The Poetry Installations 2000

A series of installations at the Poetry Café, London, reflecting on the work of some of the hundreds of poets in residence over the UK during the Poetry Places scheme.

The exhibition used a range of materials to work in conjunction with the delivery of recorded poetry.

Selected Individual Works

Red Cross: (Kate Clanchy residency with the Red Cross) incorporating an intravenous drip, each falling drop of water triggering a successive word from her poem.

Two Poems: Two identical books, one displaying a hand-written poem by Roger McGough, the other presenting a set of blank pages. The sounds of the pen, recorded when the first was written, played back over a concealed speaker in the second book.

Exchange, a large telephone exchange of 200 sockets and 2km of electrical wire. Viewers were each given a telephone handset to plug into one of the poems recorded over the phone from the many residencies across the UK.

Credits

Installation artist: Nic Sandiland

The poets currently documented in the installations:

David Hart at Worcester Cathedral

Eleanor Cooke at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Kevin McCann at Wymott Prison

Eva Salzman at Bromley by Bow Healthy Living Centre

Tobias Hill at London Zoo

Peter Sansom at Marks and Spencer

Patience Agbabi at a Tattoo Studio in Holloway

Jane Duran at various London based Schools

Kate Clanchy with the Red Cross

Roger McGough, B.T. Poet in Residence

Steve Popple, Arco gas platform worker

Don Paterson from Edinburgh

Presentations

The Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, London.