luke kurtis's Blog, page 7
April 30, 2018
A Decade and a Half of Poetry: New book! New music!
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These new releases have been a long time coming! Over fifteen years in the making! Finally here, the immeasurable fold: selected poems 2000-2015 is ! Get a preview of the original drawings from the book above!
As a bonus, obscure mechanics, my first full-length album which I originally released on my website in 2008, has been remastered with bonus tracks and is (including embedded below)!
�
December 29, 2017
bd Year in Review 2017
2017 is almost over! We can hardly believe it. It was a busy year for bd-studios.com, and we accomplished a lot. Below are the highlights from our most significantprojects!
Glorious
We started the year off with Glorious, a zine by Michael Harren. It was aspur of the moment mini project, designed in the space of a single snow day last winter and it was only available via . The zine contained an entertaining essay true to Harren’s usual confessional-yet-humorous style. If you enjoyed Glorious, be sure to keep an eye out for a new book project from Harren in 2018!
Angkor Wat
Our most significant project of the year was, without question, luke kurtis’s multimedia Angkor Wat. With , the album (both the and versions), , , and even , this was one of the most diverse projects we’ve ever worked on. And there is more to come with some new videos in the pipeline for 2018. In the meantime, be sure to !
Just One More
was our other big project this year. We were proud to present Smyth’s work as the third entry in our ongoing line of artists� books (following Michael Tice’s Retrospective from 2013 and Michael Harren’s Tentative Armor from 2014). Smyth appeared to promote the monograph. In November, we celebrated the release with featuring Smyth in conversation with . Smyth’sunique book reflects our commitment to working with visual artists to present their work in book form.
Georgia Dusk
is a poetry and photography chapbook collaboration between Georgian/New Yorker poets Dudgrick Bevins and luke kurtis. This small book gets at the heart of their different but spiritually similar experiences of growing up queer in the rural south and the associated joys and heartbreaks of being an expatriate of your homeland. But as books go, it’s a bit of a tease and serves as a brief introduction to the younger Bevins by way of kurtis. We will release a debut solo collection by Bevins in the future, currently planned for 2018. Stay tuned for that!
Jordan’s Journey/Retrospective
In addition to the new projects above, this year we brought our catalog up-to-date too! We (finally) solved the technical issues involved in bringing out the unique in an affordable paperback edition. by Michael Tice, initially available as a hardcover title like Jordan’s Journey, is now also available as a paperback. We’re so excited to have these works in our growing lineup of affordable paperback books!
With so much accomplished in 2017, what will the new year bring? We’ve got a lot planned and we want you to be a part of it. Please help support our work by buying our books. If you’ve already purchased them, please leave a review on Amazon and ŷ. Independent publishing depends on you, our readers. And if you’re an artist or poet interested in working with us to bring your work into print, we are happy to review proposals and consider your project for a publication collaboration.
As always, thank you for your interest in our work. From luke kurtis and the rest of the bd family: Happy New Year!
bd Year in Review 2017
[image error]
2017 is almost over! We can hardly believe it. It was a busy year for bd-studios.com, and we accomplished a lot. Below are the highlights from our most significantprojects!
[image error]
Glorious
We started the year off with Glorious, a zine by Michael Harren. It was aspur of the moment mini project, designed in the space of a single snow day last winter and it was only available via . The zine contained an entertaining essay true to Harren’s usual confessional-yet-humorous style. If you enjoyed Glorious, be sure to keep an eye out for a new book project from Harren in 2018!
[image error]
Angkor Wat
Our most significant project of the year was, without question, luke kurtis’s multimedia Angkor Wat. With , the album (both the and versions), , , and even , this was one of the most diverse projects we’ve ever worked on. And there is more to come with some new videos in the pipeline for 2018. In the meantime, be sure to !
[image error]
Just One More
was our other big project this year. We were proud to present Smyth’s work as the third entry in our ongoing line of artists� books (following Michael Tice’s Retrospective from 2013 and Michael Harren’s Tentative Armor from 2014). Smyth appeared to promote the monograph. In November, we celebrated the release with featuring Smyth in conversation with . Smyth’sunique book reflects our commitment to working with visual artists to present their work in book form.
[image error]
Georgia Dusk
is a poetry and photography chapbook collaboration between Georgian/New Yorker poets Dudgrick Bevins and luke kurtis. This small book gets at the heart of their different but spiritually similar experiences of growing up queer in the rural south and the associated joys and heartbreaks of being an expatriate of your homeland. But as books go, it’s a bit of a tease and serves as a brief introduction to the younger Bevins by way of kurtis. We will release a debut solo collection by Bevins in the future, currently planned for 2018. Stay tuned for that!
[image error]
Jordan’s Journey/Retrospective
In addition to the new projects above, this year we brought our catalog up-to-date too! We (finally) solved the technical issues involved in bringing out the unique in an affordable paperback edition. by Michael Tice, initially available as a hardcover title like Jordan’s Journey, is now also available as a paperback. We’re so excited to have these works in our growing lineup of affordable paperback books!
With so much accomplished in 2017, what will the new year bring? We’ve got a lot planned and we want you to be a part of it. Please help support our work by buying our books. If you’ve already purchased them, please leave a review on Amazon and ŷ. Independent publishing depends on you, our readers. And if you’re an artist or poet interested in working with us to bring your work into print, we are happy to review proposals and consider your project for a publication collaboration.
As always, thank you for your interest in our work. From luke kurtis and the rest of the bd family: Happy New Year!
bd Year in Review 2017
[image error]
2017 is almost over! We can hardly believe it. It was a busy year for bd-studios.com, and we accomplished a lot. Below are the highlights from our most significantprojects!
[image error]
Glorious
We started the year off with Glorious, a zine by Michael Harren. It was aspur of the moment mini project, designed in the space of a single snow day last winter and it was only available via . The zine contained an entertaining essay true to Harren’s usual confessional-yet-humorous style. If you enjoyed Glorious, be sure to keep an eye out for a new book project from Harren in 2018!
[image error]
Angkor Wat
Our most significant project of the year was, without question, luke kurtis’s multimedia Angkor Wat. With , the album (both the and versions), , , and even , this was one of the most diverse projects we’ve ever worked on. And there is more to come with some new videos in the pipeline for 2018. In the meantime, be sure to !
[image error]
Just One More
was our other big project this year. We were proud to present Smyth’s work as the third entry in our ongoing line of artists� books (following Michael Tice’s Retrospective from 2013 and Michael Harren’s Tentative Armor from 2014). Smyth appeared to promote the monograph. In November, we celebrated the release with featuring Smyth in conversation with . Smyth’sunique book reflects our commitment to working with visual artists to present their work in book form.
[image error]
Georgia Dusk
is a poetry and photography chapbook collaboration between Georgian/New Yorker poets Dudgrick Bevins and luke kurtis. This small book gets at the heart of their different but spiritually similar experiences of growing up queer in the rural south and the associated joys and heartbreaks of being an expatriate of your homeland. But as books go, it’s a bit of a tease and serves as a brief introduction to the younger Bevins by way of kurtis. We will release a debut solo collection by Bevins in the future, currently planned for 2018. Stay tuned for that!
[image error]
Jordan’s Journey/Retrospective
In addition to the new projects above, this year we brought our catalog up-to-date too! We (finally) solved the technical issues involved in bringing out the unique in an affordable paperback edition. by Michael Tice, initially available as a hardcover title like Jordan’s Journey, is now also available as a paperback. We’re so excited to have these works in our growing lineup of affordable paperback books!
With so much accomplished in 2017, what will the new year bring? We’ve got a lot planned and we want you to be a part of it. Please help support our work by buying our books. If you’ve already purchased them, please leave a review on Amazon and ŷ. Independent publishing depends on you, our readers. And if you’re an artist or poet interested in working with us to bring your work into print, we are happy to review proposals and consider your project for a publication collaboration.
As always, thank you for your interest in our work. From luke kurtis and the rest of the bd family: Happy New Year!
bd Year in Review 2017
[image error]
2017 is almost over! We can hardly believe it. It was a busy year for bd-studios.com, and we accomplished a lot. Below are the highlights from our most significantprojects!
[image error]
Glorious
We started the year off with Glorious, a zine by Michael Harren. It was aspur of the moment mini project, designed in the space of a single snow day last winter and it was only available via . The zine contained an entertaining essay true to Harren’s usual confessional-yet-humorous style. If you enjoyed Glorious, be sure to keep an eye out for a new book project from Harren in 2018!
[image error]
Angkor Wat
Our most significant project of the year was, without question, luke kurtis’s multimedia Angkor Wat. With , the album (both the and versions), , , and even , this was one of the most diverse projects we’ve ever worked on. And there is more to come with some new videos in the pipeline for 2018. In the meantime, be sure to !
[image error]
Just One More
was our other big project this year. We were proud to present Smyth’s work as the third entry in our ongoing line of artists� books (following Michael Tice’s Retrospective from 2013 and Michael Harren’s Tentative Armor from 2014). Smyth appeared to promote the monograph. In November, we celebrated the release with featuring Smyth in conversation with . Smyth’sunique book reflects our commitment to working with visual artists to present their work in book form.
[image error]
Georgia Dusk
is a poetry and photography chapbook collaboration between Georgian/New Yorker poets Dudgrick Bevins and luke kurtis. This small book gets at the heart of their different but spiritually similar experiences of growing up queer in the rural south and the associated joys and heartbreaks of being an expatriate of your homeland. But as books go, it’s a bit of a tease and serves as a brief introduction to the younger Bevins by way of kurtis. We will release a debut solo collection by Bevins in the future, currently planned for 2018. Stay tuned for that!
[image error]
Jordan’s Journey/Retrospective
In addition to the new projects above, this year we brought our catalog up-to-date too! We (finally) solved the technical issues involved in bringing out the unique in an affordable paperback edition. by Michael Tice, initially available as a hardcover title like Jordan’s Journey, is now also available as a paperback. We’re so excited to have these works in our growing lineup of affordable paperback books!
With so much accomplished in 2017, what will the new year bring? We’ve got a lot planned and we want you to be a part of it. Please help support our work by buying our books. If you’ve already purchased them, please leave a review on Amazon and ŷ. Independent publishing depends on you, our readers. And if you’re an artist or poet interested in working with us to bring your work into print, we are happy to review proposals and consider your project for a publication collaboration.
As always, thank you for your interest in our work. From luke kurtis and the rest of the bd family: Happy New Year!
bd Year in Review 2017
[image error]
2017 is almost over! We can hardly believe it. It was a busy year for bd-studios.com, and we accomplished a lot. Below are the highlights from our most significantprojects!
[image error]
Glorious
We started the year off with Glorious, a zine by Michael Harren. It was aspur of the moment mini project, designed in the space of a single snow day last winter and it was only available via . The zine contained an entertaining essay true to Harren’s usual confessional-yet-humorous style. If you enjoyed Glorious, be sure to keep an eye out for a new book project from Harren in 2018!
[image error]
Angkor Wat
Our most significant project of the year was, without question, luke kurtis’s multimedia Angkor Wat. With , the album (both the and versions), , , and even , this was one of the most diverse projects we’ve ever worked on. And there is more to come with some new videos in the pipeline for 2018. In the meantime, be sure to !
[image error]
Just One More
was our other big project this year. We were proud to present Smyth’s work as the third entry in our ongoing line of artists� books (following Michael Tice’s Retrospective from 2013 and Michael Harren’s Tentative Armor from 2014). Smyth appeared to promote the monograph. In November, we celebrated the release with featuring Smyth in conversation with . Smyth’sunique book reflects our commitment to working with visual artists to present their work in book form.
[image error]
Georgia Dusk
is a poetry and photography chapbook collaboration between Georgian/New Yorker poets Dudgrick Bevins and luke kurtis. This small book gets at the heart of their different but spiritually similar experiences of growing up queer in the rural south and the associated joys and heartbreaks of being an expatriate of your homeland. But as books go, it’s a bit of a tease and serves as a brief introduction to the younger Bevins by way of kurtis. We will release a debut solo collection by Bevins in the future, currently planned for 2018. Stay tuned for that!
[image error]
Jordan’s Journey/Retrospective
In addition to the new projects above, this year we brought our catalog up-to-date too! We (finally) solved the technical issues involved in bringing out the unique in an affordable paperback edition. by Michael Tice, initially available as a hardcover title like Jordan’s Journey, is now also available as a paperback. We’re so excited to have these works in our growing lineup of affordable paperback books!
With so much accomplished in 2017, what will the new year bring? We’ve got a lot planned and we want you to be a part of it. Please help support our work by buying our books. If you’ve already purchased them, please leave a review on Amazon and ŷ. Independent publishing depends on you, our readers. And if you’re an artist or poet interested in working with us to bring your work into print, we are happy to review proposals and consider your project for a publication collaboration.
As always, thank you for your interest in our work. From luke kurtis and the rest of the bd family: Happy New Year!
October 30, 2017
Only the Beginning
In , I wrote in the “ancient hall� poem, “this is only the beginning.� When I wrote that line, I had no idea just how prophetic a statement it was. Not only did I end up writing the entire book and album as they exist now, but I also traveled back to Cambodia a second time to do so. And now I am here for the third time. This time it wasn’t my book that brought me here, but my charity work for Cambodian Children’s Destiny. Today I visited the school in person for the first time. I have to admit that I haven’t been able to put the experience into words just yet. It’s so hard to describe what life is like in Cambodia. You have to see it for yourself. And, even then, the more I see, the more I realize that I never really understood it at all. The truth is that I probably never will understand it. That’s how different things are here. What I can say with certainty, though, is that I–and all of you back home reading this–are incredibly privileged. I know it’s hard for you to see that sitting where you are. It was hard for me to see it too. But from where I’m at right now, it’s perfectly clear.
“This is only the beginning,� indeed. I don’t know where I’m headed. I don’t know what will come next. But I know the things I have experienced have changed me. I will never be able to look at life and the world the same way again. And for that, I am eternally grateful.
October 29, 2017
Back in Cambodia!
Dear friends,
I decided I would make posts here to keep you in the loop in “real time� about my work in Cambodia. I just arrived in Siem Reap a few hours ago. After a more than 24 hour journey, I am, of course, beat. So at the moment I’m just relaxing for a bit and trying to adjust to the new time, new place, new� everything! But I’ve got to break through the jet lag so while I may have a brief nap, I have to make myself stay awake until a reasonable hour. You fellow travelers know what that’s like!
In the meantime, I’ve already connected with one of the monks with whom I am working. I’m heading over to Wat Preah Prom Rath to meet him and to chant with the monks. I did this a couple of times when I was here last year, and it was one of the most meaningful parts of my trip. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Then tomorrow the plan is to visit Cambodia Children’s Destiny, the school many of you helped me support. It’s about an hour ride out of Siem Reap via tuk-tuk. I am excited to go and meet the children.
I have also brought some old laptops that I am donating to the school. I didn’t talk about that as part of my original fundraising campaign because I wasn’t sure how the logistics were going to work out. But I did figure it out, and I lugged four laptops all the way from NYC to Siem Reap. These machines will be useful for students, teachers, and monks. I am leaving it to the monks, of course, to decide how best to use them. It’s just a small thing, but it’s one unique way I could help make a difference. You and I take having laptops for granted. People in Cambodia don’t have that luxury.
I’ll do my best to keep you posted about my visit to the school. Thanks for your support for helping make this happen. Having you at my back helps keep me going. Together we can make a difference in the world!
Love,
l.k.
p.s. Follow me at @lukekurtis over on Instagram if you’re not already. I’ve already started posting photo updates there as well as “story� updates, which I will continue to do as I travel
August 7, 2017
electric wire video single out now
I’m so happy to share with you electric wire, the first video single from my Angkor Wat book and album. electric wire represents the genesis of the entire project, it being the first poem I wrote during my first visit to Siem Reap. It’s based on my experience of exploring the town and the things I experienced and saw there. The video is a visual interpretation of the poem (and the experiences it describes). There’s also an electric wirezine and even totebag you can get as gifts over at . Check it out and enjoy.
August 3, 2017
Read luke kurtis’s new book and support children in Cambodia
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Dear Friends,
I’m writing to tell you about my latest project. Angkor Wat is a poetry/photography book and spoken word album based on my travels in Cambodia. If you follow me online, you may have seen some of my photos from those trips last year as they happened. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. My book is a major project and is what sparked my second pilgrimage to the Far East, which I did by myself in December of 2016. In that sense, this is the biggest project I have ever undertaken. And even though the book and accompanying album are out now—and I hope you will read and listen to them—I am not done.
When I was in Cambodia, I met a monk named Sokhun. Sokhun and I had an immediate connection because he is a poet like me. He’s also into computers and teaches computer skills, as well as English, to several hundred students in a school he founded in the rural area where he grew up. Our common interests of poetry and technology helped things get off to a great start, and I now feel blessed to call him my friend.
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One day, after I returned home from my travels, I asked Sokhun about the needs of his school and if there was any way I could help. You see, one of the things I learned in Cambodia is that the government does not provide free public education. Children have to pay fees to go to public school. This means many children see the short term benefits of begging for money from tourists over the long term benefits of going to school. You know as well as I that education is of fundamental importance to the future of all people, even here in the USA. But education is of particular significance in a developing nation like Cambodia, particularly when you consider the country’s recent history of war and genocide. Every single person running the government today had to start from scratch, with no one still alive who had the education much less the experience to run a functioning government. There’s a reason we call what happened in Cambodia Year Zero. That’s why making sure today’s young Cambodians have access to education is not only important but absolutely critical.
Sokhun’s school is called Cambodia Children’s Destiny. The organization is an NGO that he co-founded with other monks who also grew up in the area. The goal is for the school to eventually become self-sustaining, but in these early stages they still depend on outside funding, which primarily comes from people like you and me in the USA and Australia.
Right now CCD’s biggest need is shelter. While they do have classrooms, the walls are constructed of bamboo and are open to the elements. This becomes a problem during the rainy season of the year when the classrooms become uncontrollably wet. Can you imagine trying to have class while constant rain blows through the walls?
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I asked Sokhun how much it would cost to construct classroom walls. He gave me this budget for the walls (as well as some other needs) for two classrooms:
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I was floored. Less than 500 USD would create permanent and meaningful change in the lives of hundreds of students, students who are working hard to learn skills that will help them advance in life.
I thought carefully about that.
“You mean, for only 500 dollars I can impact the future of more children than were in my entire elementary school growing up? I can have a positive influence on the future of an entire developing nation?�
That’s when I realized, not only can I make this kind of difference, but you can too!
I decided that I would use my Angkor Wat project to do a fundraiser. I’m using Indiegogo’s Generosity platform to organize everything. I invite you to visit my page there via this link, where you can get my book, my album, and much more as gifts for your generous contribution:
After the fundraiser, I am going back to Cambodia later this year. I will visit the school and meet the children we are supporting. I may be just a humble poet and artist but I am determined to step forward and use my work to do whatever I can to help make the world a better place. I’m asking for your support to help me do that.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about the work I am doing. I hope that you will join me to help make the world a better place.
As they say in Cambodia: អរគុ� (arkoun/thank you).
Best,
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luke kurtis
