Tangled Garden is a Chartreuse Videopoem

Photograph from my videopoem, Tangled Garden, 2012. The resolution of the final video won't be too bad, I think. A fair bit of chartreuse, and other spring greens - the footage is a mixture of 3 clips, one from early May, two from later in June 2011 - that smaller figure on the left also does not appear too often in the videopoem. It's an art film, slow, spatial and painterly rather than narratorial and linear. Made by a single artist rather than a team, a very slow performance piece. The poetry spans 30 years, so represents a lifelong rumination on an earth-centred vision and spirituality. Currently saving a version for uploading to YouTube. Subtitles all done. This is my most ambitious project to date.

                              

The past is always growing...

The past is always growing in relation to the present. We add everything we are to the moment we are in, and that keeps expanding the more we live. Personally I love the complexity that my memories add to everything I think of and do. A pebble or a cloud is entirely different now to when I was four years old, and I prefer now. But then, I enjoy aging, and revel in the richness of the inner experiences which continue to enrich the world I dwell in and which so beautifully surround me as I continue my journey through it. Every day is a gift - a gift that keeps growing as my memories of living this living gift compound.

                              

FRIDAY VIDPOFILM: 'You' by Elise Marianne

direct link: 'You' by Elise Marianne

Poem/vocals/music/video by Elise © Elise Marianne 2012
http://elisepoetry.webs.com/

What I most like about Elise Marianne's videopoem, You, is it maintains an inherent mystery that has an antique, vintage, old world feel. Her work seems to emerge from the distant past into our time. In You the black silhouette plane which contains the crow is like a window we look through, a window of black lace, the bird from some imagined world figuring in ours. It is as if Edgar Allen Poe's crow sits, in silhouette, watching. "...shards of glass about my fingers," the poet says, and it is like we are breaking windows, reaching backward and forward through time.

The poem in the videopoem is on unrequited love, again we are in a distant world of Courtly love, of the Metaphysical poets, of Emily Dickinson behind her lace curtain dreaming of a richly endowed love. "Your eyes a stilled moon-pond /Where I shall drown if I enter." The crow becomes a nightingale, a bird singing of love. But, the deep blacks, sepia and reds of the palette the poet has chosen to convey her vision work on us. "Mouth to barb wire / your mouth around that fenced forest," and we are back again in the mystery of loss, separation, graves, the past that never ends. "Scars of names etched on every oak that bore the name." Distantly, echoing, old Celtic mysteries, Druidic lore, these wind in and out of Lise's video poem. "Pain is longing; pain is love: a bitter twist that makes us human. But are you human?" These ghostly questions resound, her voice echoing after itself. There is warmth to this crypt-like vision, again I am reminded of the great popularity vampire lore currently enjoys, and there is a sense of foreboding, yet an agelessness that is without fear, here too. "What do you expect from me here on the edge for gifts for your ungiving hands?" And, yes, we all know: "This voice is tired of being unheard." It is a dark poem. "Black crows are yours. Dead of night. Shards of glass about my fingers." "This voice is tired of being unheard, tired of waiting. I am done with your silence. Done with the coldness of your winters."

Elise's voice, her wonderful British accent, is clear as a bell, with smoky edges to it. Her visuals are simply gorgeous. She is a poet who makes videopoems who I have been following for some time. Thus far, she has mostly worked with slideshows and I am happy to see her begin to incorporate found footage from various Internet archives into her work.

You is one of her most successful pieces to date. Do check out her website.

From Elise's website:

Elise, is a UK poet, and the founder and editor of International poetry magazine Decanto. Her work has been included in various magazines and anthologies both in the UK and Internationally.

She has written many collections of poetry, including 'For All Eternity', 'The Last Lament', 'Paradise', 'Opium Valentines' and 'Sacred Realm'. She is currently working on a new collection.

Her collections have been widely reviewed. She has also been featured and interviewed in various magazines and ezines, both in the UK and abroad, including;

The Tower Journal USA
Sonnetto Poesia Canada
Gloom Cupboard USA
Book Seekers agency UK ......

Her relay interview with US poet Mary Ann Sullivan, about the poet 'Hilda Doolittle' was featured in 'Jacket2' 2009.

Elise's poetry is often described as Metaphysical/Romanticism, with strong visual imagery. The concept of bringing together words, music and images brought about the idea of video poetry, a field which seems to suit the strong visual quality of her work. Her video poetry also includes her own musical compositions.

Her poetry video collaboration 'Conceptus' with American poet Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino, has recently been accepted by the Southbank Centre London.

she writes;

'I like to totally immerse myself in creating video poems. I think it is the ideal way to collaborate multi media, of poem, image and music; the next best thing to a stage production, which has always been a dream of mine. I love the expression of words and how the spoken voice can convey the feeling or emotion of the poem... and of course the music, which I so enjoy creating. It is very satisfying to be able to bring all aspects together collectively'.