Friend of the Word

The noblest of all writings.  Poetry is the pre-eminent craft of writing  that condenses sense and sound with the utmost attention to detail.  It is the dense sculpture of language that should engage the reader to play an active part.  In this tech era, or age of information, language has proliferated at a rate unprecedented in human history. Ironically the quality level is a far cry from the gilded age of letters.  The current popular forms of free verse and slam poetry often lack work ethic and self-scrutiny.  

The American screen arts industry must develop writers who compose screenplays as literature per se.  Shooting scripts should come second, as a separate form.  We need writers creatively thinking inside cinema, not novelists conforming their craft for film adaptations.  The notion of a screenplay as a skeletal blueprint lies in the past.  The future generation must be allowed to express itself for posterity, and their work should be consumed as an end in itself (i.e., screenplays intended to be purchased and read from bookstores).

Best living playwright in Chicago is Mickle Maher.

Best city in the U.S.A. for theatre is Chicago.  All forms of theatre are imperative.  The 20th century has given us the limit on systems and form.  The 21st century has only to practice good and bad theatre.  New York City's elephantine urban landscape leaves the average theatre-goer less exposed at a higher price.  More is not always better.

I've had the privilege to explore the great world museums, like the British Museum, the Prado, the Louvre, and the Rijksmuseum.  More authentic experiences are often found in smaller institutions like The Freer Gallery, Benaki, and Musée Nicéphore Niépce.  Intimacy is valuable.  It allows the viewer to focus and connect with the artifacts.

The image revolution continues!  With the advent of cell phone cameras, a new sophisticated hieroglyphic discourse has emerged.  Despite this giant evolution in picture making, the old practice of black and white imaging persists.  It discards colors' extra layer of subjective realism and thereby excites our critical gaze to see differently.  We enjoy our cognitive senses stirred.