This past week has been overwhelmingly busy. All of the regular things to be done and on top of that a 25 hour placement. Needless to say, by the end of it I was quite exhausted and I’ll be taking this week slowly. But I did still get some making in, my Poetics lecture turned Public Lecture and I got to hear Cherry Smyth perform some of her poetry book Famished (exploring the legacy of the Irish Famine – it’s incredibly visceral, I highly recommend it). So this week, there’s a single thing to find following, a small excerpt from…
Week 40/2019 – rising
I took last week off. I needed it, and I’m glad to have had the break. I was down on the Gold Coast yesterday for work, and it’s so interesting to get out of city suburbia. The walk back to the train station had so many interesting things – station cattle, waterbirds and a pretty epic sunset. Find following: a short poem I wrote on the train down; and a photo of the station cows. Happy reading, Alexei Swallows circle Elongated shadows Slide over red brick Pines soak in Sunlight. Station Cattle
Week 38/2019 – sickening
These past weeks have been busy, and stressful, and my body has given in. So this week, and probably next weeks editions will be very brief. I’m also taking a hiatus for the October release – we’ll be back in November, but for the moment I’m slowing right down to give my body a chance to recover. Quiet reading, Alexei.
Week 37/3019 – tying
This past week has seen a lot of loose ends tied – I’m looking forward to a quiet week. I got to spend time in the UQ Art Museum, which was an expected explosion of creative inspiration, even if it was prompted by my poetics class. Find following: a photo from my latest street shoot; a poem about the creative process; and a villanelle about electric eels. Restful reading, Alexei In a colour what spills forth Where can we delve in pigment pools? Thought A drawn out process Spitting from teeth Sliding into open ears Click-clacking of keys Soft graphite…
Week 36/2019 – organising
This week has been a week of starting to get things sorted out, after the stress of the last three. I finally got to the chance to go wandering for street photography – even tried my hand at photographing human subjects! Find following: a simple haiku, one of the photos from my latest shoot, and a poem about the strange logic of humanity. Restful reading, Alexei Clouds gather in clumps. Puffs of white-grey, caught gold edged The rains yet to fall. Curve Lines Struggle Human warmth is fleeting. The dualist dichotomy: the expectation of companionship and the reality of solitude…
Week 35/2019 – running
This week was a race, of last little things. I’ve put up three new projects – and in the process opened up a new section for visual art. Things are busy at the moment, and with the release, I’m just going to share a little about each project in place of my usual creative showcase. Cheerful reading, Alexei Chest This project is a very personal one for me. While I’m open about my gender (non-binary, they/them pronouns!) I’m also quiet about it. It’s something private for me, but it’s also something to be explored and processed through art. So its…
Week 34/2019 – passing
Like last week, this week has been a long one. But I’ve been writing again (after several months of mostly working on visual projects) which has been a nice change of pace. Find following: a poetic fragment I wrote in a gallery; and one of a new digital/physical art experiment series. Peaceful reading, Alexei Inkblot Beasts I
Week 33/2019 – exhausting
For various reasons, and a public holiday, this past week was exhausting. The kind of week that felt like it was running away from me from beginning to end. Perhaps that’s why this is coming on a Monday. Find following: a photo of my latest embroidery project; and a collection of fragments about monsters. Relaxing reading, Alexei Forest Part I And the world is full of things that bite Of monsters under the bed that steal away the light The eight legged critters that scurry and scratch All over the walls and away through the cracks The honed ones that…
Week 32/2019 – inspiring
This week has been a long – the rhythm of semester has settled in and projects are starting to really kick off. I also went to two really interesting debates: one about truth – Truth, Post-Truth and Alternative Facts (put on by the Professional Pathways minor of the UQ HASS faculty) – and other about the intersection of translation/interpretation and technology – Translating and Interpreting Forum (put on by the UQ School of Languages and Cultures). It’s something I’ve noticed, both in my own reactions and in others, that we self-construct a pleasing reality. And anything that contradicts it is…
Week 31/2019 – working
This week has been a long week. Lots of meetings, and a new month means new project being released. Space Wars is my first physical zine – and a real challenge of handwriting my poetry. The WORLD is an old set of poems that I first pulled together in 2018 and are now finally all the way through the pipeline. And the final project for this month, walking places, is a photography collection I’ve been slowly accumulating shots for over the last five months. I also went to a very interesting lecture by Maggie Ma (an architect from Hong Kong)…