Monday, September 29, 2008

Writing for Writers #12

My interest in Leonora Carrington has led me to her good friend Remedios Varo, another ex-patriate (Spanish) surrealist painter who lived in Mexico, and who made an appearance (fictionalized) in Carrington's novel, The Hearing Trumpet. Varo liked to play the what ifs. Here are two of my favorites (from Remedios Varo: Unexpected Journeys by Janet A. Kaplan):

1. What if the world was created by schoolgirls embroidering a sampler?
2. What if the furniture in a rented home retained the images of its previous inhabitants?

Varo would explore the possible answers in paintings. Try one with words. Or make up your own what if and write that.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Writing for Writers #11

Political Internet artist Kenneth Tin-kin Hung spoke at FAU yesterday as part of the current exhibit, Political Circus, at the Ritter Gallery. Among other things, he creates web art by manipulating images he finds on the web:

http://www.tinkin.com/

Write something (poetry, prose, whatever) using "images" (I mean, language images) you find on the Internet.