Thursday 24 November 2016

The Pompei Lady, Wondering


The Pompei Lady,
staring at me
with black, unmoving eyes,
bitting her pencil,
her eyes fixed on me,
her spirit, elsewhere.

The Pompei Lady,
wondering what the future will bring.

The Pompei Lady,
my twin from the distant past.
Her eyes burning black holes
in the mist of confusion
my life has become.

The Pompei Lady,
unsmiling but kind
opening a path of light 
for me to exit exile
and rediscover pleasure and hope.

Forget the frozen,
angry gaze of a bad dream
that lasted for so many months,
a black hole
where my life energy disappeared.

The Pompei Lady,
inviting me to recompose myself
and leave your ghost behind.
Forever.

The Pompei Lady,
filling my body and spirit
with hot, singing blood again.

Cubicles of ice
melt under her meditative gaze
and things shift back
into their proper place.
Like me.

(c) Haris Metaxa, April 2017






Wednesday 23 November 2016

EMBODIMENT OF HOPE



EMBODIMENT OF HOPE

Paris, 13/11/2016

© Haris Metaxa. All Rights Reserved, Reproduction Prohibited


I've been so depressed lately
with the upcoming anniversary of the Paris terror attacks.

I did not want to remember, to live that experience again.
Feeling raped at home, in my street, in my town, 
in my intimacy, in my freedom, in my life.

It happened a year ago, like tomorrow actually.

It was on the 13th of November last year,
13/11/2015,
a bright, crispy, sunny day made for love and beauty
and instead crazed Death came out of nowhere
riding ordinary family cars
and killing from the open windows,
wearing the face of young boys,
killing with brainwashed rage
on street corners,
erasing with blood innocent people
sitting in terraces
enjoying life
ordinary, young and not rich people
sitting at cheap terraces,
they did not know the war had come to town
that It was already raging in the streets,
they were blissfully unaware
like the rest of Paris and Parisians,
like all of us even now,
they couldn’t even suspect something was wrong,
that the battlefield
between terror and life
was taken into the streets;

In the young Bohemian streets,
around Canal Saint Martin
starting with rue Bichat
and then,
target of simultaneous multiple attacks,
very fast becoming a real triangle of death:
two attacks in rue Bichat,
then more behind République square,
more shootings near Parmentier, on rue Fontaine de Rois,
while close to Bastille,
the Bataclan Club just around the corner 
was attacked.
What I am telling you is a triangle of Death 
with rue Bichat at its centre.

I repeat,
what shocked us most was
that when the day after finally came
and in hearing the news 
we discovered we had just been at a centre of real terror
and we had become survivors,
past events were not any longer just whispers,
or rumours
and suppositions
as they have been during this incredible,
unbelievable
night of terror
spent outdoors
since the area of the attacks was cordoned off
for security.

We discovered at last what actually happened,
by who,
who did the shooting,
why and where.
It was only then it became clear the killers came from within,
all very young,
brainwashed
into armed Muslim Fundamentalism,
they were playing out a flesh and blood video game,
with no sense of reality,
no empathy,
as if they were in a shooting arcade 
only this time they were pointing
real weapons
and pulling the triggers 
on other very young people,
some in their teens,
quietly sitting in terraces
while the crisp innocent night
was falling...

It was not a war
targeting the symbolic landmarks of power and wealth,
it was not taking place
inside or outside rich neighbourhoods,
and luxurious buildings,
Exclusive Hotels,
Michelin - 4 Star Restaurants
or crowded International Conference Centres.
No, not at all,
this crazy undeclared guerrilla warfare
was targeting
central,
young, Bohemian neighbourhoods
brimming with youngsters who'd scraped together the money 
to buy a second drink.
This dirty
undeclared war,
fatal and vicious,
with no symbolic targets,
no symbolic victims
has changed our lives forever.

Time stopped then.
I live on rue Bichat
and I happened to be visiting the rich Concorde area,
leaving the Grand Palais
where Paris Photo Exhibition
was closing its doors for the evening.

I was safe because I was happened to be among the rich.
Nobody was attacking them.
Poor young people were killing other poor young people,
killers and victims alike,
forming a unity.

Does it make any sense?

No, it does not.

It still doesn't.

That's the real terror inside every terrorist act.
It does not make sense
for the killer
to be the doppelganger
of the victim.

This is what stopped time in its tracks,
and makes me uneasy,
profoundly upset
with our sick society
and its politics,
its media
its experts.

We don't really have a grip on the situation.
What happens defies all logic,
so we stuff it with theories
and expert nothings
and empty promises
and infinite political goodwill
and declarations of faith
about life and happiness and courage.

Whatever.
Thought is an industry
and the Trump clones
of professional thinking
and fear mongering
are curiously silent
behind the deafening fury
of their empty conventional words.

Unless we try to understand what caused
this sacrificial and manipulated homicide-suicide
of our young ones,

this double murder
of teenagers against teenagers,
both victims of our times,
killers and victims,
Westerners and Easterners, 
side by side;

All killed by us
our society
our culture
our indifference to truth
and understanding,
compassion,
commitment,
and protection of Youth;

Unless we stand up and denounce things,
thus shielding the innocent and ill-prepared,
our own children;

Unless we behave like caring
and responsible adults,

by building a ladder
to climb out of this abysmal cultural rift
based on selfishness, career obsession, mental and emotional laziness
and indifference to the fate of others, younger and weaker than us,

Well, 
AND

Unless we collectively pull together as a society
by cherishing our collective creative treasures and discoveries
about what is good and real and generous in us,

AND, 
Encore,

Unless we start a new way of thinking,
caring, sharing and acting,

where each one of us counts

because s/he offers a unique perspective on truth and love,

AND

Unless we weave all those tiny, 
fragmented patches
of individual love and discovery
into a giant collective patchwork

and hang it up for all to see
and admire at a distance,
standing all together,
united-
looking at the new pattern emerging,
this whole new shape
magically transforming the fragments
of our separate and unique individual existence
into one coherent and mysterious,
and complex whole

made possible and visible
only because each one of us
actively contributed his or hers own precious and unique
individual fragment...

NOW,

Unless we collectively give birth to this as yet unknown element
urging to pull to the surface 
this huge complex figurative patchwork
lurking underneath
unwanted and unexpressed,
pull it up in its shining truth
and at last start learning 
how to decipher it, together...

Unless we throw ourselves
into unchartered mental territories...

We shall never form
and we shall never discern
from afar
thousands of broken fragments coming together,
slowly becoming
a clear, well defined path for all of us to follow,
including the young in our mist.

Condensed truth
Condensed love
Condensed humanity

The only possible shared triad,

EMBODIMENT OF HOPE.



Saturday 19 November 2016

Writer On Hire! One condition, symbolic compatibity!


Do you want an article like these ones about your work, 
its creative force 
and its deNsity and future potential?
Well, good news, you almost certainly can have one.
Just expose me to your work in person 
(I need to physically see it)
and after that first encounter
I can tell you if I can write about it or not.


If I say no, 
do not despair, 
it will not be an objective refusal of your creative work, 
just a difficulty of mine to enter your symbolic world at this specific present time.
The difficulty is actually a positive thing and it can be overcome.
So my refusal will not be forever, it only means I need more time.

Do not give up.

If you want this writer to write about you, well, in other words, 
if you want this writer to be a sort of cosmic amplifier 
of the message you are trasmitting trough your creative work,
come back and ask again.
Another future time will be more appropriate for us to creatively synchronize.


If I say yes,
we negotiate the details,
how long the article has to be, for what use, in what language, for when and for how much.

So, Writer For Hire,
come look for me!

P.S: The articles will be written in 4 languages only, in English, French, Italian and Modern Greek.
I can also translate my own articles between these languages.





Wednesday 16 November 2016

Françoise Doherty, Whispering Invitation to Love or Inventing the Primary Alphabet of Sound Color in happier or dark times


Queer Canadian Artist, Musician and Filmmaker Françoise Doherty 
was in Paris last week to present her latest experimental short animated movie, 
the 4th episode of the Girl Bunnies series at Cineffable Film Festival 
and I jumped on the occasion to discuss her work with her.

I have been familiar with her work from the start, the very 1st episode of Les Lapines 

(The Girl Bunnies) which I saw when it came out back in 2008 
and it was so unusual and soft and surprising that it stayed with me.
Every time a new episode came out I looked for it. 

It is not strange then that I was very happy to meet with her when she was here for a very short French visit and eager to find out more about her life, creativity, aspirations and objectives.




What follows derives partially from our discussions and partially from my own analysis, appreciation and understanding of her work so this article will be partly interview with the artist and partly my own critical overview.
I know she has a lot of work behind her but I am not familiar with it so I shall concentrate on what I know, back to the Girl Bunnies series once more . 

I remember the strong impact the soundtrack had on me the first time. 

It was like a Star Trek Ship crossing over to another Universe on a mental and aesthetic level 
or like a door opening instantly to a blinding new dimension who's existence I ignored up to that second but I could now see at all times, 
it opened up my mind like an Indian guru and it left it open, 
both my mind and that new dazzling dimension invisible before 
but overwhelmingly present now 
and this sensation stayed with me all these years 
and repeated itself every time I saw a new film.
So we can say her Girl Bunnies have a strong emotional and intuitive impact on me, 

they are a sort of musical meditation.

It is so rare to have such an affinity with an artist and I am privileged  to have found one 

who makes me feel that way.
Back to basics. 

The soundtrack is so unique it cannot but be the core, 
the departure point for the whole animated story.
The music dominates by colouring the feelings of  this voyage of discovery she wants to tell us about,  discovery of love, alterity, diversity, sexual identity, 

self-acceptance and respect of others. 
And this voyage of discovery is an universal one, 
transcending all difference, valid for all.


(c) F.Doherty, mail male bunny

Françoise Doherty in life is a teacher and a single gay mother of two teenage daughters so when she started the Girl Bunnies series almost 10 years ago (back in 2007) the world was a very different place and her children were very young. So inevitably they were bullied at school at times because of their gay mother. She wanted to protect her family from harassment and discrimination but at the same time she also wanted to educate young children - who will become future adults and who remain at that age quite open and accepting - on issues of diversity,  hetero-normative prejudice, divergent sexual identities and respect of lgbtqi people and their rights.


(c) F.Doherty, Space Girl and Earth Girl

As we say now in popular acceptance of queer identity and culture 
in our post-Glee, post-Ellen Page coming out, post-queer cyberspace explosion
some people "are born this way"
they are just people who happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual, 
queer or inter-sex and as they tell us, well, "I am gay, get over it"
Unapologetic gayness without an immediate physical or mental threat 
attached to it is a recent cultural shift.
It was time, of course. 
But still, it is not possible to exhibit it, 
this cool anapologetic gayness in public without attracting unwanted attention in many places, countries, even in private or semi protected areas. 
It is still not that well accepted, gayness
People are cool when they talk about it but deep down they find it queer, not "queer" as a compliment but as in "strange"
Homophobia is in our cells and bones, in our brains and in our hearts. 
Sexual minorities deal with it in unity and numbers 
but the world remains a non-inclusive place. 
Not only about sexual orientation, of course. 
I don't need to talk about race or poverty, gender or age, 
the North-South rift or the cultural and resources accessibility difference 
and I was not going to. 
We are all painfully aware like an itch on our face that never quite goes away. 
But as I was actually writing this last night, (the 8th of November 2016 and in Paris, 
at plus 6 hours difference than NY), 
when the American Presidential Elections were taking place, 
I was so convinced that come what may no way Trump was going to win.
Was I right? No, I wasn't.
If Trump won it is because he lied to scared stupid people. His win will be his downfall. 

But it tells us how much hatred, ignorance and intolerance are out there 
and how much we need lucid thought, clear vision and a creative talent 
and commitment to try to change people's hard hearts.

I lost it. 

I must be upset and surprised. 
I was trying to talk about what was happening back in 2008 homophobia-wise. 
Not good. 
Worse than now. 
Even if Trump has been elected, people have shifted in their own heads, prejudices are falling down like autumn leaves. 
That's history. 
Slow but dialectic, inevitable and transformative.
Back to our topic, to Françoise in a small Canadian town as a queer-identified single mother. Hard, harsh, isolated, difficult. 

But Art and Music could change that. 
Break the prejudice and isolation of this "atypical" family and seduce by beauty potential enemies into allies. 
Transform the world by beauty and a positive utopia of love. 
Even of a girl to girl love, if this is what you happen to prefer.

But it was not easy back  almost 10 years ago when the first Girl Bunnies was produced. 

But it got produced. 
And liked. 
And won prizes. 
And made people of all ages smile and sing and laugh and change attitudes. 
So we can say that is more inclusive now, parents of trans children now contact Françoise 
at school to ask her to put trans characters in her films. 
Yeah! Little Snoopy dance.
Cannot stop progress I guess, even if it is a queer rainbow one.
But surprise surprise: The Girl Bunnies are hiding behind the obvious animated tale for children and it is to all of us they want to talk about the magic, poetic and often impossible dream of love, of finding the proverbial, the mythical soul mate.
And the artist finds it in the 'girl loves girl' Bunny Land utopia.
These are happy girl bunnies in successful happy ends in a world 
where love and happiness are possible  for all, 
girls who love girls included.

This happy ending dreamland pushes the utopia to our demanding hearts through the soundtrack of the experimental animated films Françoise loves to make, 
straight into us while we are staring unaware at a children movie 
and when we see the Girl Bunnies doing miracles of self-knowledge, negotiation, 
making and fixing mistakes, well, you understand that Françoise Doherty 
has a similar objective to Shakespearean sonnets in mind: 
decline, uncover and transmit all the different moments, 
all this colourful rainbow of emotions which compose love.
The artist is a sort of deconstructed exploded primary and primal 
unarticulated queer lady-Shakespeare in Love
sharing her treasures with all of us but not with words nor images 
but with the naked colour of sounds she looks for and experiments with
She tries to uncover a whole elementary alphabet of sound colour, 
seen as emotional variation of all feelings connected to love, 
and find how to codify and express them as direct sound-colour.

To my opinion, she succeeded from the very first Girl Bunnies story, 
Les Lapines ( 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwS1NkXmmeE)
 and continued to gratify and surprise us in the 3 follow ups,
(Hockey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trC0nKKM57c&t=56s,
Big Tree
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trC0nKKM57c&t=56s
and The Girl Bunny Rocketship

as yet unreleased on U Tube at least so I do not have the link),
more complex in storyline and characters and longer too 

but all united by her unique palette of sound and voice 
combined to a tender animated storyline, 
what can I say, I am addicted from the very start, 
I like the pace, the staccato, the dissociation of image and sound, 
this refreshing dyslexia of the two elements 
that are supposed to come together and say the same thing 
but they don't. 

And Love is Love. 
What she says is valid for Love, Universal Love, Love with a capital L, 
all Sexualities, Genders, Identities included.
This is what makes her a Classic, 
not only a Queer Artist, 
not only a Child Educator 
but a Music Poet 
speaking inarticulately in anarchic primary sounds 
to the Universal Human Soul. 

So, Stand Still.
And listen and enjoy a distilled pure emotion from the outer space of shared love, courageous girl bunnies in love with each other and a rain of happy endings.

Dramatically needed in a time 

when Donald Trump has just been elected President. 
Today.
Do I need to say more about how much we need tolerance, 

dignity, self-respect and truth?
Merci Dieu pour l'art!


The Girl Bunnies can be found on You Tube under this title, LINKS in the body of the article.


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The Artist with me in Paris last week where Françoise Doherty presented her forth episode in the Girl Bunnies series during the Cineffable festival at Espace Reuilly from the 28th of October to the 1st of November.

Cineffable film festival site info and list of films: 

F. Doherty's site: