Lee Barry Composition (And Photo) Diary

2/11/1979             (Keith Haring Journal)             My interest in video is to explore the juxtaposition of words and images or sounds and images to formulate results that require the participation and individual interpretation of the viewer. My interest in painting is to explore the infinite variations of form and space relationships to produce objects and images that require the participation and individual interpretation of the viewer.                          [2/11/2025: We can probably trace this back to the rise of abstraction in painting in the early 20th century with Kazimir Malevich and other artists who created a paradigm shift away from representational art. The second sentence of Haring’s diary entry could have been made by David Lynch, an artist who fully explored the territory where painting and film overlap].   2/11/1998...

I set up a new LLM based on my own writings for the purpose of generating lyrics and poetry. The rhythms are all stupid with this same schema, or "shortenin' bread": Three little children, lyin' in bed, Two were sick and the other 'most dead, Sent for the doctor and the doctor said, "Give those children some short'nin' bread." I still want a macro that will assign syllables to my own rhythmic schemas, my own music for my own words, as opposed to machine-generated speech/singing patterns.         Here is a short 8-line lyric about a January morning with the "Shortenin'" vibe: The sun peeks through the frosty haze, Crisp air fills the winter days. Footsteps crunch on the icy ground, Quiet stillness all around.

1/11/2047, Friday (Anthony Townes) Neone has been coming by more often. I still think she’s an imposter but Stone told me that’s normal. The fact that she’s been coming to visit me gives me more doubts about that. I showed her one finished work, and I couldn’t suss her microexpressions. She seemed amazed and kept saying that I’d probably been changed by the accident. Went for a few drinks at Club Xene. Ox there as well. The music seemed strange in a good way. It makes me want to play again. Poe: Who is Anthony Townes? [Poe is actually wrong. Anthony is the former Tony, not a "former friend"]  Who is Dr. Stone? Who is Ox?

1/8/1998             The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony has that type of sound that evokes images of a particular place as many songs will do. I should strive to achieve that sound.             [1/8/2025: That sound is a “cinematic” sound, the scoring for emotionally-charged imagery in your mind, which also evokes places. There are Pink Floyd songs that evoke a particular street in the town I grew up in]. 1/8/2000 Out to see film, American Beauty. One of the best films of the year. Love the fantasy scenes with the rose petals. Films are more interesting when designers have a greater contribution. Films should have longer edits, scenes that set the mood. Excerpt Library (Cinema) “Discuss production design” 1/8/2001 Chicago story documentary on Studs Terkel. Passion for life, passion for “common” people and a zest for interesting things. (Will subsequent generations produce a rival?) He called himself a “gold prospecto...

1/7/2001              Interesting experiment conducted in school children in India: They found that within 10 minutes they knew what they were doing, even though they never saw a computer before; They taught themselves in groups without assistance; Icons are not necessary cross-cultural; Like music and art, you can find your way through it without being taught anything; Content is ubiquitous–the teacher is not the repository of content; Let the student make the learning agenda and the teacher makes the connection with the theoretical; There has to be a reason to do something before learning it.   1/7/2008                                                        1/7/2023 It’s interesting how both artists and musicians who grew up in the 60s and 70s are still doing the same things that they were doing as they’ve a...

 Chat with Anthony Townes , a character in Reset 2046 .  The album: Side 1: Side 2:

4/20/2002 Nigerian Band at Hot House. Forgot battery for video camera and took some slow-shutter shots with still cam.     4/20/2021 The book I'm currently reading is They Are Already Here UFO Culture And Why We See Saucers . There was another book that came out a couple years ago called American Cosmic which I thought was the better book but this one is good too. It hasn't changed my mind about them because first of all, I've never seen them and I always wonder how it is that they have the technology to traverse the galaxy or intergalactic space… 4/20/2022 Reading book of Man Ray’s writings. Simply amazing how long letters were. In the book sometimes they span 3 or 4 pages in a small font. It’s also remarkable that people used them to create closer bonds with people, and people would usually respond in kind. It’s just the way the world worked, it was the (good) norm. Artists would send letters to their contemporaries about things they were working on. Now everyone i...