucas Liccini to create two limited-edition prints, each with the same text but different graphics. These were printed by the fantastic Blood & Thunder in Sydney.

Here is an example of Brian's beautiful text:

...he was the kid in primary school who would get pushed onto the ground, pushed into the air, pushed into a fist, pushed over the banks of the oval that led into a suburban backyard with a family of rotweilers (then pushed into patting them), pushed into the girls (this he liked), pushed into sterile teachers, pushed into other people's parents, pushed into his dad wearing a moustache and low expectations and reebok high-tops, pushed into sex (this he loved), pushed into sandwiches made with indifference by an older sibling, pushed into a spider's web - [cue the orchestra] where here he would for a split second imagine himself winning the school marathon. spiders silk criss crossing his body like the broken race ribbon - he the first to cross the victorious border.....and the crowd cheers, he is exalted and made example. the spider bites him behind the ear, he breaks out into a rash and the crowd fucking roars behind his feeble feet. he sinks to the ground, digs his knees into the dirt, feels the weight of his countrymen and cries out loud to the surround of the playground, "To the sea! to the sea!"


It's funny, Brian was in London when the expo was happening so our exchange occurred via email, meanwhile a similar email exchange was occurring between Lucas (also in London) and Brian regarding the graphic design. Once designed and approved, the 'art works' [in Arendtian terminology 'thought things' ... more on that later] were sent to me (in Sydney) electronically, from whence I emailed them to Mickie Quick (also in Sydney) at Blood & Thunder (with Brian's approval), who then printed them.

The thought becomes thing; the digital becomes actual. Art crosses hemispheres instantaneously (no loan-forms needed!; no expensive, 24-hour flights); ideas float freely in one world of infinite planes. Thoughts. Words. Works. Gifts. Communication. Eleanor - Brian - Lucas - Eleanor - Mickie - the process itself a parataxis of sorts.

(All pics courtesy of me and Brian.)

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