A kind of statement

http://vimeo.com/37508400

Hopefully if you click on the link above you will be taken to my first film upload to the internet.

I talked about the development of this idea in my last blog. I'm really delighted with the result. I wouldn't say it was quite the finished article - but it shows me so much potential in the idea.

It is one single shot - so I still need to play around with the editing of film (as well as audio) for my main Cowslip Sunday project, but I'm happy with this experimentation with the timeline feature.

Plus I think this idea - of using poetic texts on top of suitable film footage - is an exciting new direction for me to explore.

In Praise of Walking

As part of the process of creating a film about Cowslip Sunday I need to get to grips with some film editing software. I'm starting that project by hopefully creating a short experimental film.

Sometime last year I bought 'Being Human' - the last in a trilogy of poetry anthologies, published by Bloodaxe. All three books are excellent - containing 'real poems for unreal times'. Browsing 'Being Human' I came across a poem entitled 'In Praise of Walking' by Thomas A. Clark. You can read the full poem here:

http://arspythia.blogspot.com/2011/07/in-praise-of-walking.html

Being an inveterate walker I was quite taken with this poem - and thought it was the kind of work that would be ideal used as a piece of 'visual poetry' that formed part of an art installation along a woodland walk - such as the one I have planned for Cowslip Sunday:

http://poetryseen-in-lambley.blogspot.com/2012/02/poetry-seen-at-cowslip-sunday.html

So the Thomas A. Clark poem was tucked away in my mind. Then recently, whilst searching for a particular poem on the internet ('There's a certain slant of light' by Emily Dickinson) I happened across an App called 'Poem Flow', in which:

"... the poem flows in a gentle reading animation. The effect is magical, mesmeric, and revealing. You see the poem differently as it quietly reads itself to you."

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/poem-flow/id339835648?mt=8

This seemed a really interesting and captivating way of reading/seeing poetry - and was getting rave reviews from people - so I thought I'd like to experiment with something similar, though I didn't quite know what form it would take.

For my film project I have been taking test footage around the village. A couple of weeks ago, the morning after the first heavy snowfall of the Winter, I went off up into the fields that overlook Lambley, then set the camera up and let it run as I slowly walked away from it. I really didn't think I would be able to use this footage for anything - until it occurred to me that I might be able to 'animate' some lines of the Thomas A. Clark poem over the top of the film. Below are the extracts from the poem that I intend to use:

Early one morning, any morning, we can set out,

with the least possible baggage, and discover the world.

Always, everywhere, people have walked, veining the earth

with paths, visible and invisible, symmetrical and meandering.

Convictions, directions, opinions, are of less importance

than sensible shoes.

The line of a walk is articulate in itself, a kind of statement.

From In Praise of Walking by Thomas A. Clark

That last line I'm using: 'The line of a walk is articulate in itself, a kind of statement ' seemed to me to describe the short film itself, which simply consists of the line of a walk.

As I say the idea is experimental - to allow me to begin using the film software. I hope that I will be able to post a link to the finished film sometime soon.

In my next blog I will hopefully give an outline of how I see the structure of the Cowslip Sunday film that I'm currently working on.

For more about Thomas A. Clark visit:

http://thomasaclarkblog.blogspot.com/

Colourless green ideas

As I've hinted in a few places on this blog I am currently in the process of making a film that is intended to capture some of the events of the revived Cowslip Sunday - but also to document the period of time between January 1st and May 6th (this year's 'Cowslip Sunday) showing a landscape and a community enduring Winter and preparing for Spring. The project is still evolving to a certain extent but here I want to outline how the idea came about.

As part of my Masters degree at Nottingham Trent University - a course entitled 'An exploration of poetry as a visual form' - I wanted to explore the way artists and poets had used poetic texts as forms of visual art. I also wanted to be involved in the creation of pieces of visual art that used poetic texts as sources of inspiration. Over the first year of my study I had come up with a few proposals for poetry-based arts projects (for example 'Byron in Nottingham' and 'Poetry in Motion' - both of which I will blog about later). But whilst I found that the ideas were being received enthusiastically, actually getting anyone interested enough to fund anything was proving to be a lot more difficult. We live in economically very uncertain times - with the arts being particularly badly hit - not the ideal time to be proposing new and 'untried' art projects.

At the same time - during the summer of 2011 - I was personally beginning to really feel the pinch financially. I work as a self-employed graphic designer and was finding work increasingly scarce. This meant that I had little or no expendable income - certainly not anything I could dedicate to producing samples of work to persuade people or organisations to fund some 'Poetry Seen' project. 

Frustrated by these financial restrictions - and feeling under pressure to come up with a project that seemed appropriate to my Masters study - I decided that creating a film revolving around Cowslip Sunday could meet that criteria; by challenging me and allowing me to explore new skills.

It had always been my intention to document what I was doing on my course, either through photography or video. Before starting the course I had bought a camera (that had HD video capacity) specifically for that purpose. It seemed to me that circumstances now dictated this 'documenting' process might need to be the focus of my degree. As it has turned out, the award of a grant to produce an art installation as part of Cowslip Sunday has taken the pressure off me a little:


http://poetryseen-in-lambley.blogspot.com/2012/02/poetry-seen-at-cowslip-sunday.html


 - but the film project has nevertheless become an important part of my Masters.

But I don't think the idea of actually making a film simply came out of nowhere. Sometime during 2011 I had watched the film 'sleep furiously' - without thinking that it might provide a source of inspiration. As it turned out, its understated portrayal of a small, remote farming community obviously struck a chord with me. Perhaps without realising, I was influenced by the way in which the film seemed at ease with the simple representation of a small community and its day-to-day activities - and displayed no anxiety that its subject matter was so seemingly down-to-earth.

You can read some of the (mostly positive) critical reception of 'sleep furiously',  at http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sleep_furiously/

It was also obvious to me that the title of the film was well chosen - and may have been an important part in the film's development. It takes its name from Noam Chomsky’s famous example of a sentence that’s grammatically correct but semantically nonsensical: Colorless green ideas sleep furiously. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorless_green_ideas_sleep_furiously

I think this notion, that each element can give the impression of a coherent whole without necessarily having any unified and collective meaning, relieved the film-maker of any need to construct a linear narrative - freeing him to present a series of scenes, connected or not, and leave the viewer to make connections - or not.

Looking back it's clear that another distinct source of inspiration for making the film was one of the Generic Lectures for the Masters course. This was delivered by Christian Payne - otherwise known as 'Documentally'. Christian is a self-styled photographer, videographer, social technologist and mobile media maker and in his lecture he made the idea of single-handedly creating media content seem both viable and exciting, though I didn't at that time see this as relating directly to me or my Masters project.

Here's a link to a recent upload by Documentally - in which he responds to the question 'What makes online video different from ordinary TV?':

What came out of the 'Documentally' lecture at NTU was the way in which the increasing availability of technology - and the way in which much of that technology is evolving - meant that almost anyone was able to produce video and audio work of a high quality (assuming some level of competence and skill on behalf of the operator) and that this has created a kind of 'democratisation' of the media.

It was clear that the potential of this was exciting; it meant that traditional mainstream media - television and newspapers and such-like - owned as they are by a wealthy elite and historically happy to perpetuate the 'dominant discourse' that maintains the status quo of power - would no longer go unchallenged in their representation of 'truth'. And of course another technological development - the internet - is the perfect outlet for such material. No wonder the possibilities of the internet excites mainstream media - but at the same time slightly bewilders and terrifies it. 

I'm not suggesting that I had any subversive aspirations for my film project; for my purposes the challenge was to use a piece of relatively cheap and easily available technology to attempt to create a piece of film of a reasonably high standard - of a subject and event that the mainstream media might be unaware of or not particularly interested in.

In my next blog I will give an outline of how I see the structure of the Cowslip Sunday film that I'm currently working on.

Snow

Lambley, Nottinghamshire - 10 February 2012

Like a lot of the country we've had the first of the Winter's snow over the past week or so. There was a fairly heavy snowfall on Friday 3rd February - and the weather has been cold enough for that fall to stay on the ground for most of the week in and around the village of Lambley, Nottinghamshire (where I live) - then a further light snowfall late in the afternoon on Thursday 9th and on into the evening.


As part of the film project I'm working on (which I will blog about in more detail later this week) I want to record the changes on the local landscape around the village over the period of time between January 1st and May 6th 2012, the date of Cowslip Sunday - see other posts, particularly:

http://poetryseen-in-lambley.blogspot.com/2012/01/villagers-revive-rural-folk-tradition.html

That event is a celebration of the arrival of Spring - and I felt it would be interesting not only to record that occasion but also to show it in the context of the passing of time in a specific place.


A snowy landscape is an ideal representation of Winter - but of course in attempting to film (or photograph) such scenes there is the obvious danger of the images looking like second-rate xmas cards... a danger I'm not sure I've altogether successfully avoided. Another issue I am contending with is that budget restrictions (which I will also blog about some other time) mean I need to work with my own camera, and although that has HD video capacity I am finding that it struggles to capture 'wide-angle' landscape footage very well. 


Anyway below are some more photographs taken during the past week.

The branches of the poet tree

Whilst researching poems that might work well as artwork along the path of a woodland walk I came across the poem above. I thought this idea of poetry having branches that reached out across the land was really nice. I had already played around with the idea of creating artwork using a line of a poem - and then hanging it between trees. For last year's Cowslip Sunday, as part of art installation along a secluded woodland path, I produced a piece of artwork in the form of laser cut artboard surrounded by hand-cut leaves. 

Before installing this work I had attempted to seek the permission of the farmer who the land belonged to – and was assured by an individual that it wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately it transpired that the farmer was in a dispute with his neighbour and he (bizarrely) assumed that the artwork was an attempt at a wind-up on behalf of his neighbour and subsequently took the work down. After I had the opportunity to explain the situation he was quite contrite – to the extent that he offered to be involved in the installation of the work this year. 

So building on this piece from last year's event - and taking this idea of the 'poet tree' it was a natural progression that this new artwork should take the form of stylised tree 'branches'. The 'poet tree' made the idea of poetry being displayed in woods seem entirely natural.

Provisionally I am working on using two lines from the Shel Silverstein poem, to make two different branches - and then having these hanging between two trees that lend themselves to the piece.

The location I have in mind (assuming I can get permission from the landowner - which I'm guessing might require a financial outlay) would mean producing a piece of artwork of a reasonable size - perhaps 20 feet across. But I think the size of the work might add to it's impact.

I'm quite excited about the potential for this 'poet tree' idea. It may very well be a project that could be extended - perhaps with the involvement of an organisation like The Woodland Trust - to install work in woods the length and breadth of the country, using poems selected by the public: The branches of the poet tree reach from the mountains to the sea.

Poetry Seen at Cowslip Sunday

Cowslips - Lambley, Nottinghamshire April 2011. Photograph: Alex McKenzie

I've just had some good news. Poetry Seen has been given a grant (of £1180) from Nottinghamshire County Council - to create an art installation as part of this year's Cowslip Sunday. Cowslip Sunday is the revival of a traditional community event in the village of Lambley, Nottinghamshire. For more details:

http://poetryseen-in-lambley.blogspot.com/2012/01/villagers-revive-rural-folk-tradition.html

Because of my involvement with 'Cowslip Sunday' - I’ve been involved in the revived event since it’s inception in 2008 - I'd always thought the event would form some part of my Master's project ('An Exploration of Poetry as a Visual Form) - and the 2011 event gave me the opportunity me to create some 'visual poetry'.

I had been searching for locations that might be realistically viable to hang a banner (or banners) that could use some poetry but also be linked in with Cowslip Sunday itself. Whilst out dog-walking ‘I do wander everywhere’ around the village and the surrounding countryside and I knew I needed to find a location that allowed for the practicalities of hanging a banner that included lines of poetry. Eventually, when I was walking along a familiar but quite secluded woodland path – close to the location of the main Cowslip Sunday activities, it occurred to me that the trees along either side of the path could provide the ideal means to support one or a number of banners. The location also fulfilled one of the stated aims of the Lambley Arts Festival (organisers of Cowslip Sunday) – ‘To utilise as many spaces as possible in and around the village to create artistic work.’ Below is an aerial photograph showing the location of 'Poetry Seen at Cowslip Sunday' (the orange line); the main event takes place in the school playing fields.

At the same time I had been searching for a poetic text that would complement Cowslip Sunday. The main event of the day is a free, community production of a springtime ‘pantomime’ featuring a cast of local actors and musicians – and ‘A Fairy Song’ from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was a nod to this theatrical aspect. It was also important that the piece should be relatively succinct – to make it practical to produce, and finally it was also fitting that in it’s subject matter ‘A Fairy Song’ was about the freedom to roam the landscape - to complement the location of the work.

Poetry Seen used Shakespeare’s ‘A Fairy Song’ (from A Midsummer Night’s Dream) to complement the Cowslip Sunday event.

In terms of producing the artwork the timing could have been better. The whole idea was a bit last minute and getting anything produced at the University campus was complicated by the imminent Easter break. My original plan was to produce 8 banners (each with one line of verse) but this needed to be modified. After looking into various methods of production I finally located a printer, based locally, who could produce printed vinyl banners – crucially at short notice and relatively cheaply; I would need to pay for the work myself and my finances were already strained by the harsh economic climate. 

In the end I felt the actual banners perhaps lacked a little ‘original’ artistic value - in terms of production - but they at least enabled the project to take place. They also proved to be durable which was important for artwork that would be installed outdoors. David Longford, the organiser of Cowslip Sunday, was kind enough to describe the Poetry Seen contribution to the event as ‘a brilliant and lovely idea’ and was enthused by the way in which it encouraged local people – and visitors from further afield – to connect with the landscape in and around Lambley.

In 2012 the project will be extended to produce 8 pieces of double-sided banner artwork – to allow for the inclusion of ideas from local people, whether they want to contribute poetry, artwork or photographs. In particular we want to encourage the participation of the local school – as contributors of poetic texts and artwork. Eventually it would be great to have the schoolchildren involved as active participants in the installation of the work; the hanging of the banners along the woodland path could become a regular springtime Lambley ritual in the lead up to Cowslip Sunday itself.

In addition to the printed banners I am exploring the idea of creating another form of 'visual poetry' artwork, which I hope will add another dimension to the woodland walk. I'll post a blog about that idea later.

Wisława Szymborska

Wislawa Szymborska, 'Mozart of poetry', dies aged 88

Sad to hear of the death yesterday of the poet Wisława Szymborska. I think her 'beguilingly simple, playful poems' deserve to be far better known. For me she has been an inspiration and I hope to be able to incorporate some of her work in a 'PoetrySeen' project one day. A Speech at the Lost-And-Found is one of my favourite poems.

Wisława Szymborska A Speech at the Lost-And-Found

I lost a few goddesses while moving south to north,

and also some gods while moving east to west.

I let several stars go out for good, they can't be traced.

An island or two sank on me, they're lost at sea.

I'm not even sure exactly where I left my claws,

who's got my fur coat, who's living in my shell.

My sibings died the day I left for dry land

and only one small bone recalls that anniversary in me.

I've shed my skin, squandered vertebrae and legs,

taken leave of my senses time and again.

I've long since closed my third eye to all that,

washed my fins of it and shrugged my branches.

Gone, lost, scattered to the four winds. It still surprises me

how little now remains, one first person sing., temporarily

declined in human form, just now making such a fuss

about a blue umbrella left yesterday on a bus.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/02/wislawa-szymborska-dies-88

http://www.chadashim.pl/