It’s almost April – once again. And time to face the cruelty known as NaPoWriMo. Who wants to try writing a poem a day starting tomorrow? I’m trying to gather some muster myself. Leave me a link if you’re planning to blog your poems.
Where Gaming Meets Poetry
A new video game called “Elegy for a Dead World” takes the gamer on a journey and the result is poetry. The game, developed by Dejobaan Games and Popcannibal Games uses classic poems by Keats and Shelley. Read more about the poetics of gaming on Harriet.
Shocking Polaroids by Phillip Stearns
Artist Phillip Stearns experiments by applying electric shock to Polaroid film. The results are wild.
Stearns has exploded the moment and an exhibit of this work is on display at the Transfer Gallery in NYC. For more information, check out this story in the Huffington Post.
Chino Otsuko, Then and Now, All at Once
Memory plays tricks on us, confounding us with the passage of time. Photographer Chino Otsuko demonstrates this phenomenon through her exhibit Finding Me. In My Modern Met, The artist photoshops herself into travel photos from the past to create a double moment in time. Otsuko explains her project:
“The digital process becomes a tool, almost like a time machine as I’m embarking on the journey to where I once belonged and at the same time becoming a tourist in my own history.”
For more on the project, visit My Modern Met.
Cross-Cultural Collage Graffiti by Lili Jenks and 10H23
via Wooster Street:
Working with silkscreen artist 10H23, French street artist Lili Jenks (also known as PAPERGLUEnSCOTCH) is making collages that cross borders. The team collected strips of paper from billboards in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Brazil then swapped and reorganized the billboard strips into large collages with screen prints of old photos by 10H23. After making huge photocopies of these pieces, PAPERGLUEnSCOTCH pasted the collages as posters, spreading her work far and wide.
Lorraine Loots’ Postcards for Ants
Check out the Huffington Post story on the teeny tiny art of Lorraine Loots. Most of these drawings are smaller than postage stamps!
Loots, an artist based in Cape Town, explains her project this way:
“I had been painting some miniatures around that time and people would always ask what I was planning on doing with such tiny pieces. ‘Surely no one would buy a painting that small?’ I started to get annoyed with those questions so I would answer that the paintings were made for ants. I guess ‘Zoolander‘ was a subconscious influence. At the same time, I’ve always wanted to find a way to document each day; to make the mundane brilliant.”
To learn more, visit Loots’ website.
The YAWP of Brooklyn
One of the exciting new projects in the world of poetry this year is Brooklyn Poets, founded by Jason Koo. Not a New Yorker? No worries. In addition to the live NYC events, they offer online workshops for poets anywhere and everywhere. Check them out on their site.
NaPoWriMo 2014 Begins Today
If you are planning to writing a poem a day in April, there are sources of inspiration all around. Starting in the most obvious place, check out the NaPoWriMo site. You will find everything you need to get started. Add your blog to the list of participants and join the community of writers.
There are also poetry prompts being published on blogs across the Internet. Check out:
When stuck (which will be soon enough) I plan to use The Daily Poet: Day-By-Day Prompts For Your Writing Practice by Kelly Agodon and Martha Silano (Two Sylvias Press). Feel free to share your fave NaPo links here.
New Breath by Marco Villegas Opens Soon
Marco Villegas
The Soaring Cost of a Single Breath
January 25 – February 22, 2014
Opening reception: Saturday January 25, 5-7 PM
Front Gallery
1412 Bonnie Bonnie Brae Street
Houston TX 77006
Fun with the Funnel Tunnel, Houston
In the median of Montrose Boulevard, a colorful tube of art graces my morning drive to work. The tunnel by Patrick Renner stretches a city block in front of the Art League Houston. It’s fun whizzing by this wonder before I’m fully awake.
Unwoven Light by Soo Sunny Park
The art installation “Unwoven Light” by Soo Sunny Park is currently on display in the Rice Gallery at Rice University. The combination of chain link fencing and colorful plexiglass converts the space into a kaleidoscopic wonderland. The exhibit will continue until August 30, 2013.
From Station to Station with Doug Aitken
Starting in September Doug Aitken’s art will take a journey by train. Here’s an excerpt about the project:
Aitken’s Station to Station: A Nomadic Happening tour will travel to 10 different locations by rail on a train the artist himself designed that is intended to be a “kinetic sculpture [that will] act as a cultural studio,” according to an announcement released today. The artist will curate a site-specific event at each of the Station to Station stops thanks to contributions from the likes of experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger, artist Liz Glynn, and digital media artist Aaron Koblin. The tour will also feature music from Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dirty Projectors, Twin Shadow, and Dan Deacon.
If only Houston were one of the lucky cities! So cool. And beautiful.
via Wired
Scattered Blossoms Reading on May 12th, 2013, 2 pm at Cy Twombly Gallery
Scattered Blossoms: Poems Inspired by Cy Twombly
Please join us for
A Poetry Reading at the Menil Collection
Sunday, May 12th, 2 pm
Cy Twombly Gallery
The Menil Collection
1515 Sul Ross
Houston, TX 77006
Featuring these poets:
Joseph Campana
Jane Creighton
Robin Davidson
Christa Forster
Peter Hyland
Jonathan Moody
Laura Mullen
Robin Reagler
Fran Sanders
Charlie Scott
Randall Watson
Tria Wood
Dom Zuccone
This event is supported in part by a grant from the Houston Arts Alliance through the City of Houston.
Finding the My in Mythology
I “discovered” the artist Dan-ah Kim through the writers’ blog, NewPages. Although it seemed surprising to me at first, as I studied Kim’s art, the pairing made perfect sense. Every picture I studied seemed to evoke a whole mythology around it. The more I stared, the more story emerged. I am struck with the personal mythology that this artist launches in her art. Amazing.
My Daily Poetry Fix by Stefan Hengst
It happens to most creative people: one day Stefan Hengst found himself in a bit of a lull. In his effort to jump-start his creative process, he did a yearlong iPhone photography project that he called “My Daily Poetry Fix.” He collected snapshots he took with his phone each day and shared a few on Facebook Soon patterns began to emerge, and the design elements that resonated in him became clear. It worked for him. Would it work for you?
