Artist of the Month: Amanesia Psylocibin
Just out from Micron, the well-established publisher of the “Little” poetry series, comes
Ego, Id, and Ether, by emerging Wisconsin poet Amanesia Psylocibin. Unlike those in her earlier chapbook, The Self-consciousness of Space, these poems are deliberately unmemorable. That is, they cry out to be released from the page, cloud the imagination of the open-hearted reader, and then (and this is their primary virtue) be forgotten. The effect on the reader is sublimely worth it. Each poem is cleverly shaped on the page like its metaphor—a thundercloud, the belch of smolder from a smoke stack, the shimmering radiance that rises from a nuclear reactor, a series of smoke-rings, the noxious drench that gives unmistakable character to life lived down-wind from any city dump. This is slippery stuff; many of the poems threaten to evaporate from the page altogether, and readers may be forced to close the volume and only surreptitiously inhale a few lines at a time, they are so delicate, elusive, ephemeral. What these poems lack in substance and tactile quality, however, they deliver with the dream-like vision of vacancy. Consider these lines: “That hideous invisible / mist exploding / from a nasal cavity is competent to / generate the next / surge of insurgency. / Therefore, hold that breath or else / prepare for the final level / of immanence” (from the poem “Hello, sky”). This may make no kind of rational sense, but that is the precise intention of the writer—to move beyond reason to pure emptiness. This is a poetry of promise, writing uniquely prescient of the next century, imagery that no critique can fully capture. A special “floating” discount is offered to ImageUpdate subscribers who wish to purchase this literary gem. Contact (or mentally “realize”) Julie Mullins for details.

Click here to go to Amanesia's Artist of the Month page.

Long Gone World: The Life and Music of Slicky Bivens
Eminent musicologist Sigmund Sternstaub, having spent much of the last two decades completing his epic eight-volume Life of Mahler, has now turned his prodigious and patient faculties to the world of American pop with his new biography: Long Gone World: The Life and Music of Slicky Bivens, volume 1. This book is the first of a promised series of three that pledges to be the most authoritative and comprehensive biography yet of the man who became, arguably, the most influential singer/songwriter of the “me generation.” Slicky Bivens (born Delbert Allen Bednoski in 1948) was a major figure in the folk music scene for several weeks during the late sixties, although his most influential work dates from the mid-1970s when his appearance on The Muppet Show first brought him to national attention. Sternstaub carefully traces Bivens’ early upbringing in a small sect of charismatic Anabaptists in suburban Tulsa through his initial rise as a folk/gospel troubadour in the Amway circuit during the formative years of pyramid marketing. Although many have noted that Bivens did not have much in the way of musical training or talent, Sternstaub argues that his true genius was in his ability to hop profitably onto every cultural trend of his time. Following the steady rise of Bivens’ career, Sternstaub firmly places Bivens among that vanguard of artists responsible for the radical break with the political activism and social concerns of the late sixties, documenting Bivens’ journey to become the spiritual leader of a lose affiliation of musicians and producers who courageously refused to incorporate politics, social commentary, or even artistic merit into their songs. The final chapter of this volume pinpoints the zenith of Bivens’ pop phase at the release of the breakthrough album Blind Slick Boogie, which coincided with his short-lived television role as the affable cybernetic Cylon commander on the series Battlestar Galactica. Sternstaub frames this musical signpost as Bivens’ last mature work before his controversial and high-profile conversion to Fundamentalist Consumerism, providing exhaustive analysis for each track on this landmark existential disco-blues album, convincingly arguing, for example, that its now infamous opening track, "Desolation Danno,” is no mere pop bubble but in fact a chilling and apocalyptic vision of life in the early seventies, with sly references to the Ford administration and archetypal characters from Hawaii Five-O. Ending with the year 1978, volume one leaves the reader anxious to follow Bivens’ legendary antics in the turbulent decades to follow. For those interested in those innocent halcyon days of 1970s pop—and those who made it—this book is an essential read.

Click here to pre-order the book.

Image Editor Announces Sweeping New Policies
Image Publisher and Editor Gregory Wolfe issued a statement today detailing a series of radical changes to the journal’s editorial policies and internal organization. “After nearly two decades of publication,” Wolfe said, “it has become abundantly clear to me that North America has forsaken the tradition of European high art in favor of the banality of pop culture. Not even Image seems able to escape the creeping sump. Issue 52 seems to have flowers on the cover. Issue 51: graffiti. Issue 50: a bunch of lumpen, cowering naked people. Therefore, to re-connect with our aesthetic roots, the name of this journal will now be pronounced in the French manner— i-'mājzh.” In another move toward Europeanization, Wolfe announced that Executive Editor Suzanne Wolfe would now be known as the “Grand Duchess of Ballard.” Wolfe added: “I would like to point out that there is no truth to the rumor that I made this change under physical or emotional duress.” Turning to his staff, Wolfe pointed out that “it seems like every time I come back to the office there are a lot of young men hanging around offering to lift heavy objects and trying to strike up conversations about Dante with Mary, Julie, and Beth, as if this were an episode of Charlie’s Angels. Image is an integrated suite of programs operating at the cutting edge of cultural renewal, not a Farrah Fawcett vehicle.” He continued: “They must have gone deaf when I spoke of ‘poverty, chastity, and obedience’ in their job interviews. Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to form a new religious order, beginning with these three women. They shall be known as the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Layout. Boyfriends, take note.” Finally, Wolfe declared that he had failed to find any art or writing that lived up to Image’s editorial standards. “For the following year,” he concluded, “Image will contain blank pages in protest against the decline of aesthetic excellence. This will, of course, resonate with certain profound encounters with silence and the void—a la Samuel Beckett, John Cage, and the ancient Carthusian monks—and be a lesson to all the slacker artists out there. The subscription price for Image during this ‘Blank Period,’” Wolfe noted, “will double to $80 per year.”

Image Kids Camp: Getting Down with the New Religious Humanists
We’re delighted to announce that this summer Image will launch its newest national program, Image Adventure Camp: Getting Down with the New Religious Humanists. Geared to children ages 6 to 12, the camp (otherwise known as “Vacation Bible School”) will feature a week-long program of songs, skits, recreation, and an invigorating regimen of arts and crafts to nurture the budding aesthete in each pint-sized attendee. We’ll start each day with our theme-songs for the week—“Symbolism, Imagery, and Language Play a Crucial Role in Forming Attitudes and Prejudices” and “The Process of Politicization Endangers the Ability of Religion to Permeate and Renew the Very Culture that Is Being Fought Over”—followed by story time with Thomas More, who will read from Ackroyd’s biography of himself. Campers will be exposed to the entire heritage of Christian humanism from Michelangelo and Eliot to Richard Rodriguez and Mary McCleary, with games and activities like Stack ’Em Up Sistine Chapel, Name that Allusion, Sculpture Tag, Hide-in-the-Porta-Potty-with-a-Book hour, and a collage workshop. Abstract movement will also be encouraged, especially during snack time. The week will culminate in a musical pageant telling the story of a lone editor who follows his dream to create a journal that speaks with equal force and relevance to the secular culture and to the church. A perfect option for hypereducated parents harried by children who uncritically soak up all that is mealy, cynical, and accessible in contemporary culture. Go ahead: stay home and read the new Cormac McCarthy in peace by the lawn sprinkler while we inculcate high aesthetic principles and respect for the power of great art and literature to make us more fully human in your kids. Image Adventure Camp is truly an investment in the next generation. Look for more soon on the Image website.

Restructuring at the Home Office
SEATTLE, April 1 — Image’s longtime managing editor, Mary Kenagy, had her position with the magazine terminated Sunday after a battle over wit. At stake was Kenagy’s refusal to write for the first annual April Fools edition of the organization’s e-newsletter, ImageUpdate. Kenagy, speaking through a spokesperson, said, “While I consider myself to be a funny person in my own way, my sense of humor just doesn’t bend in that direction. I’m not even sure an April Fools issue is such a great idea. Image is a serious journal about serious art and serious literature. What’s funny about that? Nothing.” Image publisher and editor Greg Wolfe, reached for comment in his office, begged to differ. “Image sees itself as part of a longstanding tradition of Christian Humanism,” said Wolfe, who was dressed in a bottle-green smoking jacket and wore a beanie with a propeller on top, “a tradition that’s always had a place for the satiric and playful. Rabelais and Swift are just as important as forbears to Image as Erasmus and Eliot, who frankly was no Flip Wilson. In any case, I’m deeply disappointed by Ms. Kenagy’s refusal to pull with the team on this.” Program director Julie Mullins, reached by phone, said, “She didn’t think she could get fired for that, but we checked her contract, and yep, she could. We’ll miss her a lot. She was a great managing editor. We’re looking for candidates with a sense of humor who are available to start immediately. Anyone interested should contact me by e-mail.” Sources close to Kenagy say she plans to move to Silicon Valley and work as a consultant to private industry.

“Chocolate Jesus." The Lab Gallery, Manhattan. Through April 8.
“Styrofoam Jesus.” Rebecca Sherwood Gallery, Santa Fe. April 1 through June 30.
“Havarti Jesus.” Marissa Ferlinghetti Gallery, Los Angeles. Through May 1.
“Jesus Made of Bill Donohue’s Sweater Lint.” Marc Sizemore Gallery, Palm Beach. Through September.
“Lego Jesus.” Blue Raven Gallery, Scottsdale. Through 2007.

Trinity Arts Conference flooded with cash. The intimate family atmosphere of Dallas’s Trinity Arts Conference will be a thing of the past come 2008, due to a grotesquely large bequest from jam baroness Frederica De Morley. The 2007 event, held June 7 to 10 at the University of Dallas and featuring Lauren Winner, Mary McCleary, Ralph Wood, Doug Burr, and Image’s Greg Wolfe and Mary Kenagy, will be the last held in Texas. The 2008 event will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, Qatar, and will feature Bono, Anne Lamott, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Salman Rushdie, Cher, J.D. Salinger, and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Billy Crystal will host. Gone will be the lovingly selected themes, nourishing sense of community, and homegrown feel. The conference will explore the theme of “Art and Faith: A Dialogue of Who Cares What the Theme Is Suckers, We Have More Money than God! Boo-yaa!” Said co-director Mike Capps, gesturing with his emerald-encrusted swagger stick: “At long last we will no longer exist in the shadow of the Glen Workshop.” Interested in attending? E-mail a resume, cover letter, and three references to info@trinityartsconference.com.

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Image to Acquire Knott’s Berry Farm: Image has entered negotiations with the troubled Knott’s Berry Farm of Buena Park, California. Says Image editor Greg Wolfe, “I loved going to the Berry Farm as a kid, and I hate to see a good thing go under. Now that we’ve launched a kids’ day camp, this is a natural extension of our programs.”

Bret Lott bodily assumed into heaven: Image is disappointed to announce that it will not be presenting the fourth annual Denise Levertov Award to novelist Bret Lott at the Seattle Art Museum at 7:30 pm this May 8. We had planned to give it to him, but the Lord called him home. Says an astonished Melanie Lott: “We had just sat down for lasagna with the boys when the roof blew off the house and Bret just seemed to get vacuumed upward toward a bright light. We were stunned. It was almost like the time he got picked for Oprah’s Book Club, except of course Oprah has a private plane.”