By Renee Liang

For the last few years, I've been part of the Auckland's small but closeknit poetry scene, and we've had a lot of fun. One of the things we started a few years ago was taking our poetry out on the street. In part this was to combat the idea that poetry is boring (trust me - it isn't) but mainly it was just to explore new ways of writing and transmitting our work.

Watch: Auckland Guerilla Poets on TBI YouTubeBy Renee Liang

For the last few years, I've been part of the Auckland's small but closeknit poetry scene, and we've had a lot of fun. One of the things we started a few years ago was taking our poetry out on the street. In part this was to combat the idea that poetry is boring (trust me - it isn't) but mainly it was just to explore new ways of writing and transmitting our work.

Watch: Auckland Guerilla Poets on TBI YouTubeSomething changes about poetry once it's been chalked on the street. The very act of chalking transforms. Terrain, position, where the cracks are, where people walk, inclement weather, overprotective security guards (more on that later), chalk breakage and so on -change the poem, force us to leave out words and lines, write around corners or stop for a day or a week. Also, people stop and read over our shoulders as we write, turning what we do into a performance. There's something poetic in the thought that the actual stuff of the poems will melt away - carried away on the wheels of strollers or the striding heels of businessmen too busy to stop and see the real world. The more prominent the placement, the more people see it - and the faster it disappears.

The idea of art that fades isn't new. Transient art is an idea that's been around ever since a caveman stacked two rocks on top of each other and decided it was pretty. But with this new awareness of the environment and the idea that making a mark on our planet may not be as cool as we once thought it was, transient art - and its siblings contextual art, environmental art and others - is gaining in potency.

To get more of an idea on what transient art is, I interviewed my friend and co-guerilla, Christian Jensen.

Renee: Who are you and what do you do?

Christian: My name is Christian Jensen and I am mostly a poet. I am also an event organizer, MC, writer, performer, guerilla poet, prop handling drone and thinker.

Renee: How do you define "transient art" ?

Christian: I would define transient art as a work or creation that is only made for the moment it is created. Something that is only there to express itself, that can't be owned and belongs to no one but itself and the moment. Often this is something made to be broken down by nature or society. This itself is part of its expression.

Renee: Can only artists make transient art?

Christian: No, definitely not. That's the great thing about transient art. Like with chalking, because it is not something permanent, and the focus is on its expression, not necessarily chalk skills, anyone can join in and take part in creating transient art. I think it is also one of the most common things that everyone at some point has done. Like drawing in the sand, making paper or leaves into shapes or writing with gravel.

Renee: Yeah, that is a really great thing, the accessibility... what do you think transient art can do for people?

Christian: The most important thing, to me, that transient art can do, is to make people stop and think. Particularly in a society, with advertisement and lifestyles, that encourage people not to think or create. It also allows the artist to let his expression stand on its own; just for its words and its message. Which is also why I don't think transient art should be signed.

Renee: I like that idea. Can we talk a bit about the history of transient art, specifically chalked poetry, in NZ? I know you've done a bit of research into this.. what are some key moments, and what's the current state of play?

Christian: Paula Green started the idea in 2005, taking a creative writing class to paint poems on the pavement. All were removed afterwards except for Paula's poem, which for some reason the street cleaners 'forgot' to clean. In 2006, Michele Leggott developed the idea by taking a class of students out to chalk poems on the pavement. I was one of these students. Encouraged by Michele I started running increasing missions of Guerilla poetry. For the third event a core team of Guerilla poets that would keep running the missions got together and still run guerilla poetry missions. This was yourself, joined by Jason Morales, Rachael Heimann and Miriam Barr.

Renee: Can you tell me a bit about the practice of "Guerilla Poetry"?

Christian: Guerilla Poetry , by its nature, expresses itself to an audience that is not aware of the purpose or even familiar with the nature of the act. It has a wide variety of changing 'canvasses' and involves people stepping over, on and between you as you work. This is also partly what is intriguing about it. It is not meant as a forcefully invasive form of poetry, but there for the taking for those that might want the creative thought/intrusion or even take part in it.

Renee: And it's also a performance, in a way?

Christian: Yes, absolutely. It is also a very social and collaborative performance at that. Guerilla Poetry missions aren't just chalking poetry either. They also, at times, involve park-bench recitals, when an audience arrives, and free hand-outs of printed poems.

Renee: And it seems it's not just a NZ thing...

Christian: No it's not. It seems to be something that is growing all over the world. Whether this is independently or through collective consciousness, or from links on the internet is hard to say. There is the Guerilla Poetry Insurgency, in San Francisco, that has been going since 2003. I've been in touch with them and hope to create a network with other guerilla poetry communities over the world.

Renee: That's cool! And my last question.... where do you see this going? What can transient art 'become', if becoming anything else is necessary?

Christian: What I would hope for transient art to become is a tool that is accessible to anyone all over the world. Although transient art is something that is meant for the moment, I think there is a great value in capturing this moment on film. The idea behind this, is to create a network that can allow transient art or transient poetry to express itself from every corner of society. I think it has the potential to become a strong voice that can help us, and other people, free our minds from logos, slogans and catchphrases from ads and media.

So there it is. I particularly like the idea of reclaiming the streets with words of our own. Often the initial reaction is suspicion that we are selling something, writing political slogans or tagging, followed by smiles as people realize that we're just doing it for the poetry. And that's an important distinction for me - comment is important, but it should be about the joy and art. (There are some that say that all art is political - but we'll save that discussion for another time).

There are many other ways to 'release poetry to the wild'. These include Random Acts of Poetry (similar to Guerilla poetry), drive-by poetry and poetry stands, and of course toilet door poetry.

In case you're curious about the overprotective security guards, it was an incident that happened a couple of years ago in an unnamed NZ city. Rumour suggests that around 20 poets descended on an unnamed public square at 11 pm to leave a "gift of poetry" for city workers to find in the morning. No sooner had they set chalk to stone than security guards, from a nearby unnamed public institution dedicated to the performing arts, marched out with walkie talkies and proclaimed ownership of the square.

Eventually the police turned up, chatted for a while and then decided to confiscate the chalk. As I say, it's all hearsay and there's no proof any of it happened (wink) - . but it does raise some interesting questions about what is perceived as art and what isn't.

I'll leave you with a short video of the daytime activities of the Guerilla Poets, in which the police do not feature! If anyone is thinking about doing similar or joining, drop a line to poetrylive@gmail.com.

Photo: Christian Jensen chalks poetry in Glen Innes
Credit: Renee Liang

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06/11/08