Guest BROWNer Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 if this was already posted, sorry... some of you might find it amusing to check the current issue(#39) of elemental magazine for a interview with the one and only......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boogie hands Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 agreed....i enjoyed it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Mask Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 Haven't had a chance to read it all, but it looked intresting. I thought the sudden design change in the mag was funny. ghetto as hell design in one issue, the next its starting to look like an "art mag"...odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BROWNer Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 well it used to be in the music section at chapters here, then it got transferred, presumably with the design toss up, to the 'culture' section.. another amusing thing i noticed about that mag is that invariably the graffiti pages are ripped out. in the new section this seems to have been averted for the time being. as for the interview, yea, he said some interesting things...that cap he dons is quite handsome as well:dazed: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaljockey Posted June 8, 2002 Share Posted June 8, 2002 The interview was pretty cool. old guy that has pretty much the same ideas as us...gettin up alot, and changing it up enough for each piece to be unique (his quotes and shit). Its ironic how he doesnt really like writers but we are probably his only fans... is it just me, or their graff pages layouts are the shittiest ever? I mean, the flicks are pretty good most of the time, but reccently they lay them out so that the peices are half cut out, or they put 2 of EACH peice in the 2 pages of graff. Different..but not useful for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boogie hands Posted June 8, 2002 Share Posted June 8, 2002 elemental and wyws have both turned into weenie ass fashion/ culture magazines.....seriously....check right under maxim and gq and youll see what im talking about.... not that i really care....theve both always been garbage anyway....i just found the sudden change amusing..... still....kudos to elemental for having something more intresting than your typical writer interview which we all know is always ssssoooooo intresting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DankLordz Posted June 8, 2002 Share Posted June 8, 2002 where can I find a copy of this jam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boogie hands Posted June 8, 2002 Share Posted June 8, 2002 well...i think its gone now....i found mine at barnes and nobles....mabey a record store who hangs on to out of date magazines would have a copy...its last months im sure you could also order it online Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Tron Posted June 9, 2002 Share Posted June 9, 2002 Collosus of Roads is probably the only streak i like. Mad weird and mad original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelACKson Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 Originally posted by Mega Tron Collosus of Roads is probably the only streak i like. Mad weird and mad original. thats just silly....how about "buster hymen" (cherry with a crack thru it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
another loser Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 ima have to pick that up, i like cor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LethalDosage Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 theres a great interview with CofR in The Fifth Goal out of Utah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wilt Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 someone should post the shit for the poor motherfuckers out there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fr8burner Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 Originally posted by Wilt someone should post the shit for the poor motherfuckers out there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suburbian bum Posted June 30, 2002 Share Posted June 30, 2002 Yeah i would agree, i have no idea where to find this mag, and i would like to read the interveiw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porque Posted July 3, 2002 Share Posted July 3, 2002 ...yeah may be i'll spend the next three hours of my day copying an interview out of a magazine for some lazy people on 12oz...or i might not... ...it was a pretty good interview though and yes the graff layouts in elemental are horrible, they fill half the page with a giant white block with small letters that says "freights", i think most of their flicks are stolen from other mags and websites too... ...There's graff in wyws?...could have fooled me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
23578 Posted July 3, 2002 Share Posted July 3, 2002 no interview, well there might be, but there are lots and lots of COR aka buZ blurr? on this sitehere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWASS Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 regarding Elemental jacking flicks of graff..I dont know about the new and improved issues...but the freights were always taken in the same spot as far as I know. at least a lot of them that is..pornobenching. elemental does suck though. free tume! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blahblahblah Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 a COLOSSAL interview with COLOSSUS OF ROADS by MICHAEL POULIN Foreward by buZ blurr Steel Road,Evanescent Route My life on the line -The railway line. A love-hate relationship with "the railroad" and expressing it with captions/titles to a boxcar icon. There was an idiot savant who intriqued and frightened my father growing up in a small community bisected by a railroad track.Absorbed in a loop of string Richard could devise all kinds of intricate designs with interlacing between his fingers,Cat's Cradle,Jacob's Ladder.Richard hungout on Crossno's Store front porch,where people would bribe him with soda pop purchases to teach them how to make a design.This one grocery store,rendezvous point,gossip central,community center,was Richard's proscenium.When everyone else had to go off to work,he stayed on the porch playing with his string.Free soda pops,and no work was impressive.Trying to learn one of Richard's string tricks following the loops,and finger piercings,Richard would complete the design and then drop it away to a single loop before my old man could grasp the finish.These limitations of wit and quickness in the humiliating presence of a crowd on Crossno's porch taught him therein lies madness,and not enlightenment.Leave it Alone.Know your limits. Endangering and risking my own sanity,as well as my livelihood,I began to make drawings on the railcars.Already committed to a family ,with almost ten years lapsed of a brakeman career,I'd been practicing a drawing on paper,and wanted to start it off on an auspicious date,11.11.1971. I'd been reading the novels of Kurt Vonnegut,Jr.,and in one he surmised the only time God ever spoke was the silence at the armistice of World War I. Clinging to the conceit of an artist's identity,and this kind of Kilgore Trout thinking,I amended the first drawings with that date. Allowing the drawing to evolve by the most rapid and automatic application,I continued to date them.Although it was interesting to see the degree of fading in the elapsed time of the returning images,the dates could not prompt any recall of the time they were applied. Since the drawing was automatic,the only engagement of mind required was the date,and that wasn't satisfying.I began to put words,phrases,and anecdote titles to accompany the image to shake the monotony,and memory nudge the synapes.It seemed language required more engagement than numbers. the COLOSSAL interview MP: Explain the origin of your name and why the side profile of a face donning a cowboy hat with caption underneath opposed to something else. CofR: Captioning the icon with words and phrases seemed like an identity search.So when I arrived at the GypsySphinx appellation for the first boxcar icon,I felt that was the definitive descriptive moniker,and so searched around in my psyche for another character while I gave GypsySphinx an adequate sendoff with a year of that caption. Doing research for a publication,Loaded Magazine,about the medium,and discovering the original Bozo Texino was also a Missouri Pacific Lines employee,I doodled around a few drawings as variations on the smoking cowboy image.Either a nod to history or totally derivative,I came up with a rider motif to the loner cowboy image,as opposed to the static stone-like character of GypsySphinx. Practicing the new icon while dispatching the old,I allowed it to evolve with rapid automatic application.When we moved to Main Street from Smith Street Chronicles, GypsySphinx ceased and The Grabiron Kid mounted up. buZ blurr came from the use of language...a buzz word,a reference to current usage,going by in a blur on the railway line. I capitalized the Z to emphasize the single letter,and I like capital Z,and the double r in blurr is like RR,or R.R. Suppose I should have been Buzz Blur. MP: Where do your ideas for captions come from? Is there a new caption every day? Are you trying to convey a message with each of these statements? CofR: DumbBardedBoxcars.Again the language is an attempt to avoid the redundant commonness of the image.Sometimes I stick to a word or phrase for an extended period of time ,but usually it is day to day different . And the caption most always remains the same for the entire day.Borderline dyslexic,titling or captioning the image has helped me retain some writing or spelling savvy,by repetition repetition. Is there a message? The medium is the message. Who's reading the Boxcar Sloganeer,and what do the words mean? Given they have a singular meaning to me,but impossible to know that meaning by a stranger,the language is moved into the concrete,whereby they are letters without meaning ,or all meanings.For example,I recently received an e-mail from The Solo Artist,with a list of various captions he sighted on a trip to Texas,so the next day I did maybe a dozen drawings with the caption,"Fortuitous Logos,Arlington Sightings".Then perhaps a week later I received an e-mail from The Solo Artist ,another Continental Drifter,that he had witnessed the caption on an MP boxcar in Portsmouth ,New Hampshire.Fortuitous! MP: Were you the first to use the caption? If so how does it feel knowing that many have followed your lead over the years? CofR: Suppose I was the first to use extensive word captions,but the medium I have emulated is the image word date numbers game of dispatch. MP: Do you have documentation of all your work, whether it be photos or in log form? CofR: No. MP: You were the first person who ever mentioned the term "participation" with regard to individuals going up next to one another. Can you describe what this means to you? CofR: The first character, "GypsySphinx", with the face minimally defined by a brow & nose shadow mark, invited participation. Witnessed lots of amended drawings with expressive faces,which was always a pleasant surprise, since it meant someone was prompted to the action of filling in. MP: How do you feel about individuals such as Goofy that have taken a liking to destroying your work? CofR: Goofy mars! A law of physics, for every action ,an equal but opposite reaction. Bad Karma hostilities.A nemesis in an absurd Dada equation. How appropriate.A symbol of my bad luck. MP: On that same note, what about all the taggers using aerosol covering up your work and many of the others. What are your feelings towards those using spray paint? CofR: The idea being Art on every train in America,seems to have come to pass.Unfortunately there's so much of it,there's a disconnect,since it's viewed as an affront by most,and therefore goes unregistered.Of course the aerosol assault is a superior medium to paintstiks or chaulk,and youth has never been a respecter of age.I'm trying to understand this,and give a more generous view to all the dissing of my work.Stuck on a recent caption of mine for quite a while,"Graffiti Culprit Too",meaning I'm also adding to the Jumble. MP: Have you noticed that alot of these individuals have become hip to sketches as of recent years and developed their own monikers? What do you think of this "new generation"? Any names stand out? CofR: Perhaps because of my own jealous disconnect,I haven't noticed any transition from aerosol to paintstik or markers by any artist,except Twist;I have seen work by him in both media,but I'm sure he would not hesitate to execute a work in spray paint,if it suited him,being an artist.The same is true of another "new generation" artist whose work I also admire,Matokie Slaughter. Not sure if The Solo Artist would qualify as "new generation" artist,but I admire his apparent rapid and fluid line. Another persistant artist with a wide presence,I'm now reminded perhaps migrated from spray to paintstik,is admired for his coverage and tenacity,SCAM PUNKS.Also his language is decidedly punk and nihilistic.Trust SCAM PUNKS! Of course,"Faves" does a fabulous rendering of a speeding boxcar,which I admire greatly.I also like his language. MP: When you first became involved who were some of the names you remember seeing up? Over the years who are some of the boxcar artists that you have found to be inspiring of have made an impression on you? CofR: Of course,Herby ruled as I began walking the rocks between the tracks.Blues weeping STINKY.Right looking,raised left ankle,"HI" nude,named Tuscan Red by Larry Penn,was very prominent.Sad lonesome-looking magnificently moustached KID IDAHO,rarely sighted but much admired.Even saw an original Bozo Texino,and the second or third generation Bozo Texino was already up.Later there was Water Bed Lou,Charlie Brown,Don A.,Easy Honey!,and The Rambler started before I did.Early on there were sightings of various J.B.King Esq. signatures. Glad there is an approved version currently riding the rails as homage to one of the originals. MP: Who are some of your inspirations in the art world? CofR: Reading biographies of tragic artists,such as Henri de Toulous-Lautrec,Van Gogh,Paul Gauguin,etc. Formed an earlier impression of art being a self-destroying compulsion,which seemed to match my teenaged angst,moving around from railroad town to railroad town,always being the new kid outsider,following my father's career as a track maintenance official,facing the challenges of resident bullies and cliques,ala Jim Stark/James Dean,escaping on the train,passenger trains,riding my old man's card pass,Holden Caulfield,reading Jack Kerouac,learning to give up and be BEAT,yet dig the Rock n' Roll,Movies and cars I wrecked.Yes,being an outsider,riding all night on trains back to the previous town we'd just left,back to old girlfriends,my Maggie Cassidys,and reading Jack Kerouac,traveling alone,was a major influence,late Fifties.Later the novels of John Steinbeck,and identifying with the down-trodden.Later Tom Joad reads Albert Camus,and Jean-Paul Sartre.The Self-Taught Man studies Abstract-Expressionism.Monsieur Antoine Roquentin studies Pop Art and R.D.Laing's The Politics of Experience. Other major influences=the black and white photography mailed to us by my parents siblings,who had migrated to middle class prosperity in Michigan and California,while we were still stuck on the tracks in Arkansas,Texas,or Louisiana. When I still wanted to be a painter or printmaker,Tom Seawell brought a traveling exhibit of Robert Frank's The Americans photographs to Henderson State University,then Henderson State Teacher's College. The photographs of the Farm Security Administration. The lives of two other brakemen,Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassidy. Dada,Surrealism,Fluxusism,Mailism,Neoism,Tourism,NeoSpiegelmanism. The silence of Duchamp,the noise of Beuys,the black of Ray Johnson. The cut-up theories of the Commissioner of Sewers. Four frames of Boxcar Bertha. The stamps of E.F.HigginsIII. John Held,Jr. in Texas. The irony of H.R.Fricker. Laurel McElwain,Portland,OR. The Blues of Robert Johnson. Dragging,Kicking and Shoving Blues. Subterranean Homesick Blues. MP: Why have you chosen rolling stock as the surface to apply your work rather than on a canvas? CofR: When I had a narrow-view of art being painting or sculpture it fostered a condescending look at the folk art tradition of railroad graffiti.The economic reality of my life and situation,working night locals and switchengines,and handling all those freightcars,brought about a respect for the medium offering a respite from the mundane sameness of a uniform car with differentiating graffiti marks.Then it seemed foolish to ignore the vast network as a concept of communication.I didn't have time to make a painting,or sculpture,and if I did,no one would be interested.Here was a ready metal canvas awaiting my expressions...sing the blues with chaulk,say JOY!,or despair.The concept of remaining private/anonymous in a public forum also appealed to my shy insecurity.The transitory impermanence of the work seemed a profound metaphor for Vita Brevis/Ars Brevis. Trying to stay current by culture/vulture reading I discovered the existence of the mail art network shortly after I began to utilize the rail dispatch.Rail/Mail Nexuses seemed conceptual in the age of conceptualism.Although I was attacked as being the worst of a new generation of mailartists in the bastard child of alternative arts,the mongrel of marginalia,Mail Art,it felt right for me. MP: Do you feel that we are now in a "countdown to extinction" era? Meaning do you feel that alot of the work from the 70s and 80s is now on the verge of dying out because of weathering, being defaced by aerosol, repainting,etc,etc? CofR: Indeed,"countdown to extinction". Statement of mortality,something always inferred in my boxcar language.Sad to say,we're doomed,just as the scribbling on the metal canvas shall pass.I sent a clipping from a newspaper to one of my favorite correspondents in the mailart network,concerning a grant of some 30 million dollars awarded to a group of scientists to determine if neutrinos,which we are continually bombarded with,have mass or weight,more as a philosophical question,than a scientific one.Eric Finlay,a fine lyric,shoot back a bunch of equations,explaining neutrinos didn't have mass or weight,they had "SPIN".After Eric shuffled off the mortal coil there in Wimbledon,England,I read another article about the scientists' findings about neutrinos,and they had determined that their nature was "Zero Rest Mass",or SPIN.Should've asked Eric. MP: How do you feel about rebuilding? CofR: I'm in favor of rebuilding.Have done a little bit of it myself,mostly old Herbys and KID IDAHO,out of respect and homage. MP: With regard to exposing the artist behind the sketch/moniker, do you feel that this takes away from the mystery? How does it feel knowing now that people are going to know who you are? CofR: In my Mail Art Tourism travels, I've found after personal contact the exchange of mail noticeably drops off,once the mystery of imagination is confronted with myth-destroying reality.I would attribute this to my grandiose stances being exposed as charlatan,if it had not been acknowledged as a general truth among the mail art community.So,phantasy and imagination are always more generous than absolute reality.Colossus of Roads is certainly a phantasy figure,and a bit pretentious as heroic posture.That's why there's always such negative hostility toward the drawing,and not just by Goofy.One of my favorite rubberstamp slogans in mail art is Art/Life Takes Risks.Exposure as the author of Colossus could mar the phantasy of the fans,and inflame,or diffuse,the hostility of the detractors.Could also jeopardize my employment,now that I'm so close to retirement,and the railroads are so incensed at the proliferation of graffiti. MP: Are you aware of the fact that you have a big following/fan base? Would you like to hear from these individuals? CofR: Aside from a few individual correspondents like yourself and The Solo Artist,and others who also indulge in graffiti,like Photo Bill,North Bank Fred,Obscura/Flange Squeal,Twist and Matokie Slaughter,expressing an interest in my work,mostly what I see are hostilities and disrespect.Suppose the afore -mentioned could constitute a fan base large enough to be greatly appreciated,but beyond those and a few others,plus the people in the mail art network aware of my work in the railroad network,I'm not cognizant of a "big following/fan base". Yes,I would like to hear from these fans,and find out how extensive it is,and perhaps further destroy the myth/legend,or add to it. MP: Do you consider yourself and "obsessive compulsive"? CofR: Yes,exposure of faults/"obsessive compulsive",Melancholiac,manic-depressive=Tap Dance or Suicide.Graffiti tagging as equilibrium device to stay on the beam. What do you think I do with all those switch lists? Cut them up into little bitty pieces of paper to be distributed in .. Papercide Park,or Traces in a Brake;a site-specific environmental artwork for the rapid decomposition of paper back to the stuff of all the world,A process,an action,a sanctum. What do you think I do with all the non-recyclable glass that passes through this household? They go to Bottles Pond,and when Bottles Pond dries up Breakman of Jars smashes them to bits in Slough of Glass,an adjunct to Papercide Park. What do you think I do with all the biodegradeable stuff that passes through this household? It is recycled through a compost bin,back to soil,and that soil added to another project/life work entitled,Earlene & Sweeney,Moundbuilders......... Earlene being my better half,soulmate,Performance Partner. What do you think I do with the little rock I select from the stones all in my pathway each day. I give them to Earlene to place in her Gravel Jars. What do you think I do with all the newspapers that give me information? I tightly roll the pages into scrolls that are lashed together with string into chair sitting effigies as sculptural collage Porch Haints to spook the trick-r-treaters Halloween.Later they are placed in Papercide Park,as ROT OBSERVERS. What do you think I do with all the small pieces of metal I find in my pathway along the tracks,like bent spikes,chain links,wire,nuts and bolts? I place them in the cab of Rust Never Rests,a defunct 1962 Chevrolet pickup truck,placed on a low pedestal,and allowed,nay encouraged, to rust away.Larger pieces are placed in Gonna Booglarize You,Baby Ford,a 1950 model Ford four door sedan,and Earlene & Sweeney's courting vehicle.Another Life/Work. Rust & Rot. What do you think Earlene & Sweeney Atrophy do on the Fourth of July for fun? They throw a TV off the top of the house and videotape it. Breakman of TVs then sets off firecrackers in the wreakage. "Obsessive Compulsive" indeed! MP: How does your family feel about this hobby of yours? CofR: Certainly wasn't intended but all these strategies for coping with life hastened our children's departure for their own independence,and they are fairly well-adjusted,and normal,given their upbringing. Still look askance at the Art definition for all this. MP: After all these years, why have you now decided to go public? CofR: Don't know that I've ever denied being the author of Colossus of Roads.In fact I published an artist's bookwork in 1984 listing the language of the line up to that time. Probably would shy away from contexts,such as local newspapers,TV coverage that would bring the wrath of the Federales down on me.Essentially this is an outlaw activity and I'm subject to be busted at any time.Public? Yeah! I'm hiding all over America. MP: Is there any end in sight for Colossus of Roads? CofR: Have you seen the boxcar icon caption "Center Ridge Plot"? That means that Sweeney took a ten foot pole and tried to square off a ten foot burial spot at Center Ridge Cemetery.If you mean the drawing,I've been working on another design,perhaps I'll start using in earnest when I'm paroled. CofR: Yes,Language of the line abbreviated lingo of boxcar communications has destroyed my coherence . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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