{"id":76633,"date":"2014-09-11T14:33:10","date_gmt":"2014-09-11T18:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=76633"},"modified":"2014-09-11T14:33:10","modified_gmt":"2014-09-11T18:33:10","slug":"buzzing-in-my-ears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/11\/buzzing-in-my-ears\/","title":{"rendered":"Buzzing in My Ears"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"DSC_0028-Reduced\"<\/a>

Steve Greene, Buzzing in My Ears<\/i>, 2013; ink, acrylic, collage, gesso on paper; 14 x 11″<\/p><\/div>\n

A few months ago, I wrote about my persistent fascination with industrial-supply catalogs<\/a>, especially the Grainger catalog<\/a>, which runs to many thousands of tissue-thin pages and contains everything from centrifugal belt-drive downblast exhaust ventilators to cementitious mortars.<\/p>\n

A number of readers wrote to say they share my interest in these catalogs, which feature dauntingly precise language and serve as a kind of paean to utility. Among those who came out of the woodwork was the artist Steve Greene<\/a>, who\u2019s married to The Paris Review<\/em>\u2019s finance manager, Janet Gillespie. Steve has been using supply catalogs in his drawings and collages for years, to incredible effect; he was kind enough to send me some of his work, and to elaborate on his sources:<\/p>\n

\n

My go-to resource for years has been the Uline Shipping Supply Specialists<\/a> catalog, which I subscribe to so I can keep replenishing favorite images. Nice heavy magazine paper with great color. An old favorite is the Arco Officer Candidate Tests<\/a> by Solomon Wiener, Colonel, AUS-Ret, which is full of useful tips for aspiring military officers and practice tests that have been partially filled out in red ink. The others I take myself\u2014the more wrong answers, the better. Then there are the Mobile Manual for Radio Amateurs, from 1960, and Magnetic Recording<\/em> by S. J. Begun, from 1949, neither of which I would dare cut up\u2014but both spend a lot of time on the copy machine. I still have stacks of pages from the Global Equipment Co.<\/a> catalog, which I\u2019ve been using for about thirty years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I particularly enjoy the random poetry of these books and catalogs, and their listings and names often make their way into my titles:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Accelerator Pump Cam
Tough, Tear Resistant, Out-of order
Two Tubes\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Below are three additional pieces by Steve; you can see more of his work here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"009_B<\/a>

Radio Waves<\/i>, 2012; ink, collage, gesso on paper; 24 x 18″<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"DSC_0030-Reduced\"<\/a>

A Neon Bulb<\/i>, 2013; ink, collage, gesso on paper; 14 x 11″<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"DSC_0047-Reduced\"<\/a>

Approximately 1 Hour of Ever<\/i>, 2012; Ink, collage, gesso on paper; 36 x 30″<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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