THE HURRICANE COMMANDMENTS
I want to tell a story that is real,
Really real.
Remember?
Life is terribly confusing; try not to get confused.
THESE ARE THE AXES:
Bodies are inherently valid.
Remember death.
Be ugly.
Know beauty.
It is complicated.
Empathy.
Choice.
Reconstruct/Reimagine.
Respect/Negotiate.
The Beast You Feed Is the Beast That Breathes, but Don’t Forget the Beast Beneath
(I’m Building the Perfect Beast)
I’m building …
11. Remember MOMENTUM.
Whoosh! ... SPLAT!
12. Remember the avant-garde!
13. Remember dead birds!
14. Remember the bizarre!
EW! WTF?
15. Shuck me, suck me, eat me raw!
Rawwwwr!
16. You are the full spectrum.
17. Remember the kaleidoscope, the feeling of a color/a combination of colors.
18. You are absolutely nothing and absolutely everything.
19. Everyone is you. Really. Think about it.
20. Everyone is different. Think about it.
21. “What is worth doing?” & “What is worth thinking about?” (you get to decide!)
22. “Who are you?” and, most importantly, “WHY DOES IT MATTER?”
23. Be relentless and even ruthless in the conviction of your truest self.
CRASH, BANG, BOOM!
24. Our lives are real; the rules are made up.
Blur & Unblur then BLUR AGAIN! …
A Distorted Image … A Broken Bone
Break a leg!
25. People say, “You can’t love anyone until you love yourself.” THIS IS NOT TRUE.
BREAK A LEG!!!
26. When we stop trying to figure out who deserves it, love becomes easy to find and feel. This applies to our inner selves as well.
SNAP!
27. Your early life gave you heaps of shame and a splintered sense of self, hence all the different “you’s,” but it also gave you super antennas for the emotions of others. This hypervigilance can sometimes make you an absolute MESS of a person, but also a wizard-level observer. Use your observational gift without jumping to conclusions.
28. Ask people to be vulnerable and honest with you.
29. The abyss really does stare back if you stare hard enough.
30. Remember impact. (Grant yourself permission to impact and be impacted!)
31. The shock of the touch is what makes the touch linger.
On the Topic of Finger Painting / Fingering Yourself / Figuring It All Out:
32. Remember humor. You have to be able to laugh at your suffering.
HA!
33. There’s a thin line between laughter and pain. (Happiness and sadness are the same thing.)
34. Sometimes the art-viewer WANTS to be ASSAULTED by the art. Let that be an option for you and for others.
35. Fuck your tone-deaf spectacle!
BOOOO!
36. Remember depth.
37. Remember soul.
38. Remember concentration.
39. I wanted you to feel something, and you wanted to feel something.
40. Become the fun you’re seeking.
41. The answers you’re looking for are often hiding in the work you’re avoiding.
42. Remember effort and hard work, especially in personal endeavors unrelated to money or formal occupation.
43. There are cathedrals everywhere for those with the eyes to see.
44. KILL TIME.
45. Do your own research. Just because someone has a microphone doesn’t mean they’re saying the truth or saying anything worthwhile.
46. The proof is really in the pudding. Don’t forget to prove it! (If you mean it, MEAN IT!)
47. You might not like me, but I LOVE you.
48. You’re either going to love me or not know me yet. Period.
49. What does that cloud look like to you?
50. What's your favorite letter of the alphabet?
51. Remember that smell?
52. Society celebrates complacency and rewards ignorance.
53. What if the birdsong was louder than the traffic?
54. Say, out loud, “I’m excited!”
55. Get dirty.
56. Get FILTHY.
57. Touch Grass.
58. Everyone should carry the mark of their work, the wounds of their passions.
59. Remember your mother.
60. Remember diversity.
61. Be a good driver.
62. Make good use of facial expressions to convey your message.
63. Remember hand gestures.
64. Be contagious.
Feed your inner child. (You were once a child. Remember?)
That’s a stick. That’s a brick. That’s a branch.
Everything will turn out fine.
What if it doesn’t?
Remember shame.
Notice patterns, big and small.
Somebody has to do it.
HURRICANE ALEXANDER
The Storm of the Century
You NEED to put yourself out there, get in front of an audience, and SAY HOW YOU FEEL. Others will hear your voice and be grateful for the work you put in to grappling with complicated emotions and articulating them with the intention and intensity they deserve. Do not rush this process.
Embrace your noisy inner dialogue.
Now it’s starting to taste like I’m burning the battery.
Fall in love with your opinions, not because they’re right, but because you know how you’ve formed them and what they’re rooted in.
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Not everything needs to make sense. Lean into the ineffable. Do not try to be so direct all the time; you will lose touch with the unspeakable emotions that make your journey so powerful.
Clink, Clinkety, Clink-Clink
Art not only can be, but SHOULD BE controversial. That is allowed. Do not be afraid to take it there, to take it one step further.
Remember satire and “commitment to the bit.” Take note of those who “get it.”
Make time for being sad and grieving. (There’s a lot to be sad about.)
Be aware of your necessity to feel bad sometimes. We may become frustrated and lash out at people when we bottle up our anger, sadness, and darkness.
Be a specimen … of a certain nature …
SLURP THE BONE.
Avoid getting stuck in “fix-your-life” mode. You will still develop and grow without focusing too much on it.
What makes you think you’re in control? … Huh?!
Worship cleverness. Be clever with the ways you push and pull the culture. Take note of the clever minds and modes of expression that surround you and tell them you see it.
Give compliments. That is a must.
When you feel strong or unusual thoughts, write them down.
Live dangerously and be reckless (sometimes).
Change is inevitable.
Live with your wounds forward, and amaze people with the peace you maintain – External awe arising from internal perseverance.
GIVE YOURSELF GRACE!!!
Give grace to the world.
Enjoy the music.
Missing someone isn’t necessarily a problem to be solved. Learn to yearn peacefully.
Remember lightning AND thunder.
Say “I don’t care.”
Love is in the air.
You can ADORE people who also annoy the shit out of you.
Go home.
You do not need to be a character in everyone’s story. (Their loss anyway.)
You don’t always need a witness. The world keeps spinning without you. You don’t need to perform your suffering in front of others for it to be valid. Push against this urge. Your pain is valid either way.
Take full responsibility for the way you show up and the way you communicate.
I am inspired by a well-sharpened pencil.
I am inspired by a blank sheet of paper.
I am inspired by a room with no furniture.
Remember you are INTERESTING, not just INTERESTED. Living life as a chess piece is great, but sometimes you really need to be the whole board. (Even the king is a loser!) Learn new things and then share with the world.
Opportunities come when you’re not looking.
There’s no time for self-doubt. Hesitating for too long creates roadblocks.
“I’m showing you my true self, so you better do the fucking same!” Maturity means coming to terms with one’s humanness. Consider presence as an invitation.
Be verbal.
Go non-verbal.
(You’re either driving the car or getting run over by it.)
You HAVE to learn things the hard way to fully understand the urgency & significance. This is real life, don’t forget. It’s going to hurt a bit.
Vroom VROOM !!!
ALL clothing is satire.
Be naked. Remember that the journey to nudism is extremely tricky and personal.
There really is NO winning in life. There is no competition. Let that concept go.
(We ALL lost the moment we were born.)
EVERY path one might take to “get through” is HONORABLE. Do not get brainwashed into believing there is a right way to go through life.
Do not get fooled into thinking the art comes first; do not get fooled into thinking that what makes an artist an artist is the fact that they’re making art. If you manage to live the life of an artist (endless curiosity, experimentation, adventure & provocation, internal and external), the art will come naturally!
BURP!
Remember Third Spaces.
Remember cocktails.
Remember secrets.
Remember privacy.
Remember the mask. Most interactions occur between the walls we’ve built around our individual selves. Help others break down these walls by simply being yourself.
Remember guns.
Remember snow (and snowmen and snow angels!).
Remain humble and confident. Most eccentric, expressive people are either really insecure or really full of themselves. You are neither.
Remain hungry.
What now?
I’ve seen the silver fox, the hole that twists with thorns – I’ve seen the rabbit’s skin.
Exhaustion is the connective tissue of our times.
Remember the curse of creativity.
Focus on preserving your creativity; Remember that there will be a time when our artistic visions can come to fruition. Until then, we plan and we practice.
Feel now, analyse later; the poetry you want to write isn't going to just come from your head, it must be lived out. Why am I so afraid to feel my feelings fully? Society wants to keep you “comfortable,” or at least keep you chasing comfort, so that you never see how awful this manmade society really is.
EVERYONE is doing the best they can.
We earn money to spend money. Do not let money ruin your life. We ALL lose under capitalism.
Don't talk unless you have shit to say.
SHHH!
Listen.
What do you mean by that?
You must be afraid in order to be brave.
Remember alcohol abuse, poverty, and religion.
We’re all significant in some stupid way. Dream past personal significance. Expand on that.
Take pride in your skepticism! Question conventional wisdom. Keep doubting …
Yellow looks gray in the dark …
You can't see dimples in the dark …
You can't see dimples in the dark …
Remember Anarchy.
Remember Punks.
Remember Junkies.
Remember numbers, letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, stories, etc. (conceptually).
The majority of brilliant people are dead, addicts, or just barely scraping by. This world is no place for artists to thrive. But still, the world is not a safe place for anyone! The question is: Will you have the courage to be an artist?
Do you have the guts?
Read poetry.
“Something’s biting me …” (Something’s gotta bite.) (SOMETHING IS GOING TO BITE!)
EVERYONE has TONS OF SHIT that they plan/planned on doing. Life is full of unaddressed ideas, unfinished projects, disregarded intentions; get used to it.
Dancing with the Shadows / A Shadow of My Future Self /
Can Dance be Disgusting?
The solid ground of self-understanding is everything. Once you find a way to truly ACCEPT yourself, you are able to do so much more in life. Focus less on proving yourself and more on learning yourself, then go from there.
The worst art is obvious art. … Why would you EVER do something that’s already been done?
Get weird with it. You literally HAVE to be cringe sometimes.
Remember the possibility of presenting a Final Masterpiece towards the end of your life.
“I genuinely want to destroy your understanding of art itself, and also your understanding of self.” – The HURRICANE Anthem. … “I want my work to linger in a very particular, strange way. I want my work to BITE YOU, and I REALLY want you to bite back.” …
Master the art of unwinding, transitioning.
Every friendship is unique.
Keep an open mind.
Keep an open heart.
Remain well-rounded.
Remember the exhilarating experience of open space.
Be sincere, it's way harder than you think.
The last thing you’d want on your Burger King burger is someone else’s foot fungus … But as it turns out, that might be what you get.
Performative self-destruction is offensive. Call it out.
Applaud great art and great ideas. Call out the shallow, pretentious stuff.
Avoid celebrity worship at all costs. There is no millionaire or billionaire worthy of your praise.
“Cool” people are the loneliest people; they are even too cool for each other. Forget about coolness altogether. Choose a different descriptor.
Most people are really, really lonely, whether they realize it or not.
Piss in public places.
Shit at the club.
Reap what you sow.
Spit it out!
Everyone is an expansive array of contradictions. It’s okay to be this AND that, or sometimes this, sometimes that … it really depends.
It really depends.
If you don’t go to things, you don’t get invited to things.
The mainstream art world/art industry does not revolve around art at all. Real art is something completely separate from what society tries to convince us “art” is.
Remember propaganda.
What sort of content are you consuming?
There are many, many ways to be intelligent.
Some people ARE actually stupid. You just have to accept that. But don’t ever assume someone is stupid, and don’t ever assume someone is smart. Sometimes a person is very intelligent, but they cannot put a finger on how or why, or they choose to neglect that part of themselves. In that case, they simply have some maturing to do. Sometimes a person’s intelligence drives them mad, and you just have to watch them burn for a while.
Remember the beast.
Remember to protest.
Sometimes you meet people on a really bad day (for them, or for you, or for both).
Fair enough.
Try not to numb. It may seem like the easiest option to make your thoughts blurry and dull because it’s too scary to face them head-on, and you don't even know what they are. Nobody is going to face them but you.
Choose kindness.
Try to live in the moment, but carry the past and future inside you. In reality, we must carry both “lost” and “found” at all times.
Choose respect. Unleash the disrespect into/through your art and expression.
Remember the environment.
Remember climate change.
Remember the universe and outer space.
Science and math are there for us to learn, not believe in.
Remember mental illness. It is not something to be taken lightly. It is not in the past or future; real internal suffering is right here, IT’S NOW!! The goal isn’t to become stable or normal in society; the goal is to remain different and become proud and precise with our unconventional, neurodivergent selves.
It is not your fault. Avoid pointing fingers at people, including yourself.
Celebrate the body.
Remember skin contact.
Remember the phoenix.
It’s okay to rot.
Remember the furniture and feng shui.
Be ballsy.
Be brave.
Be queer.
The future is uncertain.
We must build the path forward.
Great art requires great thinking.
Try to remember.
Try to remember.
Try to remember.