Burros Bite! at AROHO

At AROHO I met so so many cool women who were at all different points in their careers. One of the participating writers was Sandra Jean Ceas ( http://www.sandrajeanceas.com/). The whole point of her art work is not to make any money; she builds her installations only to dismantle them. Her intention is not to create archival work, but to create community. Her goal is to involve others, bring them together. That’s her art.

One day as I was walking to the dining hall at Ghost Ranch http://www.ghostranch.org/ where the AROHO retreat was held, walking past the prayer labyrinth and a barbed-wire enclosure warning Burros Bite!, I paused for a second to dwell on Sandra Jean. For many of my readers you’ve noticed that at times I grumble about being poor, about free content, about publishing being a bit of a joke. No one is making money. Okay, maybe the celebrity authors. The world of publishing is becoming anachronistic. Someday a child will ask, Mommy what’s a book? Just like kids these days are confused by old technology—You mean you used to have to cart all these CDs around with you? The extent of video games was Mario and PacMan!? You mean you don’t have a chip embedded in your brain?

It gets scary, the pace of change.

So back to Burros Bite! I stood there under the New Mexico sun, humbled by the expansive blue sky above me and Sandra Jean. Truthfully what she does could be called pure. I asked myself how often do I write without a long view of publication. Never. As soon as a piece has landed on paper, I immediately think about where it might fit.

Even as I stood by the labyrinth, I knew I wanted to blog about Sandra Jean and the audacity of making art that just is.

also check out http://www.susasilvermarie.com/ 

my new best friend, really they're ALL my favorites