Here are some more-poised than usual thoughts on the first ten years of this record label-like thing I've been running. To cover the entire bodily spectrum in a single mixed metaphor, I'd like to think this piece is a bit less of a gut-level kneejerk response than I usually muster, a bit more of a heady, meditative deep thought.

The video below embodies the excitement I've felt recently for exploring a life outside of the Arts, a life that values the application of the Arts in day-to-day life more than Art for Arts sake.

And now for a darker start to 2011. One thing the year end always brings is memories of those who did not make it into the year upcoming. Ergo, the passing of Captain Beefheart.

Recently I had reason to reminisce about hardcore, a music very close to my heart. Want proof? Pictured below is the wall of my bedroom.

If you know nothing about Black Mountain College, where the photo below was taken, start here. Its teaching ranks were populated not by academics but practitioners. Among those who taught there during its brief, 24-year lifespan were Josef and Anni Albers, Alfred Kazin, John Cage, Harry Callahan, Robert Creeley, Merce Cunningham, Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Walter Gropius, Franz Kline, Charles Olson, Aaron Siskind, and Robert Motherwell. (I'll let you Google the unfamiliar names.)

"The art world, which used to be a community, is now part of the world wide visual culture industry, which includes film, fashion, television, and advertising, and works overtime to trample down the boundaries that used to keep them separate."

Today's take on the Community Function is via late 19th century France & The New Yorker. The title was "Van Gogh's Ear: The Christmas Eve that changed modern art." In fact, though, the piece is about the isolation & collaboration & community artists have saught, lost & found in our modern era.

Aaron Cometbus is not my Hero (singular) because I don't have those anymore. But he is one of my heroes (plural).

A nice brief quote about the working methods of lifestyle designer & style guru Todd Oldham's studio. (No relation to Will Oldham that I know of.) "In a way, Oldham is creating an artistic commune, surrounding himself with like-minded enthusiasts, whether they be staffers or the artists whose work he promotes.

Will Oldham compiled a list of his favorite music of 2009 for the current issue of Artforum. The best part was his introduction.