The third in a series of three exhibitions in which artists
presented re-versioned works for Taxi Gallery.
Rupert Mallin carried out a series of ‘walks’ through
the pavements and walkways of his hometown, Lowestoft in Suffolk.
Observing and notating every word or object that he found in
his path he subsequently used his notes to write ten ‘walking’
poems, each line, a step, as it were.
Rant Score builds into a compelling portrait of England’s
most easterly seaside town. A selection from the series was
presented on a scrolling LED message board installed inside
the Taxi - a kind of meter, registering the details rather than
the cost of a journey.
The full publication of Rant Score was also available
for visitors to read in the comfort of the stationary vehicle.
Many thanks to Roger Graham & Jayex Technology
Ltd (www.jayex.com) for squeezing their hire charge to meet my
budget!
25th April
A special poetry event held at the Scout Hut next door to Taxi
Gallery included readings/performances/projections by Rupert Mallin,
London Under Construction and TNWK.
"I took part in the Cambridge Taxi Gallery/Scout
Hut event on the 25th reading from 'Rant Score,' showing in
the gallery - but that's not the point:-
What I want to dwell on, report back on, was the mixture of
the event. Wrapped around the reading and a performance were
two excellent video films by TNWK - 'silicon fen' and 'neighbourhood'
- richly mixing collisions of sound and text (written,
spoken, chanted) and images. The seven piece London Under
Construction (LUC) reconstructed their journey from London
to Cambridge via the 'control room' of the scout in
radio contact with the van driver beyond. I won't describe
in detail what they did, for I'm hopeful they'll do similar
elsewhere, but I was impressed by the layers they wove into
their performance and the questions they posed to the audience
- participation, non-participation, making, un-making, identity
(and loss of), place... and much more.
However unwittingly (or not!) all the pieces through the evening
touched on similar concerns and themes - identity, place,
surroundings, time and space, mapping things future, present, passing
- and more.
A friend of mine turned up. Like me, he has laboured over
'well made' plays for theatre, etc. I told him I'd very largely
let go of that particular labour, repressed by the competitive
nature, hierarchy, ego, boundaries of such pre-ordained forms. He
agreed - and really enjoyed the evening - and, like me, found
something really even but elevating from the event. All thanks
to Kirsten Lavers for staging these regular innovative boundary-breaking
events within the community where she lives."
Rupert (Mallin) Review posted to the Brit Po E-List
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Rupert Mallin
has had over 400 poems published in magazines in the UK and abroad;
plays broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and performed in theatre; he has
held six community arts residencies in the East Midlands and East
Anglia, and has run hundreds of projects and workshops.
Rupert is a member of the ongoing 'Inprint' artists/writers collective,
Norwich and is currently working with a video artist and a composer
on the 'Airfield Collaboration' in Norfolk. Rupert’s 'Town
Hall' installation, will be exhibited at the SeaChange Studios,
Great Yarmouth, May 2004. |
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Rupert
Mallin also worked with children from Abbey Meadows Primary School
and their poem was displayed on the message board during the final
week of the exhibition.
PAVEMENT POEM
by children from Abbey Meadows School 26/04/04
SLAB
HAPPY
GRAVEL
STOP SPARK LIGHT
STOP COCK
FOR SALE SIGN
MOTORBIKE
LIGHT FAULTY?
ANOTHER CREAM PUFF FROM TUCKER’S CARS USA
elastic band and cardboard
coca-cola can
milky way
tic tac
pop bottle
mars bar
tuna chunks
sweet wrappers
pringle pot
tea bags
baby wipe
baby’s dummy
yoghurt pot and toffee crisp
stagecoach bus ticket
shop receipt
beer can
burst balloon
Snowing blossom falling down
Ants in the drain
Daisies and dandelions
Cambridge City Council Green Bin SchemeRed and yellow tulips
Magpie and Siamese cat
Woodlouse near fence
A flower called golden wedding
Birds singing in the trees
MUSHROOMS 3 SQUASHED 1
SNAIL’S SHELL 3 BROKEN 1
DAILIES 12 WEEKLIES 0
CWW 16
2124B125
5 TOADSTOOLS8.45 – 9.15 AND 3PM – 3.45PM GATES CLOSED
Galfrid Road
Gerard Road
Rawlyn Road
Stanesfield Road
Bus Stop to Fison Rd
SCHOOL GATE
KEEP CLEAR
SLOW
That’s what we discovered outside our school
That’s what we discovered around the corner
That’s what we discovered just minutes away
Excerpt from Rant Score - Pavement Poems
by Rupert Mallin
Now recline your eyes
And listen to the ground
HOME, VIA THE LIGHTHOUSE
Once red fish swiming North
Once red fish swimming North West
Once red fish swimming North West
A flower with small serrated purple blooms,
A green stem and spindly leaves
WATER WATER
WATER WATER
WATER WATER
WATER
GAS
GAS
GAS
A stretch of concrete, infilling space between
The paving slabs and the wall,
Containing children’s hand and boot prints and
SALLY 4 BILLY
And a crude drawing of what could be the face
Of a cat, a dog or Billy
Red fish swimming home
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