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Review Sep 05 2010 « | »
London Poetry Systems at Edel Assanti The open poetry collective present a night of poetry and new media at the Victoria art space

Maya Rae Oppenheimer

This review, to compliment the mandate of London Poetry Systems, should be read aloud in the presence of screen, sound or an audio visual stimulation of your choice.

It was an evening of rain, false starts and Moleskins,

A stamp on my hand and strangers drinking beer

Or smoking cigarettes.

Arriving suitably late for a lesser wait,

I wander down steps, round corners, through doors-- eyes searching to

Adjust to the dim:

I find a basement room in Victoria.

There is a long table with glowing screens, a sheet viels the window-

Chairs hungry to be filled.

The humming groups upstairs descend; young and glowing

Smelling of the rain and then of the heat, I assume audience for

London Poetry Systems.

Media and Poetry, bedfellows in the basement that night,

No longer word following word, ossified onto the page-

Poetry wears a new frock.

'A cross-media poetry collective', explains co-founder Henry Stead,

LPS was formed to explore Poetry's entry and adventure

Into the Digital Age.

Each time a litmus, testing new sounds, grounds, surrounds,

A welcome stage and open ears, eyes, minds to new manners

Of experimentation- a Poetry laboratory.

Spoken Word. Readings. Chap Books. All have long been seated

At the Table of Verse, feasting on courses of words and rhythm.

A new guest,

A different voice in the conversation describes ways to use Poetry anew-

To bring it into an everyday life of screens, sounds, images and

The Audio Visual.

Understanding Poetry is not the project: knowing and experiencing,

Spreading and stretching, archiving and augmenting, the evening's poets

Took to the performance stage.

Hosted by George Chopping, the acts cast shadows on the large screen-

Paul Askew and his deft narration to the Systems Collective comprised

Of its founders:

The latest offering beneath Vauxhall Bridge Road was

Varied and unpredictable; Wine gums, birds; words and scenes

From the audience.

Microphones, coiling cables, laptops, speakers- human and audio,

Act after act provides something different for this 'space and platform'

Pause and play, LPS.

Becca Bland

'Mention the Space or we'll flog you.'  

They didn't need to be so crude, I would have mentioned the space anyway- the basement of Edel Assanti is fantastic. Although makeshift, basic and helped by the pouring rain, it created an underground revolution, or at least the feeling of.  

Henry Stead was stolen from me before he could add details to the barebones idea of London Poetry Systems; this was one of the first evenings of its kind. VJ lead, the poetic prose and moving image come into relationship. The evening was freestyle and ideas were fused together, somewhat unrehearsed with the exception of 'Systems Collective' and their team, whose act had been well considered. New York filmmaker Robert Rapaport had good ideas with old work, and used the crowd, a common theme throughout the evening. His poem 'Google' was excellently crafted performed but the visuals were somewhat superfluous. Although poet Paul Askew left his poetry without film, its short, unusual nature made an appropriate opener to the night. 'Crow' was a particular highlight and was delivered with a delicacy that made the obscurity of his imagination truly magical.  

It's difficult; I'll tell the truth here. The two languages/experiences don't necessarily work, they aren't natural partners and much of the evening was spent finding this out. In a sense adding the visual takes away the visual, self created, from Poetic Prose. My imagination felt suffocated and I would prefer the dichotomy to remain. That said it's certainly exciting to see talented people push the boundaries of their mediums and better still when they are unpretentious enough to ask for feedback. This informality between performers and audience was very much the highlight.  

As well as the space, did I mention that?

For more information on the events, projects and initiatives of London Poetry Systems, go to their website where you can watch excerpts of other performances and see more work from collective members and guests. Submissions are welcome, and content is updated and archived regularly. Stay tuned to see how they grapple with the marrying of a venerable form of communication with modern media.

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