Friday, January 4, 2008

the home landfill

I have been cultivating a landfill in the front room, an archeologic wonder, fully stratified. This construction is not as threatening as say, the Collier brother's looming magazine stacks, but it certainly is confusing. (This concept comes fully recommended and tested by the cartoon bird/journalist Shoe, who has one, quite similar to mine, covering his his desk. )

This has happened to me, or more correctly - I have created this sort of problem, many times over the years. Usually I move and in the process I box or toss the stuff. Wherever i set up shop, eventually new strata deepen around me. The paper is endless - unopened junk mail, multiple copies of poems that were marked up by workshop participants or printed out for readings, article clips, old newspapers, magazines, instructions for various devices or software, sales slips, drawings, notes. Then there is the actual stuff - the collection of odd items that are saved because someday I might glue them together in a 3D collage. (My level of delusion is fairly high, though I occasionally do make one....)

Periodically I can't stand it - usually just before a big project. Or to avoid beginning a new project I choose to dig, shift, toss and codify rather than start what must be done.

This is a short note. I am making progress on a project and it will be out by the Jan 13 deadline now posted on the site. I am making progress on the landfill too. Everything in its time.