The Purposeful Mayonnaise

October 1, 2021: Amy  Bassin & Mark Blickley (text-based art collaboration); Naomi Head (poetry);  Barbara Schneider (photography)

Amy  Bassin & Mark Blickley

New York interdisciplinary artist Amy  Bassin and writer Mark Blickley work together on text-based art collaborations and experimental videos. Their work has appeared in many national and international publications as well as two books, Weathered Reports: Trump Surrogate Quotes from the Underground' (Moria Books, Chicago) and Dream Streams (Clare Songbird Publishing House, New York). Their videos, Speaking In Bootongue and Widow's Peek: The Kiss of Death represented the United States in the 2020 year-long world tour of Time Is Love: Universal Feelings: Myths & Conjunctions, organized by the esteemed African curator, Kisito Assangni.

Eggs

I pick up a box of 15 eggs
and begin my mental calculations
how long will they last this week,
how much per egg,
how much for the gas
to boil the water
for breakfast on toast?

I wonder if the bigger box
is a smart investment or
another gimmick to trick me
out of non-existent coins.

I gently lay all my eggs in this basket
and make my way down the aisle
ignoring the rainbow of cans,
shiny bell peppers, juicy tomatoes,
and fuzzy peaches
while my stomach howls.

I curse myself for not eating first,
The golden rule of shopping:
Never do it when you’re hungry.
But now is not the time to dwell,
I have pennies to stretch today.

I look at the list in my hand
the sum of this food, this sustenance,
is ten pounds and thirty-two pence.

The bank says I am dangerously overdrawn
as if I don’t already have plans
to fret over it for the next day or thirty,
quickly approaching the limits of my approved debt.

Twenty pounds and sixty-four pence
is the grand total of my life today.
I remember being worth more than that.
But abundance isn’t for everyone,
only the people who can afford it
building dams just in time
to stop it trickling down.

Because if everyone had money
we could all relax behind closed doors
not counting pounds, pennies or buttons
to get by for one more day
until tomorrow comes kicking
and it begins again.

I’ve put all my eggs in this basket
and I hope they don’t smash,
I can’t afford another big box today
even one pound and eighteen pence
is too much to ask.

Naomi Head

Naomi Head is a writer and digital media professional based in Edinburgh. She writes poetry, personal essays, and articles. Naomi has been published by little living room, Write Bitch Write and Sunday Mornings at the River.

Website: naomihead.com  Instagram: @naomieah Twitter: @naomieah_

This is Not a LOLLIPOP

Goldbär

B a r b a r a Schneider

B a r b a r a Schneider is a designer, illustrator, and multiple-disciplinary visual artist. She has a great passion for toys, children´s literature, fashion, textiles, and p h o t o g r a p h y. Some themes of her independent artworks & photographs are our planet & re-design, childhood, and the discussion of humanity, our modern life, and "our world cultures."

Artist´s Statement

Urbanism - ARTificial documentation of our industrial urbanity & creative discussion of our modern way of living and environment for a better world. Visualizing and questioning the State of our Life & Planet and the need for taking responsibility for small and huge contemporary and environmental issues. This is a selection of photographic art/urban snapshots, which documents and gives misplaced objects and found objects a new and or additional meaning, questioning our "modern" way of living.  

Portfolio:  https://artrepreneur.com/p/BarbaraSchneider  Instagram: @artdbybarbara

Last Bagel

Urban Breakfast

Using Format