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WHITE ROOM, DARK PLACE

by George Blamey-Steeden

folk

Sometimes I look at art and I wonder if it is really ‘art’. If it gets a reaction then I guess it is. When I first spotted this piece in Folkestone, my random thought was, ‘not a sculpture for the accident prone to climb on, especially the skinny ones’. I took a photo then read the notes and it is Will Kwan’s sculptural screen frame view of the English Channel, reflecting, ‘the still heavily trafficked route linking Britain and China. His sculpture also plays on the architectural design of the ‘chinoiserie’ style’. Odd. I’m still not sure I’m getting it. Anyway, a work-in-progress lyric for one of the new songs I’m working on.

WHITE ROOM, DARK PLACE

White room,
Dark place,
Kiss stains on his collar,
No smile upon his face

Blindfold,
Blood stain,
A bullet to the temple,
He never felt the pain

Helicopter,
Overhead,
Just checking out the area,
To make sure that he’s dead

Mystified,
Paralysed,
He let her read his fortune,
No tourniquet applied

Ice Queen,
Never lied,
The day the truth caught up with them,
They called it suicide

Snow white,
Gravestone,
Empty coffin, no donations,
Spilt ashes and methadone

Epitaph,
Nothing to say,
The remnants of two lives’
And a dandelion bouquet.

Next, a piece of sound art using samples I wrote a while back. I think it just fits the mood of the words above. It’s called, ‘No More a Vendetta’.

If anyone is interested in having their poetry put to song then below is the link to my previous post explaining how it can be achieved;

https://zoolonhub.com/2017/08/16/when-a-poem-becomes-a-song/

Also, Here’s link to ‘DREAM RESCUER’. It costs not much, and is available worldwide.  If you fancy buying it and feel able to post a review on Bandcamp, I’d appreciate it.

Copyright © 2017 Zoolon Audio.  All rights reserved.  Unauthorised copying, reproduction, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting prohibited.

 

58 thoughts on “WHITE ROOM, DARK PLACE”

  3. Wow, what a story- and the music!!! I can’t wait to hear the finished piece!
    Defining ‘Art’ is tricky. My favorite is a white canvass in the Milwaukee museum which sports a single black line down the middle. Untitled. Perhaps I’m just not clever enough to get it…:)

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    1. Thank you. I have a number of pieces at the composition/almost ready for the studio phase on the go at the moment. I’m hoping for that extra creativity breakthrough any time now.

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    1. I’m trying to get all forms of ‘art’. It’s my thing at the moment. There’s the new Turner Contemporary Gallery over in Margate. I get the paintings fine, but stuff like plastic chains hanging from the ceiling and tied up with silver foil confused me. Some people went, ‘wow’ while I was thinking ‘what’. Odd.

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      1. I think you can like or not any art form, music, painting, writing whatever even if it is not just off the wall but off the planet. The trouble for me is that sometimes the loudness of certain ‘Wows,’ not only leaves room for confusion. It leads me to believe that some folks just don’t want to look like they really are confused that this is art, music, writing, whatever.

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  5. Aiiiii that tragic poem has me reeling ~ It’s not true love with that going on ~ Mind you, what is true love? Does it exist? What makes it “true”? OK you’re responsible for this brain that’s whizzing around so quickly right now (coffee has a role too)!

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    1. Thank you. I don’t drink coffee or tea (hot chocolate, served ‘basic’ is mine). I agree ‘true love’, like you’d die for someone, might not exist, might just for the lucky ones. I’m feeling a lyric coming on, thinking about it. Extra thank you! George

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  6. Isn’t everything art, in a sense? The Art of… insert whatever you like. My interpretation of Kwan’s work is a smart manipulation of a view to create individual pictures of what’s captured in any of the many frames, I like it a lot. A terrific photo, here you’ve presented to us a view of a view within a view, so very clever.

    ‘White Room, Dark Place’, is a dark lyric and loaded with strong imagery. How wonderful each verse tells its own story, yet stacked together they unfold to reveal a larger tragedy. George, this is super and I’m looking forward to listening to the completed song. It paired nicely with ‘No More a Vendetta’. Lovely post and presentation. Have a good evening. Mia, RE&C

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    1. It’s interesting, Mia. It got a reaction from me, so it must be art. I didn’t like it, yet I didn’t not like it. The curse of the random thought kicked in and I just saw the holes in the base of the project. The drop through the holes is a sheer, deep drop and my first thought wasn’t about the art but the danger if you were little, skinny and slipped through one of the holes. Against that, if there wasn’t a sheer drop it would probably have ruined the art and couldn’t be a view within a view. Also, the trade link between China and the UK on the notes just seemed weird. I hate boasting but my photo turned out better than the real thing that’s already rusting up a bit. The thing I need to do with art that isn’t obvious is to learn to look deeper. This piece is about 100 metres from where I get my morning hot chocolate so I’ve got no excuses when it comes to taking a second, deeper look. I’m hoping that soon I will see art like I see sound and music. I’ll have the new song soon, and thanks Mia, wishing I had your extra-clever x-ray eyes, R, E & 100% cocoa C.

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      1. You’re welcome, George. Reactions and random thoughts are both good things. The sculpture does have a resemblance to a jungle gym, not one I would ever get on without a safety net. Do you think Brian has been over to visit the sculpture? It looks like a great place for birds to perch, giving it a practical purpose too.

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      2. Thanks, Mia. Brian is a Dover sparrow so doesn’t get over to Folkestone that regularly. I think he’d like it there. The Leas, below the sculpture would be a perfect home for a sparrow. Upmarket, so I’m guessing Ruby would like it there as well. I think I just worked out why I was struggling with the sculpture. Looking through the gaps in it doesn’t showcase the sea specifically. It would have more magic if it used it’s little square holes to capture the sea (no horizons, beach or anything like that, just the water). This piece should be set up lower down at an angle, not on top of The Leas.

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  8. I don’t know what the drawing is, but its interesting. The lyrics are a bit eerie and remind me of your father’s. Just read your response to the whole poem into a song thing….I’ve been so bad about getting back to comments on WP. Anyway, yes, probably nothing I would pay for but interested because I had lyrics that I had some ideas for for a metal song but can’t quite get it to come together. Was thinking of it more as a collaboration where maybe your ideas would guide me. If you’re ever interested in doing anything like that, let me know.

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    1. The complicated words geriatric is a bit like it on the eerie front. His long words have too many syllables for songs though. A collaboration would be brilliant. Right now I’ve got work and projects up to my armpits. If your still up for it in a couple of months time, after I visit then escape Belgium than I’ll be up for it also.

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      1. When a dandelion goes to seed, everyone thinks its life is over, however, those wee beings are flung into the wind, carried off to parts unknown and live a whole new existence. The magic, to me, is that the dandelion lives more than one life. One yellow and the other invisibly.

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  12. Hey zoolon!! Have you seen famous mosque of India-TAJMAHAL ? your white room,dark place is like that marbled TAJMAHAL.i think and feel when i read ur poem again n again.lovely poem.

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      4. Like I said, Aruna. He’s just one of those people you like on first meeting. Good bloke, pre or post white room. There aren’t many ‘good blokes’ around at the moment.

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  14. Oooooo, I do love that last line. Well I mean there’s lots of nice bits, but the “dandelion bouquet” is damn smart. So temporary, fleeting, looked down upon as a nuisance, unwanted, and yet held as the most beautiful thing in the hands of a child.

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  16. The Emporer’s birthday suit!
    You can not see?
    But would you not die for me?

    and the track, I sang to it

    both works of art!!

    Save our souls,
    Save our souls,
    Save our souls,
    dit dit did dash dash dash dit dit dit
    dit dit did dash dash dash dit dit dit
    Save our souls,
    Save our souls,
    Save our souls,
    Save our souls,
    Save our souls,
    Save our souls,
    dit dit did dash dash dash dit dit dit
    dit dit did dash dash dash dit dit dit
    Save our lives
    Before we fall
    Before we fall
    dit dit did dash dash dash dit dit dit
    dit dit did dash dash dash dit dit dit
    Save our souls,
    Before we fall
    Before we fall

    Not a brilliant lyric, LOL but it woked for me 😉

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  17. Back when I was still hanging out with writers most of the time we would get into arguments about what was literature and what was just hack work. Being naturally opinionated, I jumped into the fray. But over the years, I realized the subjectivity of the question. The only way to prove if something was hackwork or art was to ask the author if they wrote it for love or money.

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      1. Oh they do! When people die we are met by friends or relatives who passed away ahead of us. Seriously. I read that from near-death experiences of which some were scientifically documented

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      3. The documented NDErs were mostly grown-ups so who knows what happens to infants. Maybe, the soul meant for it quit at the last minute and say: “Oh please not another rebirth!” Lol. It is not funny though for parents who expected for the babe to be borne only to die when the big day comes. Maybe such experience is for the parents to learn a lesson from. I dunno because in life there are more questions than answers 😉

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