----- Original Message ----- From: "Elizabeth James" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 1:41 AM Subject: The British at epoetry 2005
> An MA degree in Poetic Practice was set up two or three years ago at > Royal Holloway, University of London; it's directed by Redell Olsen and > uniquely in this country (I believe?) for a literature department -- as > opposed to visual arts -- combines poetry, and poetics, with study and > practice in a range of technologies. (We heard yesterday however that > something similar-sounding is starting up at De Montfort University, > Leicester.) The programme is becoming a centre of gravity for new media > writing of various kinds, and one of its graduates, John > Sparrow, curated the showings yesterday (the final day of the conf). His > own work includes (to my eye) highly accomplished Flash; juxtaposition > of found imagery and text; and use of text randomising; and most > importantly the words are good ... I enjoyed all the RHUL alumni work, > albeit distracted by nerves about having to chair the discussion > following. Ceridwen Buckmaster's elegantly presented piece combined > composed text, emails (used with consent but anonymised) and several > live voices. Elizabeth-Jane Burnett's was audaciously unelectronic but > (I found) surprisingly affecting: she moved around the darkened room > distributing yellow roses and whispering to individuals, finally leaving > the room altogether. One audience member then read a message explaining > that she had gone to place a rose at a location selected on instruction > from another. A projected text invited everyone to propose locations for > the placement of roses during the next 12 days. Effective verbal > performances also accounted for much of the impact of Albert Pellicer's > text, sound and image pieces. The visual for one was a simple > stereoscopic inscription, 'The Paper is Dreaming'; look out for the > snapshots of us all wearing those red-green glasses ... Birkbeck, > another UL college, and Writers Forum Workshop, are each partly > responsible for bringing together the loose grouping of poets and/or > artists that is London Under Construction. Here, Stephen Mooney in the > flesh was joined by some or all of the other 6 members (from various > real locations) in a chatroom, where we saw them having a more or less > consequential conversation while he read out transcripts of emails > previously exchanged among them ... 'Close to the Literal' was a complex > audio-visual collaboration by poet & artist Lawrence Upton (who also > co-runs the WF workshop and the press) and composer John Drever. Colour > images, deriving from coastal landscapes and letter-forms, provided a > text/score for vocal performance: pre-recorded, live, and > live-re-processed; thus both participants contribute both prepared and > improvised material. The room was professionally wired (this takes > hours) and the sound was fantastic. Think Dylan & Lanois (Oh Mercy). The > piece was essentially episodic > but a subtle architectonic seemed discernible over its length. A > substantial achievement. > > To risk generalisations, London work in general seems to be ungeeky, > informed by visual art practice, characteristically multi-media, > live-performance orientated, site-specific, and still excited to explore > the now-quotidian channels of electronic communication, often for > collaboration. A real aspiration towards (to quote from Ceri's piece) 'a > materially based making of the text into something of *use*' (my > emphasis), and no easy belief in that possibility -- someone in the LUC > chat said: 'the immediacy of these transactions renders them as good as > useless.' They'll keep on struggling with that, as they should; but I > felt ever so proud of them! it feels as though something is slowly but > surely building up here. > > The day's other presentations were also of interest: Janis Jefferies, > Professor of Art and Director of the Digital Studios at Goldsmiths > showed documentation of a heavyweight collaborative project based in > Montreal, concerning electronics, text and textiles (blah blah -- but it > *is worth thinking about) e.g. 'smart' texts in garments and wall > hangings, that can respond to the environment and viewers. The novelist > Kate Pullinger, who moved into digital collaborations as a result of her > association with trAce, explained and demonstrated the application to > multimedia narrative of a new technology that enables reader interaction > through breathing. You do what, Walt? you strap a microphone under your > nose ...? Clearly this is to conjure with in relation to prosthetic > theories of human-computer interaction, and it doubtless has uses in > disability etc., but I couldn't see it catching on for everyday! > > > The conference was great; it was great to have it in London; and great > to be able to hear and talk to Americans, French and Danish people, > Germans, Austrians and others who had travelled here especially for it > (and not all of them were even on the bill). It seems as though there is > not exactly a mass home interest, though new media work could arguably > extend poetics even for poets with no desire personally to leave page > and stage. (Also several native or resident Brits who are active in the > area were unfortunately unable to attend.) However, the conference was a > definite success, tremendously stimulating and a lot of fun, and will I > am sure have further consequences, for individuals who were there, and > diffusing into the London poetry scene. > > e >
