{~~~} ... , ... ; x  (2021) is the third issue of Fayen d’Evie and Benjamin Hancock’s collaborative Essays in Vibrational Poetics series, which experiments with embodied typography and sensorial texts. The Essays in Vibrational Poetics series was originally conceived through a development residency with artist Aaron McPeake in the Morgue Gallery, Chelsea School of Art, London. Each issue embeds vibratory languaging that evolved through interaction with McPeake’s resonant sculptural bronzes. This third issue translates a quote from Germaine Greer's first wave feminist text The Female Eunuch 1970, which artist Emily Floyd incorporated in her sculptural installation Temple of the Female Eunuch 2008: "A woman seeking alternative modes of life is no longer morally bound to pay her debt to nature." 

During the first drafting session to develop the performative publication, d’Evie and Hancock explored choreographic phrasings and embodied letterforms, concentrating on the word ‘HER’. This process was filmed by Will Huxley, with costuming by Jack Hancock for The System, and resulted in the 6.23 min video work H(e)R {~~~} ... , ... ; x (2021). This video was installed in the Buxton gallery, amid a new configuration of Emily Floyd's Temple of the Female Eunuch. A 58 second excerpt from the video played on the Buxton’s external screen, offering a trailer for the longer video and the performances to come. 

d’Evie and Hancock have been commissioned by online disability-led space HQ to create an audiodescriptive sound and video work that will expand access to H(e)R {~~~} ... , ... ; x, due to be released in September 2022.  

On October 2nd, Benjamin Hancock performed the 20 minute essay {~~~} ... , ... ; x  (2021) at the Buxton Contemporary, weaving through and around Floyd’s installation. During the rehearsal for the performance, the embodied typographic forms and choreographic grammar were documented and edited into a 12.17 min video work {~~~} ... , ... ; X // typographic notes (2021); this video played on the Buxton’s external screen for the remainder of the exhibition. Two additional performances were cancelled due to Covid exposure. Artist Jacqui Shelton had been invited to live audiodescribe one of these performances, and persisted with a live remote broadcast, improvising a reflection on anticipation, absence and memory.

{~~~} ... , ... ; x  (2021)
Performance (20 min)

H(e)R {~~~} ... , ... ; x (2021)
Video (6.23 min)
Videography by Will Huxley
Editing by Benjamin Hancock & Will Huxley
Garment by Jack Hancock for The System
Nails by Lili Taylor
Colour grading by Will Huxley

H(e)R {~~~} ... , ... ; x // excerpt (2021)
Video (58 sec)
Videography by Will Huxley
Editing by Benjamin Hancock & Will Huxley
Garment by Jack Hancock for The System
Nails by Lili Taylor
Colour grading by Will Huxley

{~~~} ... , ... ; x // typographic notes (2021)
Video (12.17 min)
Edited documentation of performance rehearsal, 25 October 2021, Buxton Contemporary, Naarm/Melbourne.
Videography by Lucy Pijnenburg
Editing by Benjamin Hancock
Garment by Jack Hancock for The System 
Wig styling by Joshua Coles-Braun
Nails by Lili Taylor
Colour grading by Jacob Edmonds

———

A related, audiodescriptive video work is available by request for exhibition.

H(e)R {~~~} ... , ... ; x ; o  2022
Fayen d’Evie and Benjamin Hancock 
Video (10:43 min)
Audiodescriptive script by Fayen d’Evie and Benjamin Hancock
Audiodescriptive narration by Benjamin Hancock
Dialogue recording by Simon Maisch at SIAL Sound Studios, RMIT, Naarm/Melbourne
Editing by Benjamin Hancock

This Is a Poem, Buxton Contemporary

9 Jul - 14 Nov 2021

Curated by Melissa Keys

Read the exhibition catalogue

Bringing contemporary art and poetry into dialogue, This is a poem was a multi-disciplinary project encompassing new commissions in a diverse mix of media and forms, live performances, a publication and an exhibition.

The project drew artists and poets into creative discourse. Each participant was invited to write, perform, read or present in visual form an original work of poetry in response to an artwork held in the University’s Buxton Contemporary collection. Conceived to creatively animate the collection, This is a poem brought art, artists, and poetry into orbit with audiences through an experimental and experiential exhibition that explored the longstanding tradition of ekphrastic poetry.

An ekphrastic poem can be defined as a vivid description or response to a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating or reflecting on an artwork, a poet may amplify and expand its meaning.

This is a poem offered an expansive sample of poetry in multiple and often surprising forms, including concrete and visual poetry, spoken and written word, dance, movement-based expression, sound, colour poetry, found poetry and poetry as physical form and assemblage.

Participating artists and poets: Aleks Danko, artist; Alex Selenitsch, concrete poet; Bella Li, poet and artist; Brad Aaron Modlin, poet and writer; Evelyn Araluen, poet, descendant of the Bundjalung nation; Fayen d’Evie artist with Benjamin Hancock dancer; Jeanine Leane, Wiradjuri poet and writer; Justin Clemens, poet and writer; Kevin Brophy, poet and writer with Oscar Weimar filmmaker; Lisa Gorton, poet and writer; Lisa Radford & Sam George, artists; Lou Hubbard, artist; Michelle Nikou, artist; Mitch Cairns, artist; Newell Harry, artist; Rose Nolan, artist; Sandra Parker, dancer and choreographer; Simryn Gill, artist.

Artists from the collection: Hany Armanious, Pat Brassington, Janet Burchill, Mutlu Çerkez, Destiny Deacon & Virginia Fraser, Emily Floyd, Rosalie Gascoigne, Mira Gojak, David Jolly, Tracey Moffatt, John Nixon, Raquel Ormella, Mike Parr, Stuart Ringholt, Sandra Selig & Leighton Craig, Peter Tyndall and Louise Weaver.