Body of Text - Softcover

Smith, Michael V.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1897388284 ISBN 13: 9781897388280

Publisher: Book*hug, 2010

Synopsis

Body of Text is a collection of concrete poems made by marrying poetry with body-based performance art and documentary photography. Dressed in a full black body-suit, Michael V. Smith is photographed by David Ellingsen in hundreds of poses which resemble Greco-Roman letters, Asian characters, hieroglyphs, or Rorschach inkblots. These are then arranged in book form, to a maximum of three images per page. In the same spirit of ï¿"moving beyond language' as heard in the sound poetry of Christian Bï¿"k, the poems in Body of Text occupy a liminal space between poetry and visual art. The body is made word, is made ï¿"site,' ï¿"object' and ï¿"subject.' The body is symbol.

About this title

About the Authors

MICHAEL V. SMITH is a writer, performer, and filmmaker. His poetry has been shortlisted for the ReLit Award, his fiction has been shortlisted for the Journey Prize and Amazon Canada First Novel Award, and his queer memoir My Body Is Yours was shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award. Smith is the winner of a Western Magazine Award, numerous film awards, and the inaugural Dayne Ogilvie Prize from the Writers' Trust of Canada. He is currently a professor in Kelowna, BC, where he lives with his husband on the unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan people.

DAVID ELLINGSEN is a Vancouver photographer who's landscapes have been seen in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada and the US, as well as on film and television productions such as The L Word and 4400. Alongside his fine art work, David runs a commercial photography business with clients such as The New York Times Magazine and CBC Radio Canada.

Edition details

• Publisher: Book*hug
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1897388284
• ISBN 13: 9781897388280
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192