Pathways

Sundays are for living
which explains why I
neglected to post
a found poem yesterday
despite my goal
of consistency. I spent
the day immersed
in my ancestors project,
following
a path to nowhere
a path within
a path to the
nameless and forgotten ones
who don’t forget
a thing.


I chose the photograph above (by Lance Grandahl on Unsplash) because of its vague similarity to an Anselm Kiefer painting titled Eisen-Stag, which depicts railway tracks commandeered by the Third Reich to deport Jewish citizens to the Auschwitz death camps. With Trump’s promised deportations already underway this week, that image—and the nameless ones who travelled that path—are more important than ever to remember.

That I hadn’t heard of Anselm Kiefer until Shawna Lemay mentioned him in “Resistance is Beautiful” reveals how ignorant I am of art. I was utterly blown away by the video Shawna shared of a documentary about Kiefer made by Wim Wenders—another giant I had never heard of. Deep gratitude to Shawna for this and so many other invaluable transactions with beauty.

Other pathways this week (please follow the links—that’s the whole point of this combinatory play):

The first line comes from a mixed media collage by Melbourne-based artist Veronica Cay.

Three of the links in the combistory lead to posts by Sarah Banfield on Instagram.

The ancestors project I link to (not my own, which is a written exploration) is that of multidisciplinary artist Linda Plaistad’s project The Lost Matrix, which Linda explains “is a series of mixed media collage/assemblage pieces that explore the societal loss of community and the yearning for deep rooted connection to nature, to each other and our ancestors as a source of resilience and strength in challenging times.”

These times are nothing if not challenging.


Here is the stunning trailer for Wim Wenders’ film about Anselm Kiefer. Watch it full screen if possible.

2 Responses to “Pathways”

  1. Leslie

    So intrigued, Shawna. I’m really looking forward to watching the film. The immensity of the scale of Kiefer’s work astounds me. Also, I’m so drawn to angels, and they seem to feature strongly in his work.

    Reply

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