| Agave and the Bats is a bound work comprised of twenty-three screen prints. The book's fight is to awaken the senses of those that have "refused the call to adventure".1;Andre Breton wrote: "the intent of random juxtapositioning of words or images was to [make] the elements of discourse confront one another in as paradoxical a manner as possible and so that human communication, from the outset diverted in this way, takes the mind registering it through the greatest adventure". I believe this process moves dormant senses out of apathy and into action.;If it is true that everyone shares in the subconscious1 then I believe the narrative can collectively be understood there. The "vital constants"2 of this story relate to all mankind and serves as a bridge to its comprehension. It is also my belief that it is this connection of the inner and outer self/or the inner and outer story that allows you to answer the "call to adventure"3. The viewer must find his way to the world navel for understanding and transformation.;For the past two years I have been recording selections from journals and books along with my own thoughts that pertained to my work and ideals. Following the "cut-up" technique of Brion Gysin and William Burroughs, the text was assembled, printed, and cut into strips that were thrown up in the air and collected randomly. The finished collage resulted in a piece that can be understood on the same grounds as the book. The thesis is Agave and the Bats in words as the illustrated book is in pictures. The hypothesis is that the "technique could be used to discover the true meaning of a given text"4; therein a true meaning of Agave and the Bats.;The book was created in an "automatic style" where one object incited another. The origin 'object' came from the sentence: "The agave blooms once in its long life; it grows for two decades or more and then in a final burst of energy shoots up a single, trembling flower stalk twenty feet high. At dusk, bats dance in the air around it and carry pollen to the other flowering agave".2 I look for the fantastical in the real. These are things in the world that seem to exist between the dream state and reality. Through the discovery of the "more real than the real world behind the real," a greater truth is reached.3;1Campbell, 2008, p.49. 2Louv, 2008, p.42. 3Levy, 1995, p.3. 1Levy, 1995, p.5. 2Levy, 1995, p.5. 3Campbell, 2008, p.46. 4Gysin and Burroughs. |
