Two Poems: A Special Place and Literary Questions by Pete Ippel 1996

I found these pieces while digging through my childhood archives here in Illinois. In the process of packing and sorting. I have to be ready to fly back to California tomorrow morning. Here’s a few introspective gems. Enjoy.

A Special Place

I have a special place in my head,
where only memories dwell.
The manila folders I draw out each have importance pertaining to my life.
Some are pleasant,
others tear at my heart strings.
But, one particular folder,
RELATIONSHIPS,
stands alone.
There is only one piece of paper in that folder.
The memories on that white sheet of paper pulp reveal a side
of me I had never seen.
The side of a caring person,
capable of feeling a broken heart.
That folder will remain locked in my filing cabinet forever.

After reading Hawking’s A Brief History of Time, my aunt Linda’s recent death, and the subsequent re-connection with family, I have been spending much of my energy thinking about cycles, relationships, temporarily, directionality, and scale.

Convergence, overlap, pattern, and sequences also draw my attention. I will be releasing my writing in the order it was written starting on August 24, 1993. The works will be available inside hypermodern.net organized with relevant categories and tags. Individual spiral volumes will also be grouped in series. The format will likely change as I discover the optimal way in which to make individual entries navigable.

The purpose of Preblog is to take longitudinal data that wraps around August 1997 and to discover a paradigm shift around public/private, young/mature, and pre/post Internet access that started when I got a laptop, left for college, and was granted access to the Internet. For a complete project description you can find the initial proposal to Rhizome which unfortunately did not lead to a grant.

Encyclopedia Britannica states that a memoir is:

History or record composed from personal observation and experience. Closely related to autobiography, a memoir differs chiefly in the degree of emphasis on external events. Unlike writers of autobiography, who are concerned primarily with themselves as subject matter, writers of memoir usually have played roles in, or have closely observed, historical events, and their main purpose is describing or interpreting those events.

Preblog skates the line between a memoir and autobiography in a few key areas, specifically addressing the following:

artistic maturation
digital crossroads
interpersonal relationships
family life
athletic performance
humor
romance
development of self
goal setting
positive self-talk (affirmation)

For many pioneering artists and scientists, impactful research begins with experiments on the self. I intend, in both a qualitative and quantitative manner to evaluate these writings to create a data-set that will be MINE (personally) and that I will MINE (data). Essentially hypermodern.net is becoming what I have always intended it to be: a reflection of the lived intuitive artistic experience to be culled for inspiration and understanding. After all, we have nothing to lose but our illusions.

Nothing To Lose But Our Illusions: An Interview With David Edwards
by Derrick Jensen

Originally published in the U.S. in The Sun magazine, June 2000

If what’s wrong for me, on a fundamental level, is wrong for the planet, then saving the planet isn’t about trying to be righteous and green; it’s about saving your own life, and the life in the world in the process.

Read the entire article at medialens.org.

Here are some lecture notes from “All You Wanted to Know About Art” Summer 2003.

• Keep regular business hours.
• Size counts.
• Make mailing list to send stuff to galleries.
• Create a history of applications.
• Write thank you notes.
• Stay in touch with folks who know your work.
• Layer idea of community and patronage. It’s bigger than just a purchase.
• Encourage a personal relationship with the artist.
• Take the lead.
• Make slides and color printouts of your work to send in to galleries.
• Send the best slides, rather than the best work, and send prints also.
• Send in accompanying list with with a paragraph about each slide, still, or video.
• Make sure your “First name, Last name” Internet search is good.
• If not, clean it up and if no hits, sign up for sites or make your own.
• Increase name hits, your name is very valuable.
• Art in America annual guide shows places to sell art.
• SFMOMA has groups exhibition spaces.
• Work first on the long list of CV.
• Don’t be “over exposed”.
• Don’t give different prices, have consistency.
• Think about supply and demand, career level.
• Size is the only objective pricing strategy, bigger is more.
• Visit galleries to do research on art pricing in your community.
• Art commissions: consultants charge 25%, galleries 50%, non-profits 10%.

Likes

• Sound of texture
• Eating shit (falling skateboarding) Story/Scars
• Sense of wonder
• Meeting people
• Identifying friends
• United community, like runners
• You know who isn’t a skater by their “air”
• Finding new spots to skate
• Doing things you’ve never done before
• Putting the deck together with custom grip tape
• Unit of time as one skateboard (for me 3-8 months)
• Sound of skateboards while you build one

Dislikes

• Stigma attached
• Harassment by police/security guards
• Eating shit (falling skateboarding) and getting hurt
• Commodification of athletes
• Injuries
• Time commitments

Mary Douglas book —> Dirt

*It’s all about the venue/gallery/rave/etc. if you’re comfortable.

Chris Watson—->Caberet Voltaire from the 70′s
Touch label
Protools, cubase *logic* Max

(chaotic chemistry)

Pierre Henry “death”
1963 Variations for a door and a sign
Music Concrete
Music out of Anerexia 1 or 2 sources
“We liked raves before they became full of suburban drug addicts”

Francisco Lopez – blindfolded audience
Limitations of technology make things seem like a better idea.

cut/pitch shift
Backwards/forwards
It’s about source
Clip, glitch
peak
Look to get out of rhythm more

Dada smitrerland teens
Next synths
Roland sampler

Toured with Bjork

Make one song out of an object (Neil Diamond, not a musician, an entertainer)

Copyright law —> no such words as “new”
Be inspiring and make free things

Negative land —> Folk music of now. Music is far more efficient the new “word of mouth”

It’s not about the world it’s about me. Future physical in London

…with Kevin on the new Montgomery ledge, but before that we went out to Lori’s and I had Chili Cheese Fries and a Coke. I am getting soft in the middle. I talked with Tizz today I’m so very excited that she’s coming to visit me here in San Fran. I read a lot today of the Borden Book, re-set up my accounts at hypermodern.net and looked for more jobs. I got about 5 leads and tomorrow I’m headed out to Ripon and I’ll get footage and things, then work all Monday & Tuesday.

Performance art acts as a memory the moment the performance is over. The user takes a memory away along with pamphlet, but in the case of “Free memory” The user takes away a physical memory which they can continually interact with.

Things are getting better people are dropping out of classes, Betsy gave me a ride up to campus today. Big digger skateboarding and same elbow, then SF Jam on the doggie. P.S. got modem installed, need phone card.

Checked out some contemporary art Moca Schlammer and Performance 1949-1979 then called people on the phone. Talked to Mr. Deneault, DB Tried Natalie W got to talk with Carlan and also Francisco and Katie & Sarah Pierson and left a message for Les.

I met a guy who skates down the hall Kevin, he gave be an old desk but it’s ugly and white, I may get rid of it. Anywho, I talked to him a bit and baked bread. Tomorrow I’m watching the Simpsons with Becky and her BF and some other dude. Tomorrow I’m gonna hit the ol farmers market. Today I almost at a worm. NASTY.

Pretty early night, but they have been busy days. No class today because there was no lecturer this weekend. I went to the color photo orientation session and took care of email in the morning. The problem is, I have to still do the Black and White tutorial and I can’t do that till the next Friday. I got my other books today and was disgusted at what they cost.

I met up with the first person I met here (the nurse from Ireland) and we chatted for a while about my plan of action and what I was/am planning to do. I also read today and took notes as well as wrote tizz a letter on a typewriter (in the SFAI Library). Something that I don’t think I’ve ever done.

I also went to the gallery and talked with Eirik the photo major, second year. We have talked before and I may help him paint the darkroom later this weekend. There was one piece that really struck me at the gallery Donna Rocke Pache (?) in Neon basket weaving. Also the gloves / american flag piece, very striking.

I talked with Magnolia today as well and got invited to the student union Thursdays noon to one, and on the 10th of September there will be a “town meeting” sot of thing. She recommended that I talk with Larry Thomas, he’s acting as the interim president and academic affairs vice president. I’m going to calm down this weekend, organize my thoughts and get an appointment midweek, and If I don’t get I know I am someone who will mobilize students. I did computer training and skated and met Colin, an undergrad film maker from seattle who skates. Talked to Tizz and called Betsy if she wanted to dance, but no answer. Was asked If I wanted to go to third street to get a drink but I don’t have a good way of getting there. Rides=bad idea.