They woke me up at the crack of dawn.
Looked out my window. Here’s what I (heard and) saw …
On the Wires now live at qarrtsiluni in the ‘Animals in the City’ issue.
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It was early. It was loud. It was the beginning of June and I’d just returned from a trip abroad. I’d spent a full month in Read the rest of this entry »
This one was by invitation …
The theme of BluePrintReview Issue #30?
“… instan/ce(s) … dedicated to series of works that explore the nature of moments Read the rest of this entry »
There’s nothing quite like a private tour of the countryside.
It was May 2012, in the spring heat of Hungary. A local resident took me in his car…
First stop was Sümeg Castle, located in the town of Sümeg, Veszprém, Hungary. The castle sits atop a mountain called “Castle Hill”, about 20 miles north of Lake Balaton. Built in the 13th century by Béla Read the rest of this entry »
Fun thing about submitting work to Referential Magazine— regardless of whether the submission takes the form of poetry, photography, or non/fiction—is the process. Each submission must refer, in one way or other, to a work on the site that is already published. It could refer to a word in a poem, a sentence or phrase in a work of non/fiction, or even to a video or static image.
Three circular photos now appear in the zine. The references, and links, are as follows:
Melanie Faith’s poem “Ad Infinitum” contains the phrase scattering them into circles. Reading this poem recalls a photo I took at sunset in Richmond, British Columbia. The scattered circles, and the poem, are here.
The words full moon in Ellen Kline McLeod’s poem “Her Cracking Open” bring to mind a moon scene I captured near Vancouver International Airport. For the image, and McLeod’s words, go here.
The third image refers to Paris Elizabeth Sea’s poem “moment, molecule”. A full moon I witnessed one night while standing on the curb in front of my home refers to Sea’s words: the smallest of dots. For the moon and the poem, click here.
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Links to all of my references at Referential.
So good to have a permanent home for these images, alongside the words of New Jersey poet Nancy Scott in Issue #29 of BluePrintReview.
The flowers are from my patio garden. I took the photo back in spring 2010, around the same time as my April Garden Party. The checkerboard is part of a water feature in the Italian Gardens at Vancouver’s Hastings Park. That photo also dates back to 2010.
If you click here, you’ll see Nancy’s words—Diary of Pink—with the flower image above it. Scroll over the flowers with your mouse, and the squares will appear. It’s a “now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t” feature that brings the black/white image in and out of view. Read the rest of this entry »
It was a warm summer day and I went for a walk. I looked down at the ground, and there it was: ‘peace’ on the sidewalk in chalk.
Three versions of that image are connected above,
and in solitude at VisuaLiving–my photo blog:
When I feel off-balance or a sense of dis-ease, I recall that day I saw peace at my feet. I conjure the feeling of the smile on my face, and imagine the joy of the person who took time to etch peace on concrete for passersby to see.
People who know me are aware that I’m a big fan of wellness treatments. Whatever’s on offer, I’m happy to receive. That’s one of the reasons I spend time in Hungary–a nation with the label: Spa Capital of the World. In Hévíz, a thermal lake spa town, I sign-up for a 21-day treatment program which includes an assortment of things. No question, the translations are helpful as I move through my days and weeks …
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Prepared for Edition #16 of the International BluePrint Blog Carnival >Language>Place.
Theme: Translation Host: Florida-based author and artist Steve Wing
This image also appears in Spas Baths Hot Springs and VisuaLiving.
Another Hévíz translation collage: Translation Treat(ment)
This one is all about blog-hopping. Funny how it goes…
It began with three photos I’d posted over at my image gallery VisuaLiving. I later decided to feature them together in a blog post here at Living ?s. I snapped the photos on a walk I’d taken while preoccupied with planning a trip and escaping. At some point, I returned to the present and realized the beauty I was missing while daydreaming.
Meantime, Dorothee Lang was in the midst of editing a BluePrintReview issue on the topic of ‘challenge’. She’d stumbled across my post containing my images and musings. Apparently, the post fit well with her theme, so she published it as an issue preview in the literary and visual art journal’s blogzine. The feature highlights my post at Living ?s, and links to the photos at VisuaLiving. From blog to blog to blog. Dizzying.
As for the ‘challenge’ issue of BluePrintReview, here it is.
Contributors include:
Arlene Ang, Marcia Arrieta, Jenni B. Baker, Alex Bernstein, Jessie Carty, Jeff Crouch,
Julia Davies (+1), Daniela Elza, Susan Ersinghaus, Susan M. Gibb (+1), Stephen Hastings-King (+1),
Rose Hunter, Claire Ibarra,(+1), Ron Kostar, Sherry O’Keefe, Kim McMechan (+1),
Jean Morris, Brigita Orel (+1), Ron Riekki, bl pawelek (+1), Rouchswalwe, Ray Scanlon,
Nancy Scott, Michael J. Solender, Steve Wing (+1), Mary Stone Dockery
oenisplx / igrnimeeg / spnimirt is an asemic project I put together with Dorothee Lang.
It’s included in the language/place blog carnival #7–assembled by Julia Davies:
“unwritten language / unnamed place”.
A larger version of the asemic images appear in life as a journey > the direct link is here.
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The term ‘asemic’ is variously described as “post-literate”, “nonsensical”, “non-symbolic”. Like abstract art, asemic work promises viewers the opportunity to generate personal meanings from their own cultural and linguistic standpoints rather than having meanings imposed by writers and artists.
In keeping with the spirit of asemics, I won’t tell you the origin of the images. I certainly won’t reveal that the images began as photographs I took inside the bathing complex that sits at atop the mineral-rich Hungarian Lake Hévíz–the largest thermal lake for swimming in Europe; the second largest in the world.
Something else I won’t reveal is the video below; that water in motion–a MicroMoment I captured on camera while standing inside the Hévíz Complex after a long afternoon of soaking:
Other things I promise to keep secret are the symbolic meanings in the title of the project. I won’t tell you the nonsensical three-part name carries the following interpretive content:
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oenisplx = the letters of the word ‘explosion’
[explosion of energy that leads to the elements]
igrnimeeg = the letters of the word ’emerging’
[life emerging, colors spilling into one another]
spnimirt = the letters of the word ‘imprints’
[dried out world, only imprints remaining]
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Other collaborations with Dorothee Lang include: Induction/Deduction, The White Squares, POP UP Poptagon, and Dealing with Family and Friends.
I’m pleased to report that my videopoem ‘the lake’ made the rounds…
It first appeared in ‘Referential’–a magazine that publishes referential literary and visual art. I submitted the piece, referring to the words ‘the lake’ that appear in a poem by Teresa Stores:
the lake > Referential Magazine
After the initial publication I discovered–by accident–that ‘the lake’ was featured in the media section of ‘The #poems Daily’. I’d mentioned the initial publication on Twitter and ‘The #poems Daily’ picked it up:
It wasn’t long before I stumbled across another republication of ‘the lake’. This time, in ‘Moving Poems’–a video poetry anthology that features “the best video poetry on the web”. Needless to say, it’s a thrill to have my work featured alongside the likes of Cecilia Chapman and Alastair Cook:
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Last year, two photos I took of the lake appeared in ‘elimae:’ Lake Hévíz , Hungary
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same lake / same time /same place
A vowel is a vowel is a vowel … right?
Well, not exactly. A vowel is only a vowel when it’s recognized as one,
and a vowel in the word ‘gyógyfürdő’, I’ve discovered, isn’t recognized as one in all places.
Below, the back-story, told backwards:
A steamy experience in Hungary is featured as ‘Monday’s Poem’ at Leaf Press:
The photo that appears with my words is the only one I took at the spa–the only snapshot the attendant permitted.
This bath is my favorite in Budapest–a city touted as ‘spa capital of the world’.
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The process that accompanied publication included a linguistic snag:
The original submission was called ‘rudas gyógyfürdő, budapest’. The Hungarian word ‘gyógyfürdő’ translates into English as ‘medicinal bath’. This word–gyógyfürdő–is the one that caused the glitch.
Late Sunday evening, the night before publication, I opened an email from Leaf Press publisher Ursula Vaira:
I am working on the poem now, and am stuck on the last o in gyógyfürdő … my software (Dreamweaver) simply has no character for that. Even when I go to a website and copy the word and paste it directly in, it still turns up as a question mark.
It’s interesting that Dreamweaver understands the vowels ó and ü, but not ő.
Makes me wonder what other languages feature the first two vowels, but not the last…
~
An abbreviated all-English version now stands: rudas bath, budapest
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Other Leaf Press featured writers include:
Rose Hunter, rob mcLennan, Daniela Elza & Christina Shah, Tammy Ho Lai-ming,
14 Poets [including Dorothee Lang]
This blog post is included in Edition #4 of the BluePrint blog carnival >Language>Place.
It is hosted by UK-based editor, translator, and university administrator Jean Morris.
The direct link to the carnival is here.
A fresh word/image combo is live in ‘just a moment’–BluePrintReview’s companion blog that publishes ‘moments’ of various kinds on a rolling basis between regular issues.
Here’s the link:
(Hungarian) sanitarium / just a moment
I took the photo poolside, penned those words, while keeping the company of
health tourists in Hévíz as I contemplated the meaning of life and gained perspective on
time and age.
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Previous works that have appeared in ‘just a moment’ include olympic (dis)comfort zone and East Vancouver Detours. While you’re there, consider scrolling through the archive of literary news and slices of life expressed through words and images by a variety of international contributors.
Two photos of Hévíz, Hungary are featured in the September issue of elimae. I took the photos of the lake in broad daylight back in May–the water was warm; centigrade, about 33 degrees.
Here’s the link → Lake Hévíz, Hungary
And below, a MicroMoment I captured the same day:
In case you’re wondering, the correct pronunciation of elimae is el–ee-may. It stands for ‘electronic literary magazine’. It’s been around since 1996, features creative writing and occasional images, boasts an elegant minimalist design, and is currently published under the joint editorship of Cooper Renner and Kim Chinquee in the U.S.
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I have a new image up in Referential Magazine–a place where literary and visual artists connect their creations to work already published in the journal.
My photograph–Red/White/Blue–refers to Annmarie Lockhart’s poem with a similarly colored, yet differently punctuated, title: ‘Red, White and Blue’. The title of Lockhart’s work, and the poem itself, brought to mind my image, sitting in neutral, hiding in my archive, all but forgotten. Now, I’m happy to say that our works live together on a page of their own. Here’s the link:
Red/White/Blue [Eisler] + Red, White and Blue [Lockhart]
The image has roots in the ever-changing painting below–a work in perpetual progress like a chalkboard with spontaneous additions and deletions whenever I feel inclined to play with it. It hangs behind me on the wall in ‘The Lab’ where I work.
The birthing details of Red/White/Blue?
One day, a while back, I took three detail photos of the painting, digitally morphed them beyond recognition, then put them together like a puzzle.
That day with my camera at Waterfront Station, standing on the elevated walkway, shipping yards and loading docks in the distance, I look down at the tracks, and think about choices and all that comes with them:
beginnings and endings, distractions, mergers and divisions …
I see the fabric of life:
challenges, happy accidents, well-worn patterns …
My photo entitled ‘Tracks’ appears in BluePrintReview #24 — the microcosmos issue.
BPR editor Dorothee Lang pairs the image with words by Vancouver poet Daniela Elza.
The direct link is here:
Tracks [Karyn Eisler] + The Math Ex.am [Daniela Elza]
NewPages.com describes BluePrintReview as “an online journal constructed to ease the complex and beautiful convergence of language and art and all the possibilities this entails.”
And a question:
When you see tracks, what thoughts come to you?
Inspiration for ‘Pop on Fire’ goes back a full year:
Last summer, POP UP Poptagon appeared in Locus Novus — an on-line journal devoted to the “synthesis of text and image and motion and sound”. The piece came together as a collaborative effort between myself and German artist Dorothee Lang. It was an exploration of the pop culture lexicon. At the time, anything and everything ‘pop’ related jumped out at me, including a ‘pop’ intensive window display for the Pop Opera on Hastings Street downtown. Here’s how it looked in its entirety:
None of the photos from my window display collection made it into that project, and I’d pretty much forgotten all about them — until now, when the memory of one of the display photos I’d taken came back to me while reading Jenny Billings’ poem entitled “Love at the Movies” in Referential Magazine. In the poem, the word ‘pop’ appears in one form or another three times:
once here: “you held the popcorn”
again here: “warm, fresh popcorn, wrapped”
and yet again: “red velvet seats popped”
When I made the connections I submitted a photo from the collection, and now it appears on the same page as Jenny’s lines.
There’s an introduction to the piece on Referential’s blog.
A direct link to the joint works is here:
Pop On Fire [Karyn Eisler] + Love at the Movies [Jenny Billings]
Words: Father of the Suicide [David Jordan, USA]
+
Image: Reflect/Absorb [Karyn Eisler, Canada]
+
Matchmaker: Editor of BluePrintReview [Dorothee Lang, Germany]
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THIS
unanticipated international collaboration in:
BluePrintReview #23 / (dis)comfort zones
How does the editor, Dorothee Lang, explain this particular coupling?
“the essay is about a painful subject: teenage suicide … and your water image has just the right mood: sadness, depth, a closing focus, things and thoughts underneath the surface”
I took this photo on the same day, from the same bridge, at the same time, save a moment or two, as the The Bow — an image that also appears in Issue 23, paired with Jennifer Jackson Whitley’s words on (addict)ion.
These word/image couplings provide a study in contrasts:
(addict)ion and suicide → two tales of discomfort;
and,
two photographs taken in Banff, Alberta, on a day when the mood was so different. It was such a happy day for my family and I; my mother’s birthday, my father and brother in attendance; all of us together, laughing, reminiscing, making moments of joy, memories of comfort …
Life is paradoxical; full of contradiction. The 2010 Olympics in Vancouver are no different.
McDonald’s and Coke are official sponsors; athletes are beacons of health and fitness. Many oppose the games; scores embrace them. Locals and visitors party in the streets; a competitor dies on the luge track in Whistler.
On opening day I see another paradox — an Olympic (dis)comfort, so to speak.
It appears in just a moment. The direct link → here.
The Bow River, a view from the bridge, a blue afternoon in Banff, Alberta. Moss topped rocks promise rapid descent into the depths of the milky water. Inviting. Dangerous. Delicious. Repellent. These are the impressions I remember.
My photo of The Bow appears in BluePrintReview, where founding editor Dorothee Lang seeks “unexpected connections between texts and images from unrelated places.”
In Issue 23: (dis)comfort zones, she couples the photo with a Georgian author’s words on (addict)ion — Jennifer Jackson Whitley’s tale of desire and cautionary, yet reckless, compulsion.
For The Bow/(Addict)ion → go here
NewPages.com describes BluePrintReview as “an online journal constructed to ease the complex and beautiful convergence of language and art and all the possibilities this entails.”
A link to the entire (dis)comforting collection → Issue 23: (dis)comfort zones
Bag beauty struck me on Boxing Day. I was people-watching on Granville Street when I shifted my focus from faces to the shopping bags people were holding. I simultaneously wondered what was in them, saw them as icons of consumerism, and reveled in their beauty. They appeared to me as sculpture, a kaleidoscope of color, poetry. I asked their holders to stop and pose for me.
Three photos from that day are on display in the Red Gallery at Splash of Red: Asbury Park’s Literary Arts Magazine.
Dylan Emerick-Brown, editor-in-chief, says inspiration for the magazine title comes from several things, including: “the blood and passion that goes into only the most skillfully crafted art” and “great work that stands out just like a splash of red.”
Here’s the direct link: Red Gallery / Karyn Eisler
When you enter the gallery, click on a photo; when it expands, follow the arrow >
Living ?s 