_________ _______ ______ /___ ___\ / __ \ / ____\ / / / /__\ / / / / / / __ / / __\ / / / / \ / / / /__/ /__/ /__/ /__/ THE ANNIHILATION FOUNTAIN A JOURNAL OF CULTURE ON THE EDGE... TEXT ONLY - ISSUE #8 The Annihilation Fountain & TAF Copyright c 1997-99 Neil MacKay ISSN 1480-9206 http://www.capnasty.org/taf/ the_annihilation_fountain@iname.com CONTENTS: --------- *THOUGHTS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF ART IN THE 21st CENTURY - Revision 2.0 *3 POEMS BY JANET BUCK *AT THE SPEED OF LOVE *10 POEMS BY THOM KELLAR *INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM C. LEIKAM *CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE ************************************************************************ THOUGHTS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF ART IN THE 21st CENTURY - Revision 2.0 by RICK DOBLE ************************************************************************ I. THIS IS AN UNFINISHED AND EVOLVING DRAFT A. It is presented in outline form. 1. Many of the statements are in note form or are incomplete sentences. 2. A final finished draft will correct this. B. I feel that artists and thinkers should offer unfinished works to the public as long as the works are labeled as such. C. I am doing this in the spirit of the following ideas. D. Although considerable work and thought has already been devoted to this statement, it is not unchangeable. E. We invite comments. F. We especially welcome suggestions about what to call this kind of art movement. 1. Please e-mail us your suggestions. 2. What would you name or call this kind of art movement? Send an e-mail message II. INTRODUCTION A. Up until recently (about 100 years ago) painters painted directly from nature. 1. Now most painters tend to create from their imagination, from subjective inner needs and inner impulses or they paint based on abstract principles or conceptual ideas. a) Instead of drawing from nature directly, some painters draw from their inner nature. 1) For example, Jackson Pollock used to point out that he, himself, was nature. 2. Painting has become mostly studio oriented. B. Painting has removed itself from nature for the same reason that the society itself has removed itself from nature. 1. People are no longer subject to the same devastating forces of nature that controlled their lived a mere 200 years ago. 2. Civilization has overcome nature to a large extent. a) People live much longer. 1) In just 200 years our life expectancy has almost doubled. a) People live more secure and predictable lives. 1) For example, many lethal diseases have been wiped out or can be easily treated with antibiotics or prevented with a vaccine. 2) Both long distance travel and travel close to home can be reliably scheduled (most of the time) without being subject to the weather. 3) Communications are effortless a] e.g. the phone, faxes, and e-mail on a personal level b] e.g. TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet 4) We have a reliable and cheap supply of food and energy. C. Painting in this century has merely reflected the break with nature that the civilization as a whole has experienced. D. Human beings are a part of nature and until recently lived close to nature for better or worse. 1. For hundreds of years the goal of technology and science was to conquer nature, to subdue it to serve the need of humans. a) This has largely been accomplished, for better or for worse. E. In short the old relationship that humans had with nature has been broken and we can never go back. F. However, in the near future we will be confronted with the problems that we have created. 1. The UN estimates that in the next century world population will reach the maximum that the Earth can sustain. 2. According to the Larousse Desk Reference the Earth will run out of many essential materials in the next 100-200 years. a) Lead, zinc, mercury and tin are expected to run out in the year 2015, copper in 2035, nickel in 2060, iron in 2160, and aluminum in 2220. 3. In addition there may be global warming which is a consequence of civilization. a) The weather and sea levels may be affected. 4. Further the destruction of hundreds of species and the destruction of the rain forest may affect us in ways we do not yet realize. G. In short, we must learn to understand, confront, and manage our own nature because it is our nature that has created the world we live in today and will create the world of the future. 1. Our own nature is now our greatest danger. H. In addition because we have become so large and dominant as a species, we must also manage the planet, become the custodians of the nature and the Earth from which we came. 1. At this point we have no choice. 2. Because of the immense power we have achieved and which we will never relinquish, we must also learn to manage the Earth itself. I. The goals of the New Art will be to: 1. To explore and understand our own nature in relation to the Earth. 2. To explore a new relationship with nature since the old bond has been broken. J. This is a heroic task in the best sense of the word. 1. there is no guarantee of success, but that is the nature of heroic tasks. 2. Painting and art is well suited to create new images and icons that can serve as touchstones and guides to our future 3. Since this is where the future and civilization is leading us, it is only natural that painting and other arts would also move in that direction and be in the vanguard III. PRINCIPLES A. The word human comes from "humus" meaning soil or earth 1. human means "from the earth" or "of the Earth" 2. humans must constantly seek to renew, recreate and celebrate their relationship with the Earth from which they came B. Our goal is to create a new art which explores the relationship between humans and the Earth on which they live. C. Our goal is to also understand human nature in relation to the Earth. D. To create symbols, icons, and experiences that guide and help humans in this understanding. E. Works should explore modern expressions of: myth, vision, story, dreams, desires, wants, ideals. F. In order to achieve the above there should always be an emphasis on the human scale. G. Works should create or evoke a sense of place. A sense of place is important to a human's sense of belonging. H. Since humans need to feel that they are "a part of things" or "a part of the world," works of art should help people bridge their sense of dislocation. I. In order to help create a sense of belonging, works of art might refer to, derive from, or relate to previous art forms. By previous we mean the entire history of civilized art as well as primitive, prehistorical, folk, and naive art. J. In order to help create a sense of belonging, works of art might include the natural rhythms of the Earth. K. This art should often (but not always) be an inclusive art. By inclusive we mean an art which has wide appeal and is accessible to people. 1. Too much of modern art has appealed to in an in-crowd and deliberately put many viewers at a distance. L. This is not a New Age philosophy 1. It's fundamental tenants are based on the best predictions by reliable sources 2. i.e. that humans are about to reach the limits that this Earth can provide in terms of population, ability to extract essential resources, and the ability of the Earth to absorb and accommodate human by-products and pollution. IV. THOUGHTS A. Humans have a fundamental need to belong and to feel at home and to also feel a part of their world. This cannot be reprogrammed or removed from the human psyche without serious consequences. 1. One consequence could be that humans destroy the life sustaining power of the Earth which would doom the human race. 2. Humans are not machines whose needs and desires can be replaced and redesigned at will. a) While changes can be made, they must be made within the limits of what the human psyche can accept. 3. Humans must come to terms with their animal nature a) Much of what we do is hardwired from 100,000s of years ago. b) Humans must recognize and come to terms with their animal nature before they can make meaningful changes. B. Art which includes the natural rhythms of the Earth could include: 1. the weather a) e.g. why not installations that are designed to be looked at in rainy weather or cloudy days or sunny weather? 2. day and night a) e.g. why not art forms that take advantage of the point in time that happens each twilight when artificial light and natural light are in balance? 3. the seasons 4. the landscape 5. the moon 6. the stars 7. the tides 8. the summer and winter solstice a) The summer solstice has been largely forgotten. 1) Stonehenge and other ancient monuments were built to mark and possibly commemorate this event. b) The winter solstice is marked and celebrated, essentially by Christmas and New Years. 1) One of the reasons that Christmas and New Years are such powerful ceremonies is that that human participate in an ancient ritual. a] such as i] lighting lights at the darkest time of the year ii] bringing a tree into the house b] Much of the ritual of Christmas involves pagan and Roman rituals i] Gift giving and a week long celebration up to New Years is from the Roman Saturnalia festival c] Christmas is also powerful because it involves the all the senses i] church ceremonies ii] music iii] food iv] smells v] group gatherings vi] color vii] And of course involves the deepest religious needs ~ the birth of Christ 9. the fall and spring equinox a) the fall equinox is largely ignored as a celebration b) spring is celebrated by Easter 10. there were also mid-season festivals, some of which we celebrate today a) e.g. Halloween b) Mid-season festival were not celebrated at the exact mid-point but rather approximately at the mid-point. C. Although this is a heroic effort, it may involve cooperative efforts among artists and involve artists and others from a number of disciplines. 1. An interdisciplinary new art may work with and include other arts such as poetry, literature, song, dance, theater, music, photography, sculpture and especially architecture, plus other art forms. a) Artists should at times work in collaboration. This kind of cooperation will create new art and art forms which involve synthesis and multiple disciplines. b) This kind of cooperation will create an art which does not emphasize the individual artist as much as the partnership or a cooperative effort. c) Examples in the past 1) the ballets of Stravinsky which included famous choreographers and painters 2) The individual artist may be a little less important than he or she has been in the past. D. While much modern emphasis has been on art that springs completely new from the artist's mind, our emphasis is quite different. Art should often evoke, refer to, pay homage to, or be related to earlier art or artforms. 1. In the history of art this has been the rule and not the exception. a) It's only recently that artist felt they must create something completely new. 2. Even radical modern art has been related to earlier art forms a) There are dozens of examples but here are a few: 1) Picasso studied African masks before creating the landmark modern masterpiece "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon." 2) Paul Klee studied primitive and folk art of his country. 3) Henry Moore drew on Pre-Columbian art for his sculptures. 4) Jackson Pollock referred to the Navajo Indian sand paintings as partial inspiration for his drip paintings. 5) Bartok used Hungarian folk music as a major part of his musical compositions. E. This new art should include an exploration of the myths and ideals that have guided humans in the past. 1. For example, some feel that modern western civilization has been primarily guided by the myth of Prometheus. a) Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to the humans. 1) This gave humans untold power, so much power that the Gods themselves were angry and punished Prometheus for doing it. F. The particular construction of these images and symbols can be quite flexible. 1. In particular, it can draw on the history of art of the last hundred years - the numerous experiments that have left us with a rich legacy to work with in creating a new expression. G. It should at times be less studio oriented and more involved with the outside and Earth itself. H. Architecture should include the outside and create transition areas from outside to inside (such as the buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright). 1. The building in which we live, should not be walls against nature with windows that don't open and air that becomes sick because it circulates within the building. I. The change we are going through may be as profound as the change that humans experienced when they learned agriculture and the domestication of animals. 1. This change allowed civilization to flourish because there was a surplus of food and the food supply was more predictable. J. Knee jerk political reactions and environment political correctness are not welcome. The purpose is an open inquiry and free dialogue. K. An art which was less commercial would help attain these goals. 1. An art which you could not buy, or possess (at least in the usual sense) might be helpful. 2. For example, images created just for the Internet which display best on computer monitors would not have commercial value and they could not be hung on the wall. Although a print could be made, the effect would be quite different that the image seen on a monitor. a) My, Rick Doble, digital images of "Woman in Motion" are such an example. b) also images projected onto buildings L. Some modern art has already moved in the general direction of our New Art principles - outlined above. 1. The "Land Art" movement a) Christo's wrapped landscapes b) The Lightening Field by Walter DeMaria 2. Picasso's Chicago sculpture which contains wires that emit sounds when the wind blows through it. a) It is very appropriate for the Windy City b) It is a sculpture with a sense of place and a sense of the environment into which it was placed 3. Jackson Pollock's dripped paintings which were inspired in part by the Navajo Indian sand paintings. These sand paintings were created by shaman who poured colored sand into the shape of figures. Later the wind blew the sand away. 4. Brancusi's endless columns 5. The realistic sculptures of people. a) These sculptures are on the human scale. They are are so realistic that people react to them as though the sculptures were part of their space not like the usual sculpture that is separated from the viewer. 6. Rick Doble's digital images of "Woman in Motion." a) My own art has concentrated on realistic images of humans (they are based on photographs), that emphasize the human scale and yet the images themselves are iconographic and somewhat symbolic. M. Because technology has changed, the role of men and women are different. 1. Women and men will be full equals. 2. This is one of the most profound changes in human nature. 3. The nature and role of women has changed. a) Women now have control over their bodies. b) Woman can now earn a living and be independent. 4. The role of men has changed. a) Men need to find new models, new heroes to inspire them. 1) The hero who subdued nature, protected and provided for his wife and children may no longer be valid. 2) The male structures of hierarchy, chain of command and pecking order may need to be altered. 3) The muscular male hero who defeats all foes may need to be revised. 5. There needs to be stories and myths of the heroic that apply to both men and women. N. While this is an inclusive vision, it does find fault with some modern trends. 1. Pop art legitimized advertising in a way that has made it much more acceptable. Advertising now enters every corner of our lives. a) In particular advertising has intruded into our most sacred and important holidays and festivals. It has even started creeping into our personal anniversaries such as birthdays with mailed advertisements designed to reach the consumer just before his or her birthday. 2. Architecture, that creates canyon walls in the modern city, has ignored the human scale and the environment into which buildings are placed. a) Buildings need to be more than boxes placed on a grid. 1) This destroys our sense of place and creates anxiety. b) In many of these buildings you cannot open a window or get fresh air, hence the frequent "sick building" syndrome. c) Architecture needs to be created that provides transitional areas from inside to outside and which does not set the building and the inside environment completely separate and apart from the outside environment of the world. 1) For example, buildings should have some balconies, roof top gardens, and other points that open to the outside. 3. We believe that this movement will be opposed by a number of people because it is not business as usual. a) Some people will dismiss it as naive, or try to paint it as a another new age philosophy. 1) This is flatly wrong. 2) Those who think this are themselves naive because it is clear that the Earth and human kind will go through major changes in the next century. 3) The warnings and basis for our philosophy are based on the best current information and predictions by the most informed sources. b) While we do not oppose commercial art, we would de-emphasize it. 1) This is bound to upset people who make a living from the buying and selling of art. a] they will try to belittle its implications. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The purpose of this work is to start a dialogue. If you would like to quote this article, in whole or in part, or send your thoughts, comments, suggestions, insights, etc., then please send me an e-mail message. c Copyright 1997 by Richard deGaris Doble All rights reserved ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ************************************************************************ 3 POEMS by JANET BUCK ************************************************************************ City Snow A warm June day and still it snowed. Ice-cubes were the people kind. Sad and laugh-less in the city's colon. Skies that somehow scraped themselves like razors rusted by the humid. Bumper anxious seemed to spread. We came to play in party bunkers. Didn't know there would be war. Traffic like a backed-up toilet. Clouds of smoke in bitter puffs. A car was pointed out to me. Fire hoses stretched the streets like arms and legs of rattlesnakes. The body empty. Black and gray like old briquettes that begged forgetting flames to burn. Sunday morning news on pasted screens in lobbies full of busy ants without a hill or destination. Melon skins of people sandwiched. City indigestion twisting: "man was murdered yesterday...beaten, tied, and dragged by ropes to rolling wheels on gravel roads. Wonder who we should have blamed..." No one in the lobby moved. The justice eyebrow to be plucked. Ingrown hairs of such despair. Morning breath of progress reeked. Going home was such relief, I almost kissed the walls and door knobs of our quiet country life. A couple grazing in the grass, shaded by a sighing tree. I took a shower, scrubbed so hard, I heard the water's flesh like hiccups stopping Sunday church. Our next vacation would be real. We would stay in ocean waves where ruination didn't redden breathing flesh or choke us with its wicked reins. Beetle Juice Plastic toes are straws to somewhere. Somewhere I have yet to go. I think it has to do with shoulders. Honest steam on foggy pages. Sauna baths of syllables that leave me weak yet wanting more. The diaper rash of body casts has lived for years beyond the fact. Wisdom's polka-dot bikini. Synonyms for reticence. Angry blood is almost warm like celery stalks in humble soup. To waltz a walk, I have to limp. To climb a stair, I have to drop. Drag the lifeless one behind like thirsty tongues of hunting dogs that have a mission set before them, still would rather stay in tents. The pawnshop of a falling tear that always closed an open door before it ever hit the ground. You are, well, the only one who knows what lies beneath the rocks. Trust is brand new shoes in mud; please be patient with allegro. You are really, well, the first to give my tears a promise ring; slip it over swollen knuckles just like open parachutes. Rhinestone scars are never diamonds to a limb as absent as the sun at solstice. Tied to others stomping it, desire's blood was beetle juice. The Septic Tank On a fast for forty years concerning issues of reflection. Mirrors were a pair of scissors clipping confidential threads. File a claim with Fate and God for their denying perfect bones. Chew the stethoscope of odd and worship very normal beds. Mine a seance of capricious. Empty pages, barium. Enemas are so disgusting. That is, yes, what writing does. I would open Christmas jammies, hoping they were wearing feet. Mine were cropped and rearranged. Dreams were babies to be weaned. Clouds of pain were bowls of oatmeal. Raisins were eternal eyes. Sprinkled on my choppy gait like salt when all I wanted was approval's sugar in a mug. Consider all the options here: Chop it off or let it grow. Leave the pretzel as it is. Grind it into constancy. "She will never have a life if you ignore the cripple clay." Deciding on the amputation. Lifting lids of septic tanks. Someone had to clean the pipes. Courage was a mustard stain a little louder than the tears. Even at the age of seven, I could make my difference heel, stuff it into blind submission, teach the scent of fear a lesson, be a puppy playing dead. ************************************************************************ AT THE SPEED OF LOVE by RICK BENETEAU ************************************************************************ The cynic in me made me write this column. The realist would pen a lament and the optimist was simply too tired of Tony Robbins to write a totally upbeat blurb on divorce. But before you begin reading just know that I didn't take my divorce lightly. If I'd only have taken my marriage that seriously. Allow me to warm up here acronymousily, headline-style to set the tone. Decreasing marriage rate due to rising rate of divorce. Increasing rate of divorce drives up number of singles. Victory for "Family" lawyers (see D.) On My Own Again named new marital anthem (Hurts So Good voted second). Remarry, not me! Can licensing be the answer? (hint) Epidemic divorce rate clogs courts. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and I expouse what amounts to a cure for the divorce epidemic. At least it would be a start. Before I propose my thesis, you need to kick back, close your eyes and imagine the following scenario: A no-license, anyone-can-drive-a-car, speed limitless, traffic cop-free, road-with-no-rules system. If your imagination is as vivid as mine, you've envisioned utter chaos and carnage. Kinda like marriage anymore, huh? Let's develop this further. We have driver's education courses to teach young drivers to drive. We mandate a long "learners" period, provide rules-of-the-road books and make them take an intense written and driving examination before we deem them ready to take on the responsibility of driving on public roadways. The result is that we have an ordered transportation system and relatively safe roads that few of us are afraid to drive on. The vehicular accident rate is nowhere near that of crash-and-burn marriages, soaring at over 50%. Now let's examine marriage. We let anybody get married with only an age restriction in place (and still we let children tie the noose). There are no marital manuals, no marriage schools or courses with tests to pass, no marriage police and no laws or fines imposed during legal cohabitation. But there IS a marriage license. The only time elements of "law" seem to rear their ugly heads is when marriage ends and the divorce process begins. Ludicrous! A marriage should be just as easy to get out of as it is to get into. Or, vice versa. My theory is NOT that we all be required to graduate with honors from a College of Matrimony. Far from it. I propose that since we DO have to take out a license to marry somebody, we treat it just like any other license. Renewable. Say, every two years. A laminated license as show of proof nesting next to your drivers and fishing license. The license application form would be along the lines of, but not as detailed as, an income tax form. We validate the following: his assets/her assets before marriage, assets accumulated since last renewal, common debts incurred during marriage, child custody arrangements if the licensees do not renew, an agreed-upon monthly sum it takes to support the children, who gets the family dog etc. Yes, a prenup, separation agreement and divorce decree in one tidy little package. 'Til death or non-renewal do us part. No muss, fuss, or legal bills. Love is a two-way street they claim. Why not license people to drive on it? Now all this is tongue-in-cheek you understand. Kind of. The cynic in me often looks at the absurdities of life in such ways. I've come to rely on my left-of-center sense of warped humor as a survival tactic. Perhaps even a shield. Sure came in handy during the heat of divorce battle. I've been divorced for two-and-a-half years and separated for nearly eight (shows you that my battle was as long -and almost as bitter-as World War II) and I'm sure one day I will consider remarrying. But being wiser for having been through this will surely have me weighing both the option, and the sanctity of marriage, much more heavily than I did the first time. What matters most is that people take a good look at where they are at in their marriage or relationship. Oil, lube and filter coupled with a thorough inspection every 3000 miles or so (couldn't resist!). Marriage is one of the main highways in life and like all roads, it can lead to a paradise resort or dead-end in the middle of a desert. If you take the time together to plan your trip, you are more likely to keep cruising happily along. After all, the optimist in me knows that some couples actually do c 1998 NetProfit 2020 Inc., Marietta, GA ************************************************************************ 10 POEMS by THOM KELLAR ************************************************************************ IN A PERFECT WORLD In a perfect world... The 4 faces chiseled in Mt. Rushmore would be Johnny, Kris, Waylon, and Willie OJ Simpson would be stamping out vanity plates alongside the unabomber in San Quentin. every wanna-be Doctor, Priest, and Lawyer, made to watch Paul Newman in "The Verdict" at least 50 times and a public school education would include mining the mother lode of irony found in the life and times of Muhammad Ali In a perfect world... the Government would not find it necessary to spend 50 million bucks trying to prove the president committed adultery and lied about it the NRA would wither up and die due to lack of interest, Its army of Lobbyist picked off one by one through random gunfire the camouflaged, soldier of misfortune, pin-headed, bubba-boys would collectively decide themselves not smart enough to exercise the right to vote And every child would know deep and sustaining Love from those in charge of caring for them In a perfect world... I could lay all day on the beach soaking up Pacific Ocean Sun without burning my ass off my 1970, Olds F-85, with the 396, would get better gas mileage the faster I drove it like maybe 100 miles per gallon at 100 miles per hour there would fantastic, hole in the wall, Mexican food joints on every street corner with plenty of fresh Tortillas, Habeneros, and ice cold Negra Modelo and "Baby Doll" with the wandering eye, would magically see George Clooney every time she looked my way, causing her to re-think monogamy DEAD MEN dead men don't care what the surgeon general thinks dead men drive around with no place to go dead men figure the come-on at the end of the bar, more trouble than she's worth dead men hold alcohol in a medicinal light dead men will sleep in their work clothes dead men never have to RSVP dead men buy cars, and smokes, based solely on price dead men avoid eye contact at any cost dead men doodle on the obituary page dead men drive on bald tires with cracked windshields. dead men accept with resignation, the next days hangover dead men listen to Coltrane, and Davis, start to finish, no interruptions dead men don't floss dead men will take their Sake cold dead men take the long way to work dead men don't sweat expiration dates dead men never wear bandages dead men are past blaming anyone dead men see horse-shit and diamonds the same dead men don't care where the candle-wax falls dead men forget what day of the week it is dead men can't get to sleep at night, can't wake up in the morning dead men have nothing in their hands dead men never ask another chance dead men have stopped trying to make sense dead men play dumb when they know they're being lied to dead men have made the connection between sorrow and desire after losing the one thing he loves a dead man will spend the rest of his days anesthetizing the past pouring gasoline on the future dead men have no fear of dying the second time LINE OF SIGHT maybe the angel watching over me strikes a match along the corner of my eye the way them TV outlaws use their cowboy boots whenever they need to light up a smoke or maybe the skittish ghost of a firefly tries to engage me in blind man's mystic bluff I turn to look-too late-I miss it left to ponder the validity of the hidden message it happens all the time beyond the borders micro sunspot surfing the line of sight Marlboro angel in a nicotine fit fires up when God looks the other way KIND OF BLUE What Miles Davis was to melody John Coltrane was to virtuosity. black giants in white-bread world mixing up a masterpiece branding iron hot-ice house cool tornadoes and sea breezes shouts and whispers bold slashing strokes-precise, razor thin lines the frenetic energy of a humming bird the economized motion of a crow muted trumpet-raging tenor sax "Kind of blue" 2 of a kind heaven squared PRIMER GRAY Smoke ring in a windstorm old man with blindfold and cigarette at the university he had "shown promise" was called a "diamond in the rough" but the years have gotten away from him he pissed away his time now he waits for the phone to ring for Gabriel to call and ask if he has one last request from the beginning desire had been a map without names never sure where he was or where he was going change made for the sake of change point A to point B in a car painted primer gray he drank too much-slept too much read too much-chased "easy" too much never finished the book he had been writing for the last 24 years now the Rambler sits on blocks the manuscript lost somewhere in the attic he calls himself "invisible man on blue planet" the events of his life written in disappearing ink nothing to offer as evidence of having circled the Sun staring at the autumn sky, chain smoking, sipping tea, he waits for the angels to raise their rifles and take him home LOVERS in these late breaking days rebellion has become the most ragged of fashion statements the banality of it symbolized by certain hairstyles, cigarettes, rock bands, automobiles saltpeter-fueled revolution defiance institutionalized from our home entertainment centers we see, we hear, the latest corporate anti-heroes as they sun themselves along the banks of the mainstream mega stars idolized by thundering herds spilling forth from the nearest shopping mall if you were to ask me I would tell you: lovers with a cause are the real rebels the spiritual benefactors, the wounded heroes, the mystics eternally misunderstood with fine grit paper working against the grain hands slivered and bleeding creating hidden beauty in time floating free-form defying the gravity of power, greed, envy. detached-disconnected born anew these spirit artists become suspect a kind of threat to social order to be burned at a stake nailed to a cross assassinated by sniper fire getting them out of the way we make martyrs of them the dead don't scare us the way living flesh and bone does it's easier to glorify a touched up past than face a future we seem hell-bent on desecrating one by one all are shot down .and when the fields where the wildflowers grow have been bulldozed and destroyed then spring is gone and what's left is a sort of somber confusion as hard to define as that 4 letter word we so readily cut and paste to fit our purpose LOST where am I going with this? (stuck mid-sentence) the point of my explanation eludes me I could blame it on strong drink or old age or on the houdini like skills of a much younger woman who decided there were better things than being shackled to a crazy man me but she can't shoulder all the blame maybe the trouble really was booze or the impotency of being "long in the tooth" or the nights of rage when I felt old and drunk and like screaming at her or anyone else who happened to get in the way for reasons I now don't remember she was the closest I ever came... sorry... what was the question? STRESS somewhere far below valley of shimmering silicon hidden beneath dying branches of a train track Willow 2 Mexican v-necks work up a good buzz drinking malt liquor-swapping lies cross-tie compadres with all the accouterments of the homeless loosely thrown into a Safeway food cart Henry laughs at Ricardo "mas cerveza cabron" the Hispanic boys can see themselves in the tinted glass of a southbound commuter on the inside-upper deck-Lawrence-marketing wunderkind studies a memo regarding changes in the company's 401K plan 8 hours of giving corporate head-home he goes it's Thursday-that means Pasta and Seinfeld one more day of tap dancing and the weekend is his Saturday he's got tickets to see Jagger and the Stones Ricardo picks up a small rock he likes the feel of the granite in his hands carefully setting aside the can of King Cobra he cocks his arm and lets fly too late-the train has passed-the target missed inside the moment Lawrence feels sharp pain to his forehead "stress he mumbles" ransacking his briefcase for Anacin (he thinks to himself) "there's no way Susan and the kids will ever know what I go through to bring home the bacon" Henry laughs at Ricardo again "you can't hit shit" he says THE WORK Tim is my friend He's also a shade tree mechanic makes his knuckles bleed over the engine in my Oldsmobile after a Transmission job he turns to me in Lone Ranger fashion says "TK-my work here is done" there are loose bolts sitting in the trunk I say "where do these go" he's stoned-doesn't remember I ran into this house painter once in the Peppermill lounge-Cupertino he walks into the place ready to fight I suggest that he cool off I buy him a beer later he says "it's been one helluva week" he had 3 doors to stain and finish got down to the final lacquer coat "screwed up all 3 of em'" spent hours sanding out his mistakes I'm like those guys my stuff never has that "finished feel" the poems continue to ache for perfection long after I've sworn them off one of my ex-wives used to stand in front of the bathroom mirror staring at her face she'd get pissed and yell out at me "bring me the yellow pages honey I'm gonna' call someone who can fix my nose" reading back my own words as they look on a computer screen I can understand her pain God help the folk-bard who's work is never done PLAN B outside back porch I sip cheap red strum a cracked and buzzing Harmony 6-string tell the stars to go fuck themselves upstairs on your back in bed Cosmo opened across your chest you whisper something to someone on the phone downstairs in the kitchen under the ironing board our 3 year old sits blissfully occupying himself with a green, rubber, T-Rex toy welcome to plan b much time ago I was to be a writer of words and music you were going to travel the world a single woman scoring brown-skinned boys taking in the sights but like dirt-track figure 8ers we "discovered" each other an accident throbbing to happen we became easy marks lowest form of idiot of course "little-man" has no such regrets no fear for what's future he's like a sponge soaking up the moment laughing to himself as he and imaginary friends knowing the pass-word slip past the angel standing guard at Eden's gate ************************************************************************ INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM C. LEIKAM by NEIL MACKAY ************************************************************************ William and I exchanged several emails over a short period of time. The subject matter discussed was based on an article I wrote for TAF entitle Are We A Functional Culture? In that article I attempted to, at the very least, discuss some issues regarding the day to day existence within North American culture. When William read the article he sent me a note that said "I read through the question of functional and dysfunctional societies and generally speaking I have a completely different view." And indeed he does. Having worked along side the likes of Joseph Campbell, among others at the Stanford Research Institute William has a much broader perspective, almost a spiratualistic pragmatism in his views. We corresponded for about a week and left off with me having given him a whole new series of questions based inpart on his answers to the questions presented below. Those questions and answers will be featured in a later issue of TAF. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy our little discussion below as much as I did. TAF: In regards to the article "Are We A Functional Culture", how or what would you personally define as functional culture? WCL: Cultures are evolutionary engines. They are reflected from whatever the culture decides. Decisions are the fuel of a culture. Once a culture puts itself forward through a stream of history as the United States as, then it has put itself on the path to burnout. This truly becomescomplex. To accomplish what I need to say, I will speak in metaphor. Comes on like this. We touch a match to the tinderbox. It begins to smolder toward greatness but at that moment it is nothing but a growing spark. It can hope all it wants to but the reality is only when the spark catches. Change happens. Cultures are no different from cells. They too go through mutations and we hear the cry of the culture as it suffers and plunges into protectivism. That's when the government becomes protective. We see it everywhere in our news. All of the tragedies of the day: John Jones Killed in Pile Up, Route Five Closed: Chemical Spill and what else is there? TAF: As we approach, and enter, the next millennium which direction do see Western Culture going? (imploding, dissolving, transforming into...) WCL: I have been a transformationalist from the time that I worked with some of the seminal people in that arena: Peter Schwartz, Duane Elgin, Mark Markley, Joseph Campbell, and others at Stanford Research Institute. What a team had gathered there? There is a circle of people who are sometimes coming together who willsurvive the catastrophe and they are the Rainbow People, the Dead Family, the alternative seekers. These will be the people who procreate the new generation and the new culture. As I look at the future, I see nothing shy of disaster for humanity. We are being challenged ecologically. Mother Nature is striking back already: Cancer, AIDS, new strains of tuberculosis, a new medical onslaught is hitting us. There are those people whom I've met out there on the Powwow Trail, the Grateful Dead, The Rainbow people, alternative communities internationally coming alive as though in anticipation of what is coming down the corridors of history. They may well become the back waters of culture. Not even footnotes in history. In this way these sub-cultures may emerge to create the new western culture. They contain an amalgam of thought that at its core respects Mother Earth and all sentient beings thereon. It is merging and coming together as a coherent philosophy to live by. This is unusual because it is happening globally. Never before in history has the world ever been so multi-culturally bound together and yet the irony is that racism continues to rip humanity apart. Maybe we aren't as well off as we think we are. The dominate culture in place at the moment is failing and at the same time, as throughout history it is creating its elements of survival in these sub-cultures. We must pay clear attention to even if we do not agree with their philosophy. It's good to check out what's happening on the edge of your reality. TAF: In regards to Western Culture, how do you see the issues of functional and dysfunctional as related to the Christian notions of good and evil? WCL: I don't. There is no such thing as functional and dysfunctional. None. In order to understand this, you need to go into the unified field and talk from there. This is where one feels that sensation of being at one with the universe. Conflict is only because it exists in the dual world. (This duality discussion is not even real but we have to talk this way in order that we communicate with each other.) There are many worlds that we can live in. All we have to do is come into contact with them. Harmony exists when we understand that we are all human bings simply expressing ourselves through different motifs. It is then that the tapestry of being human is real. On the issue of Christianity? It is coming down in its death throws. Today, it seems to me that we are changing our views of what's good and what's evil. If you run back some twenty five years ago and take a look, Jack Kavorkian could never have done anything close to what he has already done. The State of Oregon could never have passed its suicide law. Who would have possibly thought about dignity when you travel off into the nether-world? These are the real changes that are developing beneath our feet. These are the events in our modern world that are changing everything. We have a few years to go before all of this comes down and becomes the dominate social and cultural structure. Right now there are serious and more traditional views being played out. For instance, we do have freedom of speech given to us via the Constitution but there are governmental officials in Congress who want to alter our freedoms because they think that our children should not be sexually educated or excited. They fear what they call terrorists. TAF: Throughout recorded history there has always been a degree of societal/political upheaval around major century or millennial changes. What are your views on the current and near future condition or state of Western Culture with this in mind? WCL: Well, we can just travel back to the last turn of the century and see so much along the lines of what we are seeing today. Yes, we seem to have a cycle here. If you look directly at the turn of the 19th to the 20th centuries, we moved from a world of the past and into the technological revolution that has created the 20th Century. It was in 1896 that Madame Currie began her examination of radium and thus launched Quantum Mechanics. It was during this time too that philosophers were haggling over the new ethics and Darwin's notions that came to be evolution. Changes occurred. Just like now. But the difference now is that we are shifting a new millennium. We are involved within a deep, spiritual transformation within global culture. I may well be stepping far out on this but it seems to me that the old religions are being rejected and something else is growing up in the forest of technology and ethics. That's a huge question right there. TAF: With regards to the coming end of one millennium and beginning of another, what role, if any, do you see the apocalyptic myth that is central to many, if not all, cultures having? WCL: Never in the history of the world, as transformations arrive and there have been many, do we see a real apocalypse. However, if one steps way back and takes a look we see that when changes really happen that change the world as we see it, we often fail to notice it because we grow into it all. We never feel evolution. We never really feel the nudge of history when we decide one way or another about this and that. It is from generation to generation exactly what it is. It is only people who are stuck who fail to feel the change. There you have it. To be continued... ************************************************************************ CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE ************************************************************************ Janet Buck teaches writing and literature at the college level. Her essays and poetry have appeared in The Recursive Angel, The Melic Review, Conspire, Gravity, Poetry Motel, New Thought Journal, The Artful Mind, Medicinal Purposes, Mind Fire, 2Rivers View, Allegory, Kimera, The Oracular Tree, Green Cross, Moonshade Magazine, The Poet's Edge, Ariga, SeekeTr, Asylem, Woven Soles, The Free Cuisinart, Pif, The Waterloo Review, Illya's Honey, Fires of Autumn, Ygdrasil, Ascent, Indie Journal, Orbital Revolution, Flaming Flag, Calliope, In Motion, Idling, Poetfest, Sapphire Magazine, Southern Ocean Review, The Rose & Thorn, Perihelion, Zen Rubies, Creative Ooze, The Astrophysicist's Tango Partner Speaks, Maelstrom, The Pittsburgh Quarterly, and dozens of other periodicals. Janet's poetry sites on the web have received more than thirty awards, including the distiguished "Predators and Editors: Author's Site of Excellence" and "The Circle of the Muses Award of Inspiration." "Writing," she says, "is a tuba in a long parade that chases pain and sorrow to its dissolution." / / / / Rick Beneteau is an internationally recorded and released songwriter and is a partner in the Internet Marketing firm NetProfit 2020 Inc. He also provides copy writing and complete advertising services including corporate music production via his TrademarkeT company and he is a for-hire freelance writer. \ \ \ \ Rick Doble is a self proclaimed Internet artist. The nude and partially clothed female figures pictured in his "Woman in Motion" exhibit were derived in part from the landmark study on "Human and Animal Locomotion" (1887) by the American photographer Eadweard Muybridge. More of Rick's impressive work can be found at these links below: General home pages that link to exhibits: www.clis.com/savvynews/rdoble/ http://www.clis.com/savvynews/digi_art/ Links to Exhibits themselves: www.clis.com/savvynews/photos/ www.clis.com/savvynews/snow/ www.clis.com/savvynews/exhibit/ doble.interspeed.net/neon/index.html / / / / William C. Leikam began his teaching career in the late Sixties. Since that time he has been involved with a host of interesting endeavors including the ALPHA Project, a pioneering research group on the nature of consciousness, whcih he led; the International Conference on the Study of Shamanism and Alternate Modes of Healing; the establishment of the Musart Label and in 1997, he left Musart to begin hisown company, Leikam Entertainment. In so doing, he became involved with IllusionQuest, LLC of which he is the current CEO. \ \ \ \ Thom Kellar is "an average joe with some artistic inclinations...poetry,music, art." He is 43 years old, lives in Northern California and began seriously writing in June of 1998. He considers his "work to fall within the category of folk art...[and]...see[s] the pursuit of poetry/prose as a way of interjecting some creative contentment into an otherwise unsettled and dysfunctional life..." / / / / Thanks Gary 03/09/96 RIP {}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{} The Annihilation Fountain & TAF Copyright   1997-99 Neil MacKay http://www.capnasty.org/taf/ the_annihilation_fountain@iname.com