| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 |
CATEGORIES
- Entries
- Postcards from the Quads
- Real World: U of C
RECENT ENTRIES
- Sabbatical or bust
- Breakfast of library champions
- Caught in a whirlwind
- Change is gonna come
- Hurricanes: not fiction
- Buy Chicagoans, for Chicagoans
- Know Your Chicago: The program that works
- A Fermilab pajama party
- No tiffs over TIF
- Summer reading, Chicago style
ARCHIVES
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
BLOG ROLL
Leaves of verse
|
|
Indigenous to the Paroles region of Upper Volta, the fabled Story Bush derives its name from the text-like mottling that occurs on its leaves beginning in late May. During the growing season individual lines emerge on a plant. In autumn local story gatherers collect the fallen leaves and arrange them into a tale that will entertain villagers through the long dark days of winter.
The placard stuck into the pot holding Hugh Musick’s (AB’84) artwork Story Bush (magnolia fabula), at the Lincoln Park Conservatory, adopts the authoritative, encyclopedic tone of other conservatory text, but like Story Bush itself, the paragraph combines imagination with reality.
A magnolia displaying an original 255-line narrative poem inscribed on the leaves, Musick’s Story Bush can’t be read in linear fashion, he points out. And that’s part of its magic. This past weekend children and adults alike touched the branches and leaves, circling the plant while reading such lines as:
unexpected heiress to a great aunt’s fortune
anonymous
low-hanging cloud of discontent
thus the unprobable became possible
In a phone interview, Musick offers the analogy of a Magic 8 ball to explain how he hopes the phrases will affect viewers. “That’s the way music lyrics stay in my head. A turn of phrase can have certain substance and it can roll around in my head. If people are able to take away a bit or piece, maybe that seed will become inspiration to them.”
Musick has created hundreds of collages accompanied by short imaginative stories, but, he says, this is “the first time I’ve worked with a plant.” A few years ago he was walking in Lakeview when some hyacinth bushes, their leaves turning a brilliant red, caught his eye. “The image of someone writing a whole novel onto their bush came to me,” he recalls. Musick hopes Story Bush “will just stop you in your tracks and make you think, and reevaluate the potential of what things can be.”
In the fall Musick will play the role of story gatherer himself. Every day he will make a trip to the conservatory to collect the fallen leaves. He plans to transcribe the phrases in the order they have fallen. The resulting poem will be “decided entirely by the change of seasons.”
Jenny Fisher, ’07
Photos: A boy checks out the poetry leaves (top). Musick's phrases can't be read in linear fashion (bottom).
August 16, 2006
Post a comment