thomas arkle clarke

Wittgenstein Devotional

2009-12-13T20:59:00.003-05:00

For Leah Chamberlain's 30th.

The Soft, Soft Shakes

2009-01-11T11:25:00.012-05:00

The front and back artwork of the newly released Autumn in Halifax record The Soft, Soft Shakes.
My favorite record of the moment. Folk music stretched across sonic architectural landscapes.
You can hear Sleepwalkers, Maramount and Mend & Color Your Horses at autumninhalifax.com
Go grab yourself a copy from Rochester, NY's own Carbon Records. If I were you I would also pick up the amazing Robert Frank & The Moon Short Story/EP - David Merulla's quiet, bloody, lovely short story soundtracked by Autumn In Halifax & The Leaves.

Title TBD
Acrylic and Collage on Corrugated Cardboard
24" x 48"

The Soft, Soft Shakes

2008-10-28T09:29:00.008-04:00

Preview of what will be the cover for the upcoming Autumn in Halifax record The Soft, Soft Shakes. It is the best record I have heard all year.
More shots to follow. (That is photographer Robert Frank)
www.autumninhalifax.com

Part I of III

2007-11-10T16:22:00.000-05:00

A Flattened Geodesic Dome for R. Buckminster Fuller

2007-09-07T15:40:00.000-04:00

Fuller’s ideas of ephemeralization (or simply “doing more with less”) as well as his exploration of communication through geometry go well beyond doodling with cardboard.

With the Right Kind of Eyes Hunter S. Thompson Can Almost See the High-Water Mark

2007-08-28T12:11:00.000-04:00

The good doctor is my favorite patriot. He has keen eyes for showing us our own culture, warts and all, without vilifying it. He reminds us that America is an experiment still worth improving upon.

Raymond Queneau is to Francois Truffaut as Italo Calvino is to Federico Fellini

2007-08-28T12:07:00.000-04:00

New Wave cinema and the OuLiPo literary movement have an odd symbiosis that has long fascinated me. Both groups have informed new ways of seeing and reading, and so the two French fathers and the two Italian Renegades all together at last.

Marcel Duchamp Sees in Three Dimensions, With One Eye Tied Behind His Back

2007-08-28T11:59:00.000-04:00

Art work utilizing reclaimed materials of any kind owes a great deal to Marcel Duchamp’s Readymades and the entire DaDa movement.

Lenny Bruce Pulls the First Amendment From Out of His Sleeve

2007-08-28T10:18:00.001-04:00

The First Amendment, as we now know it was forged by Lenny Bruce. He gave the right to speak honestly back to the individual, and for this I am eternally grateful.

Where the Wave Finally Broke and Rolled Back

2007-08-28T10:13:00.000-04:00

A Story of the Invention of the Modern as Told Through Cardboard.

It is the amateur that inspires me. The tinkerer, the scribbler, the doodler. It is truly inspiring when someone of this ilk elevates their craft to the level of professionalism without losing the fragile, homemade, hands on approach with which they first began. At a time when craftsmanship is dying, I wanted to draw attention to those in the world that have eschewed separation between high and low art, between maturity and naiveté, between Arts and Crafts. Using reclaimed materials allows me to take away the pedestal that separates artist from viewer, and reminds people that anyone can make something remarkable. The greatness of an individual lies in their ability see things completely differently than any other individual. Those that step out of line a bit remind us that art and life belong to us.

Thanks: Dad, Mom, Robby, Beth Connor, Osie G. Bonn, Thaddeus and Patricia Dobry, Bob Bonn, Donna Cox, Sally B. Bonn, David Merulla, Regina Wade, Amy Wade, John Dutterer, Dwayne Whitis, Pat Cisna, A. Jason Ross, Jason Laub, Oliver Baranczyk, Kris Varsa, Rob Porter, and Leah Chamberlain. Thanks and apologies to all named in titles and pictured and to Albert L. Jones and Oliver Long.

An Overheard Conversation Between Truman Capote, Henri Cartier Bresson and Frank O. Gehry

2007-08-28T09:57:00.000-04:00

Truman Capote appeals to my sense of simple storytelling. Harper Lee is owed a nod as well, as the two are the first couple of modern American literature. Bresson’s source photograph has always appealed to me as a portrait of Capote straddling the divide between on-the-town literary celebrity and Scout Finch’s tagalong companion Dill.