Loving The Spider

BACKGROUND

Ice-boy

Ice-boy
he’s solid
he chilled his juice
soon as
his brown skin
filled in
to two hundred pounds of
accumulated
hungry days lost count of
a dozen pets that went AWOL
loving women who
condensed the beatings
and swallowed brutality
with their morning coffee
lots of weekend uncles
and six thousand
one hundred seventy four
and a half days
confined to a city where
natural born color
defines your place
in the food chain

Ice-boy
ciphered it all out
and the sum came up
big-time alienation
pro-active intimidation
pharmecutical recreation
and ONE
fuckin’ big Indian
[on the street]
with an iceberg
on his back

SU: We started Spider Language at a residency at the Banff Centre where most of the ten collaborators, for varying times, came together. But truth be told, we didn’t get much of the site actually built. Plus Ahasiw never quite forgave me for making him go see Spice World (the Spice Girls film) with me.
So Ahasiw and I went on to abuse our respective jobs to complete the project. He got me a workshop at Neutral Ground which paid my way out so we were golden. I spent almost three weeks with him, staying at my mom’s and working what felt like 24/7 on the project. It was incredibly intense, and emotional. Every pixel was discussed I assure you, and we even (twice) dreamt about the same solution to problems we were having. Then later I brought him to Calgary to do a panel for Em/Media (thus covering his costs) so we could finish it.
So here is a very belated thank you to Neutral Ground and Em/Media for their welcome if unknown support of the project. Thanks!