THE OPULENCE OF INVENTION: Visionary Poetry for a New Age

Visitors to Mystic Journey Bookstore on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice were treated to a special evening reading of the debut book, THE OPULENCE OF INVENTION, by California poet E.P. Mattson on Sunday, August 19, 2018.

Surrounded by three giant line-drawings from the book, Mattson began the reading with the book’s opening salvo, The World is Flat, “Ladies and gentlemen, direct your attention, a device with importance we hardly need mention...” As the poet continued his prose, the audience witnessed a lyrical critique of the power that television has held on society for decades, with the poem’s finale urging everyone to “run outside, run outside, RUN OUTSIDE!”

Mattson’s thought-provoking collection of poetry and original artwork invites the reader to contemplate an array of subjects from spiritual freedom and awakening, to reflections on the human journey through life, the beauty of the natural world and the heroes of the avant-garde. Mattson pays homage to his artistic influences, from surrealists Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Alejandro Jodorowsky, to rock icons Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd and Jim Morrison of The Doors, artists and poets whose work defined their times and continue to influence new generations.

“THE OPULENCE OF INVENTION is a call to action for people to become their authentic selves,” explained Mattson. “As an artist, I’m primarily concerned with the power of the individual over the collective. We are all individuals, of course, but we choose groups to belong to throughout our lives. Unfortunately, I feel that today the groups to which we belong to are being used as tools to divide us, corral us and silence us. Ultimately all of my artistic works are about freedom; that intangible ideal we all secretly yearn for but can let slip away when we’re not bold, authentic and truthful.”

The audience was transported through time at the reading with tales of early San Francisco and the Gold Rush of 1849, to the bohemian spirit of the Golden State and the changing face of communities like Venice Beach. In Poem for Jim Morrison, Mattson summons the spirit of Jim Morrison to hear the cries of a disappearing Venice, “Jim, Venice is dying…the soul of the city suffocates in the sticky saliva of its corporate kiss.”

A professional artist in Hollywood for nearly 15 years, Mattson has 28 credits to his name on IMDB. An avid traveler, his next book will celebrate world culture through poetry and photography. He is also working on a collection of short comedic plays about primal fears, a 360º digital immersive environment of world spiritual sites for personal meditative use, and the follow-up to THE OPULENCE OF INVENTION.

THE OPULENCE OF INVENTION is available as paperback or Ebook on Amazon. For more information, visit WWW.EPMATTSON.COM.