Artist Lecture Extra Credit (Dasha Shleyeva)

Barry Sanders' Lecture last night was lovely!

I left with a heavy heart and a mind filled with many thoughts, artists, psychiatrist, philosopher and writer references to explore and look up.
I was enthralled by his passion and enthusiasm for the here and now, yet a careful remembrance and respect for the past history-changing events.

It was a bit on the heavy side in regards to feeling like I had relived an emotional roller coaster of the 1950's-1970's "Mad Years" in the United States with him by the end of the lecture. He talked of Lenny Bruce as a "subversive comic" that helped uproot tons of hush-hush issues during the Mc Cartheism, Red Scare, "Madness Gas", LSD "tests", "arasol hallucinogens" (to make the 'enemy' reveal secret plans and thoughts). He touched on how this kind of fearlessnes in questioning the government is not as apparent anymore since our government runs best when its' people are in fear. He talked about how there's 'an enormous power given to words when they are repressed' and how Larry Bruce looked that everlong fear straight in its' face on stage during his comic routines. He also stressed that we, too, in this censored media day and age, can still find tons of true, raw, real news and ongoing updates!

Here are a few to start (he is also e-mailing me with more)

ZNET
TRUTH DIG


Books he talked of that sounded amazing:

The Celebration of Awareness
Deschooling Society
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
David Wallace- essay on irony

Also, listen to Arundhiti Ti Roy - a prose writer for AK Press in Oakland who also has a novel called "The God of Small Things"

All in all, he was a very thought provoking man with a passion for his work and this generation's future (just as much as for his generation's future) and he also gave me two hugs. Very sweet man.