Several years ago, I was hired as the photo editor and curator for an upcoming book, "A Slice of the Apple," which documented the downtown NYC poetry scene during a specific period, circa 2008-2012. The publisher was to be Spiny Babble Press. I had also had several poems accepted. As we worked on the book together, two of the three editors involved became ill and passed away. The third developed heart problems and underwent a triple bypass. (None of the three were elderly, as a point of information.) The project was put on hold indefinitely but is now being revisited. Below is the artist's statement that I was asked to submit, and a selection of my photographs and photographs that I curated.
Artist’s
Statement
Puma Perl
I began
documenting the poetry scene for the same reasons that I crossed over from the
written word to the spoken word to the performance piece: immediacy. Capturing
the moment, the impulse, unexpected, the unplanned. The sound of an audience
shocked into silence, or bursting into spontaneous applause. Somebody crying. Maybe the performer, his or
herself.
It’s two
artists who have never met before reading one another’s work, or creating a
collaborative dance that will never again be
experienced.
It’s a poet
throwing away the poems and, fighting back tears, telling a story about her
life.
It’s losing
your place and improvising a much better piece, which you will never remember.
It’s the
brilliant artist who disappears.
It’s my
performance partner cutting off my clothes while I read and suddenly chopping
off a hunk of my hair.
People often
ask us why we do it. There are stock answers, but the best one, to me, is the only alternative is NOT to do it.
Do. Or not do.
That’s it.
I hope these
photos, created by Jodi Lynn Concepcion, Stas Pix Nuke, and myself, bring a
chaos mixed with passion. Enter the moment.
Big Mike, Puma Perl, founders of DDAY Productions, in front of Bowery Poetry Club, pre-renovation, Jodi Lynn Concepcion, 2010
Brant Lyon, RIP, founding editor, Battery Park, Make Music New York,
Puma Perl, 2009
Bob Hart, Bowery Poetry Club, Jodi Lynn Concepcion, 2011
Amy Uzi, Backstage at Bowery Poetry Club's New Years Day
Alternative Marathon, Puma Perl, 2011
Aimee Herman, Bowery Poetry Club, Stas Pix, 2011
Kat Georges, DADA party for Maintenant, Cornelia Street Cafe, Puma Perl, 2011
ABC No Rio, pre-renovation, Puma Perl, 2012
Frank Simone, Editor, RIP, JuJoMakti Tea Lounge, Puma Perl, 2012
Liza Wolsky, Bowery Poetry Club, Stas Pix, 2011
Poets George Wallace and Rob Plath, Mars Bar following
"The Beat Poetry Hour," Puma Perl, 2009
Professor Steve Cannon, founder of Tribes, Poets House, Puma Perl, 2012
The Poetry Brothel, First Annual NY Poetry Festival, Governor's Island,
Puma Perl, 2010
Opening Day celebration, photo by Bob Krasner.
Opening Day celebration, photo by Bob Krasner.
