About this project
At a time when the written word is arguably more a part of our lives than ever (thanks computers!), it’s our opinion that the art which uses language as its medium should follow suit. The 'Lectric Collective is catalyzing this process through various projects that aim to broaden the poetic audience by encouraging creative engagement with writing by contemporary poets.
The collective holds a quarterly reading series in Oakland at Krowswork Gallery, for which artists of various media (painting, film, sound, etc.) are solicited to create works in response to poems by the writers featured at the reading (which has included Lisa Robertson, C.S. Giscombe, and Gillian Conoley). This process encourages folks with creative minds to actively engage with the written word.
We have had an overwhelmingly positive response within our community, and as a result are now working to bring this project to other artistically-driven communities across the US this July and August.
Our concept is twofold:
-
FOLD ONE: we will be holding recorded discussions with contemporary writers to document their perceptions of current poetics in North America (including Robert Fitterman, Ish Klein, and Susan Holbrook, Cole Swenson, Vanessa Place, Dan Hoy, and Rachel Zucker, among others).
-
FOLD TWO: we will be setting up "reading and response" stations in various cities, calling for individuals to creatively engage with and respond to poems by living writers and readings from local poets.
The responses will be on handmade letterpress postcards to be returned to us in person or by mail, and then exhibited alongside portions of the video interviews when we return to Oakland.
Here's a mockup of said postcard:
And here is an outline of our itinerary:
LOS ANGELES - 7/10
SALT LAKE CITY - 7/13
BOULDER/DENVER - 7/14
IOWA CITY - 7/17
CHICAGO - 7/19
ANN ARBOR/DETROIT - 7/22
NYC - 7/27
BOSTON/AMHERST- 8/5
PHILADELPHIA - 8/6
WASHINGTON DC 8/8
DURHAM 8/10
OXFORD - 8/12
NEW ORLEANS 8/14
AUSTIN - 8/17
ALBUQUERQUE 8/19
OAKLAND – 8/22
In the end, we hope to publish a book which documents this project, that will include photographs of both the trip and the artwork, writing by the poets we will be working with, and some work of our own that will be written while on the road.
For our previous endeavors, we've payed out of our very own odd-jobs-funded-pocketbooks. But this project is going to run all three of us dry without your help! Our goal with this kickstarter is to cover the gas costs of getting from CA to NY and back, but in the event we surpass this goal, the money will go towards other associated expenses (the postcards and postage, the dvds of interviews, and the book documenting this project).
FAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
38
Backers
$2,240
pledged of $2,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on July 10, 2011.
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
We're making use of the odd ends of the chipboard on which we'll be printing our postcards by also printing 'Lectric Collective bookmarks. Have one!
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
An unused letterpress postcard, on which you can create something that in some way reacts to the work of a living poet. If you then mail it back to us , we will include it in our final project. What you make on the card is without restriction: you can paint something, mount a photo, write something, attach a cd or even leave it blank, yoko-style.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
The above plus a phone call* in which a member of the collective reads a poem by a contemporary writer. It will be an awesome poem, maybe something like this one (which is an excerpt from Zachary Schomburg's The Man Suit): I suppose I should tell you I’ve finally been fired from the globe factory. I’d been putting beaches in North Dakota for two months. Before that, it was mountains. When I was on map duty, I put a fairground next to our neighborhood. I thought it would help. I could have spent an entire week there painting your face. Remember when I took you to see Kansas City? That was Omaha. *(a recording is also a possibility, for the phone shy).
Pledge $35 or more Pledge $35 or more
The above plus a handwritten thank you note from somewhere on the road which may or may not include poetry, uncommon axioms, found scrawlings, slang, pre-algebra, and/or glitter.
Pledge $40 or more Pledge $40 or more
The above, plus one of the artworks included in the final project (chosen at random!)
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
The above, plus a copy of our (very very limited run) chapbook "One Hundred", which was written collaboratively via google docs in cahoots with poet extraordinaire Steven Lance. It has a gold cover and a stamp on it. Here's an excerpt: Is everything I wish I knew / stuffed haphazardly into my house?/ The woman sang in/ in a way unmeaning. Projecting/ figures on the wall she said/ these are intangible, my house / is a full and sinking thing. / Now he is a prominent plastic surgeon in an elevator. He whistles a song foreign to you, one that begins with numbers and ends with the phrase times have changed and time has changed. / The doors open.
Pledge $150 or more Pledge $150 or more
The above, plus a copy of the interviews on a handmade (haha) DVD.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
The above, plus a digital album of photoshopped images in which you will be added to five photographs from our trip. Great for the office or car.
Pledge $1,500 or more Pledge $1,500 or more
The above, plus we write and record a song about your many virtues. You can chose the genre. It can even be in a foreign language.
Project By
Has not connected their Facebook account.
The 'Lectric Collective is interested in orchestrating collisions between the language arts and other art forms, to re-establish a kinetic relationship among them, and to ignite artistic mobility through its diverse contemporary vehicles. We are devoted to process and the healthy continuation of artistic junctions.
The collective curates a number of projects revolving around the intersection of the literary and plastic arts, including the Ekphrastic! art show/reading series in Oakland, CA, and an upcoming literary tour of America. Together the collective has written one collaborative chapbook (One Hundred), a short play (Breadsongs), and has created a variety of visual works.
The collective was formed in March 2010 out of a workshop and friendship among writers who initially came together through the creative writing department at UC Berkeley. The collective is interested in experiments (artistic, scientific, and other), collaboration, combining lyric and brusquerie, and whiskey and lots of it.
Jillian Roberts, Kelsa Trom, and Sarah Rothberg currently constitute the collective. They reside happily together in Oakland, CA.
