Physical by Samuel Brzeski & Andrew McMillan

Part performance transcript, part conceptual writing exercise, this project works from an extract from Andrew McMillan’s poem Protest of the physical. The original text was rewritten and recombined into multiple possibilities of form and content. The variations of this text were then recited – from memory – in a semi-improvisational way over a four hour performance that took place at Galleri SLAKT in Bergen. Focusing on the meditative pace and rhythmic intonation of the original poem, various alternative possibilities for the poetic narrative were imagined and explored, creating a generative palimpsest of poetic experience that was shared with the audience. Here, the text from the performance is transcribed, allowing the poem to further mutate and shift from the realm of the voice back onto the space of the page.

With an introduction by the original poet Andrew McMillan.

TEXST was an art collective and publishing press based between Bergen, Norway and Helsinki, Finland, running from 2016-2025. TEXST explored the presence of text in visual art in all of its manifestations. Our title, TEXST, embodied our approach – testing text-based work in any and all forms. This consisted of workshops, residencies, and a series of collective and individual publications.

published by TEXST
2021, 500 pages, 13 x 19 cm