{"id":20723,"date":"2013-06-04T06:30:48","date_gmt":"2013-06-03T18:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=20723"},"modified":"2013-06-03T22:22:30","modified_gmt":"2013-06-03T10:22:30","slug":"tuesday-poem-i-meant-it-to-be-a-poem-about-sparrows-a-collaboration-between-artist-claire-beynon-poet-helen-lowe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2013\/06\/04\/tuesday-poem-i-meant-it-to-be-a-poem-about-sparrows-a-collaboration-between-artist-claire-beynon-poet-helen-lowe\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday Poem: ‘I meant it to be a poem about sparrows’—A Collaboration Between Artist, Claire Beynon, & Poet, Helen Lowe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sparrows<\/h3>\n

I meant it to be a poem about sparrows
\nand how the silence that followed
\nthe February 22nd earthquake
\nincluded their absent voices \u2014
\n& not just sparrows but the starlings
\nand blackbirds, the finches and wax-eyes
\nthat normally fill the day with their bustle
\nabout the business of living \u2026
\n\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/span> all fallen silent,
\nhidden away, or gone further to find food
\nsince half the city was covered
\nin a slick of water and mud. I threw<\/p>\n

old bread onto the island of grass
\nin our own grey sea and waited \u2026
\n\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..\u2026<\/span> and waited.<\/p>\n

And then, finally, they came
\ntheir wings clouding the sun.
\n.<\/span>
\n\u00a9 Helen Lowe, 2011<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

The Work In Progress:<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

work in progress; artist Claire Beynon<\/p><\/div>\n

—<\/p>\n

The Completed Work: ‘I meant it to be a poem about sparrows’<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

'I meant it to be a poem about sparrows'; by Claire Beynon<\/p><\/div>\n

—<\/p>\n

The ‘Ekphrastic’ Series:<\/h3>\n

I commenced posting a series of ‘ekphrastic poems’, aka poems in response to works of art, on March 26 with my poem Ti<\/em><\/a>, and today complete the series—but felt the very best way to do that was with a ‘counter-culture’: a work of art developed in response to a poem.<\/p>\n

The poem is The Sparrows<\/em>, from my sequence in response to the Christchurch earthquake of February 22nd, 2011; the artwork is artist and fellow Tuesday Poet Claire Beynon’s<\/a> EnMasse_Murmur ii<\/em>, developed in response to the poem. the two images featured above, both with Claire’s permission, show the early form of the work, springboarding off the poem, as well as the finished work.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Artist’s Note from Claire Beynon:<\/h3>\n

This note appeared as part of the “En Masse” exhibition in 2011:<\/p>\n

\u201cI am currently immersed in a sequence of drawings and paintings that address the wounding we have inflicted – and continue to inflict – on our planet. These works incorporate X-ray-type images of the earth’s imaginary bones; her skeletal structure; the fractures and changing reality that, much of the time, lie hidden beyond our view. They give voice to the urgency of our active engagement in what are effectively crimes against our environment and are an invitation to consider how we might facilitate our planet\u2019s preservation and healing.<\/p>\n

When it comes to matters of protest, my intention is always to find a way ‘through the gaps’, to communicate in language that e<\/em>vokes rather than pro<\/em>vokes. While it\u2019s important to acknowledge current global realities in all their darkness and starkness, it is every bit as important to focus\u00a0in on beauty and wonder, on mystery, poetry and transformative potentials. My hope is to peel back ‘layers of the obvious’ so as to reveal the subtler notes.<\/p>\n

There’s a synchronistic little story behind I meant it to be a poem about sparrows and the silence that followed<\/em>. . . This drawing was already well underway when I came upon\u00a0a poem by Christchurch-based writer,\u00a0Helen Lowe<\/a>. Helen had posted The Sparrows<\/em> on her blog as part of her ongoing\u00a0Earthquake Witness<\/em><\/a> sequence.\u00a0The opening and closing lines of The Sparrows<\/em> resonated particularly powerfully for me and seemed to speak directly into\/out of this drawing.<\/p>\n

Following\u00a0the 22 February earthquake in Christchurch, the birds fled the city, rendering the broken landscape all the starker through the absence of birdsong. .\u00a0The closing lines of Helen’s poem read –<\/p>\n

“. . .\u00a0And then, finally, they came<\/em>
\ntheir wings clouding the sun.”<\/em><\/p>\n

My thanks to Helen for allowing me to ‘borrow’ the opening two lines as a title and for permission to include her poem on this exhibition.”<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Claire Beynon<\/p><\/div>\n

About the Artist:<\/h3>\n

CLAIRE BEYNON<\/strong> is a fulltime artist, writer and independent researcher based in Dunedin, New Zealand. She exhibits her work nationally and internationally and has established valued collaborative partnerships with scientists, filmmakers, musicians, fellow artists and writers around the globe. She is also a regular public speaker.\u00a0In 2011 Claire completed James O\u2019Dea\u2019s certification training in Peace Ambassadorship and is currently undertaking online study courses in Esoteric Psychology, Sacred Activism and Human Design. Antarctica has her under its spell; she spent two summer research seasons (2005 & 2008) working with US scientists in a remote field camp on the edge of the Taylor Dry Valleys \u2013 an experience that significantly altered her way of seeing and being in the world. Her work carries a strong environmental awareness message – it can be found on the following sites – www.watersihaveknown.blogspot.com<\/a> \u00a0 | \u00a0 www.icelines.blogspot.com<\/a> & www.clairebeynon.co.nz<\/a><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub<\/strong> and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets from around the world, click here<\/strong><\/a> or on the Quill<\/strong> icon<\/strong> in the sidebar.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Sparrows I meant it to be a poem about sparrows and how the silence that followed the February 22nd earthquake included their absent voices \u2014 & not just sparrows but the starlings and blackbirds, the finches and wax-eyes that normally fill the day with their bustle about the business of living \u2026 \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026. all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friends","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20723"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20757,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20723\/revisions\/20757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}