Playing by rules

One of the main objectives of this break was to find a way to use my own writing in my work. 

I still hate that idea.

But it's necessary, given one can't read enough to have endless material at one's fingertips, and there is a rather narrow spectrum of things that seem paintable to me in what I read. Also, it would be nice to read for pleasure from time to time, rather than to always feel like what I am doing needs to be used in the studio...

But I can't just sit down and write something for a painting. It seems there needs to be some kind of structure. Structure provides important guard rails for creativity and no one knows this better than the writers and artists of the Oulipo.

So I looked at my paintings for rules. One obvious rule in the signal flag paintings is that three letter words work well (I've known this for a while, but been unable to act on it). I thought it would be okay to allow six, nine, and twelve letter words, too, as those fit nicely. I decided to take the cue from the size of the canvas on which I wanted to work instead of letting the text dictate the scale. So I chose four-foot squares somewhat arbitrarily (as in, I had these stretchers and they weren't doing anyone any good without paintings on them...).

I mapped out a number of arrangements of flags, some with thirty blocks, some with more. I have settled on a thirty five-block arrangement, which means I need to come up with 105 characters in three-, six-, nine-, twelve-, or fifteen-letter words.

Easy right?

I've been posting about the progress of the first one, and here is a picture of it nearly complete:

It reads:

Before the end, you forget all the images and sounds placed before you Deceitful script surrounds you and cryptography begins.

I am starting the second one, and just composed the text:

The secret languages you use are sad and opaque metaphors camouflaging poetic worlds and revealing our tragic aestheticism.

I suppose it's predictable that they would be about language, but I found it a little funny that they are so consistent. Working on them is pleasantly maddening, like trying to solve a puzzle. I think I have a few more left in me, and I imagine these will go one for a little while yet. I keep coming up with fragments...

She alphabetized disasters

Our pictorial mentality mimics tragedy

The pictorial messenger

Ask our regretful god for energy

Adults cry out for the crappy symbol

Idiots see misplaced deceit

that I hope I can use...