Public Artwork
Concrete poetry
Locations:
City Hall, 200 King Street West , Kitchener, ON, N2G 4G7, Canada
See map: Google Maps
Locke Street, Hamilton, ON, Canada
See map: Google Maps
Artwork creator(s):
Frank, Simon
Text author(s):
Frank, Simon
Installation year:
2002
Remarks on location:
Located at the entrance
Description:
The poem is painted on the pavement, spread along downtown streets. Each line is headed by a blue arrows pointing to the next line.
Text of the artwork:
Begin here
here
here
here
each step
a green light
a deep breath
a thousand mile journey
the first step
connected to the next
connected to the
backbone
by a line
of thought
merge with the dust
follow your shadow
(a chance taken)
the world is not
a machine
the mind moves
at three miles an hour
as slow as a turtle
streetsign daffodil
heliotrope lightpost
anonymous flower
caught in a crack
in the concrete
peripatetic poet
my feet
glued to the sidewalk
and then unglued
my head
never separate
from my body
wandering
the way
the wind blows
wondering
who imagined this landscape
do I remember
when this place
was as blank
as a sheet
of paper
where do I come from
where am I now
where am I going
a map
of my own thoughts
where a seed falls
from a sparrow’s ass
a tree will grow
a river will grow
a city will grow
right here
right here
to walk the streets
of this city
is to love it
I read
speak
think
with my feet
Text theme:
Existentialism, human experience
Artwork theme:
Dichotomy of nature and culture, redefining culture (human activity) in a natural environment
History:
1. Exhibition: Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area (CAFKA), Kitchener, ON, September 21-29, 2002
2. Niagara Artists Company, St. Catharines, ON, Summer 2003
3. Exhibition: SPASM II: The Couture of Contemporaneity, Saskatoon, SK, organized by AKA Gallery, Paved New Media and Art, May 28-June 6, 2004
4. Exhibition: Future Cities, Art Gallery of Hamilton off-site project, Hamilton, ON, April 2004
5. Exhibition Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough, ON, 2005
6. Exhibition: Wordsmiths, Cambridge Galleries, Cambridge, ON, July 7-August 19, 2006
Note(s):
Artist Simon Frank's proposal, Concrete Poetry, was awarded the $40,000 public art commission for the South Locke Street project, in the city of Hamilton.
Artist's biography:
Frank, Simon Document(s):
Syndicate
