For our next #Zine issue, I'm proposing a section dedicated to #Ekphrasis.
Ideally, we'll get a #CoSonaut to submit a photo we can use to inspire CoSonaut writing, but for now, here's a weekend prompt to practise:
This is a public domain piece called "The Farm", by Joan Miró. It was made a little over a century ago, 1921-22, to depict homegrown water collection systems for a farm running dry.
#CoSoArt, #WritersOfCoso: If you need a creative prompt this weekend, why not a give this one a spin?
When you first mentioned #Ekphrasis I had to look it up.
I still came up with the wrong meaning, thinking you meant we were to first submit summary story proposals or something :)
I love this meaning though. I for one appreciate a prompt,
something to respond or reply to, a reason to write.
In related news, I shared abZurd with my yoga teacher. It seems like it was giving her what she needed just when she needed it.
We did good! Let's do more!
I'm still at a loss as to what exactly you are wanting
It seems you are asking us to describe a visual work of art with language?
Not sure how that is going to work on the zine level where we aren't printing in but a few colors and not at photo resolutions
I guess I could submit artwork for people to write about or just write about my own? I pretty much do that when I write my Artist's Statement on what my various series inspirations were
Can you clarify the "ask" please?
Well it's a new term for me too, but since ML said she'd be offline for a while, I'll chime in.
I think the visual is just supposed to be a launchpad for ideas, but not a constraint.
The constraint on the images seems to be that they would be ones which would somehow suggest themes of renewal, growth, sustainability etc.
Thanks, Ceorl!
Ekphrasis is the act of responding to art with art. It's not the same as a review.
Because many might not be confident about contributing work, ekphrasis can be an icebreaker.
Our #Zine themes are focused on better communal living & environment, so I'm looking for a relevant piece that everyone will feel comfortable writing on.
But Scott's work has me thinking Issue #3 should have a #CoSoAfterDark section. Can I put you down for a spread in that one?
"Mainstream" isn't the ask; as with the piece I posted at the top of the thread, I'm looking for something to inspire a wealth of responses - from poems to stories to essays - strongly connected to the #Zine's themes. I agree with Ceorl that the headless one is closer, and the surrealist piece with instruments, too. But finding visual art to inspire others to write is tricky. We'll keep looking for our ekphrasis prompt.
Your 2-pager in #3 is going to rock, though! 🥳👌🏻
@MLClark thank you! The word #ekphrasis was new to me and these examples really helped. @AndersonArtwork @ceorl
I bet you could do amazing projects with your students around this concept!
@MLClark oh you know me well enough to know i’ve been spinning on this for hours 🤣 @AndersonArtwork @ceorl
@LaurelGreen @AndersonArtwork @ceorl
🥳🥳🥳
Without compromising your students or their work, please tell us how it goes!!!
Woo hoo! Congrats on your first ekphrastic poem!
How did that process feel for you, Scott? Were you surprised by where your mind wandered? Did any lines surprise you as you were writing them?
When you look back at the journey of the piece, what stands out about how you got from A to B? How did this creation process differ from the other poems you've written?
I conceptually saw myself at the beginning of a road construction area, slowed down from a busy day…then kind of let myself be in stop & go traffic, alone with the thoughts that might come
Bored, lonely, too aware of noises, smells & curious as to when it ends
QUITE different than my normal poetic process
Biggest stand out was the broken radio that hampered singing to keep my spirts up
I sing when I have to drive a long time, it keeps me awake & focused
#Ekphrasis The Farm...
Scott, I held of reading yours until I tried mine. Now I see you did the barrels instead of the farm. Nice work!
This is kind of fun. I love imagining. :)
😉 Careful there! Ekphrasis can be a gateway drug to more creative writing.
How did this process compare for you with how you feel when you usually sit down to write? Which image surprised and delighted you most, from the lines you set down?
For me, the first part of my piece was mostly observational and descriptive, but the last three stanzas were emergent.
The line about the pump handle was my favorite. Right on the cusp between the "this is what it looks like" and the "this is what it means" parts.
I definitely got that feeling around "emergence", too, when reading it. :)
And what a great observation about that line! Wonderful poetry emerges on that edge between literal and figurative meaning. There's a lot of control in your work. Well done.
Images? I just saw the painting of the orange barrels by Gordon
In my poetry, usually there is some phrase that caches in my head. It keeps coming back from time to time. In each, I will spin a conjunctive phrase or 2 with it
Then it all comes clear in my head & pours out of me like water from a pitcher
My “Ocean’s Breath” was just the “whisper of the ocean, telling secrets to the sands” for weeks
Then it all came out in a few minutes. Then tweaked over the next hour
It might be fun to get a group of writers and visual artists together for a game of ekphrastic Telephone, where they pass an image or poem along to the next, and then everyone gets to view the sequence and final result :)
@AndersonArtwork @ceorl
For folks looking for other #Ekphrasis prompts in the meantime (#CoSoArt, #WritersOfCoSo, #Poetry), Rattle runs a monthly ekphrastic challenge.
The images there (a mix of paintings and photos, one a month) give a sense of the compositional choices that provide a strong starting point for prose.
(And please, submit poems to their monthly contest, if at all interested!)
https://www.rattle.com/ekphrastic/