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Here are 5 things I was looking at and loving this week (+1 I was listening to):
“A decade and a half ago or so, I stopped looking for validation or support from the apparatchiks who run the Art-Academy Complex. I was sick and tired of how that system works and what it represents. Fortunately, I’m in the privileged position of having (barely) enough money to satisfy my modest ambitions; no need to suck at the teat of the powers that be, thank you very much.
But I still have an ego, still want people to see (but not necessarily like) what I do. So I had to figure out ways and means to find an audience and to distribute my work outside the Standard Model used by the Art World.” —Tony Fouhse
I love the work, passion, and lo-fi DIY ethos of Tony Fouhse (rhymes with goose). So, I wrote him to say how much his recent newsletter inspired me, especially when writing about ways of operating outside of the system. “…you need an open mind, a rebel streak, and a solid work ethic. You also have to shift your definition of success.” I was going to post something about him after I bought his zine “Mean.” Then I was going to post a link after he walked us through trying to find a decent, but inexpensive printer and paraphrased Karl Marx “I want to control the means of production and distribution.” But I decided to finally, because enough is enough and you need to be inspired, too. Plus he’ll introduce you to great work like that of Aaron McKenzie Fraser, whose Sketch Harbour Dept. of Tourism is along these same lines: subversive, creative, crafty, and thinking way outside the bounds of conventional dissemination, display, and production. Plus it’s just fun. And like Tony’s work, it really gets my wheels spinning.
Hannah Yoon turned me onto muralist and illustrator Cindy Lozito’s newsletter and a great point to jump in was her recent one on handling self-doubt (subtitle: Winter tested my mental fortitude. This is how I survived, for the most part.)
It’s that time of year: cycling is back on the world stage, which means my Instagram feed looks better with the work of Jered and Ashley Gruber on it.
Resurrecting photos from decades of work in Appalachia
Two and a Half Decades Observing Life in Rural America
BONUS playlist to create to: Hit play on 10 Hours of Lofi Video Game Beats