Yes, Virginia, there is an Assemblagist.

This new website is kicking my Ass -emblage capabilities. The 600×200 graphics aren’t loading correctly [this is where we serve the wine] and the thumbnails refuse to submit to their 120×120 requirements [bring in the small platter of brie] … to submit my taxied brain to further degradation, the template is fubarred by my constant incorrect line-edit manipulation. I shall retire to my dressing place and contemplate the universal roundhouse wherein my mental train resides. Hand me those Ritz crackers, please.

Perhaps it is time to call Spencer Montgomery.

The Divine Placement of Elemental Objects

While in graduate school, I often read creative non-fiction to better fixate the details of an historic event within the context of its physical and timely occurrence.  My field of study, 19th century American history, provided me with inspiration for many of my assemblages.

This week I work on “regions of optical power”. These boxes range in size from 3″x4″ to a large circa 1930s suitcase with a wood frame and canvas exterior. My mother-in-law gifted me with  the suitcase which has a marvelous flat surface (probably about 18″ x 24″ or a bit more) – perfect for a table top. I’ve enlisted the aid of our new across-the-street neighbor Jimmy who will install carriage bolts to the leg assembly base of the suitcase. Legs from a coffee table built by my father in the 1970s will serve the foundation for this suitcase table. Inside the case, the divine placement of elemental objects will begin.

The regions of optical power boxes began when Momma went into the nursing home. The object is to give her hand-size or easily held pieces to consider. At 91 years of age, she offers me detailed insights and a unique perspectives as she considers each piece. It occurred to me, early this morning, that her dementia creates an “ephemeric mind” able to delve into fleeting memory bits and permanent recollections of her past. Her interpretation or discussions about my assemblages reminds me of the “about” statement of the Ephemera: Theory and Politics in Organization journal:

ephemera [the journal] counters the current hegemonization of social theory and operates at the borders of organization studies in that it continuously seeks to question what organization studies is and what it can become. “

My working mental state reflects my personal social theories. I see who I am in that definition. An Assemblagist creates: art that interprets what organization is and what is can become.

then Marlin Fitzwater says to me…

This is an excerpt from a review on Marlin Fitzwater’s book “Esther’s Pillow”. I interviewed Mr. Fitzwater for the review. The review is on Popmatters.com website.

When I asked him about the integrity of the press, and how his experiences as a press secretary influenced his characterization of the newspaper reporter in the novel, he replied, “My characterization of Temple Dandridge [Star reporter] reflects my journalism training, and my years as a press secretary. I generally believe in the integrity of journalists, even when they round a few corners.” My favorite character in the book is Easy Tucker. Fitzwater agreed.

The assault on Margaret Chambers, the ripping of her clothing, was punishable. Fitzwater told me that the 2001 equivalent of tar and feathers would be children falsely accusing teachers of abuse, parents pressuring teachers on certain policies, legal actions against school systems on curriculum matters, or any situation in which citizens take the law into their own hands. Questioned about digging up family secrets, Fitzwater believes the “truth is far more interesting than any sense of shame” He finds it hard to think of Jay as a family member, instead, he is just a character in the story. His family supported the book and the revelations about Jay Fitzwater’s background. Four generations have passed and now the search is for Jay’s descendents. In response to my questions about his long lost relatives, Fitzwater told me, “No descendant of Jay has turned up, although I hope one will.

assemblage art 2

from the same review:

If you know Fitzwater, it should come as no surprise that one of the main characters in the novel is not a person at all, but an entity–The Press. I emailed Fitzwater to ask him about the significance of the Kansas City Star in Esther’s Pillow. He told me: “The Kansas City Star is a character in Esther’s Pillow, especially because its extensive coverage helped change the moral attitudes in Lincoln, Kansas and the nation concerning tar and feathering. Indeed, without the Star’s coverage, this trial might have passed unnoticed, and the community would not have examined its own morality so closely.”

assemblage art 1

from a review I wrote

Stories, like dragons, are hard to kill.

Former White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater rows across the river of historical fiction with both oars in the water. As the quintessential media-man, Fitzwater can sure write the story. This time, though, he’s not putting the spin on a Reagan policy decision or facing the press corps’ questions concerning a George H. Bush legislative agenda. He’s got a personal stake in his new novel, Esther’s Pillow. Fitzwater’s father lay dying. As he and his brother sat at their father’s bedside, they heard him call out the name of a man they never knew. Their father had a brother Jay whose name was never mentioned. Shrouded in secrecy, the story of this long-forgotten family scandal became the plot of Fitzwater’s first novel.