Vispo: Lost / On getting lost in Art, good and bad / Chet Baker

RTomens, 2022

Get lost.

Lost in music?

Lost in Art?

A friend recently told me that Chet Baker's Let's Get Lost was a favourite song of his, citing it in relation to his recent move from one country to another.  I'm not sure what he meant, other than the intention to 'lose' himself by moving? Perhaps his idea is to lose his old self, shed it like an old skin.

'Lost' can be taken either way. To be lost in music is to suggest a sublime submission to sounds which envelop you to the point of rendering awareness of the self and surroundings unimportant, non-existent. The same could be said of getting lost in Art during the process of creation. Such focus shoves time to one side too. You're not watching the clock. You're unaware of minutes passing. 

Then again, you can simply get lost in a piece of Art, meaning you have no sense of direction. Then comes the dreaded pause which stretches out as you contemplate the next move. To stop and think is good, but to have the flow stemmed by doubt and indecision is not.

Usually, if I get lost in the negative sense, I know it's over. I know that the route I was taking was leading nowhere and all I can do is rip the sheet from the typewriter, screw it up and throw it in the bin. That doesn't happen often. I go with the flow and usually it works. What works? Whatever process is at work...whatever it is that's sparkling in my head and directing my fingers.

The other day in the shop someone was holding a copy of Yes I Know, talking quietly to his female friend about it. I decided to interject or, even, interact, since business was slow. No, he'd never heard of Visual Poetry. he said he understood some of the pages but not others (smiling). We got onto ambiguity and he agreed that it was a good thing too. I explained how the pieces were made, the different processes required depending on the type of typewriter, to be precise, the size of the carriage. He bought it, even though I wasn't giving him the hard sell.

I haven't looked back thought Yes I Know for a long time. Perhaps I fear seeing things I'm not so keen on. What cannot be seen, by anyone, including me, is how lost I would get in the making of the art. Emerging from being lost, there is the finished piece. It may no longer seem fresh to me, but for new buyers it and Visual Poetry are still proving to be new territory that appeals.