Telling yourself that you adhere to the laws of "truth" or as I refer to it "the laws of the universe" entail that you keep a finger on the pulse of common sense, (which I frequently loose touch with). As a result I deal with moments of catch-up where I need to whittle away at what can only be described as new media ego inflation. I do this by getting off the internet for a week and concentrating on drawing/working.
My new panels which are primed and ready to go, will again be inspired in part by the music of my good friend Joy Shannon. Her new song (yet to be released) entitled "The Horse Latitudes" is a striking departure from her softer more introspective work. What I am hearing is a voice of startling strength and clarity, singing into an uncharted future. On hearing it I was immediately inspired to continue our collaborative partnership which started with the Predator Instinct EP. There are plans in the works for cover art to come out of this new series of work and more...including a music video project with friends in Austin Texas. I'm pretty excited about the creative potential of this summer.
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| Michael Eastman |
A small note on what the horse latitudes actually are, because it is very interesting: In a time when horses were integral to human industry, many were transported to new colonies aboard sailing ships. The "horse latitudes" are subtropical latitudes between 30 and 35 degrees running both north and south that when occurring over the ocean create areas of little to no wind. If a ship got lost in these areas, water shortages would force the reality of lightening the load and thirst on board and the horses would be let go into the open sea. It is a horrible fact that I feel speaks to our long history of attempting at human convenience and meeting somewhere in the middle, sometimes in a place with no wind, where we are forced to "make it work" by any means necessary.
Our relationship with animals has always been heavily rested on our desire for convenience and it costs exactly as much as that animal is worth, however much we decide that is. I feel that Joy (who is a vegetarian and animal rights activist) has created a song that approaches ideas behind letting go, lightening up and sailing strong into the future. I commend her for choosing a metaphor so wrought with intense imagery. I'm excited to use it also as something hopeful as well as delving into the anatomy of horses which are so so difficult to draw (as are most intensely beautiful things).
And on that note, I'm turning my computer off for a bit. xoxo
