Thoughts and Happenings

Articles, essays, diatribes and polemics. Here's where I gather my wandering thoughts and capture the state of my fevered imagination in words. Little bugs trapped in digital amber ready to broadcast my enigmatic being to the ages. Or, you could just call it a blog, I suppose. Do we still call them that, darling?
  • a pleasantly lit and cluttered artist studio

    Ghost in the Machine

    Musings on the ethical concerns surrounding large language models, colloquially referred to as AI, and where they do or do not fit in this artist's creative process.
  • a large tree in a forest where the foliage is starting to turn in the fall. attached to the three is a small green sign saying The Path and an arrow pointing to the right.

    Life, the universe and everything

    pondering the indeterminacy of life and art
  • painting by Jeffrey Katherine Jones of bare chested muscular warrior against a dark, smoky background. He weilds a halberd, blade glinting the delicate light of the crescent moon in the sky above.

    Got you covered

    We want the gut punch of immediate visuals tickling the faster parts of our central processing unit to know if we should spare our precious and limited attention on something. A lot hinges on the humble cover.
  • large crowd of protesters in Washington D.C. with the capitol building visible in the distance

    The Revolution Will Not Be Funded

    In a capitalistic society like ours, money is power. So one person with lots giving it to someone without any is, like it or not, in a position of power. What do they do with that power?
  • detail of John Singer Sargent painting of youthful male athlete, presumably nude, crowned with laurel leaves, instead of triumph, the dark background, deep shadows and his somber expression convey something much deeper and mysterious

    Coded works, coded lives

    Wherein a biography of John Singer Sargent stirs thoughts of the balancing acts queers faced then and what we still face today.
  • detail of painting with thick passages of colors across a range of pink, blue, and gold hues

    Saturate this, mofo! Color as Rebellion

    Color has been the object of extreme prejudice in Western culture enlisting in its service almost every other prejudice at one time or another.
  • remains of a statue at pompeii of a muscular male torso

    Fascinating

    In the on-going excavations of Pompeii, finds like cool frescoes in a dining room garner coverage in major outlets. But rarely does anyone discuss the amazing number of erotic works uncovered. Uncovered and then—prudery triumphant—hidden away again.
  • vibrant display of white orchids against a deep blue sky

    Shameless and perverse flaunting

    Reflections on the allure of flowers upon a visit to the sensual delight that is the New York Botanical Garden’s Orchid Show. From their visual allure to their cultural symbolism, the fascination with flowers runs deep.