Research

Crap Art is a new art movement. We're still working out our manifesto, but here are a few of our principles: 1. The practice of art should be primarily explorative, and the creation of art should be discovery rather than invention. 2. Popularly held views about what constitutes art, or what constitutes artistic talent, are elitist and discourage other forms of art and artistic talent from being explored or utilized. 3. The creation of art is more important than its consumption. Therefore, aesthetics (except in the biased eye/ear of the creator) are overrated as a judgment of the worth of art. 4. That which is created rapidly and in high quantities contains more variety and is more likely to be successful/innovative. Applying the 80%/20% "rule": If only 20% of the effort is needed to get 80% of the quality, then spending by spending only 20% of the effort, we can create five times as many artifacts at 80% quality! The Crap Art movement tries, above all, to avoid the elitism and more-artistic-than-thou attitude which has effectively kept the creation of art solely in the hands of "artists". We hope that everyone can make art. The name "crap art" does not mean to indicate that crap art is somehow worthless or foul-smelling (indeed, we believe that it is more worthwhile than most of what is commonly considered "art"). The name is meant to sound honest and down-to-earth; to make you think, "I can make crap art!" perhaps. And you can! Anyone can participate in the movement, as long as the attempt is honest. You can hear some examples at our Album-a-Day page, one of the Crap Art projects. In the meantime, it's easy to make crap art: Just sit down and do it! Try to forget your conceptions of what a "painting" or "drawing" looks like, or what a "song" sounds like, and make lots and lots. Don't spend too long on any one item. Afterwards, look or listen and discover what you've done. Perhaps you'll find something that appeals to you? If you do, you've won! If you don't, open your mind and try again! - Tom 7 6 Jul 2001

Wheat Kings references - "...Sundown in the Paris of the Prairies." - As you'll read below, "Wheat Kings" tells the story of David Milgaard, a young Winnipeg-born hippie wrongly convicted of the grisly rape and murder of Saskatchewan nurse Gail Miller.

A woman’s place, the old saying goes, is in the kitchen. I would comfortably bet you that, in the majority of heterosexual households in this country, indeed, all over the world, the women are usually the ones producing the meals. After all, nothing says lovin’ like something from the oven, and cooking is the way to a man’s heart.