SNAILY MISSION STATEMENT

 
 
 
 
I love art in just about any form — from song & dance, to paintings & film, to food wine & everything else in between that we humans make or express & which can, to borrow from Lewis Hyde, “revive the soul”.

I’m also obsessed with writing about art. I try to do this daily (if life permits) through the vehicle of my “Art of the Day” project; the writing usually takes the form of impromptu poems or poem-prose in response to the art object at hand.

This process of responding to art with art is known as ekphrasis. However, whereas nowadays this term is mainly used to refer to written art composed in response to visual art, I feel closer to the spirit of the older meaning of ekphrasis, which allows for more freedom in media both responded to and used to respond: “a rhetorical device in which one medium of art tries to relate to another medium by defining and describing its essence and form, and in doing so, relate more directly to the audience, through its illuminative liveliness.” See the ekphrasis wiki entry for more information.

Spontaneity is key to my “Art of the Day” project — I respond to an art object in writing as quickly as possible, ideally moments after seeing (or hearing, or reading) a piece for the first time, in order to capture my feelings and thoughts about the piece at hand in their freshest, rawest (and sometimes messiest) state. What I lose in formality, coherence & narrative I try to make up for in emotion, urgency & a sense of discovery. I hope you’ll agree & enjoy.

I also use this site to share my own art & music occasionally.

 

So yeah, that’s why I’m here. Thanks for swinging by, & drop me a line sometime & tell me what you think — or just pass me something you’d like me to review/feature, I’m always game for new stuff to gab on about.