27 Comments
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Susanne Helmert's avatar

Fantastic. I love your cut out poems. I made them too in the past. It is such a wonderful intuitive process and I was often surprised myself by the outcome…

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Duane Toops's avatar

Thanks Susanne! Yes! It’s almost a kind of literary rorschach test. The surprise is best part of me!

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Gloria Horton-Young's avatar

Love love love

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Duane Toops's avatar

Thanks Gloria!

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Neil Barker's avatar

I like these cut-out poems. It's interesting to read a line and not know what the next line will be and so on. Great poem Duane!

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Duane Toops's avatar

I appreciate it Neil! Not knowing what line is going to come next is the best part of the process for me. You're building something one word at a time without any idea where you’re going and with nothing substantial to guide you aside from the simple hope that each word will get you to the next one and that they’ll all somehow bring you to where you need to be.

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Sue Clancy's avatar

Fun!!!!!!!

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Duane Toops's avatar

Much appreciated! These tedious, but always fun to put together.

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Dave Conrey's avatar

Random thought, Duane. On the poem pieces, perhaps consider adding the text within the alt tag of the image. That will help with accessibility for nonvisual people, and could help with SEO a little more.

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Duane Toops's avatar

That's a really good idea Dave, thank you! Kicking myself for not havhaving thought about it. I've got a couple more of these planned, I'll be sure to do it going forward, and I'll try to edit the ones on this one too.

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Dave Conrey's avatar

👍👍

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Andrea Fisher's avatar

I am not at all surprised Duane, that you were invited to create that poster. Your art and writing are scintillating- I think of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite films - Frankenstein, “IT’s ALIVE”. But your creations are gorgeous. I too love venturing into the unknowns, to find magic. Have a lovely weekend.

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Duane Toops's avatar

“It’s Alive” - Love that!! Haha! Feels so very apt! I really like the mad-scientist idea of ‘reanimating’ things that have been discarded, amalgamating them into something new!

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Andrea Fisher's avatar

I love that you got the humor along with the sincerity. Hee hee

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Duane Toops's avatar

Absolutely loved it!

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Ann Collins's avatar

Taking in this work, feels like a playful spirit layered on top of something else. The effect is enigmatic--like a playful riddle with something core & elemental underneath :-) Great work as always! Question: Do you find titles hard to make? If you want to share, how do you think about them--or do they just pop into your mind?

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Duane Toops's avatar

Thank you! I think that's a great interpretation. There's something almost koan-like about them. A kind of meaningful absurdity that is as playful as it is provocative, the meaning is found not so much in what underlies it but within the reaction it elicits.

Titling pieces has always been difficult for me. I just seem to lack that kind of cleverness or creativity. But I discovered a little trick last year that has made teh whole process so much easier. I collect fragments of phrases and passages from whatever books I'm reading at the time and I keep them listed out in my notebook. Everyday when I need to title new collages, I just pick one from teh list that seems to fit the tone of the piece. It's really interesting to see how the piece shifts in either its tone or its meaning or both once a title has been given to it. It's another element of surprise in the process that i never get tired of seeing.

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Ann Collins's avatar

Thanks for letting us see inside your mental laboratory— very generous of you,Duane.

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Duane Toops's avatar

Any time!

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Ann Collins's avatar

From a reader’s point of view, it also adds a layer that’s like a brain teaser.

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Zivah Avraham's avatar

I love your work. I’m not surprised you were asked to design a poster again!

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Duane Toops's avatar

That’s so kind of you to say! Thank you! It’s nice to dabble in that graphic design side of things form time to time, but I don’t think I have the patience, skillset, or temperament to live there, haha! Thanks again!

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Zivah Avraham's avatar

My wife studied graphic design back in the eighties. She came to the same conclusion!

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Duane Toops's avatar

Haha, I get that. I’m envious of those that can do it. There’s a special spark they have. I don’t know what it is, but I know I lack it, haha!

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Zivah Avraham's avatar

I love being creative with art, but not to a specific order or remit. 😬

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Duane Toops's avatar

Sometimes I can appreciate the challenge of something that requires a specificity of direction, but no way could i do it everyday, haha!

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Zivah Avraham's avatar

Exactly.

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