Witness by Lissa Kiernan
A film by Swoon for the poem “Witness” by Lissa Kiernan, recorded for qarrtsiluni‘s Animals in the City issue. This is Swoon’s 11th film for a qarrtsiluni poem. A couple of snippets from his blog post about it:
The track I wanted to lay this podcast in had to be a bit dreamy but also suspenseful and foreboding (with a small hint of mysteriousness) […]
The images had to be lush, but with a hint of decay. I had a vase with tulips, way past their ideal point of freshness. The petals falling gave me the idea for this video…
The first time I watched this, the images Swoon chose to accompany the text struck me as possibly a bit too random. But now they strike me as a subtle but inspired match. And the poem is, after all, directly concerned with how we might view an odd conjunction.
Ursonate (excerpt) by Kurt Schwitters
http://vimeo.com/66612735
William Shum says about his film,
A short excerpt from Kurt Schwitters sound poem, “Ursonate”. The typeface was created from scratch and inspired by the “Merz” art Schwitters created, hence the name, “Merzy”.
This may be the first example of a typeface invented for a videopoem.
The Wikipedia article on Kurt Schwitters includes a paragraph on Ursonate:
Schwitters composed and performed an early example of sound poetry, Ursonate (1922–32; a translation of the title is Original Sonata or Primeval Sonata). The poem was influenced by Raoul Hausmann’s poem “fmsbw” which Schwitters heard recited by Hausmann in Prague, 1921. Schwitters first performed the piece on 14 February 1925 at the home of Irmgard Kiepenheuer in Potsdam. He subsequently performed it regularly, both developing and extending it. He published his notations for the recital in the last Merz periodical in 1932, although he would continue to develop the piece for at least the next ten years.
Man and Woman by Sergej Timofejev
Edmunds Jansons made this video for a piece by the Russian-Latvian poet Sergej Timofejev, a member of the Orbita collective and a pioneer of Russian-language videopoetry.
After the Robins by Angela Readman
This is Alastair Cook‘s Filmpoem 31. He writes:
After the Robins is a magnificent tour de force of a poem by the English poet Angela Readman; Readman grew up in Middlesbrough and following university in Manchester relocated to Newcastle upon Tyne to complete a film studies MA. She completed a masters in creative writing at the University of Northumbria in 2000 and won a Waterstones prize for her distinctive poetry and prose. Her words are incredible, I think.
This film comes at a difficult time and is dedicated to my late Godfather, a real and bright presence in my young life.
The poem is read by my brother in life, Gérard Rudolf; the haunting lilting music composed by yvonnelyonmusic.com; I’m very pleased to say I’ll be working with Yvonne over the coming year with our filmpoem.com/absentvoices/ project. Please do think about following twitter.com/AbsentVoices for updates.
For more on Angela Readman, see her Wikipedia page.
Moon in the Window by Dorianne Laux
http://vimeo.com/66443184
Artwork (for the accompanying poster) and animation are both by Alison Farone of Glyphix design studio.
The 2013 edition of Traveling Stanzas is a collaborative project between Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center and Glyphix design studio. This series combines the creative talents of KSU Visual Communication Design students with student writers (grades 3–12), health care providers, patients, veterans and professional writers to encourage dialogue about the connection between art and medicine, writing and healing.
Much appreciation to Dorianne Laux who graciously allowed us to us her poem “Moon in the Window” as inspiration for a poster design and poetry animation.
32 Warhol by Dena Rash Guzman
A film by Jerimiah Whitlock. Dena Rash Guzman writes in a blog post:
My poem “32 Warhol” is now a beautiful poem film. A story about childhood, art and hunger, the film was shot by filmmaker Jerimiah Whitlock, and was translated to German and narrated by Hong Kong based poet, editor, and publisher Bjorn Wahsltrom. I am awed by Jerimiah’s vision and production. The result reminds me of director Wim Wenders.
The poem itself was written on a farm in the Oregon woods, where I live, and the film itself was shot and produced in Colorado. The German translation and narration was provided by a Swede then living in Shanghai, China. The world is such a huge and tiny place.
The film made its debut at The Body Electric Film Festival in Ft. Collins, Colorado last month. We have plans to have it screened across the world.
The poem itself, previously published on Ink Node, appears under the title “Life Cycle” in my forthcoming book of poems Life Cycle from Dog On A Chain Press. That will be available in June.
In the post on Vimeo, Whitlock includes the following artist’s statement:
Poetry is traditionally disseminated by the written word or the act of the poet reading to an audience. By creating video poems that not only share the written word but illustrate it in layers of sound, visuals, vocals, and even translations to other languages, the artist hope to help put to rest the idea that poetry is dead. Indeed, it is a form or art that can live as anything from sculpture, to performance, to film. Poetry is one of our oldest known forms of structured communication. Our hope is to see it grow older by bringing it to wider audiences in modern ways. Poetry deserves the eternal life. One day we hope to see an elaborate library dedicated only to poetry in all its modern forms, including shelves and shelves of video poetry. Let no one hunger for verse.
Elegy with Her Red-Tipped Fingers by Tarfia Faizullah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owN7-06smUc
A high-quality, music video-style poetry film by poet and filmmaker Jamaal May for Organic Weapon Arts, whose chapbook series “was started with the hip-hop tradition of the mixtape in mind.” Tarfia Faizullah‘s poem may be read online in Blackbird.
The Shipwright’s Love Song by Jo Bell
A new film by Swoon, who blogged some process notes. Here’s a snippet:
Reading this poem I immediately knew (felt) what I wanted for this video.
I had images made last year (visiting old boats with Alastair Cook) in Antwerp (left screen) and earlier this year on St. Andrew’s beach (right screen)
The images were ‘tested’ on several tracks.
‘Maximum Suspicion‘ worked the best with the images, but I still needed a voice.Nic S. (still the most spot-on reader I know) was willing to participate and she provided me with a great recording almost the same day.
This is Swoon’s entry in the Liberated Words Poetry Film Festival Competition‘s “Four by Four” contest, in which filmmakers are invited to make a video of three minutes or less in response to one of four poems, “The Shipwright’s Love Song” among them. Jo Bell is — I love this — “the UK’s Canal Laureate, appointed by the Poetry Society and the Canal and River Trust.”
