I Am a Beam
Artist book. Paper and board and linen, 7x7", 33 pages
2021
This signed limited-edition book speaks, through poetry, drawings, and photographs, of our small but beautiful place in the enormity of existence. The poem, "I Am a Beam", prints throughout the 33 pages of the book and is accompanied by 8 drawings and 4 photographs. In the middle of the book, there is a 28-inch foldout drawing. All artwork is original. The book is printed and fabricated by hand by the artist on Hahnemuhle 188 gsm paper. Pages are bound into a cloth covered hard cover, and the finished book includes a custom made slipcase.
Click for a low-resolution PDF of the entire book.
Copies of the book are available for purchase at $800 each. If interested, contact me.
Below are several sample pages of the book.
N.B. The last word of the poem, "beam" is written in mirror writing, from right to left.
The text reads:
I am a beam of light.
I am a beam of energy,
a packet of energy,
blazing briefly then fading.
Disappearing.
like the explosion
of a distant planet
– though smaller, small small smaller
Or the burst of energy
recorded in the marks of a drawing
Boom! Whoosh! This way, that,
fast, slow,
darker, lighter,
more intense, less.
Then gone
blackness
or whiteness
blankness
A burst of energy –
moi, toi,
vous, nous
to be followed sans cesse by other bursts.
...sans cesse...
A Killifish breaks the water’s surface
lunging at an insect
we can’t even see.
Ripples spread, fade.
A Bass chases a Killifish.
Michael catches a Bass.
A star explodes – Boom!
Or maybe
“boom”
A human thinks,
A human dies.
A minnow jumps and dies.
Boom, whoosh, Whoosh, boom.
I am a beam of light.
You are a beam of light.
We are a beam of light.
Beam of light chase beam of light.
Will chase beam
Shall chase beam
Through time chase beam
Light chase beam
Eternal beam of beaming me
living beam dying beam
unknown all-being beam
beam
