RACHEL

Michael Edwards

 

 

RACHEL

 

With preference for the monolith

her work sits proud

beyond the element of form

beyond the canvas edge.

 

So private and so palpable

the space beneath her chair

and yet a single idea cast

beside the wharf

her House of 1983

existing now as memory.

 

A library etched in absent books

the Holocaust In bunker form

that haunts and contrasts with

the cabin in its restful cast

observing empty space.

 

The weightless luminosity

encapsulated high above

the nothingness of empty form

solidified within the square

above all human presence

 

She peeled the light

she cast the dark

her work adjudged

both best and worst.

 

 

  

 

 

 

  • Author: Michael Edwards (Offline Offline)
  • Published: December 31st, 2017 02:48
  • Comment from author about the poem: This piece describes the work of one of the UKs leading artists: the sculptress Rachel Whiteread who, in separate polls held in the same year, was voted both best artist and worst artist. She is renowned for casting spaces in concrete and this poem refers to the following: a collection of sculptures representing the space beneath chairs, her house of 1983 in the east end of London which was subsequently pulled down, the Holocaust Memorial in Vienna, the cabin on Governors Island New York (see photo and 'empty space' = 9/11), and the luminous sculpture which was a repeat of the form of the plinth beneath it in Trafalgar Square.
  • Category: Unclassified
  • Views: 63
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Comments +

Comments5

  • orchidee

    Good write Michael. Yep, they judged me best and worst too. Best in my poems (maybe!) but worst when I began to sing them! Why did I have to ruin it all by singing?! heehee.

    • Michael Edwards

      You got it about write Orchi - new years resolution for me is: to silently sing songs that are not yet written - works for me.

    • BRIAN & ANGELA

      Thanks MICHAEL ~ for a beautiful and perfect tribute to RACHEL WHITEREAD ! Because I am a BIOCHEMIST (which is a subject dependent on 3D Form & Function) I prefer 3D to 2D art ! Yours is an exception of course and it always has 3D perspective ! Happy New Year ~ BRIAN

    • Louis Gibbs

      A fine tribute to a unique talent, Michael. As all artists and poets know, our work is subject to judgment ... from praise to condemnation. Well captured in this poem!

      • Michael Edwards

        Her work is unique - she comes up with great concepts which baffle the closed mind - thanks Louis.

        • Louis Gibbs

          Don't get me started on 'closed minds', Michael. They are the bane of civilization.

        • Goldfinch60

          Good write Michael, you obviously admire her, I will need to look into her life and work.

          • Michael Edwards

            Thanks Andy. Her work is original in concept (only a brilliant mind can discover the obvious) and is monumental in size. Also to build the work she has had to develop skill and expertise as well as 'invent' new methods to produce her work. It's no mean feat to build a concrete shell that replicates a ghouse and doesn't collapse or buckle and can take the weight of people inside.

            Is she a brilliant artist? Not sure about that one - certainly large amounts of artistic interpretation but the judgement as to whether she is an artist is only one criteria against which she should be judged. That's much of the trouble with modern art - it doesn't always fall into a pigeon hole and as a result the 'closed mind' finds it hard to accept it. Sorry - I'm on a hobby horse and my arse is getting a tad sore. Lol 🙂

            • Goldfinch60

              Thank you for that Michael. We must have an open mind to people who see life differently, I try to have an open mind especially with art and even more so with music, I ended up on my hobby horse yesterday talking to one of our friends our modern jazz when when I played some for her "But is that jazz?" she asked.
              Conceptual art can be astounding, mind you I still cannot accept Tracey Emins "My Bed" or Carl Andre's 'Bricks' as art.

              I will have to look into Rachel Whiteread.

              • Michael Edwards

                I've seen both the bed and the bricks and can't say I was impressed but what you can't take away from them is that they got the attention and got the art world talking - but they thought of it first and hats off to their marketing skills if nothing else

                • Goldfinch60

                  When 'Bricks' was in the news one of my workmates and I were discussing it and came to the same conclusion, he then went on to say that if he stood a fork and a spade against a wall he would call it an artwork entitled "Gone to Lunch".

                • FredPeyer

                  Michael, I think you missed your calling: You should be an art critic!
                  Great poem!

                  • Michael Edwards

                    Thanks Fred - not sure I want to join that band - would rather be known as an artist but artists are only recognised by most critics if they 'studied' somewhere deemed prestigious.

                    • FredPeyer

                      It really is a shame, isn't it? The same with writers who need to be published by a 'prestigious' magazine or paper, before being recognized.



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