Literature and Art

Comment

Comment by Guido Vermeulen on August 14, 2011 at 2:29pm

RHINOCEROS

Inspired by Eugène Ionesco

Envelope for José Nogueira, Brazil

Comment by Guido Vermeulen on August 14, 2011 at 2:28pm

IF I AM ALIVE NOW, THEN I WAS DEAD

From LOVE LETTER poem by SYLVIA PLATH, 1960

Comment by Guido Vermeulen on August 14, 2011 at 2:27pm

I BROKE A MIRROR IN WHICH I FIGURED YOU

From THE DREAM SONGS by JOHN BERRYMAN, an American poet

Comment by Nancy Bell Scott on August 13, 2011 at 2:06am

Ok, here is a personal but maybe relevant issue that eventually -- after many years -- brought my poetry, short-story, and journal writing to a halt (aside from too much book editing): There's no question that writing led to discovery, extended thinking, and in some (probably many) ways enrichment of experience. At some point, though -- in late thirties? -- it suddenly, I mean almost overnight, seemed to me that writing was replacing experience.  Or that it was taking place so that experience, by writing it down in one form or another, would seemingly become more "real" to me.  Or that I could almost escape some difficult kinds of experience by being solitary and writing about it instead of being *out there* just absorbing and living it as it happened.

In 1991 I burned a huge number of journals in our coal furnace to free myself from the above.  Sometimes I have regretted it since.  But it was something that probably needed doing then.  (I'm such a slob that some were not where they were supposed to be and were inadvertently saved from the firestorm.)

No letters, poems, or short stories got burned, however.

I think you have exactly the right idea, Theresa, when you say, "I'm merely recording a moment.  The next moment will be different.  Catch it while you can."  If I could employ that outlook more readily, I would still be writing poetry.

I do miss writing.  And reading about writing.  And reading the writing of others, not for pay.  There, look what you've had me say, after several years of wanting to leave it all (well, mostly all) behind!  This is not necessarily a turning point, but it's a partial shift in attention at the least.

You're right to relate all this to visual art as well, DVS.  Not having a clear idea of what one intends to say:  that's the discovery aspect of writing, and it transposes very easily to what is so exhilarating about visual art and creating it; that, I can still feel, especially these days.  Most of the time, both before and after finding IUOMA, the studio has been and is a place of discovery, minute by minute and hour by hour.  I rarely know exactly what I'm going to begin or where it will lead, even if there is intention somewhere in the subconscious.  Take a step, and explore and build from there.  Much focus and imagination occurs or is used in that process; but I have to say that it leads to more surprises and more quickly now, post-IUOMA-discovery.

 

Comment by De Villo Sloan on August 12, 2011 at 11:56pm

Perfect Theresa - I agree that methods and theories dictated by a "movement" should never override the individual artist - and Pound, pretty clearly to me, rode Amy Lowell so hard at least in part because she didn't conform to his slash-and-burn language program of the time. You see it over and over. The old Fluxus was notorious for enforcing a program with all its expulsions and denouncements oof artists who strayed from the fold.

Comment by De Villo Sloan on August 12, 2011 at 11:49pm

Great Nancy, the process of writing itself leads to discovery - you might not have a clear idea what you intend to say? I think that can lead to really good work and might relate to visual art too.

Comment by De Villo Sloan on August 12, 2011 at 11:43pm

OK, I'm reading "Aquarium" over many times because I like it, and I do see Pound's complaint. Imagism is about economy - finding a kind of minimalism in writing - look at WCW. You could probably edit "Aquarium" down to less than half the length if you eliminated verbiage, of course that would raise hell with the rhythm. I do understand the criticism. But it's better than anything I could do.

Comment by Nancy Bell Scott on August 12, 2011 at 11:42pm

This Roethke poem is extremely powerful, Theresa.

Your comment below about writing reflecting changes in consciousness reminded me of Joanna Field's (Marion Milner's) "A Life of One's Own," and this passage says something a little different -- or maybe not -- :

"Particularly was I struck by the effect of writing things down. It was as if I were trying to catch something and the written word provided a net which for a moment entangled a shadowy form which was other than the meaning of the words. Sometimes it seemed that the act of writing was fuel on glowing embers, making flames leap up and throw light on the surrounding gloom, giving me fitful gleams of what was before unguessed at."

Comment by De Villo Sloan on August 12, 2011 at 11:22pm

Love the Roethke, Theresa. And NICE Amy Lowell example to vindicate the bad reputation stirring - really appreciate it - examples are good here to support the discussion!

Comment by Nancy Bell Scott on August 12, 2011 at 11:09pm

No way, nope, they have really gone downhill. I'll suggest the analogy to him, though, perhaps providing him with some new material.

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