death at 26,000 dots per inch

[blp]

video
is flesh without blood or substance
colour without light or breath
flatness, no depth
no record
only simulacra
horror
dead
dry pictures
always somehow of f***ing and violence
the medium
of our moment
the moment of death
(let it be just a moment)
the moment that comes
(it comes and comes)
into nothingness
for no reason
when there are no more dreams

It's not just a moment

It's the trace of a movement of history
a medium of time
for a time
when there is nothing to be said
when nothing can be mediated
only the repetitious record
of facts on the ground
seed on the ground
c**ts being ground
the endless showing and cutting
of flesh without shine
wounds that don't bleed
wounds in the groins
in a succession of ugly rooms
faceless heads
areas of shadow
(no one has a face on video)
beige walls, floral patterns
sad lingerie, purple d***s
and lustreless, lavish embossing
only the s*** smears show
only religion and dirty games
an idea of no idealism
ideally expressed.

[Virgil]

Very good, blp. I really enjoyed it. Here are my favorite lines:

the moment of death
(let it be just a moment)
the moment that comes
(it comes and comes)
into nothingness
for no reason
when there are no more dreams
and

the endless showing and cutting
of flesh without shine
wounds that don't bleed
wounds in the groins
in a succession of ugly rooms
faceless heads
areas of shadow

I'm not sure there is anything I would change.

[blp]

Thanks, Virgil. It still feels a tad rough to me. The 'no more dreams' bit might stand more stitching and unstitching.

[jon1jt]

To pick up where you left off in the other thread, I don't always comment because I don't always feel I have all that much to offer. At the same time, I see your point.
Well, I'll try. Let's take your poem here for example. It's loaded with short, incomplete phrases like,

succession of ugly rooms
faceless heads
areas of shadow

And more...

only religion and dirty games
an idea of no idealism
ideally expressed

I'm searching for texture, color, meaning, an anchor - that's the way my brain works, unfortunately - and your work keeps slipping away from me or else I can't find it at all and by the end of the poem I was a bit exhausted.

You use this word "nothingness." What does that mean exactly as it pertains to video or the overall sensibility of the work? The ideas are opaque, even incoherent at points - you don't give me enough to reel me in - which is okay too (Just look at my god awful poem, Seven!), but I strive...hope for the rhythmic hook. I did identify a negative undercurrent that scraped against my brain some, but I love dark poetry too. And yet, in the end, I wasn't entirely convinced that you "made the case," not that that's a prerequisite to writing poetry. When I read poetry - whether it's uplifting or morose depending on the reader - there is nothing more than I love than to have that poetic "A-ha" moment.

I guess I don't perceive "video" in this light partly because you're describing a process with which I'm unfamiliar or out of touch. What do you mean, "the endless showing and cutting"? Endless in terms of artistic process?

Your opening lines are a tough sell:

video
is flesh without blood or substance
colour without light or breath
flatness, no depth

"no" depth?
colour "without" light?

The subject doesn't resonate with me because I bring my own bias into the reading (who doesn't?) --- there are many highly creative film makers out there doing amazing, cutting edge work that offsets this. I'm not even sure if you're talking about film, to be honest. Despite, I like the unyielding, unequivocal voice and you have something to say about it all.

The bleeped words are a bit gratuitious and you use too many, I think. It doesn't add to the work and clashes even, given the level of abstraction.

I like the overall structure of the poem, and especially the title you selected. After a second reading, the lines are tight and do create a rhythm that conspires with the harsh tone. The line, "it's a trace of a movement of history" which in my mind points to an ceaseless, unfolding process, is refreshing. I see immense talent lurking in the shadows of your work; you know how to fool with words, and I do look forward to reading more of it.

[blp]

Thanks jon1jt. I make work in video myself and I quite like it, but it does feel less rich in appearance than 16mm, which an older generation of artists and filmmakers would have been more likely to use, partly because the prevalence of video hadn't made as expensive as it is now. 16mm has a natural grain and, according to a tutor I had at college, film's colour separations are actually layered, giving it a depth and lightness basic video footage doesn't have. So some of what I'm saying is a literal description of that, but I was also trying to talk about the way our moment is defined by its dominant medium and the amount of absolute atrocity that is freely distributed on video, from pornography to clips of hostages being beheaded to abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.

If you're really interested, there's plenty more by me here, though a bit buried away now in the nether pages of the personal poetry section. I'm not feeling so poetry minded at the moment.

[jon1jt]

Thanks BLP for the interesting background info on film, now I can appreciate your poem more. I know what you mean about today's film being defined by the type of violence you describe. I think it's a dominant medium in part because of the money investors stand to make, and sometimes I'm not sure whether to blame the film makers, the viewers or both, for that being the case! I actually like older films and there are some independent films out there, like Sideways and Good Night and Good Luck, that seem to display some of the older film qualities, which I think is a healthy turn.

I am so illiterate when it comes to film making. It's a very fascinating field and I may eventually take up some reading on it.

Good luck with your film work. I'll be sure to check the annals for your poetry! Thanks BLP.

[blp]

Yes, film is well worth reading up on. I wasn't so much on about mainstream filmmaking here, awful as it is now. One school of thought has it that Hollywood's actually scared of video's potential to democratise the means of production and that's why it increasingly tries to create a USP for itself with expensive CGI and other special effects. I'm not convinced they need to be worried, but it's true that video has made space for some fascinating stuff to happen, notably the dogme films Festen and The Idiots, Gus Van Sant's Elephant and the recent Hollywood dissection Ivan's XTC. Lots more too I think. These also show that video can have its own beauty, but still, a lot of young filmmakers are split between the practicalities and cheapness of video and a nostalgic yearning after film. The irony is that, for the earlier generations upon whom this nostalgia is based, particularly the incomparably great John Cassavetes, seen by many as the father of US indie movie making, 16mm was the equivalent of video today, a cheap medium within the reach of amateurs, largely used for practical reasons.

But this poem is much more concerned with practical, documentarist uses and I think it really had its roots in seeing some old Vietnam footage of soldiers walking around the aftermath of a bombing. The film stock gave it an elegaic beauty that video's snubnosed matter of factness would be hardpushed to achieve - and that's a very double edged experience, probably more interesting than the poem I eventually wrote.

[white camellia]

Dear blp, the moment of death/the moment that comes/into nothingness/for no reason/when there are no more dreams, these lines take me to the unspeakable truth of life and the fathomless greatness of death. Thank you.

Of the fragility of art, when I described it as a woman, I meant that. It's fragile, not because the object itself, but the one who sees it. The deeper love I possess for something, the more strength i feel for it and the more fear I get lest a slight touch would sabotage its beauty.

Woman, thy name is fragility.
I remember this is from Shakespeare, but not sure.

[blp]

Yes, I'm not sure about that quote. I thought it was something more like 'Deceit, thy name is woman.' Wait, I'll google it. Ah, actually, it's 'Frailty, thy name is woman', so you're closer to the truth except that the woman in question was Ophelia and the phrase is used as criticism of her for going against her feelings of love for Hamlet in order to be obedient to her father, Polonius.

I think I understand what you're saying about art, but, as in all relationships, the process of give and take is complicated isn't it? In the cummings quote you just posted in your 81mg thread, the poet wouldn't be able to perceive the intense fragility if it wasn't there to some extent. On the other hand, the fragility is probably there in people I don't love, but I don't perceive it, or don't care about it in the same way. But still, with art, I think it's different. I think you have more choice about the presentation than a person does about themself. It's not easy, but maybe you can induce love more deliberately, by being aware of the need for fragility.