‘Here/This/Now’ is the second of a series of texts written by Anna Mace as part of the CtC Writer in Residence (CtC WiR) Programme launched in October 2017. Over the course of four months, the resident writer will contribute short stories, inspired by a contemporary work. Anna has based her second piece on sound artist Christina Kubisch’s work ‘Electrical Walks‘.
Today I wrote the word here
in saliva on my desk, then
typed god into google,
because this appears like
a lonely place.
Though it seems like
I’m not the only one
searching for something
with invisible things. Here,
we test edges, and lies,
and unknowns. Inside,
it comes back in colours,
pooling addiction in sounds,
it is hard marking two, by cycles of
seasons, greys and greens and,
recording in numbers the word 9-4373;
all crackles and splutters and
bleeping on telephone wires, if
you spoke out to the air
calling up to the radio signals
a-gape between notes
they will whisper, we’re not alone
Göd resides in this space here,
47° 41′ 39.2388” N and,
19° 8′ 24.4320” E, but
this is not right,
nor left, or write; somewhere,
in nowhere, really just code for
now-here. This
spot widens, 9-4373 we stood
searching for places,
roar of the world calling silent
messages across town, now
when we wait in the rain, by the corner,
paling fingernails gripping our map,
collapsing screens, folding, folding
folding, twisting this way and that
all whirr-rring and crr-reaks
north and the south,
you point to the plan,
gathers in the score
lines, trace your finger
right along this,
exposing the
here-now
Anna Mace
Electrical Walks: Examples of Raw Sounds
Anna Mace is an artist, writer and poet. Having studied Fine Art, she is keen to merge the boundaries between text, art and performance, experimenting with different creative media and seeking to engage with a broad audience. Inspiration comes from modernist, symbolist and experimental poetry traditions. Between writing she works as a teacher and has lived abroad in India, Japan and Europe but now resides in Bristol, UK.
Published poetry online includes; Kemptation Music, Boundless magazine; Ink, Sweat and Tears and Visual Verse. She was resident poet for the National Trust at Bucks Mill Cabin, Devon, creating limited edition art zines.
Her current projects include writing poetry for the bookart edition two and edition three, Revolve: R, where her poetry was made into short films. Revolve:R has exhibited nationally and internationally in 2016 and 2017.
Her poetry manuscript, am, was shortlisted for The Melita Hume Poetry Prize 2015 and 2016 with Eyewear Publishing, London.
She has also helped co-direct writing workshops for children (3-14 years) as part of Paper Nations with the Eden Project, Corsham Library and Africa Writes Festival 2017.
Featured image: Electrical Walks Bruxelles (2013), Christina Kubisch
CuratingtheContemporary (CtC) 