This Is Just To Say...

Hannah Walker is amazing. This is a fact I was aware of long before I was invited to "attend"/"participate" in her new poetry show "This is Just to Say...", but after experiencing her "performance" earlier this week I am still moved and the colour of my world has shifted ever so slightly (for the better).

That's a lot of parentheses (sorry), but it's hard to pin down the show in traditional performance poetry terms. When you see it (which you should) you will be one of a small group of eight people all sitting round a table, potentially with wine, with Hannah at the head. The atmosphere is not unlike that of a seance, as Hannah raises the spector of Apology - an act we all perform every day, mostly without thinking - and deconstructs it through discussion, anecdote and beautiful, heartaching poetry. But like a seance, we are not mute witnesses to the act, the energy and involvement of the audience is an integral part of the show.

I'm sorry that I can't really go into more detail. I'd love to share moments from the performance we attended, but I would hate to ruin any of it - it's so much better approached open-minded.

I'm also sorry that I don't have the words to describe how beautiful and melancholy it is. Just see it - its being performed at the Edinburgh Festival as part of the Forest Fringe - Monday 16 – Friday 20 August, 5pm & 9pm. More details on that here.

That's three apologies and I haven't even left the house yet.

Sway and Sammy Merry

I'm currently reading "Sway" by Zachary Lazar. It's a great book (picked up on a whim) about the early days of the Rolling Stones, The Manson Family (esp. Bobby Beausoleil) and the film-maker Kenneth Anger (see a fantastic example of his work - with the 'Stones - here).

What Lazar does is re-tell, beautifully, recorded events from the lives of the people involved and embelishes them, essentially colouring the characters and drawing a dark web between them. I like this. I like that these events are raised to mythological status in his book, something we can all own a piece of.

I didn't intend this to become a book review blog, but this has really kick-started some connections for me and I have started researching the occult and symbolism. I am fascinated by the placement and layout of symbols, motifs and drawings. Are there symbols and codified words that when placed together have inherent meaning, or can any items be placed together and a deeper meaning attributed?

I feel the latter, but who knows?

As usual, I wouldn't expect any future work to be clearly an examination of this, but at the very least my imagination is running away with itself at the moment.

In other news, you should really look at Sammy Merry's website as he's a fantastic bastard with a unique talent for making art that manages to take the piss and somehow cut to the heart of the modern condition at the same time. Whatever that means. And he's going to be a dad, so spare a thought and some pennies should he try to sell you anything he's drawn on in the coming months.

Watercolours...

I have cracked open the tin of watercolours I've had since March and had a play.