Riprap
by Guma
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The Signature
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17:18
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Record/Vinyl + Digital AlbumTwo hot grooves, one on each side. DIY-style quarter fold artwork keeps both the cost and the price low.
Includes unlimited streaming of Riprap via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Download available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.ships out within 1 dayedition of 500Purchasable with gift card$22.22 USD or more
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift cardDownload available in 16-bit/44.1kHz.
$6.66 USD or more
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Full Digital Discography
Get all 5 Guma releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Riprap, Workingman's Guma, A List of Sightings, Guma, and Guma 2016 (2021 Remaster).
Purchasable with gift card$35.73 USD or more (20% OFF)
1. |
The Signature
17:18
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Now the fine details emerge
Blooming like saffron
At first in the shape of a point
And suddenly, everywhere
It is not easy to get to this place
In the latest moment
After the moment before itself
Preceding, as it does, the next
Containing, as all do, the potential for an end
The process becomes narrow
Such that not all moves may be necessary
Today is a well-lit day
She is in a studio apartment somewhere red-bricked and not cheap
The apartment is not furnished except for a mirror and a bed
The room is positioned such that on a well-lit day
It too is well-lit
She has been painting, and now the fine details emerge
They are unmistakeable once they appear
That is to say they are unmistakably hers
They — the artist and the way she paints — share a quality of being
She has tried to describe it and failed
She didn't choose this quality
It seemed to become itself
And to pre-date her.
The only suitable metaphor for the feeling of feeling this way
Is a stupid one, so she keeps it to herself
Try though you might, you cannot avoid the details
At some point the process becomes narrow
There are a limited number of moves to make
And not all of them may be necessary
It is a relief that the signature is pre-ordained
You must put a name on it
Or so she's been told
And after years of putting her name on things
Those things had accrued a kind of value that still seemed miraculous to her
She takes the end of the paintbrush out of the corner of her mouth
She holds it with her left hand
She is left-handed
She'd had an agent in the city
A fat man who paid her mostly in compliments
Every once in a while he would sell a painting and take a commission
They met twice a week
Once in the morning for coffee
Once in the afternoon for drinks
Sometimes on the same day
She wasn't sure if the agent had any other clients
When she thinks back, actually, she can't remember
Ever having had a conversation about business
Occasionally they found time to talk about more abstract things
He would ask her about her paintings, and she liked being asked
And she liked him because she liked that he asked her about her paintings
The artist was close, by her estimation, to achieving perfect cognitive and emotional synthesis
And it follows that the art would follow
The agent would vibrate in agreement
This was something she was proud of
It was something she had read about in a book
It was something she shared about herself in casual conversation
The feeling of this synthesis permeated everyday activities
And caused her to look down her nose at a slight angle
Back in the well-lit studio
She thinks she might be ready to paint a signature
In order for this to happen, the painting itself must be done
The signature is the last thing — or it's supposed to be —
But many things are supposed to be one way or another,
She supposes,
And sometimes they're not
On certain days that begin well-lit and become increasingly so
The signature feels impossible to do
An attention to detail she at last does not possess
It is as though the light adds imperfections to the painting
That she herself did not paint, but must now correct
The process is more narrow than ever at this time
Such that not all moves may be necessary
Her signature was not complicated
Almost anyone could have imitated it
When she was younger she played with its location on the canvas
She had tried hiding it in the painting, which was gauche
She had tried all four corners of the canvas
Believing that she was acting with the pure impartiality
Of someone who is fully synthesized
Cognitively and emotionally speaking
She eventually came to prefer to leave it in the lower left-hand corner
She had noticed that over time, the price of her attention had changed
Make a choice once, and never again, she thought
It was easier for a left-handed painter to leave it there, anyway
Wait a moment
Wait a moment
She moves to do it, just now
So quickly, she does not blink more than once
Before the signature is finished
And, as well, the painting
She has painted a masterpiece
But as the fine details emerge
They reveal a deep lack of inspiration
It is the type of painting that she has been making for a few years now
Formally correct but repetitive
Annoying in a way that is hard to describe
The scene is always of a public space
Maybe outdoors
Full of people
They are: loners, small groups, couples, children, pets, and other animals
The perspective is skewed
Always from above
The proportions are unrealistic
On a certain kind of well-lit day
Behind every expression
There is a kind of selfishness
It looks the same on every person because it is
Between one thousand and ten thousand there is no difference
In fact, she had grown tired of this painting halfway through painting it
And so: all of the people on the left side of the painting look tired
None of the people on the right side of the painting look hungry
She is hungry, she thinks, preparing to varnish the canvas
Her tiredness is in the painting, and now so is her hunger
She had poured them into the painting, along with her selfishness
And none was at all diminished in her
Like the signature they are constant
And getting drier each day.
She tries not to look at the signature
You must put a name on it, and she has
The color she had chosen was subtle against the background of the painting
Not flashy, not hidden
Fully synthesized
Now the fine details emerge,
And like compliments she pockets them
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2. |
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Charles wants to make a public service announcement
And the public service announcement will be about alcohol
He's collecting opinions today
Picture this: a montage of short testimonials
Off-the-cuff interviews
With a man on the street
Candid reactions
In a documentary style
With music that swells in appropriate places
It's a personal message, he says, about the problem of alcohol
And he does think of it as a problem
He knows that certain relationships and opportunities
Have been negatively impacted by his decision to use alcohol
He's been to meetings; to counseling; to rehab
And he is not rehabilitated
He says he drank just last night
He says this on the side of the road
Where he's pulled over and gotten out of the car
It is about 9:30 in the morning and getting hot
I am photographing a dead animal when Charles arrives
He introduces himself
He wants to make a public service announcement
It will be about alcohol
He's collecting opinions today
And the problem — aside from alcohol —
Is that no one at the grocery store would talk to him
He wants to know if he can record me talking to him about alcohol
He does not notice the dead animal
He does not notice the camera
Between two decaying things
In the road, next to the road
The smell is of decay
It has attracted an audience on the road
Myself included
With different motivations
The idea that my arrival had pre-dated Charles's
By as few as five minutes
Now seems insignificant compared to the smell
In spite of the weight of the moment
Cars can still pass, and some do
Charles steps back, and forward
He wants to make a public service announcement about alcohol
And you get the picture: testimonials; music; concise editing
Emotional delivery with no moralizing; hard facts
It's going to go something like this:
It opens on the patio
Charles is there, and a drink is on the table next to him
It might be a beer, might be a glass of something
It hasn't been touched
The glass is wet with condensation
It looks inviting, and it's supposed to
But this is a drama, or more accurately it is
A dramatic public service announcement
And so there is a central conflict expressed.
The drink and Charles are visually opposed
They sweat like enemies
Charles vs. the drink
Of course, it's really Charles vs. himself
And as he's describing it all, for a moment, it's as though it already exists
Already perfect in his mind
He transmits the perfect mind seal
And I too can see that not a frame is out of place
I imagine myself, for a moment, profoundly touched by the public service announcement
Then he'll cut in the interviews, he says
Real stories and real opinions, like mine
In this way, he hopes to use dramatic impact to reach other people
Who, like himself, may be moving at the speed of reality
Toward an invisible edge
He must be faster than that
And so the patio shoot was already booked for this evening
Wherein, according to him, the drink on the table would explode into flames
He had a guy for this kind of work
And maybe they'd blow up an entire case of beer
Between one thousand and ten thousand there is no difference.
And aside from the small problem of not getting any interviews at the grocery store
The production was on track.
On the side of the road at about 9:30 in the morning is a dead animal
I am there taking pictures of it
Or, more accurately, making a digital video
Charles is there too, and after a moment he has taken out his phone and pointed it at me
We have been talking about his public service announcement
Or, more accurately, his idea for a public service announcement
And now that the conversation has matured
He senses that a moment of opportunity is near
We have both had that feeling this morning
The birds drew me to the dead animal
I drew Charles to me
On the road, in the road
The smell is a reminder:
My mind is a charnel ground
I am holding two decaying things in it
In this place, the smell and the smelling
When true at the same time
Are the continuing-to-be
He puts three fingers in the air, then two, then one
And says, “do you think people use alcohol to try to forget something that has happened to them in the past?
Or: that people use alcohol to cope with boredom?”
And I say, “yes, exactly, I think both things can be true at the same time.”
I am holding more than two decaying things in my mind
Some of them are ideas and they do not contradict each other
Some of them are people and they do contradict each other
He says, “also I got broken up with by a girl because of it
If you didn't know”
And on camera, as in life, I had not known
I am talking about talking about making a public service announcement
I am making a public service announcement
Charles is asking the questions
And I catch myself meaning what I say
Most of the time I mean it anyway, I just don't notice
The noticing is the continuing-to-be
When true at the same time as
The meaning is the continuing-to-be
When true at the same time as
The saying is the continuing-to-be
Charles calls “cut”
He is smiling, and I think it's because he got what he wanted
Guest recognizes host
The production is on track
It's still early, but getting hot
He's going to keep me posted, he says
He walks back to the car
“Hey Charles,” I say, “Don't drink tonight.”
Host recognizes guest
Still smiling, he says, “I won't.”
For a moment he looks like a little boy
I too have been a little boy, smiling and lying
Guest and host interchange.
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credits
released June 7, 2024
Produced by T.J. Masters
Engineered by Gary Calhoun James
Mixed by Gary Calhoun James and T.J. Masters
James Gwyn - drumset
Gary Calhoun James - electric bass
T.J. Masters - Moog Grandmother, voice
Adam Ostrar - electric guitar
Sam P. Rives - Wurlitzer electric piano
Carolyn Trowbridge - vibraphone, percussion
Justin Bernard Williams - saxophone
Recorded January 16, 2023 at King Electric, Austin, TX
Voice recorded February 19, 2023 ibid.
Mastered by JJ Golden
Layout and design by Robert Carroll
Back cover photography by Greg Ciotti
All songs written by Gwyn/James/Masters/Ostrar/Rives/Trowbridge/Williams
Published by Guma University Publishing (BMI) & Guma Institute for Speculative Research (ASCAP)
Copyright 2024 Guma, all rights reserved
Produced by T.J. Masters
Engineered by Gary Calhoun James
Mixed by Gary Calhoun James and T.J. Masters
James Gwyn - drumset
Gary Calhoun James - electric bass
T.J. Masters - Moog Grandmother, voice
Adam Ostrar - electric guitar
Sam P. Rives - Wurlitzer electric piano
Carolyn Trowbridge - vibraphone, percussion
Justin Bernard Williams - saxophone
Recorded January 16, 2023 at King Electric, Austin, TX
Voice recorded February 19, 2023 ibid.
Mastered by JJ Golden
Layout and design by Robert Carroll
Back cover photography by Greg Ciotti
All songs written by Gwyn/James/Masters/Ostrar/Rives/Trowbridge/Williams
Published by Guma University Publishing (BMI) & Guma Institute for Speculative Research (ASCAP)
Copyright 2024 Guma, all rights reserved
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Guma Austin, Texas
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Jun 2024 -
Oct 2023 -
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Dec 2017 -
May 2016
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