Kismet Arts Tangent

Photo of Charan

My first assignment in New Media class: introducing this guy using a mac and facebook. It was difficult. Couldn’t’ find wordcount on openoffice, couldn’t find the group on facebook I needed to post to; I felt like I was back in the fifth grade being introduced to the “file” tab. Here’s the introduction, the first document I’ve ever typed on a mac:

I’m Kat. Kat Countiss (Graphic Design 5140). When interviewing Charan Du François (Publishing Arts 5142), he painted a colorful picture of himself on the canvas of my memory, filled with rich foliage of emerald green. Mysterious, he is. Today, just a small jig of the puzzle is released into the atmosphere, coalescing into a cloud in my brain and then precipitating into these words which I now share. Words like “yin” and “yang” comes to mind, he speaks delicately describing his style– critical, innovative, resourceful and balance. “Does this look good?” his friends and knowing customers often ask. He believes in the value of a good presentation, his visual skills being an asset in retail-type jobs but his head is in another world, another time, a place where twilight-toned blues reign. I imagine triangles, lots of triangles, floating in space, some filled with pages of character stats for orcs and others drifting to a distant haunting piano melody of Rufus Wainwright. Another triangle depicts him, looking at a photo he can’t– by policy– print at the Fred Meyers’ photo machine. Capitol Hill patrons and their nudity, their intention to capture something as intimate as a human body in its tabooed fullness and their naivety, their expectation that they can print it at their local Fred Meyers. He tampers with the contrast, anyways. Charan explores concepts and solutions in his spare time in his fantasy fiction. It goes beyond the page into a world of interacting with characters. “People are difficult because they are so complex,” Charan said. Being critical, he often delves into the interactions and intentions of people, those around him and those constructed through rules and regulations found in the manual, third or fourth edition, I can’t remember. He claims to be somewhat of a perfectionist, but we all strive for excellence. He does it through framing graphs and adding art in the margin in his imagined book designs. Let’s reword this paragraph rather than spacing out the words to fit in this particular line on the page, he declares. Fast-forward to an afternoon. His short-haired tuxedo cat, named for the musical man Rufus, stars in Charan’s home life. “Meow,” I imagine Rufus, the cat, saying sometimes on especially rainy, misting afternoons while Charan is at work in the jungle of steel and concrete that is downtown Seattle. Bed, Bath and Beyond… sounds like a title of a philosophy book yet to be written. What is “beyond?” He keeps track of products; his meticulous nature has carved out a niche for him. He dreams of accents. A triangle floats in space with him surrounded by candles, inspired by the book, Generation X, where the main character buys hundreds of small candles and illuminates the living room, Christmas morning. I imagine Charan with his light colored hair and fair skin illuminated by the flickering of hundreds of candles with the barcode sticker still attached to its base. And, then a sigh. Rufus’ triangle shaped-meow floats on in a whisper until it hits Paris, where in another time Charan successfully purchased stamps for his mother in soft sweet French words. Le stampe, si vous plait.

 
Photo of me at my afterschool job

And here’s the intro he made for me. I really like it!

Kat Countiss called me out with a smile to do an interview and I immediately just thought “here’s a friendly, go-getter gal”. Since she had some interviewing experience we started off with her asking the questions however there was a lot she had to share at the same time. There seemed to be specifics that she wanted to cover to get the full picture of myself. In the process, specifics of her picture were revealed to me. I found she’s an intellectual in the sense of one who loves learning. Her methods weren’t an interrogation, but rather a fluid conversation that led to discoveries of each other’s nature. Getting to know her began with her own origins across the Pacific in Honolulu. She moved from Hawaii about 6 or 7 years ago following most of her family. This upbringing may have influenced her preference for painting landscapes, waterfalls, and nature in general. Graphic design appeals to her in that it provides a way to convey a myriad of emotions through technical terms and processes. She loves how art in any form can persuade people. Kat has an eye for organic design and enjoys the intellectual aspects of the creative process as well. You may have already read her blog called Science For Artists which has interesting facts accumulated from various sources that all artists ought to know! Finding the science behind the art either physically or conceptually intrigues her. Some of the literature she has delved into covers the connections between art, consciousness and language. The latter being one of the greatest barriers she’s experienced when it’s different from her own. Of the English language, one of her favorite words is synthesis. Perhaps, if it were possible, a blending of a cat and a dog would be a perfect companion for her. Taking the best of both worlds (a balance she often strives for) and integrating them into a unique companion. One which would enjoy going with her on hiking trips and other outdoorsy activities. While also being an independent animal that’s self-sufficient and able to clean itself. She would probably name it something with a strong name such as Sebastian or Spartacus. Kat may have to “settle” for a dog at some point, but hopefully one that’s independent enough not to miss her too much when she travels. Though so far Portland seems to be a reoccurring destination for her there are many far off places which interest her. While at her present job, she often hears from her crazy, self-important patrons that they’re either flying to or from either Europe or Japan. She seems to have somewhat eclectic tastes that lend herself a worldly air blending all these kinds of cultural inspirations together. I’m sure she’ll travel in a few years to see their source first hand. All the while drawing from every experience to paint her own picture. An image that must be warm as her spirit and the islands she used to call home.

Self-portrait on the veranda. The sunniest day of this quarter, I imagine. I got my coffee from Peet’s down the street. Starting off the day with… apparently some composer named Mantz. It sounded more like Vivadi to me, but hey, there was 200 years worth of decent classical, it’s hard to keep all the files straight in the filing cabinet of my memory. (By the way, any of you who store information like that are bound to be bad at remembering because you’re not utilizing your strength of spatial memory to the fullest extent… anyways…)

I went to the library today. The kids were quiet and learning. I was surprised and loved that. There was a bulletin board and a large white piece of paper with the question scrawled in turquoise marker: Are the arts DANGEROUS? And I thought, I hope so.

My first drawing class with Claire Cowie was inspirational and lofty-sounding. The syllabus presented things that I haven’t really explored. The kind of exploration that requires the headlamp and the nerves of steel. I am preparing myself for my clumsiness. I don’t think I am as good at drawing as the pictures I imagine I am going to create, but aim high. I purchased a sketchbook. My first one in years. The white pages, the fresh start, the encourangement of a teacher, all that is bound to give me the freedom to flourish. Claire emphasized how art and school are sometimes oppositional. Art is spontaneous and its origin is within. School is structured and compulsory and comes from without.

That night, I went to Amon Tobin’s ISAM audiovisual spectacular at the Paramount. I was amazed, bewildered and inspired by the bombastic beats that swung high and low across the stange and through the projections into my mind. Awestruck, my heart was racing, my mind was racing. I felt a constant churning as if the industrial beats were electrodes attached to different parts of my brain, stimulating mostly the project node. The imagery and sounds of plastic wrappers electronically amplified gave me a new lease on what I thought was possible in the alignment of art and sound.