arisman--article page one

Here is an article I wrote (described in previous entry.) If it is too small to click on and read-let me know and I will remedy soon...

arisman article---by gardega

Here is an article I wrote a number of years ago for a magazine called "The Improper." I wrote an article/ story about my friend and former professor at SVA as we went in search of buffalo on long island. I found it this morning as I was packing. (I hope you can click on it and enlarge it to make it readable.)

UFO House Ebay

Instead of moving out of my UFO House I have decided to stay and I hope you do not bid on my house on ebay. I am comfortable here and Chattanooga suits me fine so I am not moving to NYC after all.

if you wish to call me at my ufo house the number is 917 400 1317


commander alex

moving

moving and packing is fun, It is kind of like a mini mental breakdown except you use a lot of tape.

war---age 6

indian chief---age 6

drawing by gardega--age 6

quote of the day--mark twain

"In the beginning of a change,
the patriot is a scarce and brave man, hated and scorned.
When his cause succeeds however,
the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot."
Mark Twain

Carl Jung and the dream of the apocalypse

I have been a huge fan of Carl Jung since I was a teenager. I have had a life with a high level of odd and psychic incidences that were often beyond rational explanation. When I found Carl Jung it was like finding a map of a forest that I never fully understood because there were too many trees. I once had a dream that it was the end of the world. I am not very religious but in my dream I sought refuge from the great battle of good vs. evil in an old church. I was there with my old restaurant manager, Albino, who was Italian (symbolically catholic). In the church was a huge floating surreal sculpture of Christ that was made from bones. It was not long before the sculpture began to shake and crumble as it could not stand the great forces of evil and even the church began to shake and fall apart. As the bones of the great sculpture fell to the floor I went into another room and there was a dirt floor with a huge hole in it, I threw the bones into the hole as some kind of sacrificial burial. There was an overwhelming feeling of sadness and doom that the world was actually ending. It seems that evil was actually winning the battle vs. good. As I escaped outside the crumbling and falling church roof I saw horrible landscapes of demons and humans charging over the hills. (It was not unlike a Bosch painting.) The point of this story was that recently I opened the NY times and I saw the dirt floored-church of my nightmare many years ago. I can remember being haunted by the dream for weeks and feeling very different in my day to day life. This entry would make more sense to anyone who has studied Carl Jung but I think it is interesting to that end. I never tried to draw or paint the dream but I may one day.

hope

I found this photo on a weather website. When I saw it my brain said "hope" so I named it hope. God is quite an artist, whatever God is.

socks

I have three hundred socks that dont match.

UFO House ebay

I have found my dream art studio. I swear I would love to live and work in this house. It is in Chattanooga Tenn. and for sale. I have relatives in Chattanooga Tenn. (I think they are rich) ----maybe they would buy this house for their favorite wayward artist in NY.

a road map of jupiter

Hes got a road map of jupiter
A radar fix on the stars
All along the highway
Shes got a liquid-crystal compass
A picture book of the rivers
Under the sahara

They travel in the time of the prophets
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and hereos, and the restless part of everyone
Were only at home when were on the run
On the run

Hes got a star map of hollywood
A list of cheap motels
All along the freeway
Shes got a sister out in vegas
The promise of a decent job
Far away from her hometown

They travel on the road to redemption
A highway out of yesterday -- that tomorrow will bring
Like lovers and heroes, birds in the last days of spring
Were only at home when were on the wing
On the wing

When we are young
Wandering the face of the earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that were only immortal --
For a limited time

Time is a gypsy caravan
Steals away in the night
To leave you stranded in dreamland
Distance is a long-range filter
Memory a flickering light
Left behind in the heartland

We travel in the dark of the new moon
A starry highway traced on the map of the sky
Like lovers and heroes, lonely as the eagles cry
Were only at home when were on the fly
On the fly

We travel on the road to adventure
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and hereos, and the restless part of everyone
Were only at home when were on the run
On the run...


N. Peart

reality show

I have an idea for a reality shoe that would be highly humorous---The idea is to follow me with a video camera as I try to pack and move and battle my horrible ADD at the same time. I can never figure out what goes and what stays so I muck around and run in circles loading and unloading boxes and tripping on stuff. I have piles of papers from 1983 that I am fairly sure I dont need anymore but I think there may be an idea or a sketch or something I could use one day. Its just comical--at least from an outside perspective.

Biomimetics

I am taking a break from studying geometry and have moved on like a crow to a new shiny thing that has caught my eye---biomimetics. Biomimetics is where engineering meets biology, it is basically stealing natures evolutionary tricks to create revolutionary applications. An example would be science trying to copy the feet of a lizard or gecko in order to make vehicles that can scale walls etc. It is almost like looking through God's notes and stealing some ideas. Da Vinci employed this kind of thought quite often in his work and notes. A current example is the development of a material (inspired by a sea slug) that is hard and then soft when water is added. This material could be better used as a way to add an electrode tho the brain that would last longer than current electrodes which destroy the surrounding soft brain tissue because they are hard.

4:14 AM

I awake at 4:14 AM every morning like clockwork. It is so strange but I dont have a clock in my room so I long on to my computer and it is always the same time. I am packing today and will keep my computer unpacked until tomorrow so I can update. I had the strangest dreams about lost loves from my youth. Dreams are such strange animals.

more than this

I will be leaving the comfort of my studio for a new space on sunday. In hindsight you always see the good in things. Even thought the space I am in is small I was really able to paint and work in it, I created hundreds and hundreds of pictures in the single year I was here. There are spaces I have moved into where I cannot create or paint at all. I think there are energies that I pick up on. I think there is more than meets the eye in environments---I grew up in haunted house as a child so I believe there is much "more than this"


I woke up and the world outside was dark
All so quiet before the dawn
Opened up the door and walked outside
The ground was cold

I walked until I couldnt walk anymore
To a place Id never been
There was something stirring in the air
In front of me, I could see

More than this
More than this
So much more than this
There is something else there
When all that you had has all gone
And more than this
I stand
Feeling so connected
And Im all there
Right next to you

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Download Peter Gabriel Ringtones Now!

Saw a group of people forming
Round a figure lying down
And someone runs to make a phone call
And the man kneels on the ground
The man kneels on the ground
Theres a tightening in my chest
I know that Im drawn in
Oh God let it not be you

Dont leave us
Dont leave like this
Dont leave me here again
Im not quitting on you
No one else
Youre not quitting on us
No running out

The colour in your shirt is darkening,
Against the paleness of your skin
I remember how you held the goldfish
Swimming around in a plastic bag
Swimming around in a plastic bag

You held it up so high
In the bright lights of the fair
It slipped and fell
We looked everywhere

Dont leave us (your eyes are bright, your blood is warm)
Dont leave like this (your heart is strong, youre holding on)
Dont leave me here again (I feel your pulse, I hold your hand)
Im not quitting on you
Theres no one else
Youre not quitting on us
Theres no way out
No way out

Dont leave us
Dont leave like this
Dont leave me here again (I feel your pulse, I hold your hand)
Im not quitting on you
Theres no one else
Youre not quitting on us
No running away no way out


p. gabriel

word of the day

rodomontade \rod-uh-muhn-TADE; roh-duh-; -TAHD\, noun:
Vain boasting; empty bluster; pretentious, bragging speech; rant.



(I am thinking of changing the name of this site to rodomontade..)

words of the day---peter gabriel

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
(I) just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
"Son," he said "Grab your things,
I've come to take you home."

To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Tho' my life was in a rut
"Till I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" he said "Grab your things
I've come to take you home."
(Back home.)

When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" I said "You can keep my things,
they've come to take me home."

moving

My move date is march 16th. Bear with my lack of devotion to this site and art while I pack boxes and pull up the stakes from my teepee. I have developed the flu so now I have major deadlines, I am sick and I have to pack. At least I have my sanity---um....

quote

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.
Niels Bohr

forest of souls

It is a long hard to of cleaning, painting and packing for a pack- rat. The advantage of being a pack rat is you find things you forgot you had. I painted this last year and put it away because I didn't understand it yet. I think it works on some levels. It is oil on masonite 21" x 24" It is for sale for if anyone wants to inquire via email.

painted hand of the day

someone sent me an email with a bunch of painted hands. I will share them daily.

word of the day---inchoate

Word of the Day for Monday, March 10, 2008

inchoate \in-KOH-it\, adjective:

1. In an initial or early stage; just begun.
2. Imperfectly formed or formulated.

Liquid Prozac

Next time you have some tap water in NY or New Jersey (or many other states that are united) you can rest happy knowing that the water is polluted with pharmaceuticals. There is trace pollution from prozac to estrogen in twenty four reservoirs in NY and in the drinking water of twenty four million americans. In Europe the fish in the Seine are actually changing sex due to the high level of estrogen in the water. How do they get in there one may ask? Sewage...I have always ranted that fluoride is a poison and now you can wash down your flouride with someone elses hormones. In Brave New world you chewed down a Soma, in brave New America you need only drink some water to lobotomize yourself or two have some estrogen to keep you from being too manly. Drink up, johnny---I'll have a whiskey.

procession

I sometimes like to mess around with photography when I am too lazy to draw/paint or actually work for my images. I often take photos off of my TV or You tube. This is a photo from a conspiracy video I was watching on you tube. I really like the color and mood and have been itching to make a watercolor of this photo. I may use my 20 dollar sheet of paper to paint this one. I think I will leave out the computer cursor in the upper right.

commuting snapshots

These are snapshots of my tiresome daily commute. As it will soon be over I decided to document my journey. These photos are not exciting and have the same lifelessness of modern art or a Whitney show. At least now you wont have to go to Chelsea to see modern art, you can simply look out the window of American Alex's pick up truck.

ride home

I will not miss my commute when I move into NYC--I drive into Brooklyn 7 days a week so I decided to take some photos for old time sake. Here is the Le Frak Building in Queens. To pass time in traffic I used to take photos of Le Frak each time I passed.

Vonnegut---cat's cradle terms

Terms of Bokononism

The religion of the people of San Lorenzo, called Bokononism, encompasses concepts unique to the novel, with San Lorenzan names such as:

• karass - a group of people who, often unknowingly, are working together to do God's will. The people can be thought of as fingers in a Cat's Cradle.
• duprass - a karass of only two people, who almost always die within a week of each other. The typical example is a loving couple who work together for a great purpose.
• granfalloon - a false karass; i.e., a group of people who imagine they have a connection that does not really exist. An example is "Hoosiers"; Hoosiers are people from Indiana, and Hoosiers have no true spiritual destiny in common, so really share little more than a name.
• wampeter - the central point of a karass
• foma - harmless untruths
• wrang-wrang - Someone who steers a Bokononist away from their line of perception
• vin-dit - a sudden shove in the direction of Bokononism
• saroon - to acquiesce to a vin-dit
• duffle - the destiny of thousands of people placed on one person
• stuppa - a fogbound child
• sin-wat - a person who wants all of somebody's love for themself
• pool-pah - wrath of God, "shit storm"
• Busy, busy, busy - words Bokononists whisper when they see an example of how interconnected everything is
• boku-maru - the supreme act of worship of the Bokononists, which is an intimate act consisting of prolonged physical contact between the naked soles of the feet of two persons.
• Borasisi and Pabu, the Sun and Moon; the binary trans-Neptunian object (66652) Borasisi and its moon (66652) Borasisi I Pabu bear their names.†
  • Borasisi, the Sun, held Pabu, the Moon, in his arms and hoped that Pabu would bear him a fiery child. But poor Pabu gave birth to children that were cold, that did not burn...Then poor Pabu herself was cast away, and she went to live with her favorite child, which was Earth.

Oslo

My west village neighbor from many years ago found me online. She is from Oslo. It is in my celestial cards to go to Oslo, the birthplace of Munch and Nerdrum and blond hair. Vonnegut had a name for people who you meet in life and you learn something from, it was from his novel Cat's Cradle, I believe. Anyone?

movies

I do not go to movies and I dont watch TV. I keep the TV at night for company when I sleep to make up for all the brain programming I miss during day. I rent one movie a month and never watch it and return it late. I rented Beouwulf and it is still here late and unwatched. An unwatched movie never boils...must return!

mornin' america

I woke up at 4:30 this morning in order to get ready to paint my apt. I will hold "bigger brushes" today My landlord is a bit upset because I used my apt as an art studio first and a living quarter second (Priorities!!). I got paint on the walls and on the rug so I offered to replace the rug and to re-paint apt. My art comes from chaos and not from neatly ordered sketches or mechanical drawings, neat artists are like skinny chefs--dont trust them! I hate being in the zone of the "in-betweens' before I move in one week. I am a nomad and move once a year as I dont trust roots. I am paint-splattered tumble weed, rolling across the relatively new carpet of the american psyche. (I think I want to boycott the Whitney Museum because they are ruining american art with their Biennial of crap.) I would be perfectly happy living on the road drawing and painting different cities like a rock star or a traveling salesman. I have lived in 25 different places since I was a child and I like to pull up my teepee and head out to new plains when I can. One would think I was running from something or chasing my tail but I like to feed my ADD with new things so she doesnt chew my out insides.

Deadlines

I have the worst deadlines ever and then I have to move on top of it all. Good coordination/ thinking and timing is the key to my success! If I dont die I will emerge stronger and actually enjoy my spring! I still have not painted my watercolor on my 20 dollar paper as I am not feeling it yet.