BASED ON SKYPE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE ARTIST DURING THE WINTER OF 2020/2021
Written by Cal Robb.
LIFE is a tender collection of pornographic moments.
Water is ALWAYS TOUCHING ITSELF and never another water. Water on water is just water.
Bodies of water can be joined together. Not unlike a STRAIT.
Gregory Corso said: ‘fish is animalized water.’ A human body is 60% water. The other 40% is
IN THE WAY
Not unlike a DIKE. But more like the FINGER that is STUCK in it.
Stuck in the matrix. A simulation. A .com-promised connection. The Internet is the future and the future is NOW.
Like those indigo children in the cyberpunk classic starring Tom CRUISE based on the novel by Philip K. ???? where blind androgynous clairvoyants LIE drugged out in blue lit spas. Held captive and hidden by the government soaking in a shared tub.
Tapped in. HOOKED UP.
EXTREMELY SENSITIVE.
Not awake but not in TOO DEEP a sleep either. Kept sort of IN BETWEEN. A delicate state. TENDER like a WET NAP.
Predicked. All have visions but ONLY ONE COMES true. Destiny is fantasy.
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE. The medium is the MASSAGE. The medium is the masseuse. RELAX. FULL RELEASE.
Tom Cruise: “It’s better if you don’t think of them as human.” Colin Farrell: “No, they’re much more than that..”
TRANSHUMAN.
SCIENCE FRICTION.
Water is not frictionless. Without friction there is no CLIMAX. No RELEASE. Crying is a release.
BOYS DON’T CRY.
BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY.
Tears are a part of the 60% of the water of the person. The tears are released from the PRISON of the PERSON i.e. the individual organism. FREED to join the universal STREAM.
But you are not your tears. YOU HAVE TO STAY WHERE YOU ARE in imposed isolation.
TOP ANTIVIRUS PROTECTION 2021.
IT’S HARD
DOWN-LOWED. Melancholic at the stream. The painter paints FILLED with longing to JOIN THE STREAM. It’s not always sunny in Philadelphia. Tears STREAM down the artist’s cheeks. He paints the bodies on the screen. TAPPING THE WINDOW. The brush draws water and rubs the pallette. Water joins pigment to HOT PRESSED paper. DRAWING LIFE FROM A PORNO.
WATER IS LIFE which bonds the body to a CONTINUUM. That which is not in the way can be shared BODILY FLUIDS etc.
But water leaves. LEAVES OF GRASS LEAVES. Like a spirit LEAVES the body. Like a JERK. Completely evaporating from the picture. Paper SKIN left high and dry and stained with the artist’s trail.
CATCH AND RELEASE
Is it cruel? Is the CIRCLE vicious? Is it tender?
CRY ME A RIVER.
The paper cries SLOW UPWARD TEARS boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo ALL THE WAY up to the heavens like fishes UNANIMALIZED.
About the writer: Cal Robb is a painter based in Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal. His chronic practice is concerned with the exploration of life force communication and effects within the visual field. Cal’s work can been seen on Instagram @cal_robb and his website is www.cal-robb.com.
About the artist: Charlie is a full-time artist in Philadelphia and his work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions in the USA and internationally. Grants and awards include the Vermont Studio Residency Grant, Helene Couture Award for Excellence in Painting, and the Concordia University Faculty of Fine Arts Fellowship. In 2017, he was a visiting artist lecturer at the Sherwin B. Nuland Institute in Bioethics at Yale University. In 2020, he was awarded an Artist Relief Grant, an initiative organized by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, United States Artists, and Creative Capital. Charlie is also @mooncheesecurator. Charlie’s work can be seen on his website: www.charliejmeyers.com and Instagram @charliejmeyers and and you can follow him on TikTok: @charliejmeyers.