But we won’tBut we won’t
“There is not one human problem that could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise.” — Gore Vidal
Author: Tetman Callis
ThingsThings
Weatherboard #4, 1995 by Tetman Callis (2 ft. x 2 ft.; acrylic and wood putty on wood)
Surf’s up!Surf’s up!
“A feeling of doom can be productive, if you know how to surf it.” – Victor Lodato, “P.E.”
ThingsThings
Weatherboard #3, 1994 by Tetman Callis (48 in. x 24 in.; acrylic and wood putty on wood)
Gotta start someplaceGotta start someplace
“It is fair that each man shall pay taxes in exact proportion to the value of his property; but if we should wait before collecting a tax to adjust the taxes upon each man in exact proportion with every other man, we should never collect any tax at all.” – Abraham Lincoln, “Speech to the 164th Ohio Regiment”
ThingsThings
VLA, 1993 by Tetman Callis (16 in. by 32 in.; mixed media–photographs, cardboard, water-soluble glue, and nylon thread on rag board)
Not looking to need thisNot looking to need this
“Nothing justifies the suspending of the civil by the military authority, but military necessity, and of the existence of that necessity the military commander, and not a popular vote, is to decide. And whatever is not within such necessity should be left undisturbed.” – Abraham Lincoln, “To Benjamin F. Butler, August 9, 1864″
ThingsThings
Truly Portable Quick Meal Magic, 2001 by Tetman Callis (32 in. by 48 in.; mixed media–paper, acrylic, and glass on primed canvas)
Hold me, LordHold me, Lord
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQeSKqKF7qQ
Fill ‘er up!Fill ‘er up!
“Envy is the gasoline on which American capitalism runs.” – John Lahr, “Lives in Limbo”
ThingsThings
The Tiny Prefix Language, 1999 by Tetman Callis (about 32 in. by 48 in.; mixed media–paper, acrylic, and plastic on canvas)
Free variationsFree variations
“We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men’s labor.” – Abraham Lincoln, “Address at Sanitary Fair, Baltimore, Maryland, 1864″ (emphasis in original)
ThingsThings
Template III of the Four Templates of Paradise, 1995 by Tetman Callis (2 ft. by 2 ft. with sharp rusty projections; mixed media–paper, tin, and sawdust on wood)
After you, my dear AlphonseAfter you, my dear Alphonse
“The advice of a father to his son, ‘Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, bear it that the opposed may beware of thee,’ is good, and yet not the best. Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his temper and the loss of self-control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than equal right; and yield lesser ones, though clearly your own. Better give your path to a dog, than be bitten by him in contesting for the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite.” – Abraham Lincoln, “Letter to James M. Cutts, Jr.”
ThingsThings
Template II of the Four Templates of Paradise, 1995 by Tetman Callis (about two foot square and four inches high; mixed media–wood, glass, and acrylic)
Not in the power of the parties, eitherNot in the power of the parties, either
“It is not always in the power of governments to enlarge or restrict the scope of moral results which follow the policies that they may deem it necessary for the public safety, from time to time, to adopt.” – Abraham Lincoln, “To the Workingmen of Manchester, England”
ThingsThings
Sun, Bringer of Life, 2002 by Tetman Callis (about 32 in. by 48 in.; mixed media–acrylic and cotton on primed canvas)
Justly shore ’em upJustly shore ’em up
“That Congress has the power to regulate the currency of the country can hardly admit of doubt; and that a judicious measure to prevent the deterioration of this currency, by a reasonable taxation of bank circulation or otherwise if needed, seems equally clear. Independently of this general consideration, it would be unjust to the people at large to exempt banks, enjoying the special privilege of circulation, from their just proportion of the public burden.” – Abraham Lincoln, “To the Senate and House of Representatives”
ThingsThings
Stapled #2, 1998 by Tetman Callis (about 8 in. by about 6 in.; mixed media–flowers stapled to rag board and mounted in a box)
The choice is clearThe choice is clear
“It is not the qualified voters, but the qualified voters who choose to vote, that constitute the political power of the state.” – Abraham Lincoln, “Opinion on Admission of West Virginia into the Union” (emphasis in original)
ThingsThings
Stapled #1, 1998 by Tetman Callis (about 8 in. by about 6 in.; mixed media–flowers stapled to rag board and mounted in a box)
The Tiny Toy TrainThe Tiny Toy Train
My most recent published story, “The Tiny Toy Train,” is available at Snow Monkey
Hearing The CallHearing The Call
Here’s to you. Let the day begin
ThingsThings
Slats, 1998 by Tetman Callis (about 3 ft. by 4 ft.; mixed media–wood and cardboard on primed canvas)
A code of conductA code of conduct
“One of the few rules I live by: Never, ever fuck with the people handling your food.” — ravingmadscientists (comment posted to “I Hate People WHen THey’re Not Polite,” on Betsy Lerner’s The Forest for the Trees)
ThingsThings
Shard Izhar, 1991 by Tetman Callis (roughly 1 ft. by about 2 ft.; mixed media–glass, glue, dye-transfer dye, metal)
And Purgatory is a ski resortAnd Purgatory is a ski resort
“Hell is a place on earth. Heaven is a place in your head.” David Wojnarowicz, Close to the Knives
ThingsThings
Sex for One, 1992 by Tetman Callis (about 12 in. x 18 in.; mixed media–paper, playing cards, photograph, adhesive stickers, electrical tape, conditioner, blood, and semen, on painted pine)
Resistance trainingResistance training
“My freedom will be so much the greater and more meaningful the more narrowly I limit my field of action and the more I surround myself with obstacles. Whatever diminishes constraint, diminishes strength. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees oneself of the chains that shackle the spirit.” – Igor Stravinsky, Poetics of Music (quoted by Bridget Riley in “At the End of My Pencil”)
ThingsThings
St. Sebastian, 1994 by Tetman Callis (about 2 ft. x 2 ft.; mixed media–doll, nails, screw, photographs, paper, blood, and saliva, on pine plywood)