Art: André Gonçalves, chaotic_mind_portraits
AN ENCOUNTER AT A BAR ON 10TH STREET
I’m at the crossroads of the noosphere and synergy,
wondering if spiritual development
can co-exist with cosmic creativity,
seated at a bar, looking at myself
in the huge back mirror,
wherein lies the physical presence
of my goodness, grace and personality.
My avatar is the beer before me
though it could be the other way around.
A woman takes up the stool beside me
putting an immediate half to my self-creation.
I refocus completely.
Space expands and contracts.
I am required to control the situation.
“Waiting for someone?” I ask.
It’s the kind of question sun would ask of ice.
“No,” she replies.
My scientific mind reveals a romantic substrate.
I was waiting for someone. I just didn’t know it.
Our conversation changes my mind about the night’s prospects.
It’s not about to eliminate sickness, aging and death
but it could add immeasurably to the human condition.
For an hour or more, we work on a kind of dual-corporeality,
sipping away at the comfort of our personal universe,
helped along by a contraction of shyness.
Sure, there’s some stuttering but laughter
is well-distributed among the personal details,
as we gratefully latch onto each other’s histories
to add a little extra to our own.
I wouldn’t call it a pickup exactly.
More an example of evolutionary transhumanism.
Of course, every drop of liquor down the gullet helps.
About the author:
John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Recently published in Examined Life Journal, Evening Street Review and Columbia Review with work upcoming in Harpur Palate, Poetry East and Visions International.
Art: André Gonçalves, chaotic_mind_portraits
In the artist’s words:
André Gonçalves, born in 1987, lives and works on the island of Madeira. A lover of art in its many forms, he describes himself as a photo lunatic; eccentric and bizarre. He soon applied his knowledge and love for obscure use of imagery to define his own style of dark photography. As a lover of dark atmosphere and melancholy, he portrays the inside of a twisted chaotic mind generating emotions. He has found his own way of playing with sad expressions, like some of his portraits show, as if he were silently screaming.
Gonçalves has always been fascinated by the power that a single image can have; he likes to generate positive or negative emotions, pushing the viewer to pause his life for seconds, minutes, and travel through his mind.
Music also has a very important role in his life and consequently also affects his photographs. Many of his pictures have a title that pays homage to a song. In this way the music is actively involved in creating the final image, and very often a song can determinate the atmosphere portrayed. Andre doesn’t consider himself has a photographer – he makes art, and he makes it to please himself first. He says inspiration comes from everyday life; just walking down a street or watching the word inspires him.
He says his photographs are a sort of an autobiography; he puts himself in his imagery, his contrasts, his passions and his obsessions . When he looks at an old portrait photo, he travels with his mind – he tries to imagine that person in her life, in her era. That is what he wants for his images.
His work is mainly concerned with facial expressions; he says the eyes are the shell of the soul. He is not interested in showing beauty as an outward phenomenon, he prefers to present the facial expression as a whole, expression and soul united.
His work has been showcased in several international and national magazines. He has joined a few international exhibitions in Paris and Italy. On the island of Madeira the viewer can see his work exhibited very often.