They called themselves possibilitarians. They squatted in warehouses in Providence. They constructed houseboats out of trash and moored them off the docks.
They rode skateboards down abandoned off-ramps. They organized noise and folk shows in co-op basements. They screen-printed posters. They ate from dumpsters. They loved each other.
They recreated pronouns. They imagined communities. They spoke in slogans. They formed multiplicities.
They said another world was possible. Anything is possible. Everything is possible.
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Lithe! The thing that struck me first was not the meaning but the feeling.
ReplyDeleteInteresting choice to forego the "They" litany in the final two sentences. It provides a sort of noetic ambiguity for the p.o.v. -- is it still the possibilitarians in indirect freestyle or has the authorial voice joined in the ruckus?
Also interesting in the aesthetics of syntax: blunt sentences full of round optimism.
works really well considering the tight limits for this state. my criticism is that it sounds like your copywriting job is leaking into this piece a little.
ReplyDeleteHmm. What gives you that impression?
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks, Mark. The switch from past to present tense in the last two lines is meant to be similarly ambiguous.
honestly, i only really made that criticism because you seemed to want to provoke a conversation instead of mere observations or praise (not that those aren't helpful - every writer needs those too!). i liked the piece, and like i said, it works given the tight restraints.
ReplyDeleteBUT if you want a half-assed critique... try reading it in that one movie trailer voice-over guy's voice. he would never say anything as choice or meaningful as "they formed multiplicities", but the rest sounds about right for a movie trailer or advertisement.
you're right: while i do appreciate praise, i like conversation even more.
ReplyDeleteso, since you point it out, that tone was deliberate, and inspired by an injunction from deleuze & guattari (in their piece "introduction: rhizome," which is probably the most inspiring piece of theory i've read):
"write to the nth power, the n - 1 power, write with slogans: Make rhizomes, not roots, never plant! Don't sow, grow offshoots. Don't be one or multiple, be multiplicities!"
was that from A Thousand Plateaus? i was flipping through andy's copy and it looks interesting. he said it's difficult reading, but if it's all written like that i could definitely get into it.
ReplyDeleteyeah, the beginning. the rest of the book can be fairly dense, but i would recommend it.
ReplyDelete