Some Thoughts About the Readings

        Ezra Pound is an interesting individual. There was not much this man did not have his hands in one way or another, especially if it meant going against the "standard norm". If he could have started a Revolution that would have took, I believe he would done so with all true conviction. The material presented this week was cumbersome as it offered a wealth of information. Many concepts of which I think begs for more in-class conversation was presented. The information was dense and moved very fast and some of the terms were not clearly defined in my opinion. It was almost as if the authors assumed the readers knew what they were talking about and in essence, that may not be the case. Terms such as: "Les Imagistes, Vorticism (the movement itself, what it entailed, etc.), polemics, avant-garde", are just some of the terms that were constantly repeated, but the text was moving so quickly, there was not a real clear understanding. You can kind of piece together what is being said in context, but you are not sure if the path you are on is correct or if you have digressed in a total different direction, just to say a word about the Angel readings.
     The title, "Blast", says a great deal. It tells the reader even before they open the magazine that within the pages there is going to be something astronomical coming your way. The word itself packs a powerful punch. Immediately you are put on notice to brace yourself for whatever you are about to encounter and that is exactly what happens when you begin to go through the pages. The juxtaposition of wording alone on the "Blast and Bless" pages is enough to overwhelm the reader. The authors truly had some strong feelings politically and they were not afraid to share their thoughts about it. The authors were not afraid to share their thoughts about much period. There was no censorship, no being politically correct and if someone did not like it, then it was just too bad. Of course that would explain why it did not have a long shelf life. The images were abstract, very geometric (cubism at its best) and there was a great deal of contrast between light and dark from what I could see. They also seemed to be a bit grainy. I am not sure if that was due to it being copied as a pdf. Blast is definitely a magazine that was outspoken and did not mind being that way. Now, would a magazine like this be allowed in society today? Let me just say, I have yet to see one.