Featured authors Anya Ulinich and Boris Fishman address the cultural and literal translation of Eastern European immigrants to America with excerpts from their forthcoming works, while Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys transform the traditional sounds of Klezmer music into foot-stomping bluegrass tunes in a real-time transformation of the old world to the new. Light refreshments provided by DaMikelle Restaurant and Lagunitas Brewing Co..

Admission is $10 and seating is limited so be sure to REGISTER in advance!

This program is presented in partnership with the Hevesi Jewish Library at the Central Queens Y. QUILL is funded by the New York State Council on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Elizabeth Torres, Guillermo Filice Castro, Urayoan Noel and Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer. Photo by Corey Melton

Presenting at the Queens Museum of Art, three contemporary poets of Latin decent did more than read aloud their poetry. They combined visuals, technology, and music to illustrate their work to its fullest potential while mixing both the Spanish and English language. Elizabeth Torres, Urayoan Noel, and Guillermo Filice Castro turned a dreary, grey afternoon into a world of colorful imagery through words and through art.

The audience sat in front of a white projector screen that would soon come alive. First up was Columbian poet Elizabeth Torres, much accomplished at such a young age. Her first poem was a long narrative that is the intro to her book “Edad de Sol.” The lights dimmed in the room and she performed her piece as the screen lit up with a video of her own distorted paintings, the poem’s words (in Spanish) hovering hauntingly over them. Mysterious music accompanied the desperation in her voice, which rose up and down. One line that that stuck with me was actually part of the title of the poem, “Escaper hasta perder el pulso,” which would translate into “escape until losing pulse.” The last poem she read did not need any visuals, for her words painted the pain felt in a troubled relationship. A piece from her other book, “Streetlight Vision,” the poet would ask herself questions and answer them back. After every stanza she would monotonously repeat “heartbeat” four times, emphasizing the gravity of her emotions. My favorite line from this poem was “I wear black dresses just in case I’m the fool in the waiting room.”

The next poet, Urayoan Noel from Puerto Rico, brought our spirits up with humor. Noel does not simply read poems, he animates them in front of his audiences. Every word comes out with a personality of its own as he makes them sing-songy and satirical at times. A lot of Noel’s poetry reflects Queens and his observations of everyday life. He translates sonnets into Spanish and he has a collection of work resulting from his collaboration with musician Monxo Lopez, called “text-sound” poems. These are poems put to music and he performs one of them, a funny poem called “Costco”: “Con el Costco no se puede,” (“With Costco, you cannot”) he would repeat as a chorus. Not able to have Mr. Lopez in person, he used his iPhone to provide the music. He also used a voice-to-text app to translate an American woman’s Spanish. When the American read his Spanish poetry into the phone, it would translate “Era era era” to “En data en data no data.” “Mañana mañana mañana” translated to “Montana Montana Montana.” The audience giggled profusely through this. Noel also showed a series of videos of him reading poetry about Far Rockaway’s building construction, passing out poignant photographs to the audience of certain objects or images in the videos. This was a sober ending to his reading, where the theme of gentrification was strong. He asserted, “We were renters, we were here when MCs represented.”

The last poet to read was Guillermo Filice Castro, who hails from Argentina. He started on a light note where he presented his first “poem” called “The Silent Treatment,” turning his back to the audience for a few moments, turning back around to a chuckling audience. He first translated an Italian poem and then a poem comparing American and Argentinean kisses, but more generally, how different they are as people. He claimed that, “Americans are cold.” Castro explained that he used brackets at the end of stanzas to represent kisses. He then read an ode to Lindsay Wagner, the actress who played the Bionic Woman in the 70′s. Another humorous poem was “For the Record,” which was about about a photograph he took of a woman struggling with her umbrella in a park. This very photograph was projected on the the screen, and he comically described the scene, as he encountered her boyfriend who did not appreciate him taking a picture of his girlfriend. He described it from the third person point of view, simply stating, “He was not trying to take a picture of her ass or something.” He also read a couple of poems set to paintings of some the artists featured in the museum. The last set of poems ended on a mournful note, as he read a series of elegies for his late mother: “She introduced me to water, I to swimming.”

Before this event I was not familiar at all with any of the poets whose works I reviewed, but I am now well acquainted. It shows how much our art can reflect who we are as people and how it makes it easier for us to share ourselves to others whenever simple conversation fails to have the same grace.

Katherine Florencio is a Queens College undergraduate English Major, and current student of Susan Bernofsky, author/translator and former QUILL advisor.

Featured author/translators Guillermo Filice Castro, Urayoan Noel and Elizabeth Torres will present works and images in a multidisciplinary reading focusing on the translation of the visual world to the written word at the Queens Museum of Art.  A suggested donation of $5 includes light refreshments provided in part by Lagunitas Brewing Co.. Join us for the performance and stay for the beer, plus an informal tour of the Queens International Exhibit!

Click here to Register

Or visit www.queenscouncilarts.org for more information

“The painful contrasts of lights and darks in every instant of our daily life leaves a footprint in our voices and spirit… and that’s exactly what I want to capture in my work” – Elizabeth Torres (artwork, above)

Queens in Love with Literature (QUILL) is a forum for Queens writers who are committed to developing and defining the creative field of translation, and offers audiences in Queens the opportunity not only to hear from authors working in their own neighborhood, but also perhaps in their own language. This year QUILL seeks to expand the concept of translation through a series of creative translation events, featuring artists from other disciplines in collaborative interpretations of literary works.

QUILL is funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts.

Alexander McQueen – 10 inch heels “Armadillo shoes” from the Spring 2010 collection

Aesthetic work could be anything, from a painting to sculpture to performance or even FASHION!!!

When it comes to fashion, specifically the crafted work we see during Haute Couture (high fashion) week, should we consider it art or just clothes? Haute Couture combines artistic quality with fashion garments. We all heard the saying “Fashion is a form of art!”, although some people don’t agree with this, I actually do.

Fashion to me is a way of thinking & creativity. Viewing the latest trends from top designers, such as Alexander McQueen, John Galliano & Chanel it seems that today designers may be drawing their inspiration from art! I call it “Art on the Runway”, just like any painting/drawing or installation you see in a gallery. And like any work of art, you start with research, inspiration, a sketch, and a creation process that requires a great deal of skills and talent. The designer cuts their fabrics with the skills of a sculptor and adds color and texture with the skills of a painter. Although garments like this (more specifically Couture) will never be worn in the “real world” some people are willing to pay a lot of money to buy it for their own collection, just like they would of a painting/drawing.

There have been a few fashion exhibitions, such in The Museum of the City of New York, Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and the Brooklyn Museum. Fashion has the power to change an image and make a social statement like any other art can. There will always be a debate on whether fashion is art but we are still left with the question, is fashion a form of art?

What do you think? Do you consider Fashion a form of Art or does it depend?

Haute Couture Atelier Versace Dress including the sketch

Steven Colucci had an exhibition of paintings and Haute Couture at the National Arts Club. The exhibition featured 12 new paintings and 6 gowns bearing his original artwork and debuting as a designer. (Image: Miss USA Crystle Stewart in one of his creations)

Links:
http://www.mcny.org/exhibitions/past/paris-new-york-design-fashion-culture-1925-1940.html
http://fitnyc.edu/3662.asp
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/american_high_style/
http://www.artofcolucci.com/
http://www.nationalartsclub.org/index.htm

-Daliana Rosa