the writing life

“The function of art is to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. The writer shakes up the familiar scene, and, as if by magic, we see a new meaning in it.”—Anaïs Nin

Dressed in familiar traditional garb, a Tibetan Buddhist monk hunched over a square table in the middle of the glass-enclosed atrium of the Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, rubbing a metal rod he held in his right hand against the serrated surface of a long, thin metal funnel (called a chak-pur) in his left. As tourists of the historic district’s antebellum mansions entered the conspicuously contemporary structure to escape the sudden summer storm, joining those who intended to attend this event, the monk remained solely focused on task before him, despite the squeaking sneakers, increasingly audible chitchat, and camera flashes. The colored grains of sand flowed like liquid through the chak-pur (a result of the vibrations caused by the metal rod) on to the wooden platform, guided by the monk’s steady hand and concentrating mind.

After nearly 30 hours over several days, the group of lamas from the Drepung Loseling Monastery eventually completed the mandala, a remarkably intricate circular design composed of millions of grains of various colored sand. Once finished, it was destroyed. Read more…

“Any healthy man can go without food for two days—but not without poetry.”—Charles Baudelaire

A Conversation With John Trigonis, Sharing His View
of the World on the Page and the Screen

As a poet, John Trigonis sprinkles words on the page that produce a sensory response from anyone lucky enough to read them—in a chapbook, on a Web site, in a literary magazine. Though still mysterious and provocative, his poems are filmic scenes from some bigger, larger life. Confessional and observational, his narrators share what they see and how they see it. Like all poetry worth reading, an honesty is palpable, and without knowing it we’re swept up in some kind of quest to discover, or uncover, some kind of truth. His work has been widely published in the U.S. and U.K., and Trigonis has also published six chapbooks of his poetry.

As a filmmaker, John Trigonis creates poetry in motion. Even when quirky and off-beat, his short films seem to naturally explore some facet of the human condition, searching with stories and characters for some kind of light. Trigonis, 32, wrote his first screenplay—a feature-length film—back in 2001, which led to writing and directing five more films (as well as directing another two). His credits also include work as actor, cinematographer, and producer, along with directing and acting for the stage.

And we, readers and viewers, benefit from the fact that the poet and filmmaker are one, both of those divergent creative crafts influencing each other in subtle ways. So whether with a collection of poems or a short film, Trigonis will make you think and feel.

Trigonis, a “freelance” professor at universities throughout New Jersey, epitomizes the indie spirit of 21st century and exemplifies the DIY movement, embracing the possibilities afforded artists during this era of social media and affordable technology. He’s even pursued a fairly revolutionary method of funding his latest project. In addition to using his own money, Trigonis turned to IndieGoGo, pitching fans and complete strangers on the incentives of funding the film (perhaps a producer credit will entice you, along with several other perks). He has already reached his goal, raising $5,595 in relatively short order.

Today, thanks to all those who contributed (from small amounts to larger donations), Trigonis—along with cast and crew—starts production of his latest vision, Cerise, a short film about a former spelling bee champion who is haunted, 20 years later, by the word that took him down. Production will continue through the week, and you can follow the filming process this week by visiting Cerise on Facebook and Vimeo for constant status updates, pics and vlogs.

Trigonis recently took time from a busy schedule of rewriting scripts, holding auditions, scouting locations, and making other preparations to discuss a wide range of topics—from his artistic roots and creative process to his DIY nature and the future of “crowdfunding”—with The Madness Of Art. Read more…

“To create one’s own world, in any of the arts, takes courage.”
—Georgia O’Keeffe

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
—Jack London

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
—Maya Angelou

“You must take an obsessive pride in the smallest details of your craft. And you must be willing to defend what you’ve written against the various middlemen—editors, agents and publishers—whose sights may be different from yours, whose standards not as high.”—William Zinsser

If you’ve ever been required to sit through a excruciatingly boring lecture by a self-important professor, it’s easy to understand why the mere mention of the word itself—lecture—might trigger a negative reaction, or even sheer terror. If you’ve ever been required to attend a mind-numbing, time-wasting conference by your employer, it’s easy to understand why the suggestion of attending such an event could cause unease, at the very least.

So when I stumbled upon TEDTalks a while ago, I was surprised by what I discovered: lectures that were intriguing, insightful and inspiring. Could this really be possible? These few clips must have been anomalies, I thought, rare standouts plucked from hundreds or more of the aforementioned variety. But over time, as I watched new and newly discovered selections, TEDTalks—videos of lectures given at annual conferences put on by TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design)—rarely failed to deliver, even when the subject matter seemed a bit outside my typical interest zone.

TED, a nonprofit, has a simple but noble mission: “Spreading ideas.” And it does so through a well-designed, fun-to-explore site (along with a YouTube presence). The themes of the engaging and thought-provoking talks are wide-ranging, from arts, culture and entertainment to technology, science and a host of global issues. The styles, backgrounds and expertise of the speakers are equally diverse. TEDTalks, as a result, is fairly addicting (and healthy) Internet fare, especially considering what’s on the rest of the menu.

With TED2010 only a few weeks away, The Madness of Art presents its Top 10 TEDTalks—most of which deal with the topic of creativity (in some way) and its powerful effects. So, in the spirit of TED, here are some ideas I thought were worth spreading. Read more…

“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.”—Ray Bradbury