And Now... Free Words!
Dear Friends,
A shift! An expansion of possibilities!
This weekly letter, which has been The Uses of Art, is now Free Words.
What will that mean? Read on!
— Sal
Free Words
Welcome to Free Words.
Last week I told the story of this letter, and how I had named it for my book, The Uses of Art. After a year-and-a-half of writing, I’m ready for something new.
Free Words is the name of art project of mine, one that still stands at the heart of all my interconnecting practices. I’ll tell the story of that project in an upcoming post, but for now I’m just enjoying the sense of permission that it offers.
How can we free our words? What does that imply for our personal and collective liberation?
What’s Ahead?
Some new experiments, and more of what you already love:
The “ways of seeing” series (inspired by John Berger) offers prompts for attention and new ways of seeing which are inspired by art and literature. These prompts can be used whenever you encounter works of art or things of the world that you want to offer your attention to. They can also be used as starting points for writing, art-making, or any kind of creative practice.
Wild writing, feral writing, oracular writing, incantations and spells. This is a space where paragraphs liberate themselves. I’ll bring other kinds of poems and very short fiction into the mix as well.
I’ve been writing about the experience of art through the work of other artists, but now I’ll be adding stories of my own artwork into the mix. My work has lived in the space between language and action, in the space of story. It’s time to tell some of those stories.
All of my creative work is inextricably connected with my Zen practice. I’ll keep sharing my Zen talks and writings here.
and… The Great Unknown!
Let me know what you think and what you’re hoping for.
Further adventures and new ways of seeing can be found in my book, The Uses of Art.
Artist Sal Randolph’s THE USES OF ART is a memoir of transformative encounters with works of art, inviting readers into new methods of looking that are both liberating and emboldening.
Dazzlingly original, ferociously intelligent.
— Michael Cunningham
A joyful, dazzling treasure-box of a book.
— Bonnie Friedman
Here’s a guide, to waking up, over and over again.
— Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara
Cool! I really like how you fully did “The Uses of Art” and then could just let it go and shift to a new thing…Free Words! (So many different meanings.) All the best in this new venture.
Looks cool.
And very arrestingly presented.