Atticus Review is one of a small number of poetry journals worldwide that regularly features videopoetry as part of its online presence. Edited by David Olimpio, it has been published from the USA since 2010, gathering a large readership. Videos are featured in the ‘mixed media‘ section, edited by Matt Mullins, a maker of outstanding videopoems himself. Many interesting hybrids of poetry and video have appeared there since this kind of work became part of Atticus in 2011. Towards the end of 2018, the announcement was made that the journal would for the first time stage a videopoetry contest, and calls for entries went out internationally. I was honoured to be invited to judge via the internet, from where I live in Queensland, Australia.
By the submissions deadline in early December, 115 poetry videos from different parts of the world had been sent to us. It was a pleasure to view all the work. I found quality in most of it. In fact, as a film-maker myself, the rich creativity of my peers was generally humbling (in a good way). The diversity and innovation of subjects and approaches inspired me. So it was a challenge to select only four awarded videos. These were published in Atticus Review on 11 January, along with some commentary on each of them from me, and further information about the film-makers and poets involved. They are best viewed on their respective pages on the Atticus site. Follow the links below to watch and learn more.
Things I Found in the Hedge (first prize)
Kathryn L. Darnell (director, animation)
Lucy English (writer, voice)
USA / UK
Qué Es El Amor (What Is Love) (second prize)
Eduardo Yagüe (director)
Lucy English (writer)
Spain / UK
The Whole Speaks (third prize)
Caroline Rumley (director)
Nelms Creekmur (writer, voice)
USA
The Cleanest Hands (honourable mention)
Amy Bailey (director, writer, voice)
USA
The Atticus contest will continue to happen yearly, a welcome addition to the international calendar of events surrounding videopoetry. To be among the first to find out when the next call for submissions goes out, and to receive regular news of ongoing publications in the journal, subscribe to email notifications.
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I’m taking the opportunity now to share some more of the videos sent in to us. While they were not awarded in the contest, I find each of them uniquely inspired. They are presented here in the sequence I think is most conducive to viewing and appreciating each of them.
https://youtu.be/KL4hh3_FQ1Y
Victor A. Guzman (director)
Rich Ferguson (writer, performer)
USA
https://vimeo.com/267531514
Tisha Deb Pillai (animator)
Fiona Tinwei Lam (writer)
Canada
https://vimeo.com/290947393
Jane Glennie (director, voice)
Lucy English (writer, voice)
UK
https://youtu.be/bOzf7SQXqMM
Brendan Bonsack (director)
Amy Bodossian (writer, performer)
Australia
https://vimeo.com/238368813
Ian Gibbins (writer, director, voice, music)
Australia
https://vimeo.com/312567950
Tommy Becker (writer, director, music, performer)
USA
https://youtu.be/lN0B2SEMTng
Mark Niehus (writer, director, music)
Australia
https://vimeo.com/306908806
Pam Falkenberg & Jack Cochran (directors)
Lucy English (writer, voice)
USA / UK
https://youtu.be/kTwRJ8kTUlk
Edward O’Donnelly (director)
Malcolm Ritchie (writer, performer)
Scotland
(turn on ‘closed captions’ for subtitles)
https://youtu.be/7i8A-uUV8rA
Yves Bommenel (writer, director, performer)
France
There are yet more videos I would happily share from the contest submissions, by artists whose work I admire. Alas, too many for one article.
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I’ve now related my enthusiasm for the journal, the contest, the work received, the process of viewing and the honour of judging. So it may seem strange when I say that, in general, I’m not the biggest fan of competitions in the arts.
The arts can never be judged in a truly objective way, in the manner of sporting achievements, for example, that can be decided on measurable microseconds in a race. As I see it, the best we can do when adjudicating the arts is to be as impartial as possible in applying our personal preferences. Our individual sensibilities will have been formed from a combination of direct experiences in life, what we have learned in formal and informal cultural and educational settings, our raw responses to other work as audience members over time, and possibly our experience of participating in the creation process itself, including philosophies and methods we have developed. We will likely be affected by how these influences come together at the particular time when we are making our decisions, which might be different in another month, year or decade. Other factors might feed into this process, whether we are judges in a competition, or simply making personal choices about what to watch and recommend as the ‘best’. There’s nothing absolute in the arts. In short, as I see it, the reception of work in this arena is essentially subjective.
As an artist, and as someone who has been a teacher, I am concerned with the psychological, emotional, and ego ramifications of ‘winning’ or ‘losing’ in relation to creativity (when I say ‘artist’ in this context, I mean film-maker and/or poet). Competitions by their nature focus most attention and reward on the winners. Although we might not want to admit it, the much greater number of participating artists can be left feeling disappointed and lacking to varying degrees. Depending on stage of experience as artists, along with levels of personal and creative development, this may have an impact on ability to function in our work. In some cases, it can lead to artistic growth and more satisfying outcomes. In others, it is simply discouraging of an artist’s practice. Perhaps my attitude is overly maternal in relation to adult people responsible for their own response to challenges. On the other hand, the arts are an area where personal vulnerabilities are often put on the line in a rather naked way, and so the person behind the work may well be more vulnerable in ability to process a perceived ‘failure’. In an era when mental illness has risen to epidemic proportions, coupled with higher rates of this long known to exist in the arts, I think giving some consideration to these issues is warranted.
Competitions in the arts might also be seen in some ways as another expression of competition in capitalism. This makes me wonder: do we really want to approach the arts as survival of the fittest, or else as a kind of lottery? If we are idealistic, there might be some discomfort in approaching the arts in this manner, especially if political resistance or advocacy form any part of the motivation for being involved.
Then there is the issue of entry fees for competitions. For some time I refused to enter any of my work in events that charged a fee to submit. Like so many artists, I have lived in relative poverty my whole life, and have already freely invested time, talent, passion, skill, and whatever limited resources I have available, to produce the work. Then again, I know that there are significant expenses involved in staging competitions as well, and that organisers are usually giving a great deal of their time for free, as well as their energy, dedication, passion and skills (but watch out for the profit-making motives of some events). Still, wherever possible, I think it would be best to avoid entry fees. My personal view is that competitions don’t need to offer cash prizes. Without these, entry fees may not be needed, or kept to a bare minimum. I believe the honour and attention focused on winning works is ultimately the most valuable and practical reward.
Having said all that, I’m not really ‘against’ competitions. The shades of ambivalence I feel are mostly about idealism versus practical realities on the ground. While I have some hesitations, I recognise the value of competitions for generating excitement in artists and audiences, and for focusing and growing an artistic culture. Ultimately, the more ways to highlight creative work we love, the better.
In the specific case of videopoetry competitions, my personal experience has been positive in almost all instances of submitting, and of having work celebrated or declined. Rejection letters have been respectful, sometimes even encouraging. I find the videopoetry community to be unusually supportive of artists on the whole. But from past experience on the broader film festival circuit, and what I know of other artists’ experiences, this is not always the case in the wider world of the arts, where personal creative work can be treated much more like pure commodity. So I’m offering what I’ve said here as food for thought about the staging of arts competitions in general, and to encourage ongoing care in the treatment of artists and their work.
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Videopoetry appears to be ever-growing, with artists from many nations now engaged in the practice, and a collective body of work increasingly exhibited and appreciated worldwide. This hybrid of poetry and cinema (including all its various generic labels), has roots going back a long way in film history, especially in the areas of the experimental and avant garde. As Helen Dewbery has suggested in a recent article, its roots may be more ancient still, if we think of the genre as simply one of the myriad contemporary expressions of poetry itself. In this line of thinking, it might be said that poetry began as an oral tradition and has adapted to new technologies and approaches throughout history. Long may this fine lineage continue, in any of the old and new forms the future promises.
One of a series of videopoetry collaborations between the UK poet Asim Khan and video artist and experimental animator David C. Montgomery. Watch the others at Asim’s Vimeo page. The soundtrack on this one is courtesy of Maja Jantar (voice) and Kristof Lauwers (electronics).
https://vimeo.com/288588097
This quietly terrifying 8mm short by Andrew Theodore Balasia is a video trailer for Laura Theobald‘s new book, What My Hair Says About You, from Sad Spell Press. According the publisher’s description,
These poems break down the self—plucking the sun out of the sky, throwing bones at the void—while courting issues of identity, gender, sex, love, and loss in biting, blunt vernacular. What My Hair Says About You is a jilting confessional debut, with an ear pressed to a flowery, bone-littered floor.
The Art Visuals & Poetry Film Festival is a biennial, multi-day celebration of German-language poetry film held in Vienna. The next one will be 29 November to 1 December, 2019. The organizers issued a call for entries on 1 January. The main competition is only open to entries from German-speaking countries (residency or nationality), but there’s also an international award:
We know that there is a great interest from the international community to participate. Therefore we have created a second competition called “SPECIAL AWARD” after a given festival poem. This competition is open to film makers from all over the world. For the next Poetry Film Festival we have chosen a poem by the Viennese writer and composer Sophie Reyer. You can download the spoken version of Sophie Reyers’ “Zuerst/First” in German for free. We also provide you with a licensed English translation of the festival poem under creative commons. It’s very interesting, that this kind of competition attracts many professionals who like to experience different versions of films based on the same text. On the other hand, it offers people a easy chance to make their first poetry movie in their life.
Click through for more details, guidelines, and the FilmFreeway submission link. The deadline for the Special Award competition is August 30.
Financial Consequences
International Multimedia Poetry Festival
Saturday 9 February 2019
STARTS 16:00 ends 23:00
FREE entrance / doors open at 15.45
organized by
+the Institute [for Experimental Arts] – Athens, Greece
supported by
London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Anthropology
location of the festival:
LSE Saw Swee Hock Centre
1 Sheffield Street
London WC2A 2AP
“Financial Consequences – International Multimedia Poetry Festival” challenges perceptions of economic crises and provides a new point of view via a wide variety of media. For the last 10 years, we’ve seen entrepreneurs, economists, bankers, technocrats and politicians dominate public opinion; now it’s time for poets to explain to all of them the social impact of their decisions and their politics. The social awareness and sensitivity of poets — in collaboration with video artists and musicians — invited from countries crushed by the economic crises offer us the best possible view of the invisible sites of social life, and offer us the opportunity to understand and realize the financial consequences of economic crises in the everyday lives of all of us, especially of people trapped in suffering.
The Institute for Experimental Arts was founded in 2008 in Athens, Greece as a non-profit platform for creative expression and research in the fields of theater, performance art, digital media, installation, poetry and art theory. The Institute is committed to being an open meeting-point for poets and writers, directors, actors, theater engineers/technicians, performance artists, photographers, video artists, and writers who develop new analytical tools for contemporary art, media and communications.
Saturday 9 February 2019 at 16:00 (duration: 30 minutes)
Lecture by the world-known professor of Anthropology David Graeber (London School of Economics): “How social and economic structure influences the Art World”
Influential anthropologist David Graeber, known for his 2011 volume Debt: The First 5000 Years, speaks about the correlation between the cultural sphere and society. The intellectuals and the artists create an imaginative way to criticize the economic system in any era. Art can overcome hegemonic frameworks and acknowledge other possible worlds, offering us the opportunity to better understand marginalized social entities. Social exclusion is the process by which individuals or people are systematically blocked from, or denied full access to, various rights, opportunities and resources that are normally available to members of a different group, and which are fundamental to social integration and observance of human rights within that particular group (e.g. housing, employment, healthcare, civic engagement, democratic participation, and due process). As the economic crises go deeper in time more people face the effects of exclusion. Art and social sciences can give voice to the voiceless. Young, socially aware poets especially can give us a clear view of the real social effects of financial changes.
Lecture by Tasos Sagris: “Poetry and Revolt- Political Art in the 21st Century”
Theater director, poet, and activist Tasos Sagris, art director of the Financial Consequences festival, is best known to English-speaking audiences for co-editing the book We are an Image from the Future: The Greek Revolt of December 2008, will introduce us to a new way of understanding political art in 21st century.
(duration: 2 hours – starts at 16:30)
A compilation of the outstanding video poems from the last seven years of International Video Poetry Festival will be screened. A unique compilation including cinematic visual art based on poetry by artists from all over the world (America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania). The programme will include the most social aware video poems among hundreds videos from the International Video Poetry archive.
The International Video Poetry Festival is an annual festival held by the Institute for Experimental Arts in Athens, Greece over the past seven years as a non-profit, free-entrance event. Approximately 1200 people attend the festival every year. The International Video Poetry Festival attempts to create an open public space for the creative expression of all tendencies and streams of contemporary visual poetry. Multimedia poetry nights and video poetry shows can bring new audiences in contact with visual art and contemporary poetry, to open new creative dimensions.
UK: Maciej Piatek. Helen Dewbery. Adrian Carter UK/ISRAEL: Yael Ozsinay. Nir Philosof. Maayan Moreno Erlich. Shimi Asresay. Noa Evron. Inbal Ochyon. Valery Yuzefovic. Dekel Oved. Sivan Kotek. Dan Berger. Inbal Breda. Adva Rodan. Tal Rachmin. Talia Randall FRANCE: Eric Sarner AUSTRALIA: Maria Craven. Radheya Jegatheva. Jason Lam USA: Dave Bonta. Hieu Gray. Liza Seidenberg. Jonathan Reyes. R. A. Villanueva RUSSIA: Inga Shepeleva GERMANY: Von Kuesti Fraun. Julian Weinert SPAIN: Igor Luna PORTUGAL: Manuel Vilarinho CANADA: James Pomeroy ITALY: Francesca Bonfatti BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA: Amina Avdic ISLE OF MAN: Janet Lees TURKEY/UKRAINE: Lokal Anestezi IRAN/UK: Roxana Vilk COLOMBIA: Catalina Giraldo Velez UK/ZAMBIA: Fiona Melville
MORE INFO: find bios, videos, photos, info about the participants and general programme of VIDEO POETRY Zone HERE.
(duration: 4 1/2 hours – starts at 18:30)
Poets, musicians and visual artists create a vibrant atmosphere with multimedia poetry readings and live poetry performances. Spoken Poetry has been growing in popularity over the last few years. A collection of contemporary poets from countries faced by financial crises are taking on an important social role in our times. Poetry communities preserve the possibility of mutual understanding by reading and performing it.
Poetry responds to economical crisis, social exclusion and conflict — all the challenges society faces. Poetry has a special role under difficult financial and political conditions. Matthew Zapruder, in his essay “Poetry and Poets in a Time of Crisis“, finds guidance in the thought of Wallace Stevens:
Poets, according to Stevens, help us live our lives, not by telling us what to think, or by comforting us. They do so by creating spaces where one individual imagination can activate another, and those imaginations can be together. Poems are imaginative structures built out of words, ones that any reader can enter. They are places of freedom, enlivenment, true communion.
Poetry Performances Live Concerts
SISSY DOUTSIOU – GREECE
LUNA MONTENEGRO + ADRIAN FISHER – CHILE / UK
TASOS SAGRIS + WHODOES – GREECE
LUCIA SELLARS – BOLIVIA
ULLI FREER – UK
POPPY DELTA – GREECE
NEFELI VOUTSINA PETSIMERI – GREECE
JUSTIN KATKO – USA
LARRY COOL – GREECE
GIZEM OKULU – TURKEY
ROBERT KIELY – IRELAND
The Poetry of Arab Spring
ELIZABETH TAPINI reads poems from a series of revolutionary, social uprisings that enveloped several Arab countries after 2010, including Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Bahrain.