all or nothing #33 - what are you holding on to?
table of contents
1.events 2.words 3.missed connections 4.horoscope 5.listen
»looking forward
seeing what isn’t there open call
what’s here today will be gone tomorrow - sometimes, in the blink of an eye, the wave of a hand, or the stroke of a key. but actually, more like on november 15th, ‘cause that’s when the open call ends. but why keep all your beautifully creepy art to yourself? open your mind and share those pretty little ideas with the rest of us. we need it. we want it. so share it. don’t be greedy.
»current
jointed by fora arts collective
some art has faces and some art doesn’t. that’s the beauty of art: it can be many things. i know that may be a hard concept to understand and probably only people with an mfa or phd in art history will truly get that, but say la vie (that’s how you c’est that, right?). basically, for the uneducated, art can both be a painting of an orange, or just an orange on a pedestal. anyway, come check out some art by the fora arts collective. the exhibition is on view through november 14 at 119 hester street.
»looking back
g.abe workshop stuff
wowser. so umm… i guess that happened. there’s a lot to unpack, or maybe a lot to pack up if you’re going a different way. but as you know, or maybe you don’t know because you failed to show up for the comedic musical duo of gary simons and abe the kid, we don’t plan around here. but just ‘cause we don’t plan doesn’t mean we’re not ready.
words
+how to unsuccessfully let go+
In 2016, I was really optimistic. I thought, ok, we’ll do this four year bid, but it will ultimately be a good thing, right? I was always taught that making mistakes is important because failure forces you to grow. you see, my thinking was we'll get this out of our system and inevitably see the error of our ways. it will be like witnessing history in real time and understanding what to avoid in the future. sure, laws were passed and judges were appointed, but all of that could have been undone with enough time and consistency. we just had to remain vigilant and organized in a unified direction and, in 10 years, everything bad that happened would be righted. well, none of that happened. it’s really hard to accept being wrong, especially when you lose flat out, fair and square. when the ref misses a call, or you lose on a technicality, it sucks, but it’s easier to stomach in a lot of ways because there’s someone else to blame. you still lost, but it's not your fault and you can rally around that. you didn’t just lose, but rather, something was unjustly stolen from you. in line with that, though, you can also always just lie to yourself and use that lie to fuel your motivations. while that spiteful energy can be harnessed into an unwavering dedication to retrieving what was taken from you, it can also just make you bitter, shortsighted, and delusional, so it's probably not the move to go down that route. honestly, facing up to your shortcomings, though - not pleasant at all. it’s helpful knowing it was a collective loss, sure. but that’s kind of the issue. it’s easy to pass the buck and give the blame to someone else. someone older, richer, in a different state, or position of life that was better situated to make an actual difference. and you’re technically not wrong: there were a lot of people who didn’t do as much as they could have, but did you? did you really do everything in your power? exercise every connection? monopolize every spare day or hour? do you feel resolute and satisfied with your contribution? well, if you do, more power to you. you can rest easy. it’s not your fault. however, you still lost, so that just means your best isn’t good enough and now you’re just left sitting in that. everyone likes to feel in control, or at least like we have some modicum of influence over our daily lives. because we have souls, we’re special, we have dreams and goals, and all the things. it can’t all just be chance, or predetermined, otherwise what’s the point? we have to be able to control our own destiny. and if you work hard and long enough, good things will happen to you. that's just how the world works. it’s like a law of physics. in every culture and corner of the planet earth, there’s a practice, religion, or ideology that preaches some sort of cosmic reward for being a good person. and it’s really just that simple: be good and good things will happen to you. be bad and, you know, bad things will happen. it may not be immediate, but, eventually, things will catch up to you. whether that’s positive or negative is up to you. it gets complicated when the definitions of good and bad aren’t fixed, though. i love America. i love the flag, which somehow simultaneously fills me with pride and dread whenever i see it. i love the anthem that’s laughably corny but never fails to bring a tear to my eye when an olympian stands on the podium to receive a gold medal. i love the stolen land our country arbitrarily imposes borders upon, not for the fact that it was stolen, but because the very soil is objectively beautiful. i love excess, i love buying crap i don’t need, i love football on thanksgiving, and following celebrity gossip like my life depends on it. i’m a pacifist and i oppose all wars, but i sleep soundly every night knowing i'm safe, thanks to the military industrial complex. i love being able to protest and boldly curse the name of a disgusting pig fascist, but then also be celebrated for being a sensitive man that cries when i’m feeling sad. jk, i don’t cry, but i could and people would be really into it. so, basically, i can confidently identify as a patriot. it’s just that we can confuse patriotism with a blind faith in something when, in actuality, patriotism is very, very, very particular to the individual. america means different things to different people. there’s not a fixed definition of what it means to be an american and, therefore, what you may think is best for the country is objectively wrong based on my very specific set of experiences and limited perspective of the world. and what’s scary, but also maybe a little comforting, is that you have the same overall goal as the people you don’t agree with. y’all just have very, very, very different and often conflicting views on how to get us all there. but shouldn’t it all be ok as long as we get there? probably not.
missed connections
+10.31 halloween
You: still wandering the halls of halloweentown high
Me: ready to graduate to thanksgiving city university
Description:
you eat candy, but i want turkey. let’s compromise? meet me at the macy’s parade under the ginkgo tree that looks like that famously unfunny comedian.
+11.5 election day
You: lonely, but never alone
Me: always alone, but never lonely
Description:
the traumas of being an only child never fade. neither do the scars from the nibbling teeth of younger siblings. let’s lick our proverbial wounds together?
+11.6 the day after election day
You: got a bone to pick
Me: equipped with 206 for you to choose from
Description
we overheard a couple talking about how romantic it would be if they exchanged rib bones. we didn’t like that.
horoscopes
+Aries+
holding on for dear life only makes sense when life is dear.
+Taurus+
have you ever actually needed more than 10 of anything?
+Gemini+
blink as fast as you can for as long as you can. how many blinks did you get in a minute? you weren’t counting? why weren’t you counting? oh, because you can’t count and keep track of time at the same time? oh, well that’s why they invented the clock app on your flipping iphone, dingbat. cue up sixty seconds on the timer and let it rip. flutter those lids. up and down and up and down. imagine your eyes are baby butterflies first emerging from the butterfly plant that, of course, births all butterflies and not some disgusting, poop sac cocoon. take flight, young butterfly, take flight! flap like flappy bird flapping in the wind! is flappy bird the same as angry birds? i don’t know and i’m too bored to google it. some mysteries just aren’t meant to be solved, ya know? but anyway, keep going. don’t stop. remember when your mom used to say, “hey, you stinky little demons better not be fluttering your eyes until you fall into a trance and summon the shadow man into your room!“ well, neither do i because i didn’t stop fluttering and summoned the shadow man, and that was the last thing i ever remember doing. so, will you join me in summoning the shadow man? oh, and also avoid eating anything yellow this week.
+Cancer+
the day we learned to count marked both the beginning and the end of civilization.
+Leo+
nothing can truly be owned because nothing truly exists, everything is everyone’s and everyone is everything. how can there be an everyone if “everyone” encompasses all of the ones? it should be every many, or every all. but idk, maybe we’re overthinking.
+Virgo+
don’t be greedy, stop using big words. the higher the letter count doesn’t mean anything.
+Libra+
well, maybe if you voted, this wouldn’t have happened? stop keeping all your thoughts to yourself and share them with the world.
+Scorpio+
a famous Canadian once exclaimed he and his pals are “stashin’ money like hoarders!” well, mr. Canadian, keep stashin’ away, but remember, more money doesn’t buy more happiness, just private planes and palaces.
+Sagittarius+
twelve days of christmas is just too much. i know we’re getting ahead of ourselves, but so is america, am i right? let’s have a european christmas this year. lean and petite. no honey hams or reindeer games on november 1st, just a single cigarette and one green tic-tac and one red tic-tac on december 25th.
+Capricorn+
is it better to be prepared for the worst, or unbothered by what’s to come? either way, it’s coming, whether you like it or not. and we’re talking about doomsday, just to be clear.
+Aquarius+
a memory collected lasts forever, but an item collected lasts only as long as you look at it.
+Pisces+
you’ll be forever burdened.
playlist
+Send us your writing, ideas, notes, observations or anything you want to gallery@allstnyc.com to be considered for future editions of all or nothing+
image credits
artworks by jeena raghavan, sanie bokhari, melanie reese, marie-chloe duval for the group exhibition jointed, curated by fora arts collective. on view through november 14 at all street gallery’s 119 hester st location.