The Bird is the Word (March 9-June 4 2011)

On 9 March 2011 The Bird is the Word exhibition opened to the public. The exhibition featured Visual Art and Visual Poetry installations by derek beaulieu, bill bissett, Judith Copithorne, kevin mcpherson eckhoff, Marinko Jareb, Travis Kirton, Kelly Mark, Steve McCaffery, a.rawlings, Laurel Woodcock and Hallie Siegel & Matthew Donovan & Gregory Betts. It came together after months of tremendous effort put forth by the Niagara Artists' Centre and the Grey Borders Reading Series. The exhibit not only showcased many talented artists and poets, but sought to explore the territory where language and visual art intersect.

The weekend following March 9, 2011 was a tremendous weekend for the Niagara Community. The opening reception took place on Friday March 11, 2011. The night featured poetry readings by derek beaulieu, bill bissett & Honey Novick, a.rawlings (via Skype from Iceland), kevin mcpherson eckoff, Steve McCaffery & Jeremy Lessard and a musical performance by Gary Barwin. Even Jay MillAr came out with a portable version of Appollinaire's Bookshoppe. Meanwhile, just up the street, Cram Gallery had an exhibition of bill bissett's paintings for display and purchase.

The next morning Gregory Betts hosted a roundtable discussion on poetry and poetics at the NAC. The conversation was brilliant. We discussed issues of improvisation, sound poetry, narrative and more. Keep an eye out for the transcription of that discussion.

For those of you who couldn't be at any of the events or simply want a reminder of what the show looked like I have posted pictures of most of the pieces in the exhibit. Unfortunately, I've had to omit the video art, as I don't have access the videos at this time.

Crvena Zvijezda by Marinko Jareb

Fleur by Judith Copithorne

entrance to th embrace booth by bill bissett

Rule of Three by a.rawlings

Haikube by Matthew Donavon & Hallie Siegal with poems by Gregory Betts

Haikube by Matthew Donavon & Hallie Siegal with poems by Gregory Betts

Babel by Steve McCaffery

abbreviations by Laurel Woodcock

abbreviations by Laurel Woodcock

Instructions to Wording the Birds by Kevin Mcpherson Eckoff

1. Sense up + down your arms to find a feather.

2. Do not pluck it.

3. Cover your foveae with your eyelids + imagine flying… in the sky… far above here.

4. Conjure up your most impossible, most beautiful hope for yourself or a loved one or the world.

5. Touch the beak of your nose with one finger + your eyelid with another.

6. Allow your hands to return to their normal, boring positions at your side + open your eyes.

7. Now, use your wing-hands to select a pencil.

8. Focus on a bird. One of the drawing-birds in the projection.

9. Pretend the pencil is a quill + the bird is a kite.

10. Write your most impossible, most beautifully unlikely dream inside your chosen bird.

11. Make the pencil fly gently back into its nest.

I don't need a therapist... by Kelly Mark

kern by derek beaulieu

INK by Marinko Jareb

*Sadly omitted: MAR INK CO. by Marinko Jareb, Possibilities Exceed Nine by Travis Kirton & Kurt Lesick, th embrace dvd by bill bissett and the projection of wording the birds by kevin mcpherson eckoff

Thank you to all who put their hard work into the show and to all the artists who were part of the events. Videos of the readings will be available sometime in the future.