Piece of the Week

And there's a paranoia, and it creeps in upon the time of condemnation. "What will you do with your life? What will September bring for you?" And I pull a hand, a limb, a heavy heart through my messy mustled hair, all deep and dark and breeding things, and the words form above the heads of my interrogator. Plain English, hidden in plain sight. "What will you do with yourself?" And there, oh, there, I could allow the aneurism my brain is expelling to explode on contact, and I'd expect a million tiny needles to spray across the room in fire and fury, and nothing would be left at all except the tiny ideas attached to each one, dripping with neglect.


"Oh, I'm sure I'll be fine."



Thanks to Kate Gregory for sacrificing a little of her sanity to gain us all a little more perspective.

Musing About Town: Charles LeDray at the ICA

Charles LeDray, MENS SUITS
(Photo: ICA, Boston)














There is a little-known Grimm’s fairy tale that is not so grim: A down-on-his-luck cobbler discovers a pair of elves have been making delicate shoes for his shop in the dead of night. To show his gratitude, the cobbler creates, and leaves out, two outfits for the little men, complete with hats and shoes of their own. The elves are overjoyed to discover the gift, and works even harder to make shoes for the kind cobbler…

Keebler elves, start dieting!

The pieces from LeDray’s “Men’s Suits” seems like a modern extension of this classic tale. Only this time, the cobbler is an artist, and his elves are quite fashionable – aha! inspiration!

The initial exhibition location for “Men’s Suits” was a London fire brigade house. The silence, and the open space, coupled with the minute size of the installations make the visitors feel as if they are truly entering another world – Gulliver amongst a crowd of fashion-conscious Lilliputians.

At the current ICA Boston exhibition, guests are also treated to the premier of LeDray’s latest handiwork – “Throwing Shadows,” a collection of over 3000 handmade black porcelain vessels, all under two inches in size. A perfect companion to the men’s wear collection, and another example of LeDray’s meticulousness in minute craftsmanship.

Here’s to an impressive offering made at the altar of elfin muses.



The Charles LeDray’s workworkworkworkwork is available for viewing in the West Gallery of the ICA Boston, from July 16 to October 17.

Piece of the Week

Thanks to James Kimura-Green for the lesson in text and texture... out of context.

Piece of the Week

7.4.09
what is a feather but
sediment and flight,
purity and filth?



Thanks to Libby Kramer for showing us that simplicity sheds light to new dimensions.

Musing on Muses

An adult bedtime story:
Once upon a time, Zeus, the ruler of all Olympian gods, loved Mnemosyne, the Titan goddess of memory, for nine consecutive nights. Not so long after that, she gave birth to nine lovely young ladies, who then went on to inspire the creatively-inclined minds of the classic and modern world…


One of the faq’s we get here at FAQ is “why the theme of ‘muse’?”

Well, what better theme for the starting point of an artistic journey? Before we could put pen to paper, paint to canvas, we need “an inspiration.” Something, or someone, to ignite the initial spark that sends us scrambling, scribbling on crumpled napkins a phrase, a crude sketch, a few bars of raw notes.

In the ancient times, the muses were called upon in the beginning of epic poetry and hymnals, as well as served as the “true voice” behind prose pieces – inspiration. So it’s not surprising that the root for muse, “mousa” in Greek, is related to the English words for “mind” and “memory,” the tools for igniting inspiration. It’s also not exactly shocking to uncover that the muses presided over domains that the ancients considered academics (i.e. history, poetry, drama, astronomy). For without a basic foundation of knowledge and examples, it’s rather difficult to offer up one’s own variations.

Muses, in the ancient world, were worshipped (surprise surprise) with their very own shrines. But what most seem to overlook is that we still pay our respects to these pagan creatures in our modern everyday – with visits to the museum. Though museums are more for the display of knowledge these days, nevertheless they are still homages to the goddesses who inspired the discovery and learning.

An amusing thought: “amuse” is the linguistic opposite of “muse.” Not surprising, since we were taught that the prefix “a-” has similar effects as the prefix “un-”. “To muse” means to think or to learn, and therefore “to amuse” is to entertain, to have fun – though a trip to the museum is actually both educational and entertaining, and “an amusing thought” has both components of thinking and fun… but we digress.

So what muses you to amuse? What amuses you to muse?

Sample our “Piece of the Week”

Think of it as an amuse-bouche to the full-size issue.

Here at FAQ, we want to serve everyone a little weekly bite of the great work you have been submitting. Every Friday, we will be posting a visual or literary piece to share, to inspire, to encourage. So remember to check it out. Who knows? You might even find a new favorite…

















Thanks to Eva Christopherson for reminding us that sometimes when we interpret things literally the outcome is organically creative.

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