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June 03, 2007
Dada, Here We Come
Yesterday Robbi and I dug deep into the closet and pulled out our closest approximation of "hip" clothing in honor of our reading at H&F Fine Arts. Understand that when I say "hip," I use the word in the relative sense. I'm not really capable of true "hip," but by donning a vintage shirt and a pair of polyester pants, I am able to pull off a weak imitation of someone with legitimate claim to the word. To her credit, Robbi is capable of looking hip. Until she opens her mouth. At that point she, like I, are exposed as the unfortunate clods that we are.
With our newly purchased projector in tow, we headed for DC, stopping along the at the New Carrollton rail station to pick up friend David Turner, who had taken the train down from NYC to attend the event. We arrived at H&F Fine arts a full 90 minutes before the start of the reception that was to precede the reading. A full two-and-a-half hours before the reading itself. My obsession with being places early is something Robbi graciously endures, though her preference would be to arrive breathless in the waning moments before something is scheduled to begin.
Our early arrival allowed for such activities as:
Admiring the mural.
Posing in front of the mural in "hip" art gallery garb.
Posing stylishly by the new projector (perhaps we'll send this shot to Justin P.)
Posing stylishly in front of the projected Idiots'Books logo.
It took us about 5 minutes to set up for the reading. Which left us an hour and 25 minutes to busy ourselves. While we busied ourselves Cheryl and Karen sliced cheese and salami. Yes, salami. There seems to be an Idiots'Books reading theme.
Eventually a wonderful thing happened. People started to arrive. Lots of old friends, some of whom we hadn't seen in years. Even the kind, wise, and humble Peter Everett showed up, accompanied by his lovely wife Veronica (who, it turns out, has the good sense to be a Red Sox fan). Scanning the crowd, Robbi and I were pleased. There were more than six people present. We would break the previous weekend's attendance record handily.
At 4:15 we ushered the crowd into the workshop room (yes, the same room in which Robbi and I spent one short, restless night in the midst of painting the H&F mural a few months ago) and got started.
We gave some opening remarks.
Were we cogent? I cannot say. Did we say interesting things? I dare not speculate. I can only say that we spoke for a few minutes before taking our position behind the projector. Our friend J.T. was kind enough to snap a few shots as we read.
We started with Facial Features of French Explorers before moving on to Unattractive and Inadequate. Then, to lighten the tone, Robbi read My Henderson Robot. There was some intermittent laughter that gratified us. In honor of the gallery mural, we read selections from For the Love of God and then ended with Richard Nixon.
Here is a shot of the crowd.
Do they seem to be enjoying themselves? People seemed attentive in spite of having to stand and in spite of the heat that grew each moment that the air conditioning was not turned on (out of respect for our gentle voices that might not otherwise have carried over the din of the compressors).
After the reading, we took some questions. To our delight, people had questions, even some really thoughtful ones. We did our best to answer them. Hearing interesting questions and being forced to articulate answers to them helps us understand ourselves better. Our friend and subscriber Dawn asked the most interesting question: what would the appraiser on the late 21st century's version of the Antiques Roadshow have to say about a collection of Idiots'Books, both in terms of their monetary value and their relationship to the Dadaist/Surrealist movement. I was delighted and a little stunned. What do you say in response to something like that? Later, at dinner, Dawn explained that the Dadaists/Surrealists used to get together and hang out and talk about "weird stuff", thus influencing and informing one another's ideas and work. Since we live in a barn in the middle of nowhere, Dawn pointed out, we are conducting our version of this conversation through letters and contests and the responses of our subscribers. She added that this type of thing doesn't often happen outside of the internet these days and that there was something different and worthwhile about the model of conducting our business with paper in epistolary fashion. At least I think that's what she said. Dawn, you may feel free to contradict or elaborate. [It is worth nothing that, in spite of this incisive observation, Dawn has yet to participate in any of our contests, citing her doctoral disseration as an excuse.]
After doing our best to answer various questions, we signed books, shook hands, talked to people, and had a fine time.
We drove up the road to Franklin's and had dinner with friends.
Today we have been like slugs. The rains have come to Chestertown, and with them the air has cooled.
Next weekend we head to Williamstown for our ten year reunion. Next Saturday we'll have our third reading in as many weekends at the town bookstore, Water Street Books. If you happen to be in the area, we'd love to see you there.
Thanks to our friends for coming out to support us yesterday. It was a real pleasure to share our work with all of you.
Posted by bogenamp at June 3, 2007 09:18 PM