Sound & Syntax International Festival of Sound Poetry (1978)
Sound & Syntax International Festival of Sound Poetry (1978) - B.P. Nichol, Part 1
From Syntax International Festival of Sound Poetry (1978)
Footage of B.P. Nichol performing his own poems. Same setting as Tape 118. Starts with Nichol onstage, wearing baggy trousers, and a smock-shirt. He goes straight into performance of sound/concrete poetry which features numerous abstract sounds, made more abstract by the fact that the audio on the tape is quite heavily distorted, at times clipping or cutting out completely. The 1st piece lasts around 4 and a half minutes, after which Nichol introduces the 2nd piece, which is based on permutations of the full names of Ramses II and Ramses III. This becomes a systematic sound poem which takes on quite a musical cadence. The camera is largely static throughout with some wide shots and close-ups. The tape finishes mid-performance.
Another well known Canadian concrete and sound poet, B.P. Nichol established grOnk, an important concrete poetry magazine in 1967 with Bill Bissett, David UU and others. The author Michael Ondaatje made a short film around B.P. Nichol’s early work entitled Sons of Captain Poetry (1970).
RESOURCES:
bpNichol in UbuWeb Sound