What are you working on?
I am currently the resident writer in Castel Coucou, a contemporary art space in an old French synagogue. This religious building inspired me to work from religious texts, combining them with technological elements. The final piece may or may not be the fake translation of an imaginary codex, written by a fictional, digital entity. In the final book, this "original" text would be partially decoded, transcripted, translated and commented (thus giving hints about the sources, protocols and constraints used). A visual piece might go with the book, as a reproduction of the "raw data" from which the original text would come from. My goal is to generate the feeling of a mysterious, parallel, global, high-tech religion like one from Science-Fiction. I want to achieve this in a more chaotic, abstract, cryptic and fragmented way than a story would do, which is why I use poetry instead of fiction.
Showing posts with label Lucas Lejeune. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lucas Lejeune. Show all posts
Sunday, 12 May 2019
Sunday, 5 May 2019
Lucas Lejeune : part four
What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?
Writing poetry is easy since everything became poetry. But writing good poetry, whether it be purely conceptual or deeply lyrical, is very difficult. Honestly, I still don't understand how poetry really works. I'm not sure about what makes a good poem, it might entirely be its readership for all I know. Nevertheless, I think a good poem is often smart, ambiguous, radical, funny, subversive and/or musical. Sometimes everything at once. Most importantly, good poetry should display multiple layers of meaning.
Writing poetry is easy since everything became poetry. But writing good poetry, whether it be purely conceptual or deeply lyrical, is very difficult. Honestly, I still don't understand how poetry really works. I'm not sure about what makes a good poem, it might entirely be its readership for all I know. Nevertheless, I think a good poem is often smart, ambiguous, radical, funny, subversive and/or musical. Sometimes everything at once. Most importantly, good poetry should display multiple layers of meaning.
Sunday, 28 April 2019
Lucas Lejeune : part three
How does a poem begin?
As a post-conceptual writer, I almost never write from scratch. Most of my poems start from one or multiple source texts I find online. Usually neutral or collective content. Some poem however, begin with an idea. I will then look for the appropriate source text. I then edit the raw material using mathematical protocols and constraints, as well as basic operations such as permutation or juxtaposition. The degree of editing I put in the poem usually depends on my state of mind. Sometimes, I might just copy and paste, adding maybe a linebreak or two, letting the original text convey it's information and raw musicality. Some other times, I might turn a raw list of data into long and complex sentences having little resemblance to their original source.
As a post-conceptual writer, I almost never write from scratch. Most of my poems start from one or multiple source texts I find online. Usually neutral or collective content. Some poem however, begin with an idea. I will then look for the appropriate source text. I then edit the raw material using mathematical protocols and constraints, as well as basic operations such as permutation or juxtaposition. The degree of editing I put in the poem usually depends on my state of mind. Sometimes, I might just copy and paste, adding maybe a linebreak or two, letting the original text convey it's information and raw musicality. Some other times, I might turn a raw list of data into long and complex sentences having little resemblance to their original source.
Sunday, 21 April 2019
Lucas Lejeune : part two
What poets changed the way you thought about writing?
Kenneth Goldsmith, and all the conceptual poets he represents, completely changed my view on writing in general. The way he formulates the ideas behind uncreative writing is very compelling to me. It seems perfectly relevant to this day and age. These ideas are pretty old and omnipresent nowadays, but he's first to articulate and illustrate them in such a radical way. To me, retyping every weather broadcast for a year or every word he said for a week are powerful poetic gestures. Many of my own are an extension of this peculiar, loving yet disrespectful attitude towards language itself. I, however, aspire to voluntarily add an element of lyricism in my work, which is why I would consider myself a post-conceptual writer. Goerges Perec and Oulipo in general are also great sources of inspiration for me.
Kenneth Goldsmith, and all the conceptual poets he represents, completely changed my view on writing in general. The way he formulates the ideas behind uncreative writing is very compelling to me. It seems perfectly relevant to this day and age. These ideas are pretty old and omnipresent nowadays, but he's first to articulate and illustrate them in such a radical way. To me, retyping every weather broadcast for a year or every word he said for a week are powerful poetic gestures. Many of my own are an extension of this peculiar, loving yet disrespectful attitude towards language itself. I, however, aspire to voluntarily add an element of lyricism in my work, which is why I would consider myself a post-conceptual writer. Goerges Perec and Oulipo in general are also great sources of inspiration for me.
Sunday, 14 April 2019
Lucas Lejeune : part one
Why is poetry important?
Poetry is not important. Are dreams that important ? Like dreams, poetry is not essential to our survival. But like dreams, poetry is a mysterious, living algorithm through which a sufficiently sensitive mind can slowly reprogram itself. It can help one build its own individuality, thus avoiding the trap of collective uniformity. Dreams are the inward, subconscious part of this process and poetry its outward, conscious counterpart. Both of these algorithms are, of course, deeply interlaced into one another.
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