Water in Boxes

done

2009-01-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

made a valiant effort to put more of these up, but got busy. finished grad school, went running a bunch. idea kind of lost steam in my head, too. glad i did what i did, though. hopefully will have new blog soon. still have ideas. still bad at drawing. thanks for reading this, if you enjoyed it at all. sincerely,
matt

graveyard

2008-11-18T09:12:00.001-08:00

this was a square done by rene k, depicting the time we got into a car accident that was my fault. no major injuries, but she bumped her head pretty hard and was freaked out; made a trip to the hospital. i haven't put this square up, and don't think i will anytime soon. i'm kinda getting bored of this project. i think i'll put up a few more key ones and then be done with it.

Hecho

2008-11-15T10:42:00.000-08:00

this is a square done by a kid named nick, i think. pretty neat, and i put it in my neighborhood. it was in a good spot, by a baseball field, and then it blew away pretty quickly, as i saw it on the ground the next day like 2 blocks away. i didn't pick it up, but imaged some kid picking it up and thinking it was cool and bringing it home. prolly not, but it's nice to daydream.

God is Blue & No One Stops

2008-11-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

two more by kyle castillo. his squares were some of my favorites, he had quite a knack for being smart with a pen, minimalism at times but just straight graffiti at others. these are one cottage street, just down from macy's etc. i was talking to mary jessica (emjayok.blogspot.com) that i really don't talk to him since he's moved, and that sucks. i think it's because i always suspected (and think it's probably true) that he was [edit], years ago, but now i really don't care, and even would feel closer to him now because of it. pure hearsay, now, so it matters not. "when we are forced to look back, we never really know".

beer and tradition

2008-11-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

a square by "steve", which steve i don't really know. and the menorah by reuben, i think. posted near the casebeer's house, cordially referred to as 'stab mountain' these days. the symbolism of the menorah meaning (to me) family and tradition, that which is spearheaded in this scene by the casebeer brothers, two of the most awesome and honest guys to be a part of (not to mention basically construct) our current little scene. the symbolism of the beer square is quite apparent. this one is dedicated to the casebeers, may they live in flagstaff high above our lovely conceptions of drama and complication.

gate keepers

2008-10-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

these, done by reuben j again, look kind of like a couple. put on two poles that tend to a super house downtown that i never noticed until this summer when a friend pointed it out. i'm pretty sure these squares are down already.

Margaret

2008-10-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

this is a square by an unknown author. i put it up on birch street, right near where meg used to live. i really liked her apartment. i wish meg drew some squares, they would have been very very beautiful. i hope to see her soon.

dupont & verde

2008-10-15T10:59:00.000-07:00

i've lived around here a couple times in the last few years, and i used to run around this square block over and over with ryan narce in the winter to try and get into shape. it was fun, but it was really hard to keep running in circles; i'd much rather mix it up and just run in a straight line and back. which is what i've been doing now, paralleling the tracks, just west of lower coconino. this really has nothing to do with the square i put up here, but i have no fucking idea what it says anyways. (kyle c).

I Love Flagstaff?

2008-10-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

i DO love it here, but i'm already feeling the itch to leave, so soon. but i know i'll be back. it's just so small, you know? sobriety especially tells different tales. an alcoholic lives forever within the thin altitudinal grip. these squares are at a new bus stop that was once a dirt lot. this area is going to change A LOT in the next 5 years or so, maybe less. development is essential to growth, which is why we should move away, even for a moment, if not for good. small square was done by me, larger one i don't know. got the train in the background, too, and the mountain amidst concrete. staples hurt wood, no matter how dead or unloved.

Kay Cue

2008-10-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

HAIL MARY: fuzz of sass, full. 'A dreaded sunny day, so i meet you at the cemetery gates, Keats and Yeats are on your side, While Wilde is on mine. So we go inside and we gravely read the stones, all those people, all those lives, where are they now?' Posted on a strange sunny day that featured rain clouds breaking through with uncertainty. It's posted between the compound and the old hive, drawn by Kaelen Q, drawn when i lived with her in D Manor.

just my room

2008-10-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

up in my room, no reason i picked any of these in particular. one by jeff, some by rene, some by me, others i don't know. that is all.

criminal

2008-10-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

this is one of the 2 squares done by eric. he thinks it's really shitty, hence told me to not put it up. though i did anyways, with him in the background, as you can see in the lower picture. i think it's a neat square. and you can see, previous squares are fading (the one above it on the same pole was the first one i put up, a couple months ago). they're staying up, though, somewhat, in certain places. which leads me to question whether or not this could be considered a criminal act, putting this shit up around town. are telephone poles public property? they should be. regardless, i'm still doing it, but definitely in the bright sun of day, not being shady at all. one of the first ones i put up, right by the hospital (the heart square below), is still up, or was last time i was up there. and "irregardless", all this shit is documented, so if there is a case against me, evidence will not be hard to find at all. whatevs, life is art. ask logan.

Posit

2008-09-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

Human faces have the quality where they look much better when they're happy, in a good mood, optimistic. If someone likes you they look better. My ex-girlfriend looked very unattractive to me when she was pissed or upset. When she was happy she was gorgeous. No, not her. HER. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder to the fact that you understand this, that you put it out when it should be out there. When it's felt. When it's not, plastic faces change into flesh that just doesn't tempt. Square by Reuben J.

(L)V

2008-09-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

I stayed in the V last night and missed a big roommate fight. but i had a lovely time, eating sandwiches (depicted in one square), drinking beer with hearts on sweaters and heads off (depicted in another square). dani b, dani b.....

SQUARES BY KYLE CASTILLO (stapled in the alley behind the monte vista hotel and spirits lounge)

L8's

2008-09-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

PABST BLUE SKYS: put up 3 squares about pabst in the alley that's part of the walk to the green room, of ladies 80's fame. one by eric p, one by kyle c, one by katrina s. i think. take it for what you will. this fucking town runs on pabst, as do most others.

why not?

emergency post

2008-09-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

a square by heather p, a cute little love truck. put up on cottage street, just down from a friends house and next to a women's shelter. and it's always friends who say it best:

"RESTRAINT STRIKES TWICE!! in that you’re just about emptied out and you try to sensibly convince all of your friends that this, and not some linear, defensible, and cogent recounting of your life’s recent events, is actually EXACTLY where you are mentally right now. you’ve got the manic depression, but you’re not fucking van gogh or kurt cobain, a double edged sword, because you’ll never make anything of value in your life, despite an intellectual and emotional edge, but you’ll also not blow your brains out onto the carpet."

HAPPY FUCKING EMERGENCY

reuben lives here again.

2008-09-11T17:17:00.001-07:00

so rejoice in the fact of fake beards and eye-gouged crust that forms like stubble! we make a mockery of blood and analogize it so much that it becomes air, though the substances are the same anyways. imagine the bottom picture's background, getting a nice libation at the ol' pay n' take, slamming it so hard that teeth shatter on glass, then only throwing up to the fact that you've just funneled a pint of blood rather than poison. take the late afternoon alley death crawl to the 'kind connection 2' and purchase and smoke salvia before your head pops off. then it does, and strangers gouge your eyes out with pure emotion, strict sunlight and blunt trash. make sure your headphones are secure.

(this is dedicated to reuben's fucked up sense of humor, which actually does come out at moments)

(squares drawn by reuben j)

(obviously)

ihywypbb

2008-09-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

square by phil b, a lovely pirate guy put up just down from his house, owl barn, also resided in by marty and donny. not much to say now, so i'll just follow with a pointless square that i drew, and that i put up near mary j's new house. not much to meaning these days:

good eggs

2008-09-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

"ok so check this out, the hens, the girls, must have a collective consciousness. as i type, i am watching my two girls, 2 feet from each other, facing AWAY from each other. they are primming themselves before sundown, when they will climb into a tree branch outside my window and make cute sounds. anyways, they are mirroring each other in their primming without seeing eachother. feathers all fluffed, one head to the left, the other does the same. to the chest, the other the same. fluff your back side, the other the same. and so on. this has been going on for at least 15 minutes, mirrored. feet to beak, mirror. beak to tail, mirror. at the same time. good eggs."

square by ben, put up on the post on leroux and benton right by keith's house. words by keri.

House of Stewart

2008-09-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

squares put up from those associated with this house, which housed many friends and foes in the years, such as: kevin i, wes w, rene k, robert n, eric p, cate z, etc. i slept in there a couple times, tripped on whiskey and rats, shitty movies and vats of beer. i was pretty peripheral to the place, too. these specific drawings were done by rene k (bird) and kevin i (plane) and now border the house on 2 sides, the house that is now inhabited by strangers mostly, as most have moved out and on.

[the bird looks worried; the plane looks proud and jingoist. again, this is community art, projective, and not about art that is 'good' or 'new' or 'relevant' (though i do think much of it is), but rather about documenting a small group of friends who live in a very cute little mountain town. or at least used to. these squares, as all others, will fly and will fall.]

just a reminder.

Peña

2008-08-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

"colorido por afuera"

"negro por adentro"

colorful on the outside, black on the inside? maybe my translation is wrong. sounds right, though, considering celeste p's steadfast cynicism. this is put in front of the verde apartments, where we both lived for a year of our lives, with tony and kaelen, jon, katrina, etc. celeste is now in yuma, i believe, and remains to this day one personality that is always welcome where i am. terrible that i never see her much anymore. and today, this shit happens to her? black insides are deserved of others, namely the pricks who did this.

Pedro Dia [Pete Day]

2008-08-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

i drew this shitty one of "flowers", and i like it, kinda. i put it in front of pete's house because of the obvious beautiful flowers that have taken over the property during our lush monsoon season. i put more pictures on this one so you can get an idea of just how awesome pete's front yard is these days. the backyard is just as nice; i was on a work break from the home across the street and saw ash play a few songs while sitting on a rock amidst all of these awkwardly long sunflowers. it was very striking. and these weeds are EVERYWHERE in this town, in some places FIELDS of them. i feel the square is best captured here, and i hope it stays up through the winter, until next summer, even if the sharpie fades into dull grey, a math-hue. come look at it, but don't wake pete. unless you're a dream.

opinion

2008-08-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

the other one done by neesha, put up at macy's, just a few planters down. they compliment the scenery well. when i stapled it, a guy sat at the table i was at and watched me do it whilst being enthralled by the artistic beauty. he said, "who did this? this is some of the best i've seen," i think referring to artwork. i kind of agree; it's very nice to look at.

house

2008-08-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

"my eyes have wings that people say is purple, but they're just black, black eyes," i heard into a cell phone, out of my ears via voicemail. this square is not even square, as drawn upon a couple cardboards, by max. stapled near the house they lived in, joe, max, eric, darren, caleb, aaron, etc. it has since been broken up, tagged upon its insides, gutted from above. moved upon and out. a shell of it's body. on to larger and darker things. breath. breathe. smoke squares.

portrait

2008-08-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

this one was done by neesha o, a person who i knew briefly in a couple different contexts. it goes well with the scenery and the plants, which is why i put it here. i really have no idea if she goes to macy's now, though i'm sure she does sometimes. there's also a red one of similar style, that i'll probably put up at a later date to compliment it. that's all for now, i guess. (sorry for the lack of creative writing with these, perhaps it'll come with more free time).

forest winders

2008-08-18T16:27:00.000-07:00

this was drawn by forest and is now put up right in front of his old room, the one that he lived in when i first met him and hung out with him a lot. it was a cute apartment with 4 rooms, all rented out separately. he lived with many nice people, including the now deceased man so affectionately referred to as forest's "war vet". his drugs made one as confused as the themes in this square. the apartment is just around the corner from where i live now, and it's interesting to revisit this area in a totally different head space and context. forest and i have been through a lot in the years that i've known him, and i feel the rainbow of colors in this square can't even come close to touching that range. so why try here? some things are just personal, that's all.

doomed & damned

2008-08-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

this square was by reuben j. he did many original squares, and this first one i put up from him is just him copying shit off a video cassette. i think this one will come down soon, as it's just on a commonplace section of wood where people post fliers, which is outside of dara thai (where rene k used to work). but that's the point of these squares being up, is that they are totally transitory. some will stay up for a minute, or some will stay up through the winter. those that stand the test of time will be irrelevant. the diamond square below is already down; i believe the owners of the house nearby just didn't like it. which is fine by me. these squares stood for a time that is gone, and this post and release is not to destroy, but rather to remember and give to the community, no matter how unappreciated or enshrined or shriveled or absent. just enjoy what you have right now.

one more week in this apartment

2008-08-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

this is a tree drawn by rene k, posted onto a tree near the old apartment of rene k and robert n. i figured a tree was appropriate here, with the tree as a symbol of family, as 1) rene's various family members have lived in this neighborhood for some time, her mom still lives just around the corner, and 2) probably the closest rene's been to a nice family situation separate from her family was in this apartment, with robert and her dog, which i consequently contributed to breaking up. the tree in the picture looks very beautiful, but still shaken, leaves falling in a fast steady pattern. perhaps it's just an erratic fall.

life on mars

2008-08-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

this is from jeff and heather, the cutest couple in prescott. jeff drew this in response to the wall ("draw!") and heather drew the blood one for some reason. i put it on mars hill, the little overlook in flagstaff, right by lowell observatory. past this stump is the best view of flagstaff from within the city limits. and what better squares to put up there than those drawn by people who are never in town? nonetheless, their impact is felt, which is why i put them up there. next time you're making out in the dark in a car up here, please, think of anything but.

over-exaggerative

2008-08-07T00:12:00.000-07:00

as in my blog heading. as in so much of art in general, these days & historically. as in pizza slices, eyes eating mouths. as if heartbreaks could even touch the surface of holocaust?!?!?! but fuck, at the time, we really really really think it does. the red medicine of pizza sauce translates to t-cells, son.

this square was by kyle c, and i agree with it fully.

[NOTE: background is nimarco's pizza. with all pictures on this blog: click to make larger.]

public and cheap

2008-08-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

like cardboard diamonds! i can't remember the author of this particular square, but i felt it did well down the street from me amongst this monsoon brush. i feel the staple through wood in the fact that art (my art, or any art whatsoever) is simply a function of the human involved, that particular humans use art only to modify their environment. (art is everywhere and art IS life, no imitation required, all that is labeled as art is only one human's interpretation of perception and beauty). so i say: if you like this blog, you do it through me, as a conduit, and if you think this blog is cheapening human interaction and behavior, then you have lost or are losing touch with me. which is perfectly ok, too. it happens. love,

matt

my new temporary residence

2008-08-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

this square was done by me. it's a 'q and not u', as is the web address of this blog. i still tend to think that 'q and not u' is one of the better bands of the last ten years. this house is me and 6 other dudes, cheap rent, lots of bikes, plenty of music, lots of drinking and not much sleep. a decent amount of mess and smell, but it's in a quite lovely way. i tend to heart my hive no matter where i am, with this being no exception. my only hope is that the smell of rowdy boys doesn't drive away girls who have a long drive ahead of them. "I heart my hive".

FIRE (hearts are for hospitals)

2008-08-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

this square was drawn by rene k at the height of our relationship, i'd say. i put it by the hospital's emergency department because of the memories held within it. my first ex worked in there, and is now a nurse in tucson; rene and i were in there for a car-totaling accident; i bawled my eyes out there this summer as i took in a sick friend who also used to work at the hospital. i reflected upon all this, as well, when i just visited a friend who had surgery there about a week ago. i rode in the rain up to the hospital and knew i'd post this square here, and knew that same rain would knock it down after too long. but i'm ok with that. the square reads:

"MURKY - LABORIOUS - GUILT-RIDDEN - DECEITFUL - MANIPULATIVE - STICKY - EXHAUSTING - MASOCHISTIC - OVERWHELMING - STUPID - CLICHE - TEDIOUS - AMAZING - SMOOTH - COMFORTING - DELICIOUS - WARM - AFFIRMING - INVIGORATING - SWEET - PERFECT - SENSUAL - OPEN - UNABASHED - VULNERABLE - SECURE - PASSIONATE - EYES - SHAMELESS - SWEATY - WONDERFUL - BRAZEN - HAPPY - ADORING - ACCEPTING - BEAUTIFUL - NAKED - DIVINE - SIMPLE - INFINITE - TANGY - YOU - ME - BLESSED - DAMNED - LIMITLESS - REBORN - SAFE - ADVENTUROUS - PURE - SEXY - UNBELIEVABLE - BREATHY - ALL-ENCOMPASSING - THIS - IS - LOVE - - - - - - - - - - -"

AIM

2008-07-29T23:15:00.000-07:00

i decided to post all of this shit as a way to bring closure to a particular time but also to celebrate everyday art. from roughly the vernal equinox of '06 until spring graduation '07, the residence at 537 s o'leary (apt 3) was inhabited by rene k, reuben j, and quite often matt d. due to an idea borne by jeff l (prescott, az), we started drawing on cardboard squares, approximately 8"x8", and putting them on the wall. the first one up was drawn in sharpie, quite eloquently as well, by jeff l. since then, we collectively drew many, and everyone who we had over was somewhat forced into drawing something onto our standardized box chunks, which were mostly from pizza boxes and wine crates. we strove for a cross section of local art created by people who do and don't consider themselves artists.

since last summer, the tenants have gone their seperate ways but the wall of squares has stayed intact and was even allowed to grow due to newer tenants, ms mary jessica m and ms lindsay k. furthermore, they have recently moved, and i've decided to do what i've always wanted to do with the squares, and that is to staple them on telephone poles around town. many of the squares bring back quite fond and fleeting memmories, so i've decided to post them in meaningful spots, then to take their picture and post it on here with a brief explanation of the square and it's personal significance. every square will not be blogged about, as there are perhaps a couple hundred in my possession. if anyone would like to pick out one they've done or a friend of theirs has done, then please contact me and/or post whatever you can/will onto this blog. i am very excited about writing these captions, and remembering a very strange and lovely time in my life. thanks for reading, i guess.