Vermont Dead Line: myspace

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Thursday, November 7, 2013

Spotlight: Gregory James Wyrick

regory James is one of my favorite people. Several years ago, he patiently nurtured my adolescent notion of writing poetry and encouraged me to awaken my muse, enduring many messages and emails. We met in person a couple of times, and have remained friends through Social Media. To that end, I shall always be grateful.

His greatest project (my humble opinion) is The Method Learned, which is an "international multi-medium collaborative endeavor of audio and visual translations," which attempt to "highlight various slices of the human experience; experiences that connect us together and that may serve as a catalyst for the sublime revelation of being alive to be realized."

Beautiful.

...And, let's be real. I really don't know anyone else who can work the word "ekphrastic" into a sentence.

From THE METHOD LEARNED collection

BIO: Gregory James Wyrick is an author, artist, photographer and musician currently based in Detroit. His written work has been interpreted in various audio and visual forms by international artists through the ongoing ekphrastic project: The Method Learned. A collection of his written work of the same name was published in 2012. His photography has recently shown at Odditorium Detroit, Merge Gallery, The Dirty Show, and The Damned Show exhibitions. Collections of his photography include "Fractured Landscapes", "Les Jardins De La Mort" and "Night Flowers" with Tamara Heaton.

Contact: methodlearned@gmail.com

Author's spotlight: LULU

His written work has recently been featured in Antique Children Literary Journal, The Surreal Grotesque and the Into The Valley of Hinnom anthology. The Method Learned

Follow Gregory on Red Bubble ~

or on Facebook

Purchase amazing art and poetry at Blurb Store

For some true mischief check this out: http://antiquechildren.com/journal.html

Following are samples of his original photography, and [dark] poetry. I have permission by Artist to publish this on my blog. Please be reminded [and respectful] that All Rights are Reserved. These photos and poems are copyright, and will require permission to post, re-post or publish!

Never by Darkness Restrained

(Taken from The Method Learned)

I was compelled to deconstruct her graces delicately…

By meter and by limb,

For her true beauty lies yet undiscovered

Behind the veils of those angelic hymns

And even when bathed in night’s starless rays,

It’s eternal glow remains…

Never aging, never fading…

And never by darkness restrained.

~G. James Wyrick

The Ghost you Gave

(taken from the forthcoming book: When The Day Takes)

…Not on the equinox of tender mercies,

Nor in the arms of summer’s radiant dispatch…

Not under the cloak of autumn’s decay ballet,

Nor gathered at the nave of winter’s haunted mass…

No… I don’t think we shall ever again meet…

Not in some perfection of heaven,

Nor adrift amid a diamond sea…

Nor gathered safely in a surrendered embrace,

Nor slumbered inside a twilighted obscurity.

Your blossoms are scatter about the ground

Forming a phantom-limbed wedding gown…

No, we shall ever meet again…

Trembling, Severing divinity And Lost upon a flame.

~G. James Wyrick

BOOK REVIEW for THE METHOD LEARNED,

by Tamara Heaton, Anthropologist, Political Activist and Actress

"The most crucial aspect of the artistic process is that the end result resonates to some part of our own humanity, reminding us that we are here - that we exist together even in solitude - in the pulchritude and the horror that we recognize as life.

Art simultaneously creates order from chaos and chaos from order, perfectly defining the mania of our journey.

The works in this compilation by Gregory James Wyrick accomplish all of these things and more.

He leads you by the hand, blindfolds you and thrusts you over a cliff, while breaking your fall with delicate arms and soft, feverish kisses upon your forehead."

Caricature by Pat Hornstein

Finally, I cannot end today's post by NOT including one of Gregory James' most fascinating projects. He is collecting scars. The project is called "VENUS VIVISECTION" – CALL FOR SCAR SUBMISSIONS FOR UPCOMING BOOK.

"The aim of this book:

1. To present a visual document showing that ALL women are sacred and beautiful.

2. To present the various scars on the bodies of women as badges of honor, affirmations of life and survival; postcards from the past denoting the process of living. This would include accident scars, disease-related scars, organ transplant scars, suicide attempt scars. Etc.

3. To starkly highlight the sacrifices that women are expected to make and endure based on being female. These would include birthing scars, cesarean scars…

4. To show what we, as a collective whole, do in regards to trying to obtain images and concepts of physical beauty. These would include plastic surgery scars, body modification scars, as well as all self-inflicted scars.

5. To highlight these scars as a physical manifestation worn in the flesh as evidence of the divine energy that ALL women possess."

"The book’s content will primarily consist of self-shot black and white still photography of women between the ages of 18 and 90 in portrait style showing their scars. The scars will range from the barely visible to the very large; scars ranging from minor injuries to those from major surgery and everything in between. This book’s purpose is to serve as a tribute to and celebration of all women who wear the scars proudly as representations of their conquests, their survival, their suffering, and their life experiences, etc."

Gregory James Wyrick

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

When myspace was cool...

I was recently cleaning out my emails, when I discovered that I kept my old profile on myspace. About a decade ago - it is hard to believe it has been that long! - When myspace was cool and one could create awesome profiles and be anyone you wanted to be. At that time, I was "Lady Denyse". My character was a ghost, who, in her past life was High Lady-In-Waiting to Queen Igraine, of Pendragon Castle, wife of Uther {father of King Arthur}, and I was secretly in love with Uther Pendragon - a love which could never be mine! The best part of having a page on myspace was finding very dear friends all over the world, and with whom, I still keep in touch on Facebook and occasionally via email.

Side note: I had deleted my original profile, and tried later to re-create it, by not only did myspace change how someone's page could be displayed, but the magic of the former page had lost all of its glory. This page still floats out there in the 'space' of the Internet, but I am not active on it. [Also, I should add, someone from Germany stole my entire profile and recreated it for herself. I should have been flattered, but no, it really made me angry - how dare her steal my endeavor at trying to be unique! She even stole some of the "about me" section and made it her own!!! Tisk! Tisk!]

My original 'myspace' story follows, with pictures aplenty of my old avatar. Hope you enjoy it!

I am Lady Denyse

Spirit of Pendragon's Castle;

Daughter of the Holy Isle of Avalon;

I am lost, roaming through thread-bare notions

that someday I will find my true love.

Haunting this dark and lonely castle.

Eternally concealed to mortal eyes...

I am [the spirit] Lady Denyse of Pendragon Castle. I was a daughter of the Great Holy Isle of Avalon, where I once mastered the Old Ways of Herbal Lore and Magic. At Pendragon Castle, and as High Lady in Waiting for her Majesty, Igraine, I was responsible for the personal attendance to my Queen's daily dressing, the brushing of her hair and preparation of her herbal baths. No one could compare to her great beauty, with her long strawberry tendrils which held a natural curl; and, her pale but profound sky blue eyes. Her skin was radiant, especially when with-child.

I secretly and shamefully loved her second husband, King Uther. I was not a relative of Uther, but a confidant and beg you never to consider me in any way a concubine of his Majesty, for I never was. I never before held affection for any man with red-hair, as I secretly considered them all surreptitious like a fox and I did not trust them; that is, until I met Uther. His hair was a deep auburn and his eyes were shades of the sea - a glorious emerald. I fell in love with him the very moment that I set eyes upon him. Uther, nor Igraine, never knew my true feelings.

With aid from Merlin, a spell was cast to ensure their love. I was angry with Merlin for many years!

But alas! Uther and Igraine entrusted me entirely and I was a life-long faithful and loving servant to my beloved Queen and King, torn between service and a longing for a love for which I could never have.

I was present for the birth of Arthur. He was a serious young lad and took lessons from both the Druids and the Christian Priests. He reveled in mastering both sword and horse. He was a master student of the great wizard Merlin, and with his half-sister, Morgan le Fay, beloved daughter of Igraine and Lord Gorlois, he was educated in Isle of Avalon.

King Arthur's Coronation was an elaborate event with brightly woven banners of red and golden dragons strung in the Great Hall. And finally, I was fortunate to have witnessed the sword Excalibur after it was extracted from the Stone of Caledfwlch. Seven moons after his Coronation, and after attending Arthur's great marriage to Guinnevere, I developed a cough and fever, from which I would never recover.

I am doomed forever to linger here in spirit haunting the empty corridors of this abandoned castle. And, alas! there are others with me, floating aimlessly in the cobwebbed veil of time...