Caterwaul Quarterly Archive

The Elementary Particles, by Michel Houellebecq, Translated from the French by Frank Wynne. New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2000.

In April 2008, a New York Times special investigation revealed that the Pentagon, in coordination with the Bush administration, "courted a troop of retired military men to serve as trained PR agents for the White House on major broadcast outlets." In exchange for their good behavior, they received special briefings and political access for the defense contractors who they represented.

My work reflects the belief that all phenomena witnessed in the world are part of a physical reality. These photographs were taken with completely manual cameras and were not digitally altered.  I view each exposure like a science experiment involving light, refraction and a chemical reaction that alters the film over time.

While conducting these experiments, I seek results that contain the aesthetic elements that I am drawn to: clean compositions with definitive fields of color and patterns that are purposefully placed to create a dynamic collage.

Illustration: Peter Oumanski

As summer’s waning days have tightened around the academic year, another cohort of high school seniors begins their anxious and time consuming college application process. Dreams of big envelopes and early emails call from beyond the horizon, while piles of mail and blank forms prove an unyielding weight upon a season of otherwise easygoing fun. The privileged few will receive endless advice and all sorts of competitive pressures from parents, teachers and their peers.

Photo source: http://financialservices.house.gov/banking/72500al.htm

Fashion is a peculiar field. It is one of the most deeply and explicitly commodified forms of art, but also the most artful form of mass consumerism; a site and symbol of luxurious exclusivism, but also one of the most universal forms of cultural expression. The media, even designers continually play to the notion of fashion as a global, worldwide business, yet in many respects it still operates (and is a tied to) traditional craft industry.

"Llega el invierno. Espléndido dictado
me dan las lentas hojas
vestidas de silencio y amarillo"

- PABLO NERUDA

Illustration by Michael Pape

This collection demonstrates the Square-Wave Weaving technique, as implemented with various styles. These patterns are achieved through the manipulation of the video signal with square-wave oscillators. These videos are traditionally used for relaxation, decoration, or memory enhancing exercise. This technique is not singular to any one community. These pieces, however, all originate from southern New York.