Guest Post, Jeff Falk: Homage to the Dadaists

Dada or dadaism. A European art movement that began in Switzerland in 1916. Thirty eight million people died as a result of “The war to end all wars.” Also known as World War I. The Dadaists declared “The world is insane and so we shall be insane with our art.” The movement did not last that long, some say only until 1923. A century later the reverberations of what those artists did with painting, sculpture, film, music, writing and theatre still resonate.

As a child I saw a book about the Dadaists and their art. I was fascinated by the photographs of the work. I loved what they did. I still do. They influenced me in my life as an artist and beyond. They taught me that the art that you make does not have to have comprehensible meaning.  It can but it doesn’t have to. Non-sense in art is also worthwhile.

CHAOS THEORY (subtitled:FLESH IS GRASS)

Chaos Theory

This is a work of collage and mixed media. There is a lot going with the imagery. It seems crazy and haphazard. It is, but it isn’t. I borrowed heavily from imagery found in grammar school science books of the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the end it does not matter what meaning or message I ascribe to it. You the viewer will interpret it as you choose. I like that.

 

EAT

Eat

An early work of mine done sometime in the late 80s then revisited in the early years of this century. The face shown is that of the Statue Of Liberty before it was assembled in New York City. The word EAT refers to the strange 19th century American practice known as Manifest Destiny. It put forth the idea that we as a nation were destined to move from one shore to another creating a large country. Like locusts moving en masse devouring everything in their path discounting the rightness or wrongness of that action and the damage it caused. The vertical signage that reads “amburgers” was an actual cafe sign found on the roof of local diner here in Phoenix. Regardless of what I say it’s meaning is, it is still one of the strongest images I have done.

 

TAR BABY ABRAXUS

Tar Baby Abraxus

One of the practices of the Dadaists was to use objects that already existed, assembling/constructing them into secondary objects that had altogether different uses or meanings. That is what I have done with this piece. If there is meaning to this work then it has much to do with an American mythology and vision that defies simple patriotism and instead embraces a strange, human spirituality.

 

THE BURDEN

The Burden

Also made of “borrowed” objects culled from the world around me. This seemed like an exercise in strong composition and simple texture to me. However after I completed/created it I realized that it possessed a very intimate and personal meaning to it that I had not knowingly intended. It is about the death of our first child almost thirty years ago. I believe my subconscious mind was talking very loudly here.  Now when the Dadaists movement emerged it had been less than ten years since Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis had come to light. I believe that Dada embraced the language of the subconscious mind (or as Carl Jung referred to it: the unconscious mind.)

 

GOOD WORK!

Good Work!

Another mixed media/collage piece. This one measures six feet by five feet by two inches. The strange looking, winking flower, human like face, is an emblem from a report card I received while attending elementary school in Derby, Kansas in the late 1950s. The rest of the imagery in the work is a mix of illustrations and schoolbook text pages from those days and actual, original, homework assignments that I did as a child in and around 1957-59. Therefore this is a collaborative piece of art made by 21st century me and six year old me.

Meet the Interns: Nicole Davis, Photoshopper

Nicole Davis is a freshman in Graphic Design.

Superstition Review: What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?

Nicole Davis: I am the Photoshopper. I use Photoshop to format all the headshots that are published in SR and I also help with advertising ideas.

SR: How did you hear about Superstition Review and what made you decide to get involved?

ND: I got an email about an internship and applied. I didn’t expect to get it, and I am so excited to be a part of SR this issue.

SR: What are you hoping to take away from your Superstition Review experience?

ND: I want to gain a better understanding of what it takes to put together and publish a magazine.

SR: Describe one of your favorite literary or artistic works.

ND: I really love collages and photomontages like work by Hong Hao.

SR: What are you currently reading?

ND: Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, I love it so far.

SR: What is your favorite Superstition Review section, and why?

ND: I really love the art section. I’m a painter and a photographer so seeing other people’s art is really inspiring.

SR: What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?

ND: I would love to be an art editor or work in advertising.

SR: Do you prefer reading literary magazines online or in print?

ND: Print, I truly love having that tangible object versus the computer screen.

SR: Do you write or create art? What are you currently working on?

ND: I used to write when I was younger but now I’m much more artistic. I’m currently working on a painting of superman for my older brother for his birthday.

SR: Besides interning for Superstition Review, how do you spend your time?

ND: I’m a full-time student, and I also have a part time job and a pizza place called Picazzo’s. I also attend a group called YoungLife and rehearse with the ASU Gospel Choir each week.

SR: What is your favorite mode of relaxation?

ND: Napping. Nothing is better than a nice, mid-day nap.

SR: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

ND: In 10 years I hope to have a job that I enjoy. While my dream is to be a magazine editor, I’m open to my future. I’m not positive where I’ll end up, but my biggest goal is to be happy.

Meet the Interns: Mariah Beckman, Solicitations Coordinator

mariahbeckman_0Mariah Beckman is an English Literature Senior at Arizona State University and is pursuing a Technical Writing Certificate.

Superstition Review: What do you do for SR?

Mariah Beckman: I review current solicitation list and update contacts, and maintain this list so that the following issues have a solicitations list to build off of. I also work with Editors to add names to list and constantly update the Solicitation List with author responses. My job consists largely of helping to garner submissions and organize the responses to those submissions to provide clear and updated list of works to be featured in Superstition Review.

SR: How did you hear about or get involved with Superstition Review?

MB: I was fortunate enough to take a class taught by one of the managing editors/founders, and was thusly recruited.

SR: What is your favorite section of SR? Why?

MB: I think that poetry is going to be my favorite section of SR. When I was in high school I dated this boy, and his brother was featured in Hayden’s Ferry Review, another Arizona State University literary magazine, and I remember thinking how awesome it was that he was valued enough to be represented. His submission was poetry. I really love to read poetry–no matter how busy I am, I can pick up a copy of my Cummings or Hughes or Frost collection and browse through a finished project, and that is what I love about poetry. If literature is the Christmas Tree, poetry are the Ornaments that make it dazzle even without the lights. I’m so excited to read the submissions and have an opportunity to read some up-and-comers and professionals, side-by-side, and compare the changing face of poetry today.

SR: Who is your dream contributor to the journal? Talk about him/her.

MB: I think that I would love to feature Mark Danielewski (author of House of Leaves) or Chuck Palahniuk (author of the novels Fight Club, Snuff, Choke, etc). While each of these authors feature often mature content, their wit and eloquence are excellent artistic representations of Americans ever-changing and subversive culture. These authors publish challenging and exciting, often funny and always memorable works that have stuck with me and that I can relate to, and it would be amazing to feature one of their interviews or short stories to see what insights they could offer about writing in the 21st century.

SR: What job, other than your own, would you like to try out in the journal?

MB: I would like to work with contributors whose works are chosen to fine-tune and polish their work for submission. I would love to be the person who not only delivers the great news that an individual’s work is publication-worthy, but also work with them to craft their writing and to make them the best vehicles for their art form, because written word is truly a timeless and powerful art.

SR: What are you most excited for in the upcoming issue?

MB: The finished product and readings are the milestones that I most look forward to for this upcoming issue. To see all of our efforts come to fruition will be amazing, and I just can’t wait.

SR: What was the first book you remember falling in love with and what made it so special?

MB: As a reader, there are so many books that I really appreciated and grew up with. The first book, however, that I can remember finishing and then reading all over again was Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. The characters in this novel were so vibrant–who doesn’t know and love a Captain Yossarian, tragic and clever anti-hero of life’s red tape? Or a Milo Minderbinder, enterprising get-rich-quick businessman with great demeanor and no conscience? Major Major, the Chaplain, Hungry Joe–there was a piece of all of America in every character, even the most despicable.

SR: What artist have you really connected with, either in subject matter, work, or motto?

MB: “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.”–Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde in his The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the most prosaic and devilish books I’ve ever read. I’ve always considered myself a fan of Sylvia Plath, but never of her methods–her poetry is divine, but her short works and her life fell short of what I thought her work expressed her capable of. Oscar Wilde, however, was as much a modern philosopher as he ever was a writer. Everything he said or wrote is quotable–I don’t think the man ever had a mundane thought.

“Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing.”–Wilde

SR: What are some of your favorite websites to waste time on or distract you from homework?

MB: I am loathe to say Facebook, but there it is. I think that I blow more of my time on Facebook then I do checking my email. I Can Has Cheeseburger.com used to be high on the list, not because I’m a freak but because I have a lot of pets and every one of them seems to be represented in adorable photo form. don’t judge me. T-Shirt Hell.com–it’s awful and wrong, but I love it. I only wish I could buy up the site. If you’ve never been, you should check it out–it’s the most offensive and off-color t-shirts you would ever not want to see.

SR: What would be your dream class to take at ASU? What would the title be and what would it cover?

MB: YOU: A Montage

I would like to take a class that allows a person to gather together their most favorite and expressive mediums of expression–photos, written work, audio, video, links and things and ideas and beliefs–and turn it into something tangible…like a collage that one would be graded on. The final project would be in explanation and defense of not only the project, but the personality and individual it represents. My final would be a life-size mannequin, decked out to look like me but in clothing made of my favorite works, eyes that you could look into and press my nose to see a slideshow, a button on my mouth to hear me recite something of my choosing, and spaces cut out of my arms, legs, back, whatever, to put (assuming money isn’t the issue) clips of movies like “Vanilla Sky” or “Harold and Maude” and other favorites to show viewers, in a snapshot, me. This would be like the ultimate self-exploration, and it would involve a lot of actual project work, which isn’t something that I’ve really done since high school.