Write On Site 2016

Write on Site 2016

Monday, July 18th to Friday, July 22nd

Students, ages 13 to 15, immersed themselves in site-specific art at The Aldrich, guided by Barb Jennes, poet, writer, and currently an eighth-grade English teacher in Ridgefield.  Students spent the week exploring the installations, sculptures (indoors and out), and “play-with-it” interactive artwork of four outstanding contemporary artists. Students then expressed their deep engagement with the creative experience in writing for various literary media. The group collaborated, shared, and created with each other. A selection of the participants’ writing has been showcased in the galleries and on the this blog, offering Aldrich visitors a unique perspective into the current series of exhibitions.

“Logs of Three” - A response to Virginia Overton’s Untitled (Log 1, Log 2 and Log 3) By Rosemary O’Keefe

Logs of three
Flying above me
Making me feel small
Like I don't matter at all
Big black steel
Bold and real
Tiny and slim against
The big logs of three

But do I feel small
Pinned against a wall?
Or do I feel strong and big?
Like the wood above me
Like giants’ fingers three
Are just twigs
Captured and pushed high
Through the power and promise
Of Man’s eye?

And staring upward
At the wooden giants above
And looking and seeing
Had me believing
That the iron
Is bold, sleek and strong
But it just barely holds
The wood
That stretches out so long

And this idea
Revelation
Has unfolded
My mind now en-bolded

The logs of three
Have taught me
The enormity
Of the natural world
And the tiny, tiny me
Barely contain each other
And how great
our beauty can be

For we are not meant to
Control each other's world
For with each coming day
A new triumph is unfurled
For me? For you? For nature?
No, for our world.

“Peter Liversidge” By Rosemary O’Keefe

Peter Liversidge
A clever man
A funny man
He brought smiles
He brought laughs
Through
His view
Of art unlimited
Three rows of proposals
Each 20 proposals long
Hum a merry song
Of proposals thought of
And proposals done
Behind the proposals wall
Are lines that get so close
But never touch
Some may fear there's just too much space
In the room
But to me
There's just enough
To walk right through
And have some fun
Maybe Keith Richards
Might just come in
And play his guitar
Hook it up
To the amp
Turned on and waiting
Across the floor
Rocks kicked in
A rather unsubtle
“Matter, I can prove you're there”
That it's just as real
As the lakes
Pools of Connecticut
Sitting on the floor
Oh, who could ask for more?
More to come, more to see!
Play with the light set of three
Run, dance, and smile
This exhibit
Will have you stay awhile
Enjoy his endless possibility

"What We Hear" By Donata Libonati

"What We Hear" By Donata Libonati

It’s not difficult to find the real meaning behind your words
The constricting sentences that are meant to mold us
Into a shell of our being
To make us the way you see fit
They suppress and bind, not allowing us to be
What we are for fear of scolding and judgement and blame
Shamed for holding our heads high because we refuse to face away from the wind
Always flinching, always watching, always waiting
But don’t think we don’t see
Don’t think we don’t hear
Don’t think we don’t know what this is
Your way of disguising the boundaries
Making them seem that they are helping, bettering, “for our own good”
We are more than just flies on a wall
We have a voice, we have thoughts
Don’t expect us to keep quiet
Just because we are an inconvenience to your ears

"Going Nowhere" By Allison Hard

"Going Nowhere" By Allison Hard

People ask me where I am going -
Where am I going?
I'm going Nowhere
All of the roads will lead back to one
The road that leads to Nowhere
Left or right or here or there
All lead back to one
The road that leads to Nowhere
Except for one - somewhere?