Tony Palms – Visual Artist

 

I remember downloading John Cage’s 4’33” from iTunes. It was hilarious. A stretch of silence. Foundation of sounds.

I like music that creates a curiosity, a motivation to explore, to learn listening. 4’33” does that.

One CD I’ve had from 1990s, is Red Hot + Blue, a Cole Porter tribute to benefit AIDS. A brilliant compilation of artists I’m familiar with, and artists I was hearing for the first time. A united effort to make wonderful music, and tackle an illness of the individual and of society.

This photo is an experiment building a library of books. Recently, I’ve  been using books deaccessioned from public libraries and recombining them into new titles.

Another important influence is this world we’re walking on every day.

Same as with music, I engage in events that motivate exploration and listening. Listening to planetary sounds.

I have several CDs of recorded bird songs from the fast disappearing forests in different parts of the world. Some singing that may soon cease due to man’s careless extractions, exploitation and encroachment and generally being greedy.

And I practice a meditation called Knowledge, requiring the ultimate listening. The sounds of one’s inner heart, the endless space and silence in one’s center.

So these are a few things that inspire me in making art, and living in general.

Tony Palms is a painter and multimedia artist and
the Exhibitions Coordinator at the USF Contemporary Art Museum