We Dematerialise Our Lives, with photos

This  poem was written during an extended period of travel and is  illustrated with photos from those travels. I did a lot of writing and photography during that period, from 2005 to 2011, and this piece is an attempt to fuse the two. Click on the image to fill the screen.

We Dematerialise Our Lives

We dematerialise our lives. Launch into a dreamtime of tropical climes, alien sunrises, and fresh horizons of the mind. We innoculate ourselves against capital. Live in the ruins. Berries fill our basket. We gather wild flowers for the table; Keep feathered dinosaurs. Eat their eggs. We carry our lives Like a snail it’s home. We take our time We make it our own.

Going Nomad

In the fall of 2005, Magda and I decided to sell off most of our possessions and embark on an extended period of travel.

The reasons for this were many.

Magda had a distinct feeling of being stuck.

We had figured out a way to coast through our life as freelance graphic designers/artists. We had developed a well-worn, carefully cultivated, comfortable rut of routine in Toronto. Our combination of skills and our solid network of business contacts and friends assured that we would be able to maintain a subsistence level artist existence in the city, although that year we were getting a bit more in debt every month. Although our apartment and such was comfortable, there was very little social wiggle room and the resulting torpor was upsetting to Magda. This is a very frustrating situation for someone who thrives in a rich environment characterized by rapid changes.

Our personal evolution was at a standstill. We needed to shake things up.

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