A Huge Thank You to my Kickstarter Backers

Thanks to those who pledged support to my Kickstarter project: Will and the Durans, Nate Muller, Bruce Fugett Jillian & Jessica Johnston, Brian Machinski, Matt Embry & Nina, Robin McDaniel, Kelly Fultz, Suzanne Schlossberg, Mary Glassanos & George, Sally Bailey, Gay City Health Project, Gregory Kent, John Jenkins, Melissa Harris, Katrina Dance, Marie Thibeault, June Owens, Mark Johnson, Ben Johns, Bill Jacobson, Theresa Halsell, Adrian Duran, Julie Olsen, Harrison Evans, Matt Booth, Matt Heckert, Kent Young, Carrie Pickett, Jeanne Sickel, Keith Barland, David Webb, Liise Berre, Deb Bigelow, Judy Gittelsohn, Lucian Burg, Julia Shure, Candis Wheat, Don Waddington, Noel Geileghem, Ben & Deena Newton, Katerina Lamola, Andrew Colver, Larry & Judy Winne, Becky Smith, Liz, Jack Fischer, Ray-Mel Cornelius, Shelley Casper, Laurie Skildum, Ruth Johnston, Kathy Penick, Eric Walters, Terry Lindow, Jocelyn Muller, Debora Iyall, Douglas Kennedy, Jill Haddaway, Chris and Michael Villanueva, Sarah Muller, Heidi Gray, Jackie An, Duncan Scott Scrymgeour, Bjoern Gruetzmacher, Clint DeKoekkeok, Charlie Logan, Katherine Johnston, Jessica Logan & Ryan Hoffman, Judi Parks, Danny Sanchez, Bill Arnold, Mike Hays, Erik Walters, David Webb

So You Want That You Were a Rock and Roll Star

Adding a new incentive to the Kickstarter project: drawings on 45 paper protective sleeves, ink, paint and marker on paper, 18cm square (7.15" x 7.15"); insert: drawing, paint and ink on paper, size varies

Imposture

Reading in Picturing Ourselves: Photography and Autobiography (Linda Haverty Rugg, 1997) how attentive Samuel Clemens was to building the identity of Mark Twain through photographs--images that seem to supply the viewer w an uncensored look at the author,Twain writing, the viewer invited into the bedroom, an autobiography dictated to an employee, often with another assistant in attendance. Clemens/Twain was concerned about others passing themselves off as Mark Twain, fakes of an already imaginary character. The author notes the concept of 'imposture': "the act or practice of deceiving by means of an assumed character or name". I felt I was embarked on a level of imposture throughout this time, as I assumed the name Jack, my given middle name, moving away from the bland Jim but unwilling to go the route of most gay men I knew in San Francisco using full first names: James, Robert, and the like. I resonate with wanting to hold onto my creation--I kept these images of some stranger trying to be me beneath the bed in a box. Like Clemens, I purport to allow you to get to know me, inviting you into my bedroom where previously on the camera and myself engaged in conversation. By revealing my Polaroid images, I invite you to hang out in the flat after some great gig at 330 Grove or the Mabuhay Gardens. Imagine we talk about the events of the day: Anita Bryant and the Briggs Initiative, the sad end of Nancy Spungeon, or the sad state of punk rock and new wave in general.

Now I'm in a Fickle

An aspect of my personality revealed in the range of selves portrayed by the Polaroid self-portraits is how fickle I am. then as now, I am focused yet fickle. A boyfriend in 1978 pointed out that I was passive. I must have been a handful--fiery one moment with plans to move back to New York or to Toronto, talking up my plans to buy a rhythm machine to form a band, to provide sonic backdrop to a performance...yet the only pattern, the only consistent beat was in not following through on grandiose plans. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jackjohnston/pola-reds-confections-from-the-edge

Images from Kickstarter video

Shot the video for a Kickstarter campaign for my book, Pola-Reds.