The Right of Writing - Give Me back my Mo-Jo

So! things got a little more complicated as each participant worked through their understanding of WHY and HOW I was using language as the subject matter in visual, creative studies, and what the relevance - if any of what such usage was.  We had a very fruitful discussion on the value of language in all its various forms as being the most accessible point of cultural entry and a very relevant departure point for creativity.  Unlike, for example,  a module dealing with landscape, or portraiture, language (the written word/prose/poetry/the letters of the alphabet/units/symbols/concepts/etc)  can be adjusted/manipulated/built up or destroyed and remade more than any subject matter a creative person wishes to access. Janina called my history lesson a 'skid' as I attempted to situate current visual poetry in a historic setting. I liked that :-) - 5 weeks to attempt a subject this broard, even at lightning speed, is just, well...impossible. Janina At this juncture, the im

Regrettably I  forgot to document the first two weeks of this very intense process we are ALL undertaking. Facilitating the class has urged me forward too. I have had to consolidate  a specific area of research for a specific purpose for an unspecified GRAND final :-)! - Its been reward-reward-reward all the way. Today was a day to play - with intent. We collaborated on 28 small works with attention to composition, intellectual processing of ground/image/text and politeness - let all the other work be seen. Ann Marie found poetic reserves and a long-lost love of words has been rekindled. To have it married with image has been a creative shift. I think her new gift is alliteration - the word gathering produced an unbelievable harvest.  As an illustrator who has fought hard for her own painting visual language, Jackie brings a surprising twist to the group. To move an artist who is such a careful considerist (yes, thats my word), who employs such careful consideration o

being done in the studio - and participants are DEFINITELY getting back their Mo-Jo!! Today I decided to leave the history and academic discussions on concrete poetry, the Lettersits (Maurice Lemaitre/Pierre Albert-Birot, the influences of ee cummings and Calligrammes by Apollinaire, to just go with the creative act and join together in a celebration of word and image. 3 sorts of papers were provided - maps, telephone pages and plain white. The results are stunning and will be used as three entries for Edition 18 of Mail Art Makes the World a Town. An extra set were produced for reflection on the process. I forgot while we were working to take photographs of the mess - no - wrong term - lets go with 'creative disorder'! This is Ann Marie's  delicious station - can you imagine anything more delightful :-)!! Some results from last week to follow in the next blog.