I'm reminded of Ulmer's "Memorable People" email assignment, which I modified and turned into a placement exam two years ago for incoming students. That this painting is of Henry Miller interests me because of my memories of reading Miller at 16 (The Rosy Crucifixion) and thinking he was the greatest novelist ever (the sex, the despondency, the cultural fantasies). When I was 20 and in Paris, I imagined myself repeating Miller's tales of urinating down by the Seine (no fancy romantic allusions to Hemingway or the Lost Generation here, folks). What kind of celebrity imaging is this? What kind of celebritacy is this (novelists are celebrities; ask Mailer)? It's the kind I want to embrace. It's the fetishistic side of discourse and rhetoric.
I can imagine a writing assignment that asks students to produce these kinds of paintings (use Photoshop if you can't draw) and then supplement them with anecdotes, memories, fantasies, allusions, history, critique, all interconnected in a networked kind of way.
