The poetical aspect of my performance has recently become influenced by the Romantic poets, particularly the idea of the artists affinity with the divine. As William Blake wrote in the introduction to his Songs of Experience:
Hear the voice of the Bard!
Who present, past, and future, sees;
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word
That walk’d among the ancient trees.
(1913, 81)
The concept of the artist’s divine vision is an area I wish to explore by incorporating poetical works within my performance, primarily the poems and images of William Blake.
I currently have a basic idea for the performance structure:
Audience enter to the sound of Elgar’s ‘Jerusalem’. The space is lit with a greenish hue, the back wall however, is red. There are bags full of dust hanging from the ceiling, and a white mat in the center of the space.
The performer is in the space, against the red wall, they begin to recite EZPZ. As the poem is spoken, the red light begins to encroach on the green space. When the performer says “try hard man” a spotlight appears illuminating the white mat, and the performer walks into it.
Blake’s introduction to SoE is heard.
The spotlight fades. As the performer begins reciting Green Turf (the Dorito dust poem), the red light eventually take over the space. When the poem comes to an end, the performer tears open the bags of dust, so there are separate piles of it in the now red space. The performer then takes piles of the dust to the white mat and rubs it in, revealing an image (possibly a pentagram). The performer kneels in position, eyes closed, as the lights fade.
The performer begins speaking in the darkness, a poem on artistic blindness.
When the poem ends, an image of Blake’s Beelzebub is seen on the mat.
The green hue of St. Elmo’s fire returns to the space, seen on the fog appearing, as Beelzebub fades. Returning the space into a destroyed version of the beginning image, as ‘Jerusalem’ plays.
Thoughts and Issues:
I assume a scrim or gauze would have to be placed on the mat in order for Beelzebub to appear. This may look atrocious, and would also obstruct the pentagram idea.
Still endeavouring to write the third poem.
I have become, perhaps, transfixed with incorporating Doritos into the piece. I would use them to make a crown, mix them in the dust, burn them… But this incorporation may need to have a better reason than simply that I like the mundane contrast.
I also wanted to burn a pig’s heart within a green fire (green from mixing Boric acid, and Methanol), though this may be un-achievable.
Perhaps I would use headphones for the blind poem, to make it very intimate, though maybe I have just been seduced by Complicite’s The Encounter.
The pentagram would appear through the use of white wax.
Would like to incorporate more from other eras of poetry, (possibly in darkness moment, could get quite frantic there?)
There will be action occurring while the poems are being spoken, which aligns with the words.
Part of me feels the performance may come across as uncomfortably self-indulgent.
Works Cited:
Blake, W. (1913) Blake’s Poetical Works. London: Oxford University Press.