Tag Archives: books

Collections of Artifacts

Books: War and Peace / original and erstwhile “fan fiction”

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Have you read “War and Peace”? Now is a pretty good time.

It’s rather enjoyable, but if you find Tolstoy’s original *too long*, both Lenin and I did “remix” or maybe “fanfiction” of the classic.

It’s one of the only things we have in common.

PS May I interest you in my “Letters from Russia” mixed media project? It was inspired by Tolstoy and written in the form of letters from someone in Napoleon’s army going into Russia in 1812 back home to his lady friend – All associated artifacts are within this archive.

Japan Cottage Musings

Creative Life Archive into a Grain Barn / Japan Cottage Musings

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Recently my “whole life archive” from 4X+ years of creativity arrived after a trans-Pacific journey to my home is Tsuchida, Okayama, Japan… so, I made a little video spiel – or tried to rather – while sort-ganizing the artifacts the “kura” (grain barn). However, the video was out of focus and the sound well, non-existent (guess i don’t know how to use this new gear… sigh).

This clip (which i didn’t know was filming) of puttering around in schleppy work clothes (and a fine hand-crafted hat) exists… so, here’s a little clip mixed with still photos of putzing around my life’s worth of books, records, scrapbooks, tools, trinkets and whatnot and finding some interesting things (while trying not to be overwhelmed by all the memories and dauntingness of it all).

No narrative per se, just an excuse to play you a song and say hello… carry on.

I was *clearly* saying something fascinating here :) – probably about Kerouac, scrapbooks, artifacts, vinyl etc and likely say “personal archeology” & ”intrepid” + mention stash of amusing hats, lounge wear and of course, smoking jackets but, you will just hafta trust me (or don’t, that’s cool).

Importantly this song: pal George H. wrote music and sings/plays (but says its not “finished” so don’t tell him unless you wanna tell him you LOVE it) – the words are mine from escapades in NYC 1990ish. Anyhow, thanks for coming along for this flashback. 

Personal Musings

Diary: Getting a handle on the Kura “sort-ganizing” project

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Round-up from the kura barn/mixed-media-creative-studio-in-process…

this is the key to the main (of 3) mighty heavy doors to the get into the kura barn. if this key gets stuck inside, well we’re hosed. it looks simply but its a deliberate puzzle to open the vault

Next up, going to attempt to carry up a big shelf cabinet – then, hopefully can squeeze in another bookcase and start unloading the huge stash of records and books into something more manageable. [Update: done]

In the meanwhile, here’s a few odds and ends of items which maybe didn’t get floated out there, just to, well… float em out, round em up for your amusement along the way. Progress and all. Annotations in-line with evidence.

so much Tintin stuff! including many “bootleg” remixes – seen here with sea capn’s black globe and brass latern
K. Foster painting, property of R. Scales (still smelled like DTES stank)
Ryoko having dress-up fun with old scouting sash and camp hat of pins and fringe (yes she thinks i’m adorably weird)
explaining the Ryoko what lederhosen are and why i have a fancy pair
still life of fringe suede jacket and sea capn’s globe and latern with Walt Whitman-esque wooden statue in the background
yup, another view of the beloved suitcases – while they are lovely, tis truly the contents which are important, so much to be revealed
clothing sash mostly organized – winter items, hockey.soccer jersey, costumes/specialty wear, the bins of hats and scarves in there too and then a blue bag of kinda things in limbo (my indoor closet is rather limited
Of course, must get the stereo set up but, there’s a little broken plug connector thingy snapped off inside of the speaker connector place. Not quite sure how to resolve but… One revolution at a time. This is a great little Onkyo set-up repatriated to its origin land – need a new CD deck to match / and figure out the mixing board for other projects
a rack of jackets! including US forest service, a Saskatchewan hockey team, a corduroy Inuit, camel air emergency fancy clothes (used for lobbying efforts) so on – seen with Vancouver collage on easel and a load of media and board games
hard to tell from this snap but in these boxes is an epicly eccentric and varied record collection – will share as i get to it but oh wow, we’ll have fun
a few books set aside for another look or sudden service
yet another panorama of the project in process – so much done, so much to do
which is better: the handmade Mavilli hat (with ear flaps), the curlig sweater (with patches), or the moustache/sideburns combo

Personal Musings

Diary: Suitcases sorted with scraps and books

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Update: each of these majestic suitcases now carries a specific subset of collections, ergo:

one has dossiers and scraps and supplies for making more scrapbooks

another, completed large form scrap books; another has all smaller sized journals, notebooks, diaries etc

next contains “paper point collages“ from various presentations and talks over the years

yet another contains little valuable trinkets from here and there and you

then there are a couple of classic typewriters in cases

a big blue bin filled with percussion odds and ends

another blue bin filled with collections of collections (pins, patches, playing cards, glasses, cameras,…)

another big stack of letter writing supplies with stationery, postcards, paper sets etc.

another satchel bulging with empty notebooks awaiting their turn for scribbles…

And this is just one shelf of many many shelves – below the shelf is boxes of photos, letters, childhood artifacts and the like.

Making great progress and today’s task is hauling up a sturdy shelving cabinet to start offloading records and books / hopefully can get the stereo set up although there’s a little bit of a problem with a broken speaker connector part.
~
Could really use a few elves to enjoy the process with > making sure to keep my pace slow to not “crash” > It’s all quite exciting (oh by the way, yesterday all the clothes and costumes etc. mostly got sorted, folded, stashed)

Personal Musings

Diary: Unpacking the Kura, day one (collections of collections, vinyl, books, suitcases, typewriters…)

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Note: Heading into the barn to play with artifacts. if no update in 3 days, send snacks & tea (we’ve brought enough to last til then) :)

Notes from the kura barn (day one):

As I opened up dozens of boxes today to kind of do a “rough sort“ and see what I’m dealing with, so many thoughts and emotions flooding back – However, work to do with intent of pulling out a few artifacts for upcoming Jack Kerouac workshop (oh yeah, don’t cancel don’t cancel everything proceed normally etc. etc.)…

Anyhow, I collect collections and, in various cigar boxes, shoeboxes, and satchels of different kinds I have assortments of:

  • playing cards (despite the fact that I don’t know how to shuffle or any card games)
  • pins of all sorts
  • lighters and coasters from all around the world
  • belt buckles and belts (many of these used on old suitcases)
  • felt pennants and other classic Vancouver odds and ends including expo 86 artifacts
  • dozens of amusing hats – also scarves and hats and more hats
  • cassette tapes (primarily ones from garage band from decades ago
  • CDs (commercial as well as from people who said “dude you got to hear my band“ and gave me said CD)
  • plenty of vinyl (oh my!) / Many of which I never had a chance to listen to as I ordered them and they were drop shipped to various friends and brothers’ house
  • suitcases filled with hitchhiking signs, presentation “paper point“ collages, and dozens of scrapbooks, journals, diaries, notebooks, sketches… dozens

Overall, I have about six-eight of my old-timey suitcases, two typewriters, all sorts of fun outfits (we’ll see what still fits after I do a lot of laundry as most is a bit musty) and then dossiers of travel ephemera from various trips as well as the already constructed “static montage” story boards that I create for various trips.
In other words, have enough projects to keep me going for a while.

Plus loads of art supplies and office supplies and stationery supplies.
Also a stereo and a bunch of recording gear and another 2/3 of the boxes I haven’t opened yet.

And then of course there is art, both originals and prints and posters… Took the time to unroll some posters and start to flatten them out, then re-organized all the framed art into big boxes with similar pieces as we start to hang up stuff all over the house and barn etc. etc. (we don’t have near enough wall space but that’s another story, we can swap out exhibits if you know what I mean).

Continue reading Diary: Unpacking the Kura, day one (collections of collections, vinyl, books, suitcases, typewriters…) →

Personal Musings

Diary: Hats & Scarves aplenty

Day one of unboxing in the barn produced 21 hats and 13 scarves (categorizing the Arab head scarves as scarves rather than hats for the record – though, I suppose I could categorize the scarf-holding “ring” as a hat which would bring 22 for this batch)… Anyway, hang em up outside to give some fresh air.

Each of course has an origin story / And yes, there are more in the barn, not to be confused with the dozen or so which are already in the house. See any ones you like?

Update… Day 2: Well, scarves jumped out to an early lead but were quickly overtaken by cardigans, which were bypassed by super fun T-shirts and then hockey/soccer jerseys.

But overall the clear winner is scrapbooks, like so many of these. Can’t really look at them because too much memories to process all at once.

And bocce balls, ice skates, hockey helmet and sticks, and unused longboard have all surfaced.

Personal Musings

Diary: 40+ years of projects into a “kura” grain barn

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Big day (Thursday March 19) here at Tsuchida cottage as my life archives completes a long journey by a ship and truck from a storage locker in Victoria, Canada to port in Vancouver to port in Kobe and here by truck.

40+ years of scrap books, journals, diaries, book reports, certificates, art projects, school report cards, letters, photos and of course dozens of my paintings, all my various artifacts from talks/spiels/prezos, hitchhiking signs, “important papers”, art supplies, recording equipment, plus boxes of books and crates of records, and of course dozens of amusing hats.

The email thread with the company is about 70 communiqués, quite a bit of paperwork for customs clearance etc. etc. If all goes well, everything will be offloaded and instantly “sort-ganized” into a magnificent olden “kura” grain barn.

The kura barn recently got a good organization and clean-up and it’s going to turn into something very special… A mixed media art studio/archive… It’s gonna work out great!

Need to get a little bit more electricity/light in there and there’s only a little bit of dry rot in a few places but generally dry and solid. Going to be a great place for listening/recording music, reading books and making projects.

You may well especially enjoy the mighty wood beams and construction of this structure.

Anyhow, first coffee, breakfast and pants and of course, I’ve made a little map/plan for the moving crew, what I’m saying is “wish me luck“ it’s a big one. Continue reading Diary: 40+ years of projects into a “kura” grain barn →

Personal Musings

Diary: Sort-ganizing the Kura with Kerouac

(some of) my Jack Kerouac collection – recently liberated from a secret storage locker, trans-Pacific voyage in a container, and a truck to a barn in Okayama, Japan

Recently my entire life archive of projects, scrap books, journals, paintings, various art, artifacts, scarves and hats and of course records and books books books arrived to my barn in Japan after a transpacific journey from Canada.

Spending a few hours a day opening up boxes to sort out all the treasures and, came across a nice stash of old friends today.

Some treasures in there, and a few other odds and ends for ambience. There are several more but this is what escaped the quickest.

Besides all the Jack, and there are more than this, plenty of Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, Richard Brautigan, JD Salinger, Leo Tolstoy, the complete collection of Tintin and well… So much so much so much.

Anyway, the Jack collection will make for a good show and tell at my “On the Road” sc/roll workshop in Kobe on April 29 #FingersCrossed [update: cancelled]

Note: the little Japanese bound one on top right is the treasure of American Haikus… preview:

So much more to share but noting tis a challenge keeping up sort-ganizing momentum whilst also documenting and savouring. 

Personal Musings

Books: Reading List, circa (2018-2109)

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My pal Erica on Steamboat island invited me to post 10 books for 10 days and invite 10 people or something… of course, i can’t do something simple and overthink everything and figured i should round up a lost of recent reading, then i should transcribe this list (didn’t do), and offer some remarks, comments, links, reviews or each (yeah right), and then add annotations to other resources or related topics in this archive (oh slow down!), so hey, here’s a bunch of scribbled sheets of paper with books and writers – not chronological or organized by author, topic or anything… just jotted down as they occurred to me over a mug of coffee (or two). 

Some great books in t/here too! Some classic, some very recent. Epic history, quirky short stories, punk rock, Pacific war, travelling, exploring…

Do with it what you will (or won’t). There are already ones i realize i forgot to write and i also have a few fermenting posts of books shelf photos, sub-sets of cover shots and another lists (including this “read all over” article from a few years back which would have sufficed for the original inquiry but hey… overthinking! 

I really should transcribe this list… will you? 

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