Category: art

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Logan’s

a wrinkle in time

a crack in the light

as fleeting as birdsong

strange words in the night

the sound of your laughter

is flooding my dreams

the ocean is rising

all is not what it seems

don’t rock the cradle

don’t rock the boat

don’t drop the anchor

don’t sink the float

don’t sink the float

the stars have gone out

the sun has grown old

the moon is on fire

the earth has grown cold

a wrinkle in time

a crack in the light

as fleeting as birdsong

strange words in the night

the sound of your laughter

is flooding my dreams

the ocean is rising

all is not what it seems

“Logan’s”

2020

written late into the first lock-up of 2020, what began as a poetic flash during one of many long walks taken while feeling out the strange vibes the world was being subjected to in the first wave of covidiocy, the better to keep earthed as the madness descended and seperate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, this turned into a hybrid dub, folk-rap, swamprock experiment….the later remix, to which I added drum kit, is also to be found at ArJaY, a musical alter-ego, on soundcloud

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The Names Of Stars



fullsizeoutput_140

 

when I was small
the oaks spoke
in
ancestral tongues
of the
Forest Mother

 

spinning twig
and branch
trunk
and root
leaf
and seed
from
the names
of stars

 

lightning cracked
spirit tongued
blue flamed
thunder rooted
words of power

 

sap and blood
we shared
rhizomal dreams
and songs
of wind
and rain
of Sun
and Moon
and deep Earth

we knew
 
let not
these memories
fall
with the
last tree

 

but live on
in each
of us
children
of
the Forest

…………………………………….

image : ‘Forest Spirit’, Rob Purday

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Counter Mapping

Beautiful and rich, these films and article reintroduce the inner world of mapping, inhabited by memory, living spirit and the stories of who we are….

“The Zuni maps are, first and foremost, for the Zuni people. But they hold a powerful message for a non-Zuni audience as well: we are all part of a greater process. We would not be here if the sun did not rise every morning, if the rivers stopped flowing. The maps are in many ways an invitation: How would you map the places that live in your memory? What are the voices of the land that are forgotten, unheard? To ensure the resilience and well-being of the places where we live, we cannot assume that land is simply ours for the taking, a means to our own ends. The Zuni maps remind all of us that we, too, must take the time to deeply listen, to hear and share stories in which we and the land have equal voice.”

Follow this link for the full article and films >>>

Counter Mapping

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Medicine Path

From where the wild hive dreams,
and, up here, on the high path
where the deer tread quietly

A river of quartz runs through the land,
powerful and melodious,
a honey laden song line.

I am not alone, here

Raven calls
on the wind,
among whispering pines

While, in the marsh below,
two Herons dance, silently
circling, swooping, lifting

Wide stretched wings,
one, a flight feather,
missing

A cock crows in the distance

Beneath the roots of the tall pines,
The Three Sisters,
As I have come to know them,

The wild hive is silent,
save the soft vibration
of dreaming bees

And, from the deer path
that rises through old oak stands,
where the spirits of the forest can be felt

The lake glints through dark trees,
Holly leaves bristling
with rising Sunlight.

It is beautiful.

Yet here,
in the dappled thicket,
waiting, curious

An unexpected blessing, shines
in the black pearl
of the Wren’s eye

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A Peculiar Shade Of Blue

During the summer ‘lockdown’ of 2020 UK artist Rowan Jacqueline began taking her camera and a unique approach to choreography out onto the borderlands of land and ocean in response to our times and how they relate to the expression of grief…..

……A Peculiar Shade Of Blue brings ‘Slow Cinema’, ‘Earth Based Dance Theatre’ and a contemporary approach to exploring human experience within time and place together to create a unique series of films that capture the essence of this exploration.

The film work so far completed has already seen significant interest shown from some major contemporary recording artists who could provide the soundtrack for the films, but Rowan needs your support to see this realised and the project completed.

She has launched a crowdfunder to help make this happen and this offers the rare opportunity to supporters to become involved in the project’s realisation, both creatively and beyond.

Check out the crowdfunder here and get involved – its a beautiful project and, no matter how small or large, every contribution matters….

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Decline and Fall

Brian Eno is the master of electromantic minimalism and atmospherics
Henrique Goldman is his perfect cinematic foil, gifted with stunning lucidity and an eye for gritty emotional impact.

“On working with Brian to produce the short film, Henrique comments: “It was a tantalising challenge to direct a visual track to resonate with Brian Eno’s expansive and multi-faceted musical universe. Like a riddle made of sound, Decline and Fall is mysteriously eclectic and hermetic at the same time. It’s beautiful and accessible, but also dense, deep, poignant and thought-provoking. As a lifelong fan it was a daunting prospect that kept me awake for several nights particularly as this is Brian’s first official music video.” ”

 

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The Valley

The utterly awesome Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou, summing up the zeitgeist….

“Circle down to the mouth of the valley
Kneel now down at the face, at the gate
As every footfall crumbles so fast beneath me
Under the weight of this eternal shame

And to you who’ve given up in the valley
And to you who’ve given all to its wake
Just another endless night falls around thee
Just another grey landscape to face

I want to step into the armor of another, stronger
I want to look once through the eyes of someone good
So I can gather up the names of our mothers
And wash away the shame and lift them to sainthood

But if you have given up in the valley
And if you have given all to its wake
It’s just another endless night fall around me
Just another fucked up thing I can’t save

But always run forever miles, does it end?
Then another wall rises in the distance
Their horizon parts for none, where mothers failed
To carry all their weight, I will be brave
Yes, I will be brave

You see them?
All those who have fallen
Stacked up like stones in a pile
You see them?
A tower of failures
So twisted and vile
You see them there?
Ancient and seething
Get them out of my way
You see them?
Those who have fallen
Get them out of my way

You see them?
All those who have fallen
Stacked up like stones in a pile
You see them?
A tower of failures
Get them out of my way
You see them?
Ancient and seething
Twisted and vile
You see them?
Those who have fallen
Get them out of my way
You see them there?
A tower of failures
Get them out of my way”

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Chalk

 

Speak of your exile
of how
you don’t belong
or fit in
– its the key
that unlocks the door
to the way
Home

This fragment
of chalk
nesting
on all my journeys
in my breast pocket
nesting
on all my journeys

holding you
in my palm
I saw
a form
in my mind

Felt ancestors
around me
their whispers
issue from
my fingers
as

I sought
the form,
a form,
a way of speaking,
an invitation
both given
and received

and heard you say
speak of your exile
of how you don’t belong
or fit in –
it is
the key
that unlocks the door
to the way
Home

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