Blame the Cat
The Price We Pay for Two Day Shipping
Mark Rushton’s Curator Mindset is a place where I talk in 2026 about my ongoing work as a recording artist and visual artist, tech things, and provide music recommendations. This is being released on Saturday, January 10, 2026.
Topics:
Blame the Cat
Give Away Your Art
Mark Rushton - “Scatterings”
Galina Juritz - “Falling in the Sand”
Blame the Cat
I’m close to finishing the soundtrack for the TimePiece clock. 24 music tracks.
I’ve had some delays. The cat keeps waking me up in the middle of the night. Howling at 3am or 4am or 5am. It’s a new thing. I get up and she follows me into the guest bedroom and I quickly leave, closing the door, and go back to sleep. Problem solved. When I wake up, I open the door and she’s hen-posing and then is happy to see me. No hard feelings. It took me about three weeks to arrive to the new process. I need my sleep.
The FM transmitter hasn’t been tested yet. The transmitter is to broadcast the audio files near the Fitch Building, where the TimePiece clock art installation is located in Des Moines (304 15th St, in the west part of downtown). It shouldn’t take long to test. I’ll probably use 88.9 FM, which sounds vacant. The frequency is easy to set on the transmitter. The software to broadcast the files has taken longer to manage. I was hoping to use Linux Mint, but Rivendell + MariaDB was a nightmare, so it’s back to Microslop Windoze and RadioDJ.
Why do difficult things?
Why not distribute the soundtrack to streaming and Bandcamp? I’ll do that.
Why not use something like Shoutcast or Live365? I thought about it, but I’m tired of the subscriptions. I’m tired of The Slop.
Might as well do something weird. What could be weirder than using FM to broadcast the soundtrack? I did research it before committing to the idea. I like the idea of using “old tech” for new artworks.
Give Away Your Art
Kim and I keep moving things around in the studio. She made “string frames” for the windows - mainly to hide the partial glass frosting I couldn’t remove. I’m not sure the correct name for them.
I’m moving the little desk out into the hallway soon, and we’ll put more things on it to display and/or give away. Kim’s bringing a 4-level shelf that I’ll put the Elmo and NEC and other “old tech” on, instead of the desk.
Most of my previous art was removed from the walls - the “book paintings” and inked thermal ribbon photos. I’d like to do something with the Elmo and NEC.
I set up the easel and brought in some 24” x 36” boards. My plan for 2026 is to do pretty collages from recycling, direct to the board - possibly during my lunch hour. One of the boards might end up being a collection of small “zines” adhered to the surface.
After work on Monday, January 5th, I stopped by the little art supply store in Valley Junction. They didn't have acrylic gel medium, same as Hobby Lobby and "Private Equity Ravaged Michael's" a few days prior, but they had planned to order some. So I put my name down and said, "Call me when it's in..." Sure, I could have ordered it from Lex Luthor or Dick Blick, but I'm not in any hurry. I think we've paid a giant price for "free 2-day shipping".
The other thing I keep thinking about is giving away my physical artwork in 2026. I might as well. The artworks serve their purpose in other ways, as album or single covers. I can’t be bothered to try to “sell” it anymore.
Why does everything have to be about money? Look around, most people don’t have any. You can tell, if you’re awake. It might be better to say, “Take it home and enjoy it. Gift of the artist.”
Mark Rushton - Scatterings
I listen to my Omniessence album a lot at work.
Processed Omnichord. Electronic. Chill. Dub. Minimal.
Scatterings has a “gentleness” about it. A happy abstract.
Galina Juritz - “Falling in the Sand”
I will beat her album, “One Weird Trick”, into everybody’s heads in 2026. Who knows how many tracks I’ll profile? They’re all wonderful and special.
Could somebody besides me review this album?
Here we have electronic voices. Sloppy beats. Rubbery bass. Almost a dub version. Then the pretty electric pianos and horns appear. The rhythms break down and fall in the sand, almost in slow motion. More horn stabs. More impossibly rubbery bass. Then it’s like the tide going out.
I see it visually - with the glue coming out the sides of the scraps and doused with color and texture.
I don’t know. I’ve heard a lot of music. I feel like “One Weird Trick” is a very important work. These are really unique sounds. The whole album.
I don’t have any influence, but I do have the Curator Mindset. Just gotta keep talking about it and hope that somebody pays attention.
I should have plenty of opportunities to listen to “One Weird Trick” this week.
Our cat has also had some recent behavioral changes. In his younger years he was not very much a people cat. He stayed to himself, not mean or skittish just solo. Now he has to be wherever we are at almost all times. Maybe after 8-9 years he’s come to accept that he’s stuck with us.