Well, you can’t please them all. I’ve heard the festival criticized for being arty, while others complain its emphasis is entertainment. My challenge of course is to showcase works from the vanguard while drawing people in; people, as in audience. Populist by nature, I don’t view myself as an arbiter. I’m a exhibitor, and while discerning, feel strongly it’s vital to be democratic, as inclusive as possible, which is not to say my criteria are not exacting. Neither are they elitist. I seek innovation, my main criterion artistic merit.
Videopoetry or poetry video. Film or video? And then there is cinema to consider. I find semantics tedious. My reaction to the insistence there be a formal definition of the genre, is, why? Don’t we have enough divides? We live in the age of the mashup. Isn’t that merging? Fusion? Transformation? In any case, I have faith in the poet’s ability to render his or her poem. It would be awfully tedious if everyone made videopoems according to a formula. Via video or film, a poet will explore, push the boundaries of image, language and sound. Whether it’s illustrative or conceptual, I trust the poet to make choices, to create a work according to his individual style and sensibilities. Vision. While I can’t abide cliché or literal translations, surely there’s room for both narrative and non-narrative treatments. One man’s execution is another man’s experiment. One man’s amusement is another man’s pith.
As an artist, I don’t make a huge distinction between film and video, think more in terms of moving images. I do favor the term videopoem because fusion of verse and medium is my goal, and video is accessible and affordable, vital considerations for this poet. Also, video lends itself to hybridization, its history of experimentation a fundamental aspect of the medium. At last year’s festival, our tenth, a panel discussion called Seeing the Voice: the Evolution of Videopoetry from Cocteau to YouTube, became bogged down at one point in definition. “What is a videopoem?” I know one when I see one. Always. And they’re rare. In 1999, as one of the founders of the Vancouver Videopoem Festival, I ventured, it’s is a wedding of word and image. For me, voice is the critical element, beyond text, medium. But that’s just me. My aesthetic choice.
I hope you will come to see, hear and decide for yourself. This year my Pacific Cinémathèque colleagues and I proudly present two days of poetry On Screen and On Stage. Friday, Nov 4, the night’s program is a wild ride of more than 35 short films and videos from Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Asia
Saturday, Nov 5, 4 pm, we facilitate an Artist Talk with visionary videopoet Tom Konyves, who has just penned Videopoety: A Manifesto and will have signed hard copies available. Immediately following I am happy to host a Visiting Poets reading with Alexander Jorgensen from Pennsylvania and Rich Ferguson from California. Other artists in attendance at the festival this year include Kath MacLean, Britt Hobart, Joe Boyce Burgess, Dennis E. Bolen and Michael Rouse. Find details here, and here is this year’s program.
One Art Elizabeth Bishop/John D. Scott 2011 Ithaca, NY
NDNSpam Song Cheryl L’Hirondelle 2010 Toronto, ON
Doo-Da-Doo-Da Kath MacLean 2011 Edmonton, AB
Kavandi Bearer Jill Battson 1994 Toronto, ON
GRAF Zion/Eklipze 2011 Toronto, ON
Emily Melting Alastair Cook 2010 Edinburgh, Scotland
Ache In My Name Vivek Shraya 2011 Toronto, ON
Lingual Ladies Adeena Karasick 2008 New York, NY
dollhouse Shabnam Piryaei 2010 New York, NY
On Edward Hopper’s Automat H.K. Hummel/Swoon Bildos 2011 Mechelen, Belgium
Commands Diana Heise 2010 North Hero, VT
We Voice Sing Rich Ferguson/Bo Blount/Bo Blount/Luca Dipierro 2010 Los Angeles, CA
Poetry In Motion Brandon Wint/Craig Allen Conoley 2011 Ottawa, ON
I My Bike Ken Paul Rosenthal 2002 San Francisco, CA
./still Machi Miyahara 2011 Tokyo, Japan
The Next War Robert Priest/Allen Booth 2008 Toronto, ON
barefeet Sonali Gulati 2002 Richmond, VA
INTERMISSION
Sandpiper Elizabeth Bishop/John D. Scott 2011 Ithaca, NY
Penitentiary Doctor Mongo/Michael Rouse 2010 Los Angeles, CA
Stop the War on the Poor Robert Priest/Allen Booth 1999 Toronto, ON
Teacups & Mink Leanne Averbach 2008 Vancouver, BC
The Self as Both Object and Subject Myna Wallin/Henry Mak 2011 Toronto, ON
Blue Covers Indira Allegra 2008 Oakland, CA
Amicable Depictions Britt Hobart 2011 Santa Barbara, CA
Anticipated Results Dennis E. Bolen/Susan Cormier 2011 Vancouver, BC
What do animals dream? Yahia Lababidi/Swoon Bildos 2011 Mechelen, Belgium
Highway Coda Matt Mullins 2011 Muncie, IN
Incident on College Street Jill Battson 1994 Toronto, ON
Just Watch Janet Marie Rogers 2011 Victoria, BC
Prodigal Alastair Cook 2011 Edinburgh, Scotland
On the Other Hand of Time Penn Kemp/Brenda McMorrow/DennisSiren 2011 London, ON
Black Iris Sheila Packa/Kathy McTavish 2011 Duluth, MN
Stockholm Syndrome Howie Good/Swoon Bildos 2011 Mechelen, Belgium
Human Condition Rich Ferguson/Mark Wilkinson. 2010 Los Angeles, CA
Sleepdancing (Giddoo) Yahia Lababidi/Swoon Bildos 2011 Mechelen, Belgium
Gargoyle Weather Joe Boyce Burgess 2011 Vancouver, BC
Thanks Dave!