Solo durational performance art piece exploring the somatic experience of writing a poem. Installed for over three hours, the performer slowly moves through the body states of turning sensory experience and inner inspiration into poetry. An experiment in symbol, meaning and metaphor.
Lead photo by Beth Suby.
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NoVOGRAFÍAS: time it takes
excerpt from a performance installation by logan phillips
production assistance:
Melissa Holden
Ed Briggs
Noah Suby
David
central school project, bisbee, arizona
A demo laid down in a hurry with my compañeros Jason Andolino and Cayson Morrison in Arizona. It tells the (shortened) story of the Bisbee Deportation of 1917 and other early 20th-century race / labor struggles in the state. There are so many strange and sickening parallels between the xenophobia of that time and that which we experienced in 2010 & beyond. Don't ever think that history is irrelevant.
Here the mines run 24 hours
making bullets to fight foreign powers.
When the sun comes up it is made
of sangre y cobre, the two mix to make
profit in this company town,
el porfiriato que nunca se terminó,
más bien se migró al norte.
to Arizona where white men make an American wage
Mexicans make half as much,
citizens or not, their sweat mixed with rage
that summer when Mexicans went on strike,
the white men stood with them,
knowing they were unequally paid but equally exploited
No que no, sí que sí, ya volvemos a salir
No que no, sí que sí, ya volvemos a salir
One morning in July the sheriff woke up early
put badges on 2,000 white men
put rifles in their 4,000 hands
put a machine gun atop a company car
drove through the shacks of Tintown and Zacatecas Canyon,
asking Are you American or are you not?
and by American they meant white,
by American they meant docile worker,
by American they meant corporate chump
They pulled dark men from their wives and marched them
into company boxcars shoulder to shoulder
only the summer heat between them, rolled them
on company rails across the state line
and left the 1200 men in the desert
Told never to come back, not to our state
not to our Nation at War, not to our White Man’s Camp.
No que no, sí que sí, ya volvemos a salir
No que no, sí que sí, ya volvemos a salir
Puros jornaleros sus derechos robados
piel oscura sin derechos humanos
Les decían braceros, puros cuerpos baratos,
bajo el sol, esclavizados brazos
That was Bisbee 1917, this is Arizona 2010
If you think SB 1070 is anything new
if you think Joe Arpaio is anything new
you have a whole lot of reading to do
The copper star in our flag was always raised
on the back of immigrants, Slavs, Mexicans, Chinese
demonized and deported at the earliest convenience
Pero ya volvemos a salir,
and in this ciclical cynical history,
and we will not be silent
El pueblo, callado, jamás será escuchado
My state of has a long history of people
who demonize immigrants for political gain
But Arizonan politicians are also immigrants,
their legality just a twist of history.
No que no, sí que sí, ya volvemos a salir
No que no, sí que sí, ya volvemos a salir
Sudor y sangre
algodón y cobre
Vocals & mastering: Logan Phillips.
Bass & recording: Jason Andolino
Organ & percussion: Cayson Morrison.
Additional vocal: Nayla Altamirano.
Artwork: Adam Cooper-Terán.
This just in! I'll be releasing my fifth chapbook next month! ARROYO INK, poems by Logan Phillips, illustrations by Logan Phillips & Adam Cooper-Terán. Two years have passed since my last book was released, it's time for fresh! I'm excited for ARROYO INK to meet the world.
ARROYO INK will be on sale online June 6th, 2009. Get your PayPal ready!
Central School Project
presents
LOGAN PHILLIPS
releasing his new book ARROYO INK
with a spoken word performance & video art showcase.
Bilingual poems from Mexico City, Cochise County, Central America and points beyond. One night only.
FRIDAY 05 JUNE 2009
Central School Project
43 Howell Ave. Bisbee, Arizona
7:30pm • all ages • uncensored
donations requested • que vengan
Book signing and reception to follow performance.
¡LIMITED EDITION BOOKS ON SALE FOR FIRST TIME!
Arroyo Ink available for purchase online June 6th
On the last night of 2006 I recorded an interview with Noah Suby for his show on Bisbee, AZ's low power radio station, 96.1 KBRP. It's a unique project, one I support any way that I can, it's one-of-a-kind in its area (south of Tucson). Noah and his family are great people, and Bisbee is almost an adopted home town for me at this point. It was a good time to say the least. We talked a bit about the area, about immigration and other things. I also read some poems, one of which, "Taxco, Something in the Sky" is very new.
Noah wrote to say that the interview is going to be aired again this Saturday, January 20th at 3pm Arizona time (MST). You can listen in, thanks to KBRP's live streaming, which is a very cool thing for an LP station to have. Sooner or later a CD-R of the interview will make it to Mexico, and when it does, I'll post the audio here as well. Hasta entonces. Happy Wednesday.
