This episode is perfect for anyone interested in the life-affirming funkiness of a daring interdisciplinary mind and the intentions and expressions of a love warrior mystical being.
IN THIS EPISODE
- John shares the beautifully absurd and the wonderfully ridiculous nature of defining himself and his objection to lines of demarcation.
- He discusses the elements that make up his art and the influences of his meditative practice on his performances and installations.
- He explains what he means by ‘rescuing narrative.’
- He describes one of his signature performance and installation works and the role salt played in it and the return of all things to the Source.
- John talks about several of his characters from Neequa or She Who Would be King to Roscoe ‘The Eggplant’ Takimoto to The Perpetually Pregnant Man.
- He explains the world of Yes, the correct posture for living, and when ‘no’ is appropriate.
- He responds to the idea that he and his characters are intertwined.
- He shares whether the responses of others to his work matters to him.
- John talks about how much of his art is flirtation, how much is consummation, and the sensuality of his work.
- He reflects on the rewards and constraints of fellowships and recognitions, the yumminess of his applications, and what he refuses to do as an artist seeking support.
- He reacts to what makes anything art and the power he sees in his own work.
- John shares what Meryl Streep, Bill T. Jones and Bjork have in common.
- He describes himself as a young person and what his younger self would recognize and be surprised by his current self.
- John reads a poem of his called ‘Early Morning Ritual.’
- He responds to rapid-fire questions that he composed that reveals the temperature of his mind, what makes him cry, and the sexiest tool in his arsenal.
Mark Peres adds a personal word that begins this way, “When I hear John recite his poetry, I’m drawn back to my senior year in college standing on stage afraid…”