One of my favorite aspects of poetry is its associative quality. The genre allows us to make leaps — over the canyons we call cracks in the (figurative) pavement. These leaps can land us somewhere unexpected.
The Poetry Alley project brings these connections off the page and onto telephone polls.
The way it has worked so far is a member of @fax7272893069 chooses an image set like “plates.”
We then create poetry collages.
The way I’ve approached the project is that I write a poem — or two or three — inspired by the image set like this poem:
I’ve either used lines from these poems or collaged the full poem onto a flyer.
We then install these collages in the north and south alleys on Central Avenue 20th-28th streets, St. Petersburg.
The project’s iterations create an ongoing conversation with the street. I make my associative leaps with the image/text.
The stapled flyer does so, too, with the objects around it.
They bring connections we otherwise might have stepped around. The alley helps write the poem (as seen in the below image).
The juxtaposition of the flyer with objects like wires potentially allows us to see the text differently as we think about what could be a “symbolic trap.”
Physical space, then, brings associations. Becomes part of the work. Makes it something new.
We’ll be discussing our process and inviting people to participate in creating flyers during this month’s City of Writers Poetry Festival. The event is called “Experimental Poetry & Collaboration” at Tombolo Books on Sunday, April 28 at 11 AM.
flyers and photos created by @fax7272893069
