Start with something mundane, knowing that you’ll likely end up in some high-flown metaphor no matter where you start. Ask yourself again if you can access the feeling underneath or behind the one you are currently describing without evaporating into philosophical abstractions. Cling desperately to the salamander of the present moment, ignoring all external stimuli, even if you end up spending dozens of lines whittling a fading thought into crumbs… at least you have a nice pen. A nice shiny silver pen. At least now you know that thought wasn’t worth including. At least you’ve spent your time wisely. Don’t stop now. – Phillip Wheeler
Jim Carroll passed away on September 11th, 2009. Around that time a friend shared this video on Facebook. Jim is clearly weak, and it takes a few minutes for him to warm up. I think the video is worth the watch.
Jim Carroll is fascinating. Reminds me of a city version of Everett Ruess. I learned of Jim through reading his Basketball Diaries, which Norton re-published when I was working there. There is a good film – starring Leonardo DiCaprio – of the diaries that I’ve seen since. The biographical information below was taken from CatholicBoy.com:
Descended from three generations of Irish Catholic bartenders, Carroll was born in New York City in 1950. He spent his childhood living on the city’s Lower East Side, attending Catholic schools, and at age 12, shortly before his family moved to Upper Manhattan, he began keeping the journal that would eventually be published as The Basketball Diaries (1978). In this diary he recorded the ins and outs of his remarkable adolescence. A star basketball player and excellent student, he won a scholarship to Trinity, an elite private school on Manhattan’s posh upper West side.
While leading the Trinity Tigers to victory as an “All Ivy” player, Jim led a double life. He had first experimented with heroin at age 13, unfortunately thinking marijuana was the addictive stuff; he was soon a junkie, supporting his habit by hustling gay men.
By age 15, he was still hooked, but he was also writing poems and attending poetry workshops at St. Mark’s Poetry Project. His diaries immediately attracted the attention of the literary crowd around him. When he published Organic Trains, his first collection of poetry, at age 16, and excerpts from The Basketball Diaries were printed in Paris Review, he was firmly established as a genuine prodigy and a literary talent to be reckoned with.”
The image in this post is of Carroll at Andy Warhol’s Factory overlooking Union Square in 1970 (by Gerard Malanga.) I took the image from a gallery at CatholicBoy.com, where they have a lot of his work, reviews, and music clips. They also have this poem, titled “Poem”, on the homepage.
There will always be a poem
I will climb on top of it and come
In and out of time,
Cocking my head to the side slightly,
As I finish shaking, melting then
Into its body, its soft skin
–Jim Carroll
For some reason his life, his art, makes me think: there are millions of ways to be different, and just as many ways to be the same. RIP.
I was invited to participate in a collective of performance artists about a month ago. We did an event on October 3rd as part of an art opening at the Picasso Gallery on 17th St. We gathered again this past Friday night at the home of the gallery owner; great time eating, drinking, and talking art.
I posted a few photos on facebook of our exhibit, but I want to keep documentation up here, too. Here are just four photos from our ‘exhibit’. These are not my favorite photos, nor are they representative of the evening as a whole.
I don’t think we had an official name for the event — I’m calling it “Frames”. Any feedback appreciated.
I was invited to join by Rogelio Maxwell, who is possibly the group’s organizer. The group may or may not include Rogelio, Andrea Collins, Beti Ellerson, Michael Gessner, Gail Hansen, Gabriella Pohl, Holly Bass, and Franklin Wassmer. I think we’re considering adding some musicians, in case any reader is interested. This event spread from an idea that Franklin had (I think.) It’s very much a collective based around the experience of art. The group seems to not put a premium on promotion. If you want to know about the next one before it happens, drop me a line.
