BLeog
Comprehensible Informatisation on Placement (Strategies for Arts Practice)Goodnight (Exit Music)
Monday the 29th of March saw the ‘Blame Yesterday’ book launch at the RSAMD, and it went swimmingly if I do say so myself. The place was packed, books were sold, the audience really enjoyed themselves and Donny seemed well chuffed. Footage, both audio and video, exists of the event, but unfortunately I was unable to put any of it up here. Big ups to Lewis Murphy, Rachel Watson, Ursula Was, Siobhan Duncan, Ishbel McFarlane, Aileen Saunders, Joshua Payne and Peter Lannon, you guys rock. Thanks also to Gerry Victor and the RSAMD front of house team for your gracious help.
This may well be my last post, as my placement with Donny O’Rourke has now come to an end. Before I say my goodbyes, I feel I should say a few things about what I’ve learnt (mostly collated from earlier posts)…
Have faith in your abilities – When I went to run the class at Whiteinch, I felt really uncomfortable leading a group of people older than myself, who had been attending the class for a while. I didn’t feel like they would see any reason to listen to an upstart student type like myself critiquing them. I neglected to remember that I do actually know what I’m talking about (to an extent), and that the fact that my work has been published, and more importantly that Donny invited me to lead the class should of course mean that my opinions would be welcomed. And they were; once I convinced myself that people actually wanted to listen to me, the dialogue became a lot smoother.
Speak up, be persistent – The easiest thing in the world to me is to let opportunities pass me by. I did it last month with a poetry competition in the Academy. Things very rarely happen without you trying to make them happen, and even when they do, it takes persistence and tenacity to make sure they go your way. I’m learning to speak up a little more when possibilities arise, and I think this is very valuable.
Contemporary means now – This is a big one, though a less personal one than the previous two. I think it’s really important to remember that it is not the work that is contemporary, it is the practitioner. If an artist is alive, engaged in and passionate about the world in which they, and the rest of us, live, then the work they make, and the way in which they make it, will reflect that. Contemporary art isn’t always about experimentation and boundary-pushing, it’s about using your form, whatever that may be, to explore the world now, and one’s place within it now as well.
There are other things which are harder to express here, or which I’ve forgotten, but I thought those things were worth placing here clearly.
So that’s it. Finito. Fin. The End (it’s not really because I’m going to try and get some footage of the launch up here, as well as a distinct possiblity of further posts, since I’m planning to continue working with Donny in the future, plus I’m going to post my slam poems up on the poetry page right after this), but you get the idea. Thanks for reading during this assessment period.
A very good night to you all.
*curtain down*
Money, a statement, a contribution and a difference.
Yet again, sincere apologies for my extended absence, dissertations weigh heavy on my time…
However, very exciting things have been happening on my placement. Depending on who you are I may already have told you this, but on Friday the 5th of March I took second place at the Scottish Poetry Slam Championship, part of Glasgow’s ‘Aye Write!’ Festival. As well as monetary reward and an all round amazing (if a bit nerve-wracking) experience, this means I’ve finally fulfilled my ambition (and one of the intentions I had for my placement) of really getting into the Glasgow poetry scene. I’ve been asked to perform at a couple of poetry nights around Glasgow, which is just great and very exciting.
First prize, incidentally went to Milton Balgonie, so well done him.
And that’s not all! The Thom Wright Memorial Trust, through a contact of Donny’s, has commissioned me to create a new piece of work. Exactly what I’ll do for that is still under consideration, but it’s really fantastic for such a professional result to come out of this placement. I am beginning to learn one of the most important things that Donny has been trying to teach me about working as a writer, and I think just life in general: that if you want things to go your way, you have to be persistent, and not let yourself go unnoticed. I am not an outspoken person, and I am very willing to let things, people and opportunities pass me by. I am starting to learn that this is neither profitable, nor particularly useful from a creative point of view. I’m not about to start getting up on boxes and yelling about how great I am, but I am starting to see the point in trying to get noticed a little more now.
I’m on the wrong computer as I write this, but I promise as soon as I am able that I will post up the second prize winning poems I pledged to put up here.
The punk of the poetry scene…
Well well well!
A while ago Donny mentioned a regular performance spot he does at Cafe Rio on the last Monday of every month. It’s a spoken word open mic, and I thought this month I’d give it a go. When I emailed the guy who directs the informatively named ‘Last Monday at Rio’, he told me that normal service had been interrupted for the Glasgow Poetry Slam, but that I was more than welcome to join in with that, if I fancied it.
Slamming has been something I’ve wanted to do for ages, but I’ve never had the opportunity/material/balls to actually go and do it, so I was a little surprised at myself that I decided to go for it, but I did. Having no idea what to expect, or whether the (mostly quite old) material I’d brought with me would be of any use, I turned up with the regulation butterflies to a friendly, enthusiastic, but undeniably competitive atmosphere.
Long story short, having come first in both heats I got through to the final and came third overall, which means that I not only earned a tenner (woo!), but that I’m also now an official competitor at the Scottish Slam Championship next Friday!
It was great fun and very gratifying to have done it and know that having wanted to do it for so long I actually can. It’s also a great opportunity for my placement to have provided me with, so thanks very much for that Donny.
Exciting times…
OOh also, since I claimed that I was going to put some poetry up here, I will shortly post the texts I read at the slam.
On my own again…
Donny was away this week in Bhern, attending the launch of Swiss/Irish Folk band Morgain‘s new album, for which Donny wrote the lyrics as part of a collaboratve project with the group. As a result, I was left to my own devices on Monday, making the finishing touches to the cleanup operation in Donny’s house, and continuing work on the book launch.
Rehearsals have started now (finally!) and the first one was very rewarding. It was genuinely lovely to hear original music being played for the very first time on its intended instruments. The music is really wonderful and very fitting to the event and to the text. Well done Lewis Murphy of the RSAMD!
Well done also to the very skilled and talented musicians Kevin, Rachel and Siobhan – you’re all great!
On Tuesday I met again with painter Merlin James to assist him with some practical work in his home- interesting conversations and very delicious sandwiches abound.
Last Thursday I went along with Donny to a creative writing class he teaches at the Whiteinch Centre; it’s class of people from all walks of life, with varied experiences, views and styles, but with a shared enthusiasm for writing. They’re a great group and I was very pleased to go back this Thursday and lead the class myself. It was a tiny bit strange, because while the class is all about encouraging people’s work, my basic job was to critique their writing, and considering that all the participants were (in some cases quite a lot) older than me, it was an odd feeling acting in that position to them. It wasn’t too awkward at all though; the group seemed perfectly happy to listen to my thoughts on things, and were equally enthusiastic about offering their own views. I had set them a short story writing task, and we spent the two hour class going through everyone’s contribution and discussing it. There were some really excellent pieces and a good time was had by all, as far as I can tell. In fact there may be a job possibility in the future, or so I’m told…
Also, I’m going to be competing in this month’s Glasgow Poetry Slam at Cafe Rio on Monday the 22nd. The winner gets to compete in the Scottish Slam, so I’d better get writing!
career, if that’s the right word…life.
After an extended hiatus I am back with Donny- and still filing!
Outside of work days, plans for the book launch move ever onward (while the date is pushed ever back), and I make plans to lead a creative writing workshop in place of Donny’s next week. Also a possibility of performing at Cafe Rio, one of Donny’s regular spots, at the end of February, make for a very positive (if somewhat late) start to the term.
More news as it comes…
Primadonny
Sincere apologies for the extended gap since my last post, I’ve been extremely busy (forgetful) lately, but I’m here now! So, are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin…
Last week, the two penultimate Paisley events; Monday took us to a writing workshop with the Advanced Higher English students at St Andrew’s Academy. The first thing I (and Donny) noticed upon arriving was that the school building is…well…hideous. It feels as though the architect went round and cherry picked all the most hope-destroying bits of all the prisons in the country and then glued them together in a hurry. I just can’t understand how any positive development is supposed to come out of these buildings; it made me think of Barrhead High school and it’s terrifying jailyard yolk design. Very concerning…
There was a banner at the Guid Cause march in September said that we need ’10,000 more women in architecture’. I’ve got say, if there was a chance it would mean that children would get to learn somewhere that didn’t look like this, then I couldn’t agree more.
Oh no, wait- apparently I can’t put a picture of the school up on here because no one’s allowed to post pictures of schools on the internet. Curioser and curioser…
Having said all this about the school building, the atmosphere once we entered the school was distinctly positive. It felt like a friendly place, with teachers and students communicating pleasantly and with good humour. Obviously it’s impossible to see everything that’s going on, but on first impression it honestly did not feel like an unhappy place at all. The workshop itself was brief but interesting, with the students offering some valuable comments and questions, and responding well to Donny’s advice and performances.
Tuesday took us to Hunterhill Care Home- an altogether more pleasant building, run by what seemed like an eminently gentle and caring staff force- to give a reading for the residents there. Not much to report on a professional level other than that it went well and everyone enjoyed it, but on a personal level it was strange for me because I’d never been to a care home before. It’s difficult to describe the feeling, so I won’t try, but the way people were being treated was encouraging.
No placement this week due to the very exciting (and it really is!) Diaspora, but I did get to finally go and see Donny performing at the final Paisley event- a St Andrew’s Day reading at the library on Monday evening. Donny was on top form, and there was a strange aura around him when I entered the room: something bristling, a sparkle in the eye, something a little bit wild. I assumed it was because he was in a performance frame of mind, though it was a full moon…
The performance was great, it was nice to see Donny giving it laldy to his own work; I’ve heard him read his own poems some of the time, but never for a whole performance, and it gave me some great ideas about performance style and quality when reading my own texts.
Also attended Donny’s ‘More About Movies’ class at Glasgow Uni on Wednesday night. Interesting to see Donny’s facilitation skills (he’s good), and a lot of fun talking about the film in question. I think I talked a disproportionate amount considering the number of attendees and the fact I was new, but everyone seemed to have a good time all the same.
Next week is the last week of the term, and we are determined to finish our archiving mission. I’ll let you know how it goes…
Wots aw dis den?
A half-term lull last week, coupled with an unexpected bump in the website road gave me some time to think (a dangerous thing- or perhaps not!) about fiction. What is fiction for now? Is it an expression of feeling or artistic intent in the same way painting or sculpture or dance may be seen? Is it a vessel to carry difficult, radical or risky opinions and arguments? Is it sheer escapism? Or all of the above?
The answer, obviously, is all of the above and more; but just because it’s an easy question doesn’t mean it’s not worth talking about. I’m a chronic escapist; I spend more of my time thinking about fictional situations than I do about real life, and for a while now I’ve been feeling that this, for a number of reasons (not least my own education) is not a good thing.
Indeed, our course moves very deliberately away from the invention of fiction. This makes sense insofar as the work we make is about ourselves and the world, and it’s very difficult to talk about the world if you’re not in it. Small fictions are created, like the world Jenna Watt traverses in Little Vikings are Never Lost, but these sorts of ‘other-world[s]‘ (jennawatt.co.uk) always seem to be formed from metaphor and twisted truth, never from pure fiction.
I’m tempted to talk about the difficulty that arises when one tries to make work that does not pay any attention whatsoever to the world at large, the subject of my query being Stewart Laing’s recent production of Pamela Carter’s An Argument About Sex, in which the director’s self-confessed lack of interest in the relevance of his choice of play and production thereof to modern society worked to the detriment of all concerned. What Mr Laing evidently had expected to be an entertaining romp through the zeitgeist of ITV circa 2007 (with added bankers for that delightfully hot-button touch) was in my (and I’m pleased to say, most of my friends’) opinion not only thoroughly pointless, but also offensive to a sensible modern ideology.
I suppose what I’m thinking about is whether there is a place in the world, and in art, for pure fantasy. For me there must be; I couldn’t sustain myself without it, I lack the strength to live in real life all of the time, but I can’t help myself from wondering whether it holds a value beyond simple escapism. Perhaps not, I do not know.
This week, work began again in earnest with the practical task of sorting through all of Donny’s documents and memorabilia and throwing most of it out. extended periods of time spent looking at things that have nothing to do with me and everything to do with the person next to me, coupled with the mysterious process of throwing away unopened letters, made this is a ponderous and thought provoking job. Thoughts and ponderings about what though, I’m afraid, I’ve already forgotten.
Next week begins the filing…
One Autumn night, the leaves- undressed the tree
Apologies for the lack of a post last week, busy times were had by all though there was little to report on the placement front except continuing work on the website.
This week, after spending monday with Donny discussing ideas of the book launch (which is now well underway with contacts and recruitment drives left right and centre, I’ve even found a composer who’s willing to help!-more details in the future on that) I today went to meet artist, writer, and friend of Donny, Merlin James. Merlin designed ‘Blame Yesterday’, the book we’re soon to be launching, and has also been printing it, and provided me with an intimate insight into the world of self-publication (it’s remarkably easy).
He also showed me the dvd documentation of a project he took part in earlier this year, translating a work by 1920′s dadaist poet Serge Charchoune entitled ‘Foule Immobile’ or the ‘Immobile Crowd’- a poem to be sung by a 25 voice choir with accompanying music. This new English version was staged in the Mummery and Schnell gallery in London in January, and there are plans to perform it again with a new set of participants in Edinburgh soon.
Incidentally, Charchoune is the one who wrote the line that heads this post not me, I’m sorry to say.
Right, I think that’s about everything. Soon I’ll be able to divulge more sordid details about the book launch, and maybe even give a link to the new website!
A self-sustaining ordnance not to write poems about herons
The first of the Paisley events today, a reading by Donny from a book of Scottish poems he edited entitled ‘Dream State’, was greatly enjoyed (as far as I could tell) by all who attended. It was very gratifying for me to watch Donny perform, not only because I’ve never seen him read before (I’ve still yet to see him read his own work), but simply because it’s nice to see someone who is experienced in this sort of thing do what they’re good at. A lot of the work read was moving, entertaining, and obviously collected with a great passion for the work.
What I enjoyed most about Donny’s reading though were the asides, the inter-poem spiel, in which Donny revealed with an innate honesty much about his own feelings and opinions, in a casual and friendly way that I think many contemporary performance practitioners try to achieve, but by making a deliberate effort towards it, often make insincere. Listening to him speak both eloquently and with real passion about the importance and national neglect of art in the curriculum and every other part of the country and often life itself, reaffirmed my feelings that the idea that work must be experimental or must in some way reject or subvert traditional forms in order to be contemporary is false. If art is being made now, by people who are alive and engaged in and passionate about the world as it is now, then it is contemporary, and its power and value should not be dismissed lightly. This I believe.
On a more practical note, work on the website continueth; I’d post links and whatnot, but the new form is neither complete nor online, and it would defeat the point to show you the old version, so nyah.
The wrong emphases can be genuinely damaging
A quiet second week, except for the beginning of a project to organise, compile and edit a new collection of Donny’s poems about Scotland for publication some time next year. This is mostly going to involve a lot of digging around in archives, which perversely enough I’m really excited about.
Plans, sandwiches and discussions about catholic magazines all abound, as does the first of the Paisley events, which will be a guided tour of Scottish Poetry at the paisley central library this tuesday at 1.00.
I’m also feeling the pressure as Donny is keen to provide a performance slot for me in the near future, and I don’t have anything ready to perform. Work must be done and soon.
