“Changing Patterns.” This open call requested work that engaged with the concepts and possibilities for change or adaptation of ourselves and others. Can we break free from performativity and the discourse that surrounds us.
Michel Foucault stated that "Power is everywhere", and that we are part of the discourse, influence it and are influenced by it.
If we are entrenched within knowledge systems that affect us from birth, through our schools, institutions, laws, communities and societal 'norms', then is it possible to break free and change our pattern? How much wiggle room do we have if we are intrinsic to the power structures we live within?
This months writers section tackles these ideas.
we start with our resident poet
Peter Devonald
CHANGING THE DISCOURSE
“I've never seen any life transformation
that didn't begin with the person in question
finally getting tired of their own bullshit.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert
We spiral mesmerised by our dull routine,
round and round the mulberry bush, over
and over, wash face, comb hair, brush teeth,
all on a cold and frosty morning of despair.
We repeat, still believing the same actions
might lead to a better outcome, round
and round, repeat after repeat, another
cold and frosty winter morning of despair.
Sick of our lives, sick of each other,
sick of the paths we tread day in day out,
tired of all our own bullshit, exhausted
by ourselves, we stop and suddenly stare,
notice the world all around us, gleaming,
we dare ourselves to finally be happy.
Red Or Blue Pill?
Decades of medication shape our landscape,
our whole world view skewered to your glare,
every opinion jaded and confused by misleading
pharmaceutical mixtures of unknown cocktails,
impossible ingredients with strange names and
stranger origins, manufactured in faraway places,
changing, transforming and manipulating, sucking
every profit out of delirium, the falsity of it all,
bleak blank deceptiveness of medication to blank
minds and swell impossibly large bank balances.
We write blank cheques to blank canvass,
the fog of unknowing, hollow cavities of lives,
vacuum of emotions, an antidepressant dream,
stultifying and stupefying, deadening and dulling,
weakening resistances, calming thoughts with
pillows over mouths, holding reality down,
down, down to the sea, you and me,
a virtual reality fantasy of another life,
I love you and you love me,
underneath the sycamore tree.
Jaded medication softens and silences the world,
simplifies, sugarcoats with spoonfuls of sugar
to make the world go down,
such simple easy visions of a brutalist life,
complexity and confusion eased like quicksand
into the bath of unknowing,
soak, soothe and numb, repeat,
soak, soothe and numb, repeat,
don’t think, don’t ever think,
slip into tender sleep, let lullabies weep.
Certainties
Covid changed everything,
all the certainties
gone.
All structure and stability of our lives
eroded, erased,
missing.
Everything we knew and took
for granted, taken
away.
So many moments missed,
so many dreams denied,
I miss you.
I wonder if the weary weight
of the world will ever make sense
again.
Is this it?
Now, here, this
nowhere?
We are alone and want company,
we are in company and want to be alone,
hard to know the truth or even if there still is one.
The new normal,
perspective not objective,
your truth, not the truth.
Thankful to realise the beauty of the banal,
house, home, heat and movies,
so lucky in our misery.
In a time of unknowns and confusion
we need a better way through all the noise
to a new beginning.
Peter has many works published
Certainties -* A radically different version of Certainties was winner Heart Of The Heatons Poetry competition 2021
Red Or Blue? - * A radically different version of Red Or Blue Pill? first appeared in The Unconventional Courier anthology January 2023
Peter can be contacted
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Our Resident writer Michaela Hall has found another reason to write aout her favourite artist Kusama .
Embracing the self
Our experiences and environment are so vital to who we are and also have the potential to be fluid - we reflect or adapt to what we hear, see, do, think and things change while we remain ourselves and transform into evolved versions of ourselves. There are changing patterns to the way we act and do, and this is an endlessly fascinating concept in general, but especially to artists who deal with questions around self and identity and embracing what this means.
I personally find it nearly impossible to write about self-acceptance and embracing one's experiences without mentioning my artistic idol Yayoi Kusama, so I am focusing on her journey today. Although her gorgeous and seductive infinity rooms and bold colourful patterns and installations appear glamorous and the perfect social media moment - I think it's important to recognise where these creations are actually rooted. For most of her life, the artist has suffered with hallucinations, notably of dot patterns and you can see where this went - she created her whole artistic approach around this - she embraced this part of herself which she could have easily tried to dismiss and adapted herself to approach her works with an iconic visual language that is purely herself.
While her early works such as "D" Flower (1929) show subtle elements of pattern and dot work right at the core, these are quiet and textural rather than the main character. Fastforward around 30 years, the same artist's work would be unrecognisable to this more reserved painting 30 years earlier. Imagine that same artist at the famous Venice biennale crashing the event and unofficially placing her work as part of it outside the official space - her now iconic mirrored balls were floating about with a life of their own - the number in the thousands. This eye-catching and bold move both in terms of how she exhibited her work set her up for the artist she continues to be today - unapologetically bold, in your face and herself - full of pattern and colour.
Her works continued to be more brave, experimental with scale and material and to adapt to her own acceptance of herself. Fast forward to today where she is one of the world's most celebrated female artists with crowds queuing for hours to experience her truly immersive spaces. Not only does she want us to experience what is precious to her through her works, but she wants us to be a part of it - like in 'Obliteration room' where visitors are invited to add their own sticker dots to the environment and experience and adapt themselves in the environment into Kusama herself.
Kusama has truly adapted and embraced herself and her work's journey throughout her career, and continues to do so more, coming from a young artist dealing with hallucinations and her own struggles to someone who is an ambassador for turning circumstances into something special - no longer quietening that inner artistic voice - to the point of fashion brands like Louis Vuitton even collaborating with the artist. Her work is never stagnant or unexperimented - we can feel the vibrancy of her through the work and the beauty of the authenticity - this is perhaps why people (including me!) will put her at the top of their list and queue for hours to experience her works for just 5 minutes.
( Images courtesy of Sothebys.com mutualart.com , thecut.com , tate.org.uk )
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Artist name - Lynn White
Artist's website/ instagram - https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com
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Artist name -Samantha Terrell
BIO - Samantha Terrell is an American poet whose work has been widely anthologized in publications such as Door=Jar, Eunoia Review, iamb poetry, and Lothlorien Poetry Journal. Her collections – most recently Delta Function – have been published by indie presses in the US and UK. Terrell is curator of SHINE international poetry series
Artist's website/ instagram www.SamanthaTerrell.com , @poetrybysamanthaterrell
These poems address the necessity of making changes when all may seem lost. Further, they underscore a theme of the power of nature as a catalyst for human change. Systemic change can derive from the organic forces in our beings and as a collective whole.
Burning Oars…
burn brightly amidst
rising waters –
light giving,
hope finding.
failing the dread
imbued in flame,
they are at once
an emblem of pain,
and a beacon of change.
Tidal Wave
standing in your power, eternity surfaces –
slides in gracefully, then slaps a splash and departs.
righteous, not self-righteous, but deserving,
enduring – having endured everything –
your constant grounding, unceasing energy,
encompasses all questions and answers at once.
Is It Cliche to Say?
setting your jaw
against the moon
is an impossible task.
she's irresistible.
but you like a challenge.
press hard,
teeth clenched,
focus steady.
it won't matter.
there's little chance
of resisting her presence –
ardent luminescence
bound to earth and sky;
a gentle nudge under the chin
tilting your gaze upwards.
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Artist name - Kathy Wray
Artist's website/ instagram - https://linktr.ee/kathywrayartist
The Meal Called Convention
This poem explores life force and powerful emotional connection with another soul within the spirit of a flower. By rejecting conventional ways through identifying and questioning the life's path within nature, with purity and innocence. It’s about the mirroring of self, the inner self, seeking guidance and making discovery.
