(dis)enchantment

Editor’s Note – (disenchantment)

Caustic Frolic’s Fall 2017 issue (dis)enchantment began with a call for submissions stemming from the question “What are you enchanted, and subsequently disenchanted by?” With this being my first semester as Editor-in-Chief and the second ever issue of our journal under the newly rebranded title of Caustic Frolic, there were many moments throughout the process of creating this issue that could have easily lent themselves to disenchanting frustrations, whether it be with printing, setting up meetings, or simply, Where do we start?However, somewhere along the line, I must have cashed in a ridiculously huge chunk of my collective karma points […]

Editor’s Note – (disenchantment)2018-05-08T04:42:38+00:00

Ride on the Magic Mushroom

By Ivan Espinosa

Recently, I went to the famed Union Square Greenmarket for the first time and was blown away (albeit shoved aside several times) by the sheer grandness of the place. I somehow managed to wobble my way through the thousands of market shoppers and hundreds of farm stands to a quaint mushroom vendor towards the middle of the square. Portobello, crimini, shiitake, white button, oyster — the fresh bounty was more than enough to make any shroom aficionado drool. I ended up buying a pound of each.

Since childhood, mushrooms have worked their magic on me. I practically lived on […]

Ride on the Magic Mushroom2018-05-07T21:27:29+00:00

Kowa and Reta

By Alexander S. Adam

Micro-perforated paper. Faber-Castell PITT artist pen.
9in x 12in

 

Alexander S. Adam is a doodler, web developer, and graphic designer based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Kowa and Reta2018-05-07T21:28:11+00:00

Terms and Conditions

By Brianna Abbott

Stan Jackson hadn’t moved in about three days, unless you count wheeling his desk chair into the kitchen as moving. He tried to ignore the large, dark circles under his eyes whenever he glanced at his reflection in the computer screen. Sleep would have to wait; he had a project for Financial Planning due in two hours and an essay in Business Ethics due in five, and the word-processing program update installing on his computer didn’t sense the urgency.

“Come on” he begged. “Come on, Draxal, you piece of shit. You […]

Terms and Conditions2018-05-07T21:31:52+00:00

Nursing Red

By Annette Tacconelli

Handwoven red chenile cloth and found copper coils, with deconstructed hand embroidery, red thread, copper wire, seed beads, crystals.

 

Annette Tacconelli

“I am interested in articulating the invisible. Within my Urban Artifacts series, the mundane plays important; along with the flowering of the potential in all things and moments.”

As a professional studio artist, Annette Tacconelli creates intimate, beaded  sculpture, utilizing traditional fiber techniques in non-traditional ways. She has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally. Her collectors range from major Art Museum Board members to a local construction company. For over […]

Nursing Red2018-05-07T21:24:19+00:00

The End – Montauk

By Jessica Stilling

At the beach, near the ocean, she can only bring herself to eat shellfish.

And the techno music, the Hamptonites, they are not her scene.

“Women are always talking about it, going into the sea. You know, like The Awakening.” She teaches English at a college on Long Island.

“Oh yeah”, he says. “The Awakening. Yeah. Right, women going into the sea. Hordes of them.” He shakes his head and smiles. She’s not sure […]

The End – Montauk2018-05-07T21:35:51+00:00

The Camaraderie of the House Fire

By Megan Maloof

Your oven has been on all day,
Scarlet embers from your cigarette fall into the recycling bin
The curling iron is curling the plastic of your countertops-
Whatever it is, 

Your house is on fire.

Family photos and garbage burn the same way.

Faces peak from between curtains to look down on you-
Vultures for gossip.
The more active neighbors
Are standing in the middle of the road,
Bathrobes unfurl in the wind,
Like depressed Supermen.
They’re taking videos,
“For insurance,” they nod.
“You can thank me later.”

As they look and stare at your mistakes,
They ask you how it could’ve happened,
Not out […]

The Camaraderie of the House Fire2018-05-07T21:30:50+00:00

Gma

By Sophie Dess

My grandmother’s eyes at times are obscured by two thick sheets of glass placed in cat-eye frames – she wears bifocals, which means she can’t gauge the scale of a decline. I think it’s formally deemed ‘a problem with depth perception.’ Thus, stairs pose a particular problem; her shaking hand is always in search of a surface on which to balance her small – but nevertheless imperious – figure.

I travel with her down to the subway platform and watch her ring-adorned fingers shake until they clasp something stable. My eyes always settle on the […]

Gma2018-05-07T21:29:31+00:00

Exodus

By Dan Murage

On December 1st, we wake up in the early hours of the morning and trek to the polling stations. While we wait for the polling personnel to arrive, we regale each other with stories of a new country, a new democracy again. Some hail this moment as “The New Gambia” and have with them banners to publicize their creed. We stand in line for thirty minutes, after which everyone starts getting impatient: women begin singing victory songs, men beat their drums and children cheer, sneaking in […]

Exodus2018-05-07T21:28:50+00:00

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By Sarah Fields

Archival Pigment Print, 2015

Sara Fields is an artist and educator from Austin, TX. She recently received her Masters of Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her work has been exhibited across the United States and she is currently represented by Photo Méthode Gallery.

Home2018-05-07T21:36:35+00:00
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