In 1998 Keith Alexander did my first “shared” cutting. Nothing complex, even for the time. A simple XX111 on my wrist at the end of a whirlwind trip to NYC. After the last line was cut, he made two “bloodprints” by pressing paper towels to the cutting; one for me to take home and one for him to keep. Keith often made prints for his portfolio; each of us still with him in spirit (and blood) long after the cutting healed. He considered it much more personal than a photograph; a living connection to the people who wore his art.

Inspired by Spider Webb’s X1000 concept, he made our prints a little different than normal; 23 XX111s.
When I noticed the ghost of a twenty fourth 23 on one of the two prints, I asked Keith if he wanted to redo it. “Nah, I’ll just keep the good one. You can have the fuckup”. Always the asshole, but what can you do.

Keith Alexander- November 23, 1963 – July 11, 2005

Keith Alexander. November 23, 1963 – July 11, 2005

“I’m doing the best I can” is a bullshit cop-out usually uttered by mantra-spewing weaklings who don’t know what mantras really are. “I’ll try harder”, “I disagree” or even “fuck you” are preferable to the “I’m doing the best I can” whine. My answer? “No you’re not. I’m not, you’re not and most people aren’t. We can always do better.”
-KA

Four years have passed and I’m still quoting Keith. It’s not that what he had to say about any given topic was more or less profound than anything I would have come up; it’s just that he always had so much to say about everything. Sex, body piercing, why he thought my ex had a funny shaped head, politics, tech nerdiness, anything that caught his fancy. His ability to be passionate to the point of obsession was amazing. He loved everything he loved absolutely and could talk all night about the simplest of pleasures, most of which he’d post to his iam.bmezine.com blog or to his own nootrope.net site’s blog.

His legacy of words stick in my head and fit into context as much now as they ever did. I don’t need an anniversary to make me think of Keith; to tell stories about “this one time in the limo with Po0k and Reese” or to tell Claire about this incredibly loving person she regrettably never got to meet. But here we are today, four years now since Keith passed and I’m still so awed that I was able to know and love (and to be loved by) someone who’s influence can’t even be put into words. Keith’s desire to live a genuine life was successful. May we all be equally blessed.

-shawn

“Whether you’re pierced or not or you’re tattooed or not or whatever it is, you know, because too many people talk, you know how it is, this is how you should do it, this is how you could do it — show me, don’t tell me. And just live your life the way you think it should be lived. And like Blair is doing; he’s living the authentic life, and I feel strongly that I am, and you sound like you are; I know Shannon is, and Shawn for that matter. You have to live an authentic life, and then you’ll be happy. If you’re living an inauthentic life, it’s going to show.” -KA