loveMELT Newsletter #022: This is a Joke
I like words. I recently started using text in my visual art. I don’t know exactly what instigated it…likely through inspiration I picked up from artists like Faith Ringgold, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barbara Kruger, Amy Sillman, along with my admiration for books, poetry, street art popping up around the city…and a thousand other things. The more I use words in my work, the more playful I’m becoming in how I use text, and the more each letter becomes its own abstract form.
Side Note:
If you haven’t checked out ‘Style Wars’, a 1983 documentary exploring graffiti, b-boying, and rapping, I’d do so.
Bombs Away
by Sadie Monroe
Word play Words stay Words dig in When you can’t let it out Words ride around your system like bombs on a subway Flowing into your mind in the middle of the night Written all over your face for others to take in the light of day Acknowledged by a few Ignored by most Cleaned up by those wanting you to stay in the place they made for you, saying, ‘Don’t be throwing words around’ as if this all isn’t a giant fucking playground So keep this wordbomb in your back pocket Every time your thoughts are being erased you can paste this note on the wall as a calling card for you to replace
Back on track…
I’m working on a canvas now called, This is a joke. The artwork started out as something completely different. It was supposed to be the other half of a diptych. Turns out, I hated one side of it so in a mood I painted ‘joke’ on it and turned it to face the wall and let it know it was in time out.
In my mind, I was planning to cover it with a few base layers and start over. But then…life took me on its rollercoaster rides of “Ahhhhhh!!!”s, “Why are we doing this?s”, “I think I’m gonna be sick”s, “We’re gonna die!”s, and proceeded to leave me for dead with my head spinning, lost in its theme park.
So months later, while picking up the artwork so I could vacuum under it, I saw the word ‘joke’ written across its face, which made me laugh. And right at that moment in life, everything did feel like a joke…politics, my job, daily life, my desire to be a fully-fledged artist, my finances, people in general, the world. I got the urge to write the word ‘joke’ everywhere as fast as I could…and then I petered out moments later. On month three, I think I’ve finished the piece, like a fucking tortoise champ.
You might ask me why I would spend so much time writing the word ‘joke’. Especially since it’s as if I’m playing more of a joke on myself by making myself spend god knows how much time doing something that’s actually a joke. I think that’s ironic, too. I’m spending countless hours to make something that feels suitable…which is fucked up because A.) the piece is supposed to be a joke, B.) it will likely never reap a financial reward for completion. So productively thinking, it’s pointless.
But it’s also incredibly honest. This piece speaks to how for the largest part of my life, I hustle, I manipulate myself, and make a fool of myself while trying to cross every ‘t’ and dot every ‘i’ so consistently and meticulously simply to lead a decent life under Capitalism’s thumb. Yet the chances of me ever reaping the typical benefits are oh so slim. Moreover, I truly don’t know if making art in hopes to become a “full-time artist” will ever work out nor do I know if my work will ever be seen by many people, or considered “good”, but here I am doing it when I’m not working my full-time job to get to what I think will be a better life…so yes…this is a joke.
With that being said, who’s ready for some Summa fun?
I made you a playlist just for the season.
Apple Music Playlist: Summa
Some Summa Reads:
…and a StrongBad email
Next round, the jokes are on you.
Sadie