Category Archives: Assignments

I have two so far, a kind of variation of the ounce dice trice in which I attempt a sentence.

I
die
trying
for
fire
sessions,
living,
late
entheo-
genesis.

When
do
the
sore
love
sex?
Never.
Wait—
fine,
then.

Here’s a warm-up kind of assignment for the new year.  Recently on NPR, Daniel Pinkwater was interviewed about a book that is part of The New York Review Children’s Collection: Ounce Dice Trice by Alastair Reid (drawings by Ben Shahn).  The book is a brief collection of odd words, giddy in its delight in usage and euphony.

One of the sections, from which the book takes its title, is about counting to ten.  It gives a couple of alternatives to the boring old everyday “one two three”:

OUNCE
DICE
TRICE
QUARTZ
QUINCE
SAGO
SERPENT
OXYGEN
NITROGEN
DENIM

or

INSTANT
DISTANT
TRYST
CATALYST
QUEST
SYCAMORE
SOPHOMORE
OCULIST
NOVELIST
DENTIST

or

ARCHERY
BUTCHERY
TREACHERY
TAPROOM
TOMB
SERMON
CINNAMON
APRON
NUNNERY
DENSITY

You get the idea.

This led my brain back to Mason Williams’ poem, “How to count to from 1 to 10 in Spanish in English”:

Who knows
Those
Waves
What though
Sea cold
Said as they
Sedately
All chose
New wave way
Zeniths

Which in turn led me back to “The Aeronaut to His Lady,” a sonnet by Frank Sidgwick which consists of one word per line:

I
Through
Blue
Sky
Fly
To
You.
Why?

Sweet
Love,
Feet
Move
So
Slow!

So here’s the Assignment: write something inspired by these. Create your own list of counting words.  Write your own bilingual counting poem.  Write a sonnet with a bare minimum of words.  Or a combination of any or all of the above.

Make them separate posts, and remember to tag yours with the L.10.1 tag.

This is more of an invitation than an assignment.  Over the past year or so, I’ve been collecting the letters R-E-A-D, such as you would find at Michael’s or similar establishments, to display in my media center.

So far, all I’ve done is just prop them up, but a seventh set I bought recently got me to thinking: why not turn them into sculpture?

The invitation/challenge is to take one of these sets—or any other set you might find or create—and turn it into something visually interesting.

Here are the sets.  I have included my GAE membership card for scale.

These are 4″ tall wooden letters. The book is 9″ tall and could just as well be laid on its side.

Foam, 7″ tall.

Cardboard, hollow, 8″ tall.

Metal, open back, 6″ tall.

Plywood, 8″ tall.

Pressboard, 9″ tall.

Here are some potential display spaces.

The entrance to the library: the 32″ band of carpet at the top of the wall, the 36″ airspace, the 27″x92″ window.

The main area.  The 32″ carpet band goes all around the space, and the 36″ airspace is available.

The classroom/reference area: the orange wall is 37″ tall and is negotiable.  I need for the posters up top to remain where they are.

The stacks.  The blue wall is 52″ tall.  There’s a second stacks area where the wall is green, and it’s much the same.  The framed posters are hung, but everything is negotiable.  No airspace in the stacks: the ceiling is much lower and dangly bits would be too enticing.

There are two of these yellow columns in the room.  Three sides of each column are available.

This is a little glass display case in case anyone wanted to go all Damien Hirst on me.  It’s 14″ square, and each “story” is 12″ tall.

If you would like to inspect the space and choose a site for your work, just let me know.

Paint. Wire.  String. Papier-maché. Wood.

Freestanding. Wall-mounted. Suspended.

Ultra-modern.  Minimalist. Baroque. Figurative.  Clean. Messy.  Sleek. Intricate.

Sendakian. Willemsesque. Warholian. Nevelsonish.

Refer to reading in general. Or to a specific genre.  Or book.  Or eschew allusion altogether.

The idea would be to create something that is artistically compelling to the children who encounter it.  Astonish them. Intrigue them.  Delight them.  It doesn’t have to be “kid-friendly.”  It has to be right.  Turn my media center into a gallery for contemporary art.

If you want merely to submit a design for something fabulous, do that.  Post it here, and I’ll eventually get around to making it.

THE LICHTENBERGIAN VORTEX:10,000 VISIONs

The main structure is a shallow wooden bowl, 15-20’ across, with a spiral groove cut into it.

At the bottom of the bowl is a 1’ hole.

Beneath the hole is a flame pit.

Participants will encounter members of the Society, dressed—how?—who will explain the purpose of the Vortex and offer each participant a small wooden ball.

We will have 10,000 wooden balls, 2” diameter: cedar, oak, cypress, etc.

Each participant will write on the ball his most cherished but unrealized creative goal, then release it into the Vortex.

The slope of the Vortex will be such that a ball’s progress is slow but inexorable.  (I am ignoring for the moment the practical consideration of the grit and dust from the Playa.)

When a ball reaches the center of the Vortex, it falls into the abyss and is consumed by flame.  Indeed, the flame pit is close enough to the bowl that the Vortex itself will be consumed by a slow burn during the course of the Festival.

As we begin to think about meeting to consider planning our First Annual Retreat, I thought we might as well look far into the future, when we finally get our act together and hit Burning Man.

First, some context:

and check out the stuff at the official site, like here.

Since it is forbidden to be merely an observer at Burning Man, what will the Lichtenbergians contribute to the Playa?  As you watch the videos, you’ll realize that the assignment is wide open: art installation, group identity, art vehicle, performance, public service, anything.

There are no limits.