Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Chrysogonus' Response (part 1)

Why were you interested in joining Project 366? How did you see it relating to your art practice before you got involved?

I was interested in joining the project due to the possibility of working together with all the great names in poetry. As a starting poet, I realized that I still needed to learn much more. What could be more appropriate in working together and putting myself in some kind of ‘apprenticeship’ system with more experienced people in the field? As I did not regard myself as a published poet before this, I could only see working together in this project as a way for me to polish my writing, experimenting with different styles, and finding my own voice in poetry writing.

How does working with other people affect your art practice / process? Does it also change your style of working?

I have to say that working with people from different cultural backgrounds in this project changed my approach in writing. While previously I got used to write more on what I know my reader (from  the same cultural background) will know, I am more careful in doing so right now. 

Has Project 366 been a good way for you to be with others in an art practice community to you?

It certainly feels like a community when people are learning together. It provides a supportive community to work and learn without fear of hierarchy. Other participants are generally nice in giving the feedback, and it is quite encouraging to write more. I also tend to see the collective theme springs up sometimes, with people are more encouraged to write about the same phenomenon from different perspective or style. This, for me, reflects the community spirit of Project 366.

Do you see 366 as a dialogue?

For me, Project 366 feels like a dialogue between texts. Poets and artists are sometimes responding to each others through their work, creating a collage of different voices / perspective upon the same matter / topic. Perhaps the most impressive one of this case for me was when storm and flood became an overarching topic for several days. It sparked my internal dialogue with the theme, resulting in me getting more ideas to write about the flood that I experienced couple of years back. For me, this project brings up dialogues on a daily basis.

Has working on daily artmarking through Project 366 affected your work or the way you work?

While I have only been translating poems in 366, doing it daily forced me to work against my mood. It also helps overcoming writer’s block (that I experienced quite often lately). On  the other hand, working in this project also gives me a surge of new ideas every day. It made me more productive in my poetry writing.

Do you think others in the project have influenced you?

This is a big yes. As a starting poet, I feel that I have gotten lots of influence in my work. Susan Hawthorne’s take on mythology, for example, has given me more ideas to work on the local mythology from when I grew up. I agree with Beatrice’s response, sometimes it is about discovering how a word can be used, sometimes it’s the sense of humor, and sometimes it’s someone else’s take on a matter that I didn’t even think of.



2 comments:

  1. Hi Chrysogonus, have any of your poems been translated into English, or do you translate any yourself... and what are some of the themes you're working on, at the moment?
    Jeltje

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  2. Dear Jeltje, I'm sorry for the late response. My internet condition is lately very dire.

    I'm working on various topics at the moment. I will start posting my poem as of today :)

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