I found myself waking up one Sunday about a month ago to this program I love on NPR called On Being with Kristen Tippet and listening to an interview with the writer of Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert. On the program she essentially talked about how we should learn to love ourselves and she suggested an excersise I really liked involving writing a personal letter to oneself about the person they would like to attract; except in this case, you are that person. It’s a project I tried some weeks back and couldn’t quite find the time to complete, but I did find the excersise a useful thought experiment.
The new year is an uncomfortable time for many, me included. I was wise enough this year not to enter any crazy resolutions except to do a better job finishing what I start. The last several weeks have all felt like a blur with shows and artwork proliferating all over the place, and calendars bursting at the seems with new more punishing commitments. I wish I can say its all been fun going from one nail-bitter blitz of obligations to another, but I can’t. I’m mostly just exhausted and burned out at the end of most days. Though to be honest the alternative, having nothing coming on he horizon, is far less preferable.
Libra’s love balance so we are told. I embrace this notion. I’m no astrologer and only consult the stars for entertainment’s sake. In looking at my workload I can see the balance will soon happen when I can rest from a couple assignments and learn to say no when others might want to task me.
I take a moment this time of year to reflect on the work that was done in the previous year to prove to myself and maybe a detractor or two, that I am not a lazy bum, at least not in the studio. So here are all the works I did in 2021:
I plan to be just as prolific this year, hopefully with the addition of some nice quiet works.
These last few months have seen wide swings in my mood musically, however the most consistent sounds I settled on have been rap and Phillip Glass. The rap artist I’ve fallen in love with the most is Earl Sweatshirt, who I first learned about at a New Years Eve party a few weeks back. I love the minimal spareness of this guy’s rhyming. He reminds me of a hip-hop Ernest Hemmingway. He’s like Tyler the Creator in that its hard to pick out a particular song of his because they all seem to fit together to create one moody stew, but I suppose my favorite would have to be from his excellently titled CD “I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside”. Here really its two tracks that sort of merge together for me “DNA” and “Wool”, both so nice to drive home to after a long day at work. Here are some YouTube videos of these tracks.
I’ve always liked Phillip Glass. I’ve frequently referenced Akhenaten on this blog. Lately I’ve found a new favorite, “The Photographer”. I found this piece after listening to “Einstein on the Beach” obsessively and getting thoroughly sick of it. Here’s the YouTube video of the work.
Alright I’m finally going to make good on my commitment to post a little bit more. I’ve been working on a few interesting things in the studio including a 10-part series of portraits about my late sister that I call “The Incomparable Yhana Evonne”. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on those pieces and others in a few weeks’ time. Until then do be well.
Anthony Smith Jr. 