'DASTARDLY' is quickly becoming TOO TAME a word (Kennedy Center!!!). But ART always KNOWS BEST ––(Who is REALLY "Behind the 8-BALL?"). Stay tuned...
Photos excerpted from, “THE SCULPTURES OF FILMMAKER RICK SCHMIDT 1967-1971: Told By Himself”
In 1967/68 I cast the following sculpture ,“8-BALL,”out of bronze––pretty much a subconscious attempt to give weight to the failure of my 1st marriage at the time.
Now, however, I think it may work as an example of what DASTARDLY THINGS ARE OCCURRING OUTSIDE OF MY PERSONAL LIFE. Such as, EXACTLY WHO is ACTUALLY behind the 8-ball? It feels like it is US…but other corrective forces are certainly in play. It could be ‘THEM,’ because a mighty backlash is inevitable.
I’LL ADMIT THAT WITH THE PRESENT POLITICAL SCENE, DISTRACTING NEWS ABOUT ALMOST EVERYTHING BEING POTENTIALLY CHANGED/DESTROYED––PEOPLE’S LIVES RUINED, VALUABLE RESEARCH ERADICATED, SUPPORT-SYSTEMS I DEPEND ON UNDER THREAT— IT IS HARD TO CONCENTRATE, HARDER TO OPERATE INSIDE THE USUAL BUBBLE OF JUST ‘BEING AN ARTIST/WRITER’ AS BEFORE (WHEN DID “BEFORE” END?). IN ANY CASE, AS I MENTIONED, ART ALWAYS KNOWS BEST.
SO HERE’S SOME THOUGHTS THAT BUBBLED UP AROUND THREE YEARS AGO, WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS JUST WRITING A BOOK ABOUT ‘FROGS…,’ PLAYING OFF MY TITLE, TWELVE DEAD FROGS AND OTHER STORIES –A Filmmaker's Memoir.”
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In my 2022 book entitled, “THE GREATEST SECOND-CHANCE FROG QUEEN: A Not-Just-4-Children FROG-TALK,” (where I let the queen, Gertrude, do the talking…), this is what SHE said:
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Love the philosophical / spiritual "musings" in the Frog stories. Reminds me of something Bill Hicks, a "Top 10 List" Comedian said. (Sadly, Bill died years ago, in his 30's I believe.) Anyway, he said "Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace."