elisem: ArtLog: sneak preview

Lioness (

elisem) wrote,
@ 2008-05-02 23:05:00

ArtLog: sneak preview
The Interstitial Arts Foundation asked me to make something for a fundraiser. This is what happened next.

The piece was inspired by a story by Jon Singer called "Willow Pattern," in the anthology INTERFICTIONS. Here's the copy I sent with the piece:

This necklace was inspired by Jon Singer's short story, "Willow Pattern." The piece of broken china is indeed Willow Pattern, and I found the piece years ago in a hedgerow in Ireland in the Wicklow Hills, outside the home of Diane Duane and Peter Morwood. The various beads came to me from unlikely sources: broken jewelry, leftovers from friends, or in the case of the little dangling pendant piece, something found run over in the street. I thought that was particularly appropriate for this piece, given the story's exploration of deterioration and change. The chain that dangles from the pendant's sterling silver wirework is a corroded chain from a box of old jewelry. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS CHAIN MAY LEAVE MARKS IF WORN ON LIGHT-COLORED CLOTHING. This, too, is in keeping with the theme of the story: it may mark you to wear this piece. Be aware of that, please. I do not know if the corrosion will rub off. I do not know if the story will do to you what it has done to me: disquiet me, delight me, frighten me, fascinate me. I have saved that bit of Willow Pattern china for years, waiting for the right thing to do with the broken bit. I think this necklace is it. I put the whole thing on a cord of black rubber, because I like the contrast between the scientifictional rubber tubing and the fantastical silver wirework.

Elise Matthesen,
LIONESS: ornament for people and places
2008

They're starting their benefit auction pretty soon, and that's where this will be, but I thought I'd give you a sneak peek now. More when they tell me where the links are, and all that. In the meantime, I strongly recommend the story. (It's in this anthology.)

(Post a new comment)

	machineplay 2008-05-03 04:45 am UTC (link)
	That's stunning. Wow. o.o;; I love repurposed things, especially bits and pieces. Broken pieces are something like holograms, holding all the meaning of the original and the event of the breakage in each fragment. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	elisem 2008-05-03 05:00 am UTC (link)
	You think that's cool, you should see the story! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	slfisher 2008-05-03 05:30 am UTC (link)
	I didn't know you knew Jon Singer. But I guess everyone does. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	micheinnz 2008-05-04 02:11 am UTC (link)
	I don't. Does it count if I know people who know him? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	elisem 2008-05-04 04:21 am UTC (link)
	Eventually, you will know him. Until then, you have that to look forward to, so it's all good. (Reply to this)(Parent)

elisem
2008-05-04 04:22 am UTC (link)

Know him? We wrote a poem together:

Thirteen Ways of Looking at an iMac

I

Among twenty cluttered desktops,
The only moving thing
Was the mouse of the iMac.

II

I was of three minds,
Like a desk
On which there are three iMacs.

III

The iMac pulsed in the semi-darkness.
It was a small part of the pantomime.

IV

A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and an iMac
Are one.

V

I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of reflections
Or the beauty of open windows,
The iMac booting
Or just after.

VI

Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The cursor of the iMac
Crossed it, to and fro.
The file
Traced in the folder
An indecipherable cause.

VII

O thin men of Redmond,
Why do you imagine golden handcuffs?
Do you not see how the iMac
Sits upon the desks
Of the people about you?

VIII

I know noble Linux
And open, inescapable source code;
But I know, too,
That the iMac is involved
In what I know.

IX

When the iMac flew into sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.

X

At the sight of iMacs
Blinking in a bright line,
Even the bawds of neutral tones
Would cry out sharply.

XI

He rode over the Internet
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For iMacs.

XII

The data is flowing.
The iMac must be networked.

XIII

It was Monday all week.
It was stressing
And it was going to stress.
The iMac sat
In the cubicle.

- jon singer & elise matthesen, 26 April 00

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	kightp 2008-05-03 06:29 am UTC (link)
	Somehow it just feels right that, of all the writers in the anthology, you picked Jon. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	elisem 2008-05-03 06:35 am UTC (link)
	Oddly enough, I owned the story briefly. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	fireriven 2008-05-04 05:17 am UTC (link)
	Breathtaking! I am beyond honored that my fledgling work is in company such as yours in this auction. (Reply to this)

	The Auction has Begun! ellen_kushner 2008-05-06 02:31 am UTC (link)
	Your piece isn't up yet, but 2 others are, at http://iafauctions.com/ (Reply to this)

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