1950 The Voice egg tempera & enamel on canvas 244.1 x 268 cm
© 2013 Barnett Newman Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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What is ekphrasis? Simply put, it is the process of translating a work of art from one genre to another–a sculpture that seeks to capture the essence of a novel, say, or a dance that tries to grasp the energy of a kind of music. Literally, it is a way of speaking (phrasis) out (ek), of calling an object by name and in doing so, giving it new life.
This ekphrastic poem takes as its departure Barnett Newman’s Abstract Expressionist painting The Voice, and considers human beings and their environment as works of art too. Do we know who is calling?
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The Voice
Closing time,
Apologetic ushers.
(Outside)
Thin moonfinger
On old sleet,
Evanescent
Bone on bone.
I am allowed to see.
(Only because)
Head down, fumbling
Jacket zip. Stuck.
Fat Mammon,
Neon god, kept
At bay as Nature
Does sidewalk
Like Newman
Did MOMA.
Try whispering,
Dear Newman.
Silences can be
Terribly loud—
Lunula lunulae, oh,
(Do you not see)
In between 5th
And 6th aves
Stretches, off-
White, infinity.
A long-lost lover
Craving touch.
(Ah yes I see)
You made the
Entire world
Parentheses.
Another kind of
God lives
(Outside)
Our glassy museum.
Thin moonfinger
On old sleet,
Evanescent
Bone on bone.
Old Newman
Did MOMA
As Nature
Does sidewalk
As this creature
(Brightest linen)
Is doing
Life, languid,
Flesh of flesh,
Itself.
Published in hyperlinkage
© 2013 Tse Hao Guang