What a thrill to be invited back for our 3rd project at Mass MoCA and 2nd Solid Sound – Wilco’s consistently jaw dropping biennial music and arts festival.
The problem to solve hadn’t changed: how do we bring new expressions of event specific poetry to as many of the 10,000 festivalgoers as possible, in as many different places as possible?
The problem to solve hadn’t changed: how do we bring new expressions of event specific poetry to as many of the 10,000 festivalgoers as possible, in as many different places as possible?
Magnetic Poetry seemed like a great place to start. After our ‘trial run’ at Mass MoCA Free Day, we thought the program was ready to scale up. Our goal was to blanket the entirety of the 13 acre campus with as much custom verse as possible. We printed up almost 200 square feet of poetry - 2500 gorgeously designed words that we installed in 30 unique locations (there is a TON of metal at the museum).
We crafted and posted a lot of new poems for the event - riffing off the art on display, band histories, favorite lyrics, you name it. We also put up ‘word piles’ focusing on a specific band or theme, for the crowds to mangle at will. Quotes pulled from festival band lyrics and comedians could be found at dozens of locations. People had a field day – by the end of the weekend magnets could be found in every nook and cranny of the extensive space, the words morphing and traveling without rest.
Then there were the typewriter poets. The idea is simple – step up to the table, sit with a poet, talk a bit, share your deepest secrets, and the poet types up a one of a kind collaboration. To give things some focus we added a carney twist – spin the word wheel and let the fates choose a starting point. After a full weekend of non-stop typing, countless new poems were born and sent home.
We crafted and posted a lot of new poems for the event - riffing off the art on display, band histories, favorite lyrics, you name it. We also put up ‘word piles’ focusing on a specific band or theme, for the crowds to mangle at will. Quotes pulled from festival band lyrics and comedians could be found at dozens of locations. People had a field day – by the end of the weekend magnets could be found in every nook and cranny of the extensive space, the words morphing and traveling without rest.
Then there were the typewriter poets. The idea is simple – step up to the table, sit with a poet, talk a bit, share your deepest secrets, and the poet types up a one of a kind collaboration. To give things some focus we added a carney twist – spin the word wheel and let the fates choose a starting point. After a full weekend of non-stop typing, countless new poems were born and sent home.
Here’s one of our favorite poems from the weekend – posted in 13 segments scattered through the assent of the Boiler House, one the coolest MASS MoCA factory remnants.
Thirteen Ways of Listening to Terry Riley
inspired by Wallace Steven’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”
by Susan Brennan
Thirteen Ways of Listening to Terry Riley
inspired by Wallace Steven’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”
by Susan Brennan
I
inside the mountain
only the whisper
of a small bell
II
the pulse mirrored
the mind’s madness
the mirror minded
the mad bell
III
is it the intent of the ear
or the intent of the air?
IV
electronic Titan
women rainbowed
(bells) footfalls
(bells) starfalls
we color your mind
cusp of each scale
V
cup your ears
invite the air
to caress your
head’s clapper
bell be the way
bell be the dream
VI
the bells sit quiet on velvet
in her hand, a folded letter
winter slanted light
swelling shadows
VII
you lay down
under Ponderosa Pines
the wind chest
of their trunks
don’t forget the dead
a bell from each whorl
VIII
alone in a dorm room
someone’s boyfriend’s LP
grooves ripple beyond
turntable
campus
and hatch in me now
wobbling
between ears
balanced
on my spine
IX
in C
a galaxy
rotate tone
lay your love
across a string
free fall of bells
X
good lord
the suspension!
a wicked bell
a simpering bell
a bell tense with pride
I’m floating
blush with me
Strawberry Moon
inside the mountain
only the whisper
of a small bell
II
the pulse mirrored
the mind’s madness
the mirror minded
the mad bell
III
is it the intent of the ear
or the intent of the air?
IV
electronic Titan
women rainbowed
(bells) footfalls
(bells) starfalls
we color your mind
cusp of each scale
V
cup your ears
invite the air
to caress your
head’s clapper
bell be the way
bell be the dream
VI
the bells sit quiet on velvet
in her hand, a folded letter
winter slanted light
swelling shadows
VII
you lay down
under Ponderosa Pines
the wind chest
of their trunks
don’t forget the dead
a bell from each whorl
VIII
alone in a dorm room
someone’s boyfriend’s LP
grooves ripple beyond
turntable
campus
and hatch in me now
wobbling
between ears
balanced
on my spine
IX
in C
a galaxy
rotate tone
lay your love
across a string
free fall of bells
X
good lord
the suspension!
a wicked bell
a simpering bell
a bell tense with pride
I’m floating
blush with me
Strawberry Moon
XI
Chet Baker reduction
then Chet clones
socially infected loop
raga epidemic
plunderphonic democracy
sonic anarchist
dinner bell vs darkness
why five tape recorders?
this is all so weird
XII
the entire night
jumped into the river
a cowbell tied to the end
of its renegade black braid
XIII
Twilight vs Dusk vs Dawn
each bell
a sound mirror
note baths note
oneiric moons
refraction shiver
magnetic agency
edges and ebbs
Chet Baker reduction
then Chet clones
socially infected loop
raga epidemic
plunderphonic democracy
sonic anarchist
dinner bell vs darkness
why five tape recorders?
this is all so weird
XII
the entire night
jumped into the river
a cowbell tied to the end
of its renegade black braid
XIII
Twilight vs Dusk vs Dawn
each bell
a sound mirror
note baths note
oneiric moons
refraction shiver
magnetic agency
edges and ebbs