The Middle of the Afternoon

Another recording from my reading at VSC. This is an excerpt of a new piece I'm working on out here in VT called The Middle of the Afternoon. Since this piece is currently in process, if you give it a listen and have any comments, I'd love to hear them.
The Middle of the Afternoon

SoundPoetries

Here's a recording of a performance I did while at the Vermont Studio Center. They have a great Lecture hall that's really just an old church, so I couldn't resist performing some Hugo Ball - Seepfurdchen und Flugfische then Karawane.
VSCSoundPoems

Wlodzimierz Ksiazek Artist Response, Theory

monuments of dead space, noxious space and grandiose structure
articulated through monumental erasure
of participants and what means asking,
can this be monumental? openings and ambiguities

interactions and participants in a concentrictiy of view
and a view of dialogue and the viewer in opposition.

a relevance of time space and a theory
of the monumental, flexibility, humours.
design now darker, normal and colonial.
these shanty towns mere cities, these cities mere shanty towns.
a majority of will and survival, a majority of survival then
moved from city to town, to shanty town, to city.

means of escape these monuments, this escape, monumental, this monumental escape,
clashing in space and class and variety.

now this sphere, this space hovering over itself, overlayed and in the way of itself even.

in transit, a language of citation and clear boundaries, still clear and blue, and clear these towns and boundaries.

points of view
a way to manipulate angular space sealed in relevance by relevance.

hewn forms and new, manipulated and new,
new to impose, and new and larger and new, uncovered
and new continuing, and new manipulated,
obviously, and degrading the new, the next degradation
an example of the new concept, captivating, romantic, exotic and manipulated.

history and meaning, the city not some big urbanity
dissected, not the nose of the whole leading the fragments,
the seperations and inputs.
cities fractured and unseen
in visual connotation, evolving and living
structure, the underground in the history designed to function,
designed to utilize, to escape utilitarianism.

in gathered fragments, a nervous social function
governing the elements. issues of formation
accepted with caution. an extension in absentia,
part of entirety, part of evolution,
part of penetration, and coexistant with spirituality.


every image taken by me
to form a repertoire.

the case for history squatting on colonial streets.
these buildings have been authentically adopted, inhabited, and had.
these buildings have been had.

an expression of freedom, these empty images,
lacking people as an element of structure.
factionality next to abandonment.

show that this doesn't simply emanate from the void,
making time feasible, aritficial, essential, and meaningful.

the information of complexity, of specificity
physically tied to history, and segregation.
known problems ravaging this land.
a construction process, an escape from ideas
and unique utopias.

in a sense these places like research libraries,
locations of social research – within history,
within symbols, within speaking – to interact
and create a situation for the competition of symbols.

this shows my personal experiences wandering,
feeling underneath our feet,
moving our feet back and forth.
the unspeakable uncovered, completely unseen,
fresh and bare, walking through cemeteries of open graves.

temporary architectural necessity out of intervention.
on one hand historical time and on the other
timelessness, terminality. singular urgency
of particular time, particle
of specificity. a simple illusion, a simple allusion.
red against any other color, overlain.

as intellectual as an artist in a forest.
once we are free we are fearless and once we are fear we are freeless.
life in absentia
a creation of vague things
to long for
without definition.

the vague creates a philosophy.

and then there and there, and wasn't the, yes there.

-after H. Abramowitz somewhat

yes the revenge, and the feeling
always the justice, the justice of it
in this realm of
and security in time, the time secure in the knowledge of moments to moment of this now and that now and then there now and these now and those now
there for now and over and later.
Succession in time, passing from point to point and everywhere outside
and everywhere in between,
the rage and the rage of it, none of it, and the unkempt rage at nothing.
nothing's rage there in this, that now, there.
For Justice, for all the
in and along the street, in and along a smooth plastic sidewalk, in and along a pocked rubber street,
and the people now and rubber and the people there plastic and without mention.
Unmentioned there now, that thing, that time to mention
these that still hover over streets of rubber and plastic
builidings of polyplastic polypropylene chemistry sets, these streets pure chemistry sets, organic matter of chemistry sets, these physical manifestations, these indicators
hanging above some street, not cement, not of pavement, of light.
Walking out into the full afernoon, full of light walking out into the full midnight full of light, walking out.
Here, out here, then and there now, full of light and light,
this time light,
this place light
and this time, light.
and this street corner cornered this square building
like an ellipse another building
like a circle
a block to circle
the block simply walking,
pacing grass and concrete and rubber and plastic and constructions and temporary situations and temporary notions and temporary.
There in the time up there and down there and right there your time my time his time her time
what time
time what time there in time over time timed time on time and time is scarce
and money money time and scarce money time time
is money scarce
scarcely like time there on time and in time,
but perfectly outside there the grass and trees the green trees
sway with brown
leaves swaying time like wind there and time like trees, still branching
still branches swaying in the time, in the wind trees, and grass and
so much nature plastic there in nature
in plastic and time and placards and the times placards declaim,
to index indices time's placards
indices hanging over the street,
with light these placards without indicators without light
and walls, but solid, but yes, but revenge
seeked revenge forsaken,
but brick walls like these, like time
there and then where walls and there and then, no connections
gone over walls the indicators no
no, no time
no revenge to be had, none
had revenge there, vindication
but no revenge there, revindicatiion,
revindicated, but no revenge and no connections and
indicators indicated their index and indices
and space there on the street as space
to hover over without intention
to form space without
revenge to form space without
without time to hover over the streets, space
and there were bulbs of light full of light
filling light as a filling station on the corner and leaves
as the filling station leaves space and revenge for the filling
a station full of filling
and filling the station full of place
and the filling station there full of people full and filling
the indicator and the index of full
the filling, this station
and pies in the window, on the window sill, hovering over the street
in a window full of light
this is fright and this is place and this indicator indicates an index of indices
and time and space and persona and revenge on persona on a person
a person aaaaa person, time to a person and space
there in there in the there in therein, in the there in the this there and this indication
fall on the filling station full of course
moral responsibilities to be full and full of indications
every indication of something full, of somefthing about to empty itself, clearly
pregnant with full time and full and pregnant and giving
birth there in the index, and the birth there, and time there to lose
and to fill full time, just a filling station,
a gas station there, gas there and something is full
and pies in the window
and full of ash there, a container, a tray full of ash
that will not be full or will be emptied there
time there empty and hovering over time
over the station
a station hovering over it
and time, and a place
a full station
a full time
and there is concrete and gravel and sidewalks,
a place, truly a place, real and full of place
the filling station real and full
there with oil stains, the place stained
and the pie stains, and the pie stained with the light stained
and the air lit by light and stained and there still full of stains
the light there and the concrete and containers to be filled
the orders full of orders for time and revenge there
to slit your throat with time and revenge
and containers that slit your throat and bottles on a rack
and a tray of glass and ash, to slit your throat
to slit your throat with time there
slit with time full of troats that slide
in revenge in the red of light in the full red of light there and time
your time to fulfill the time and revenge to fulfill
and there is time to fulfill and there is space to fulfill and
fill this full, this is full, and stop, enough we are full they are full he is full she is full it is full, this container for time, full, the concrete full, of time and the pavement,
half full, but full of revenge and half full, filled up halfway.
the pies on the window full, the pies on the window sill filling the window with light
and the smell of a window
full of pies, the smell filling the window and the pies
and the light smell, the light
the full window smelling like light
there like light
in space like light and absence and light and absence
where there is revenge and time
there time to kill and revenge for time to kill
time to kill revenge there
kill time, and the full time to kill and fill time to kill, full time and revenge fully, revenge
kill, fully kill time to kill and
and the thought to kill, and thought to kill,
seeing it see time, a view there
and from the window, the pies there in the filling station and the full view there
on a corner where sidewalks lead to sidewalks
in actuality and reality and there in actuality and reality
leading to something truly, really.


and then there,

what of the sky blue so blue
and the sky and clouds, and the clouds, and the shape of clouds
the shape of sky and birds, the birds, all the birds
there in the sky so blue, and the clouds and there the birds in the sky
some birds and trees and the birds in the trees, and the trees and the sky and some birds
all kinds of birds, birds and kinds of birds, and the kind of sky, the clouds
there in the clouds, against the clouds, the sky, and the birds and flying
there above the corner the sky and the clouds filling the sky
and the corner filling the sky of the filling station, the sky full of birds hovering
above the street there the birds and the sky hovering there in the sky
the clouds and the birds there
trees and sky and the filling station there on the corner rounded by sidewalks
and the sky and the birds there on the sidewalk and the sky in the sidewalk and the clouds
across the sky, shapes this sky, those clouds and then this, and the filling station
and the corner there above the street, the filling station and the light of night and the sky and the window full of pies
and there the sky above the clouds and the blue birds and the blue clouds and the sky, and then the filling station there and rain
and birds and the weather, the weather and the rain and the sky
over the filling station and the window


and there

she was there
and then she was there
and then they were all there
at the filling station, the sky
she was there at the filling station on the corner,
the gas station, then she was there and the winodw was outside and
she was there in the filling station on the corner
surrounded by sidewalk and the woods behind the filling station on the corner
the trees and the window and the birds and she was there
in the corner of the city and the sky
she was there in the corner of this city, and another city, and a corner
with something there floating above
hovering above
and full

there in the
this in the
that in the
the in the
corner and the

filling station, there she was on the corner, surrounded by sidewalks
at the filling station and there was a window with something
hovering above.
time to leave she thought. leave thought, time to leave this corner
then time to go.

sidewalks around and time and place there on the sidewalk standing still.
time for movement to go and movement on sidewalks and walking.
there the sky walking, the sidewalk, there she was walking
on the sidewalk, cement, cracks, asphalt,
pavement and the filling station behind
the filling station above and behind and the time there behind her
she walked away from, away from the trees, the little trees, called woods,
the trees she thought of as woods the time she thought of
there the trees only so scrawny and city like a small city of trees
there behind the filling station the trees only so scrawny
and time was only so scrawny
that afternoon, in the middle of the afternoon,
walking out into the middle of the full afternoon,

staying there in the middle of the afternoon there was time
the middle of the afternoon in plain light in plain sky in plain air
the middle of the afternoon plain and light
the middle of the plain light in plain light and plain air and there
the sky above indicating something
something was indicated to her, something was indicated by her,
the sky was indicated to her, there was the window
and the sky and the window indicated the sky and the clouds walking
and the rain there and the weather in the middle of the aftroon in the middle of the light
and the middle of the day and the day and the afternoon there walking
she was on a sidewalk broken into so many pieces
the sidewalk broken into so many pieces surrounded by sidewalks
broken into so many pieces
and the street there hanging above the street broken into so many pieces
she was taking a stroll, strolling along the sidewalk
alongside the street surrounded by sidewalks
old and broken the street, broken, and the city
surrounded by sidewalks, the city, surrounded by streets
hovering above the city, surrounded by her
she was walking
and she was and and. she was and
she was and she. and was she. and she. and and. and. and. she was. and she was, was. she, she was. and was. she. she was, and there she was. and there. there she was. was she there, and there. and she was. and there she was.
walking on the sidewalk alongside the street
there was the sky
and the street
and the filling station behind
and she was walking along the street.


and wasn't the

time now for the street
je suis sur le paves
under the street
walking along the street
under the street
and the sky above and she was walking along the street walking on the sidewalk
je suis sur le paves
under the street walking
street walking, yes, there, under the street walking,
there was revenge and the sky
there was the window full of time
and the window and time
sur le paves
under the street, the tunnels
and the tunnels, of course the tunnels
she was walking the street, walking, and the sidewalk was
and she was
there under the street
je suis
on the street
sur le paves
time there on the street, under the street
having time, to have time, she had time and she was and had time. she was. time and she had time. and time was. and she was there. and time was there. was she.

under the street there was time and there in the window there was time
and something filling the street hanging there above the street she was
hanging there hovering above

the sky and the street, the time and the things blocking the sky
keeping the sky out of her eyes
and her eyes
there on the street her eyes and time, therefore her eyes.
the street above her eyes, above her eyes the street
sur le paves
above her eyes there the things that blocked the sky
blocked the light, full of light and filling her eyes
eyes were full here of the light, filling up with light
there were her eyes, and time was filling her, and time was full of light again,
and again, and she again, walking the street.


yes there

There was simply a street, in the city, on the corner of which was a gas station, surrounded and dwarfed by tall buildings. Basically the middle of the city. The gas station not offering much of a view of the sky. And it was easy to lose one's sense of direction in the middle of the city. The streets were mostly one way, but clearly, if you were walking, you could go in any direction along the sidewalk you wanted, ostensibly two directions, allowing for a fair amount of wavering in one's walk, whether of the standard variety of ambling or in the other variety of stumbling drunk, the sidewalk still offered only two basic directions, until one came to a corner, and then there were typically only two more directions added to the previously possible two, although on some corners there were even more directions added to the original two possible directions, over and above the regularly two more directions typically added to your available choices, when standing on a street corner.

What reads?

Ok, so the original idea of this blog/project was to simply produce a chronicle of reflections about whatever I happened to be reading at the time, while soliciting suggestions for what to read from friends.

That idea went out the window a while ago.
For now though, in the spirit of first thoughts/best thoughts, here's a list of some things I've been reading lately (This may be more for me than anyone else, but oh well).

The Iliad, Homer
The Odyssey, Homer
The Aeneid, Virgil (currently reading)
Caligula, Albert Camus
A Slight Ache, Harold Pinter
The Crucible, Arthur Miller
Stories, Oscar Wilde (a wierd little collection of stories I picked up at Alias books early this summer - mostly of odd short stories published in magazines)
The Blue Flowers, Raymond Queneau
We Always Treat Women Too Well, Raymond Queneau
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Portnoy's Complaint, Philip Roth
At Swim-Two-Birds, Flann O'Brien
The Third Policeman, Flann O'Brien (currently reading)

There's some other stuff I'm forgetting right now, but that's a nice strange representation of my recent reading habits anyway.