Because I'm Purple //Alt-Lit Examined LOL

America is a left brained society. It focuses on routine and structure and analytical/logical thought processes. It involves order and consistency and is most efficient for achieving preset goals. As a result, our education system suffers this disease. We draw at a perpetual sixth grade level because we were no longer encouraged to be expressive once we ‘matured.’ Reading level and math skills take priority because they’re what’s important IRL. That’s kinda stupid. Just like all those stupid kids that write poetry and draw pictures and do theater and make movies. Those kids aren’t smart because they can’t spell hippopottamos (hippopotamus) right or understand derivatives. They get scores in the 20s on the ACT because they can’t fill in the right ovals. Gosh.
I think Alt-Lit is sort of a backlash at left-brained upbringing. Poetry, at its core, doesn’t ‘make sense’ to left-brainers because it isn’t required to have form or structure and may not follow grammatical norms. Like abstract paintings, poetry can be a mystery to its readers. Poetry is flexible and adaptable to the visions of the artist, which is the true nature of art, and since so much of the world has fallen into the realm of the internet, a new breed of poetry arises. It’s loosely called Alt-Lit, with a lot of emphasis being placed on internet interactions. A reputable–if you will–blog about Alt-Lit, Internet Poetry, describes this thing as…

posts “screenshots of poetry being distributed with guerilla tactics on the internet”: poetry as Wikipedia vandalism, tweets, blog comments, etc (read the original doctrine).
Internet Poetry now publishes with a broader idea of what “internet poetry” can be, and is open to the many forms poetry can take online and community it can build.

Among this new genre of poetry, a specific artist has inspired me in a very peculiar fashion to document my life, even at its most mundane. Because I’m Purple is a collection of works that spans random ideas, longings, common daily occurrences, and anything else the creator finds particularly worthy. The inclusion of texts, emails, instant messages, and various other basic but somehow deeper thoughts, are reflected through the art. What captures one’s life in 1st world society more closely than this?

While we munch away at mass-produced synthetic substances we call food, we synthetically interact with our friends and the world via the Internet. Today is a time of disassociation and plastic interaction. Our lives become separated by this invisible digital wall that we can throw our emotions, unguarded, into and cause all sort of repercussions without ever seeing them.

 

Texting conversations can kill relationships as the blunt unspoken words instantly traded back-and-forth can escalate emotions in false directions of intentions. Love can exist via a phone and this is strangely alienating. Because I’m Purple does a spectacular job of revealing this. By mockingly prodding at the false romanticism created via instant-messaging, a sense of disbanded heartache gets conveyed to the readers of the poem. Image-macros of prairie dogs take on the background for a perverse thought or desire, making that thought both a byproduct and machination of the interaction we have with the Internet. It is almost a strange love-affair where we are mental addicts to an illustrious drug. One piece that is particularly interesting pokes at this strange love-affair by inserting a new medium of transaction.

Like the purple hues taken on by most of these image poems, the melancholy state of these pieces reflect not only a longing for more classic and human connection, but a mocking tone of hopelessness toward society. Rather than become intimate in physicality, they poke at a state of lost romance/aesthetic appeal. Unlike most Alt-Lit, however, Because I’m Purple does a surprisingly good job of making Internet graffiti and uncoordinated image-mash-ups beautiful. They fully embrace the right brain and document our current state as a human race. Trying to understand Alt-Lit and making sense out of its purposeful confusion is against its very nature. It is something that rubs society against the natural grain, sometimes purposefully unappealing. To examine it as ‘art’ is almost ridiculous. As any Alt-Lit fan/creator would say after an attempt of examining Alt-Lit…LOL. Rather than embrace society and try to right its wrongs, Alt-Lit decides to laugh at the burning world.

Alt-Lit is probably the most reputable documentation of modern times.

All images are shared from BecauseImPurple.Tumblr.com

Cross-Country Skiing or Circular Exercise

When I was ten years old, my dad taught me how to cross-country ski. We went on laps through the woods in our backyard for a few weeks before I had gotten the hang of it. Once my mobility increased and my coordination was configured, we hit some trails of more difficulty. He showed me how to go up and down slopes and skirt tight corners on narrow paths. After a while, I became quite capable in my abilities and upgraded to a better pair of skis.
I always enjoyed cross-country skiing. It is often an under-recognized sport as it falls under the shadow of the more popular downhill skiing. While this Alpine sport often provides more thrill, it does not emphasis the journey as much as the destination. A ski-lift carries the skier to the top of the hill and then the skier tries to make it to the bottom of the hill as fast as possible. Wherein lies the pure enjoyment? The Nordic counterpart is all-encompassing. It is not a monotonous crawl across level surfaces, but rather a dynamic climb up, down, and around nature. In order to enjoy the cold breeze in your face as you glide down slopes, you must trek, often slowly and painstakingly, to the top of mounds. When you reach the bottom of the hill, you do not try to slow yourself to a halt, but rather incorporate your momentum into the next movement. Cross-country-skiing is an organic and enriching experience, where work may be rewarded and the process is what is enjoyable, not the successful completion of a run.
The other day, I saw a woman skiing around a cement track. She had on a very intriguing pair of skis with small wheels attached to them that allowed her to glide like traditional cross-country skis. I watched her for a moment, impressed by the dedication to the sport in the absence of snow. She passed around the track several times before I looked away. I assume this woman was skiing for the sake of exercise. Most likely desiring some sort of cardio workout, she embarked on this track to do laps to achieve a set goal for exercise. When she finished, she most likely took off her skis and went home. This made me wonder.
What is the purpose of circles? So many exercises involve reps and laps and all types of repetitive tasks. How do we gain fulfillment and enjoyment from these routines? As a left-brained society, we often find solace in the mundane and repetition is comforting, almost Zen-like. For us, exercising in a set environment for a set period of time and doing a set cycle of activities is comforting. It allows to achieve a set goal each time (i.e. 10 laps) and thus complete a 'journey.' I believe it is engrained in us, as products of a left-brained upbringing, to always reach a destination. We are taught, whether subconsciously or not, to enjoy completion, and aim for a goal.
So we go in circles. It is comforting, this cyclic existence, but where does it lead us? We prefer to downhill ski because we know when we meet an end, and do not have to face the hardships of an uphill climb. However, in order to truly find fulfillment, I think we should place emphasis on the process. We should not go in circles, but rather in a curving and arching line toward an undefined destination. We should cross-country ski. Through woods, cities, and everywhere in between.