Art Through Pain

Dear Reader,

I've decided to shift the focus of Bugged Out to serving as a venue where anyone, but New Yorkers especially, can relate their bed bug experiences creatively. All the things that Bugged Out has been up to now will remain but the major focus will be on what I call, "Art Through Pain".

Why art? you might ask.

Like I've said before, there are already quite a few New York bed bug blogs that do a great job of covering bed bug legislation, tips, personal accounts, etc. I feel that artistic expression is an aspect of New York's bed bug infestation that I do not see being addressed elsewhere.

As a professional writer, novice illustrator and lover of percussion instruments, I fully agree with the idea that the arts can be a therapeutic outlet for people going through troubling and even traumatic events, and bed bug infestations count as both. From now on, Bugged Out will be gladly accepting submissions of bed bug-related artwork at artthrupain@buggedout.org.

A word on copyright: Though Bugged Out does support anonymity, all artwork will have to come with the name of its creator who I will assume is the copyright holder of the work unless I am informed otherwise. Contrary to what some may believe, copyright law protects works that are displayed on the Internet, so let's keep that in mind as we enjoy some of the art we may see on this blog in the future.

What would I love to see on Bugged Out?

• photography
• poetry
• short fiction
• (photos of) paintings
• graphic design
• essays
• (photos of) sculptures
• original music
• sketch comedy
• a short film (horror, maybe?)
  
• performing arts (acting, dancing)

In an effort to encourage artistic submissions, I will be holding a art contest later this month. Where I come from the term "bugged out" is used to describe losing one's cool in response to a very bad situation. I figured it's only appropriate that Bugged Out shows something created by people to express just how bugged out they are by their bed bug problems.