Bud the Teacher

    I might need to create a category just for Jonathan Lethem.  He’s doing some interesting work.  (And I like his writing.  Especially Motherless Brooklyn.)
    Here’s a link to and a description of his Promiscuous Materials Project.   Might be of interest to those of you interested in digging a little deeper into his ideas on appropriation and art leading to more art.   Basically, he’s released some of his writing for others to use in different formats.  Here’s that description:

I like art that comes from other art, and I like seeing my stories
adapted into other forms. My writing has always been strongly sourced
in other voices, and I’m a fan of adaptations, apropriations, collage,
and sampling.

I recently explored some of these ideas in an essay
for Harper’s Magazine. As I researched that essay I came more and more
to believe that artists should ideally find ways to make material free
and available for reuse. This project is a (first) attempt to make my
own art practice reflect that belief.

I especially like that he’s published some of what’s been done with his words.  I first caught this on an interview he gave to Fresh Air, and got to hear a chunk of John Linnell’s version (at the top of the page)of one of Lethem’s songs.  Good TMBG-y stuff.