Cultural Storytellers: Christian Jensen

Renee Liang explains the concept of Metonymy, a collaboration that seeks to “spark new creative connections”, and interviews Metonymy co-organiser Christian Jensen on poetry, being Norwegian and the value of collaboration.

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For the last three years, I’ve been involved in organising Metonymy, yet another of the projects to come out of the artistic pressure cooker that is Poetry Live.  The poetry community has always been modest in size; few Aucklanders are aware that organised live poetry performance has been running weekly in their city for over 30 years. Yet stumble into the warmth of the Thirsty Dog on a Tuesday night and there’ll always be something  interesting to watch that was different to last week – not just poetry but also music, dance, moving image or (as happened last night) a chaotic, exuberant amalgam of all the above.  The mic is always open to newcomers and generally any new faces attract a few of the regulars over to chat to them.

Notwithstanding any unintended comparisons to bacteria, I like to think of Poetry Live as a lovely nutrient broth for artists. Conversations happen. Notebooks come out. Cards are swapped.  And all kinds of weird beasties subsequently sprout.

Metonymy is a similar concept, based on an observation (one that should be familiar to most readers of The Big idea) that the tastiest, most relevant and highest quality artwork is grown from the roots up.  A further observation is that artists often spend their time tending their home gardens side by side, without peering over the low walls that divide us.  So we thought that by introducing artists from different disciplines that don’t know each other, we could start up some interesting conversations, and maybe even swap some tools or create lasting friendships.

Two months ago, 112 artists – 56 “literary artists” and 56 “visual artists” – were matched up by a blind dating agency (the Metonymy organisers).  The results of those collaborations will be delivered to Corbans Estate Arts Centre this coming Tuesday, and after selection by a panel of our senior artists and writers, the results will be exhibited and performed over the following 6 weeks (2 September -17th October).  There’s not just an exhibition, but also a poetry and music show, an Artists and Writer’s forum (open to all, not just participants) and a final performance night.  We’re also part of the Going West Festival, an annual fest of all things creative in Waitakere.

We have no idea what’s being delivered on Tuesday, but from the whisperings we’ve heard, some very unusual and innovative genre-busting things are coming our way.  It’s very exciting… and of course I’m involved in my own Metonymy collaboration with artist Paul Woodruffe, and our project is literally baking in the oven as I write. 

Oh I’m too excited to write any more….. must be time to interview my fellow Metonymy organiser and poet, Christian Jensen.

Renee: What attracts you to poetry (out of all the art forms)?

Christian: To me, poetry started out as a way to express the unspoken; to use as a tool or an outlet to process (and cope with) life and the curve balls that it would throw at me.  It was only because it was spilling out all over the place that it was noticed and encouraged until it became a craft, as opposed to simply flow of consciousness.  What attracts me to Poetry as an Art form though is manifold.  The voices it carries and allows you to connect with, the play on language, the relation it has to theatre and its origin on spoken language and the images and symbols it allows you to play with and illustrate in dioramas of thought; the Metaphors and Metonymies you are allowed to craft; Metonymies being the socially specific associations we attach to words, that give a double meaning relating to its literal meaning ; layering the visual and literal from more than one perspective. 

As an art form, what attracts me to poetry is how its body of text, if we are thinking of expression/publication other than book form or text on page, can be and should be interpreted in so many ways.  It is open to be layered in all and/or any medium available, be it spoken, to music, in plays, to visual imagery, as moving image, as paint on canvas, or objects made from resin or glass or as an installation of a combination of medium.  In this way poetry can be dynamic, and a poem can be ever living and changing through different voices and hands. 

Renee:  Was it hard, making the decision to switch from science to arts?

Christian: It was life changing, and it took me many years heading down different paths, to head in the direction of arts.  The two have never been separate for me though, and science is a huge part of my process;  I mean Research, Science and Psychology.  I have huge issues with Categorical and Statistics based modules, which is exactly what art encourages one to break free of.   The move towards arts was more like a steady current pushing towards it as opposed to a switch.  I come from a background and home of Alternative medicine and body sculpting ; I practically grew up in a gym , which I have great memories of.   I had a slightly different angle of approach than most, which could be seen as an advantage if this veering off to end up in a world of poetry is a good thing, which it is.   I could make you an exercise program for any purpose & advise you which muscle groups to exercise depending on your body posture alignments, but this we have already worked out and any gym or physio can advise you the same.  I would rather work towards developing our devices and tools for our minds, and creating a space for this to be expressed through our Art; & by Art I mean Performance , Visual, Physical and Textual Art and any other  form of art that might be defined or challenged. 

Renee:  Do you find your "Norwegian" world view leaking much into your writing?  

Christian: I find the “My Norwegian world view” sometimes comes through and sometimes is the focus of my writing, although I am not sure if that is The Norwegian world view.  I recently had to look up who was Prime Minister, it's still Jens Stoltenberg and his coalition government.   My writing mostly takes the global nomadic world view, which internet to some extent has made available to most of us.  After traveling around the globe six times for six years I'm not sure if I qualify as having the views of one singular nationality. I've settled roots all over the globe.  Norway is however my homeland, and there is a lot of my writing that relates directly to that.  In the way of language I often write in Norwegian as well, and like to play with translations.  I think that a well of different languages and accents can give you tools to see the text in different layers and experiment with the text and its use of placement, form and space. 

Renee:  What are your current obsessions?

Christian: Collaboration and theatrical performance poetry. 

Renee:  Why does guerilla poetry exist?

Christian: The Greek were scared of the poet and their tongues.  The poet’s voice has always existed as a voice of culture jamming.  I believe it is something that has always and should always exist, we just gave it a name.  Who came up with the name? The Guerilla Poetry Insurgency in DC?  Maybe, it is just what it is, not just reaching out, but placing itself in society to encourage thought.   Guerilla Poetry is not a political statement though, it does not have an agenda, does not try to convert you or sell you anything. Which is maybe one of the reasons that it is allowed to exist.  It simply encourages you to express your thoughts to society in bright colors of transient chalk, and take your mind off the busy day if even for just a moment. 

Renee:  What makes a good collaboration?

Christian:  In regards to Metonymy, which is opening on the 2nd September at Corbans Estate Arts Centre, 6 pm, the simple answer is that it is a good collaboration when it is clear in the work that two separate worlds have come together and become one in its artistic expression, and that this is done in an innovative and creative way.  What makes a good collaboration is sometimes a hard thing to predict, but a lot of the time you can find a perfect match.  A good collaboration is not dependent on medium or experience.  It depends on ideas, motivation and personality.  It's very much like a relationship, some which last for ever, others which are more like flings or a few dates.  There is allot of giving and taking to come to a fused point but a good collaboration pulls it together and creates something caught between the literary and the visual world. 

Renee:  What are some of the collaborative projects you've done?

Christian: Metonymy is the first one I'd like to mention.  Third year going, it's going to be a really amazing exhibition this year.  Check out the website for more information on that. 

Also firstly is The Literatti.  I'm looking forward to Creative Directing the next show for 2011, but for now I’m mostly looking forward to the show in September that I have been co-directing with Miriam Barr.  We've written the whole show around the concept of Echoing the Ghosts; to re-visit the ghosts of our age that changed history and view it in our own frame.  The poems have also all been written to an album by Nine Inch Nails given out on creative commons.  The concept of creative commons is for this soundscape and atmospheric music to be used for creative reflection.  There has been a moving image festival dedicated to this album.  So we look forward to launching our interpretation of Ghosts I & II.  We're also working with MIC who now runs Galatos, to create a 30 minute moving image pre-show through a series of workshops.  That's on Saturday 25th September at Galatos, doors open from 6.30, where the Literatti will give you an amazing new stage show at an international level of theatrical spoken word performance. 

The Global Eyes project is another project between Ideas Imbed Creative and Chan Andreassend which I can draw on as an example of a good collaboration.  A good collaboration like this has a strong idea, which pulls all the artists into it.  Inspired by the Matariki Exhibition at Corbans Estate Arts Centre, where Ronald had made seven ceramic lights with resin sculptures in reflection of the 7 poems by 6 poets, Ronald taught all the poets involved how to create their own art objects in reflection of the poems.   What started off as an artist and 6 poets, evolved into 7 artists and in the end involved 12 artists: Renee Liang, Miriam Barr, Daniel Larsen, Ya Wen Ho, Erin Gaffney, Genevieve McClean, Ronald Andreassend, Karen Chan, Anita Glucina, Sabrina Muck and myself. 

Renee:  What are your next big projects?

Christian: Looking forward to working towards developing Metonymy further for next year, we've got a great team this year and it can only get better.  I have grand plans for the next show we are doing for the Literatti, which is already brewing in the works.  All I can reveal for now is that it's exciting, and we are very excited about where poetry in Aotearoa is heading.  It seems like we nearly have a foundation, if the pillars would connect, for the voice and body of Poetry to come out and be heard in all its layers. 

Further information:

Opening : Corbans Estate Gallery Thurs 2nd Sept, 6pm – 8pm
Echoing the Ghosts by the Literatti – Sat 18th Sept in Corbans Estate Chapel, 7 – 9.30 pm
Artists and Writers Forum - Sun 26th September to 12-4 in the Opanuku Room (above Gallery)
Closing night and Performance -  Sat 16th October- in Corbans Estate Chapel, 7-9.30pm