COLOR MY WORLD MARCUS WISE
Marcus Wise is an artisan – a craftsman of natural objects, their patterns and their rhythms. His photographs explore the complex forms and shifting patterns of the world around us in all its rhythmic machinations. Whether frost on a windowpane or the cupolas and cornices of minute lichens and their ethereal background greens, Marcus brings us closer, to reexamine not only what we may see in these things, should we only notice them, but also the ways in which we see. Indeed, in mirrored bark, the trunks of trees, the orange nested needles on the ground, not only do we see these things. We see faces. We see ourselves. As in poetry, in which the repetition of a line is not only striking, but adds weight and meaning, just so each repeated stroke on the drum is not themere repetition of the stroke before it, each repeated phrase, or bal, is not merely “playing the same thing over and over and over again.” It is beginning again, setting in motion material and physical reaction, enacting and sustaining vibration. The first wave peak of sound is nothing in and of itself – it must be repeated again and again and again to become a wave – and with each peak the wave becomes longer, sustained, different. Under the influence of Wise’s mirrored images, one finds oneself tracing symmetries. Pattern and time, the rhythms of the natural world, are at the heart of Wise’s craft. Taken in the early morning hours prior to practicing his instrument, day after day, Wise has taken photos ofhis front room window, linking the timing of his photography to the timing of his musical practice. These frost images trace the patterned growth of ice crystals on his home’s leaded glass window panes.
Image of Wise by Dominic Howes, accompanied guitarist Dean McGraw
They are studies in mutability and the way in which particular angles of light align, unalign, and disalign with the eye, how this process shapes the ways in which we see. They are morning ragas, in a sense, rooted in the rhythmic cycle of daily hours, finding rhythmic patterns in the crystalline lattice of frost. Each image is a drum stroke struck, sustained, and struck again – a rhythmic cycle. That’s what drumming is - is always changing. -Matthew Ryan Shelton
LOOK HOW DUST-GRAINS MAKE THE SUN LOOK LIKE IT’S RAINING FIRE, OR LIKE THE WORLD-TREE IN FULL BLOOM WITH THIS AWAKE AND TALKING DUST, SO UNAWARE WHO GIVES IT BEAUTY, OR WHAT IS COMING THROUGH ITS GROWING INTELLIGENCE RUMI
As a drummer, I’ve experienced the feeling of my hands on stretched skins most of my life. The evolution brought on by this practice has crystalized my focus on the challenge of expanding the concept of entrainment. The coming together of energies that remove resistance and, in so doing, makes what seems difficult... effortless. The atoms in the air and light that make a floating dust particle shimmer in a beam of sun appear magical - this coming together of myriad circumstances - light, air gravity, floating dust. The experience of noticing this, of giving it full attention, strikes me as a gift and a mystery converging in a single moment. During the last several years I’ve added a visual dimension to my musical practice, using my camera. Harnessing my eye for textures, patterns and light with my forty plus years of music-making and the constant polishing of attention to the most minute details, I’ve embarked upon a photographic practice guided by the principles of oral traditions of musical instruction.
Training for several years under the guidance of Master conga drummer Celso Maldonado in the Afro-Cuban drum tradition gestated my long association with the high artistry of harnessing time. As a nineteen-year-old man, Sitting across from my teacher, I grew hypnotized by the trance-like experience of locking the instruments together, molding my hands to the techniquesrequired to cull out the warm, belly-pleasing sounds of the conga drums, allowing the entrainment process to merge. And suddenly, the intricate, forceful movements became easy, as if an invisible ally had joined the music. This is entrainment. In 1977 my good fortune and fate brought another teacher to me-East-Indian tabla drum master Ustad Diam Ali Qadri. We began our work together, guru/ student, and I challenged myself to add a new layer of discipline to my journey with music. I traveled to the colorful pink desert city of Jaipur, India to be initiated into the ancient practice of classical Hindustani
music. Ustad Diam Ali accepted me into his musical tradition with a ceremony, during which he tied a symbolic thread around my wrist, and I took an oath of allegiance to our shared mission. This mission, to constantly observe, respond and expand awareness and rhythm has branched into every part of my life, and inspired the images in this book. The melodic compositions of Hindustani music are called “Raga,” which translates to “coloring the mind.” Thus, my collection in this book is titled “Color My World.” - Marcus Wise, 2019
Marcus Wise is amazing. Over the last forty years he has developed a vocabulary of sounds for accompanying the spoken word, poetry. He is able to bring out the inner meaning of the images and reveal the music of the language. I feel that it is an ancient skill that he has revived. We are all very grateful for his work. - Coleman Barks
Dawn #1
Alien Craft
Gold Warrior
Entrainment in the biomusicological sense refers to the synchronization of organisms (only humans as a whole, with some particular instances of a particular animal) to an external perceived rhythm, such as human music and dance such as foot tapping.
Blue Blush
Blue Drsagon
Cosmic Drones
Dawn #3
Dust Flakes
Deep Prayer
Ecstasy
Emerald Jungle
Ice Lolly
Nectar Droppings
Internal Clock
Optimistic
Blue Swirl
Spinning Beads
Paisley Park
Pollinator
Valentine’s Day
Pink Blush
Red Mountain Climbers
Easter Eggs
New World
Bill Collector
Homer
Marcus Wise is a Renaissance man who even thinks in different time signatures: his many decade’s mastery of the intricacy of tabla has somehow metamorphosized into an artful photography that’s proving just as subtle. Extraordinary. His capacity to see has turned out to be as deep as his capacity to hear. Dr. Martin Shaw, author of Scatterlings: Getting Claimed in the Age of Amnesia
Armor
Idol
Glen
BeBe
Head Master
How The Light Gets In
Little Debbie
I’m Free
Green Lantern
Nutricious
My first time at the GMC I walked into the hall on a Saturday night and Robert Bly was reciting the poetry of Hafeez accompanied by tabla drum artist Marcus Wise and sitar player David Whetstone. I said, “Wow, I didn’t think they made this anymore.” I feel the same now after hearing sarod player Bruce Hamm, sitarist Joanna Mack and Marcus. What does that music sound like? When it starts, it’s like low ground fog that’s just kind of rolling across the ground and it comes up and surrounds you, it’s so unlike anything I know, so transformative, such a space. It’s like being lowered into a deep well in a bucket, into the underworld, down down down. And I listen to Marcus’s drumming and I think he’s like a leopard spotted psychedelic Rottweiler galloping through the Ayahuasca rain forest. And so, when we reach for description like this, you know we use metaphor, we use image to feel, to reach forward to try to grasp it, to try to touch it, to try to describe it, to try to hold it up,and we’re enriched by it. I’ve heard Bly talk about metaphor as prehensile. So another way to describe the music that we were just listening to is it’s amniotic, you float deep inside it and you don’t know anything, it’s so beautiful. - Tony Hoagland
White Head
Stretch Ur Mind
Conductor
Grandpa
Owl Man
Tree Warrior
Penguin
Ray Bans
Aquaman
Clarity
3-Dimensional
Color My World
Pool Hall
Big Bang
Mars
CAtch The Wave
Balls In The Air
Dragon Flight
Spicy
Pompoms
Scarlet Fair
Sproutful
Fortress Wall
Oak Back Mountain
Thank you Over many years my wife Jan and I have traveled to the historical Oldenburg House, adjacent to Jay Cooke State Park, in northern Minnesota. There we were graciously hosted by our dear friends Glenn, Emily, and Helen Swanson. We enjoyed countless treks into the park, along the Munger trail and St. Louis River. A good portion of my photos were taken there. Heartfelt gratitude to my close friend and mentor, Walter Spink, Professor Emeritus, History of Art, University of Michigan, with his help, guidance, and support of my artistic practice. He is the world’s leading expert on the Ajanta Caves and author of Ajanta: History and Development Volumes 1-7. Many thanks to my editors Clara DeGalan and Anna Schultz---whose professionalism and patience I so appreciate. Thank you to Edward Lentsch for making this book possible.
Index Dawn #1 15 Alien Craft 15 Gold Warrior 16 Blue Drsagon 18 Blue Blush 18 Cosmic Drones 21 Dust Flakes 22 Dawn #3 22 Ecstasy 25 Deep Prayer 25 Ice Lolly 26 Emerald Jungle 26 Internal Clock 29 Nectar Droppings 29 Optimistic 31 Blue Swirl 33 Spinning Beads 34 Delightful 34 Pollinator 37 Paisley Park 37 Pink Blush 38 Valentine’s Day 38 Red Mountain Climbers 41 New World 43 Easter Eggs 43 Homer 45 Bill Collector 45 Idol 47 Armor 47
BeBe 49 Head Master 50 How The Light Gets In 51 I’m Free 53 Little Debbie 53 Nutricious 54 Green Lantern 54 Stretch Ur Mind 59 White Head 59 Grandpa 60 Conductor 60 Owl Man 62 Tree Warrior 63 Penguin 65 Ray Bans 65 Clarity 66 Aquaman 66 3-Dimensional 68 Color My World 71 Pool Hall 71 Big Bang 72 Mars 72 Catch The Wave 75 Balls In The Air 75 Dragon Flight 76 Spicy 76 Pompoms 79 Scarlet Fair 79 Fortress Wall 80
Sproutful 80 Oak Back Mountain 83