A Note From Fardimlee

A Note From Fardimlee

Street Corner—Fardimlee  

etching ink monoprint 

15 x 20 inches

edt. 1979

Just beyond Fardimlee is Converse, a town settled by talkers. A quiet village but for the din of interminable conversation, inhabited by descendants of the  early abstract expressionists. Formerly, this visual culture reared descendants on charcoal, paper, and inks but today, the residents of Converse rarely draw and paint. Although they love implied meaning, they prefer simply constructed sentences with little if any embellishment. Therefore protracted diatribe is frowned on making political speeches unwelcome. They construct scenes and images with words. Their penchant for discourse has developed into a culture of storytelling unmatched except for the Southern United States. As one critic stated: Residents of Converse write that which is palpable.

As children progress through their years from infancy to adulthood, life changes obviate the need for sophistication in communication. Residents tend toward gatherings that enhance opportunities for exchange including prattle, gossip, outright boasting, yakking, and confabulation. Words bolstered by images are revered, nonetheless, relying on an image to clarify a message is verboten. Sign language is, however, welcomed.

Annually, pow wows fill open spaces with wordy riposte and banter. Gatekeepers are charged with denying entry to those who would indulge a habit of substituting commonly overused descriptors and nouns. For example, last summer, a professor of communications was asked to leave the grounds when he touted a student’s work that included this sentence. Multiple people, here, at the Pow Wow for Peace Politicos  suffered injuries, here, when exposed to sunlight despite lathering with sunscreen, here.