Love Songs

Based on the poem "Songs to Joannes" by Mina Loy

with special thanks to Roger Conover, Mina Loy's editor and literary executor.

A Note from the Curators:

This is something shiny something only for you

Welcome to the Love Songs project! Below, you will find a series of digital artworks in a variety of formats. We encourage you to explore these works in your own way and at your own pace as you might an art gallery. The pieces appear here in the order of the poem sections to which they respond, and some are accompanied by instructions from the artist(s) for how they imagine their work will be experienced best. In general, we recommend wearing headphones for all pieces with audio. We hope that in this digital space, you will feel empowered to be your own curator, to play around, and to join us in crafting moments of synchronicity.

For more information about the project, see the tabs labelled "The Poem" and "The People" in the top right-hand corner of this page. “The Poem” includes the full text of Loy’s poem if you’d like to reference the source material as you encounter the responses, and “The People” offers information on the many, many collaborators who created these pieces and without whom this project wouldn’t exist.

On June 4, 2021 at 4pm ET we will be hosting a Zoom reception to celebrate the artists of Love Songs and the culmination of this year-long project. We hope to see you there!

(Accessibility: Still images are accompanied by alt text for those who use screen readers. A downloadable document with text descriptions of other pieces, including video and sound art, can be found here or in the tab labelled "The People" in the top right-hand corner of the screen.)

How to Experience this Section:

We recommend wearing headphones if you are able.

There are three components to this piece: a video and two audio tracks.

Start the video and choose an audio track. At any time, you can switch back and forth between the two audio files, which will play on a loop until you select the other file or press pause. Maybe you pause the video for a while, or you watch it in silence.

Play around with it. Curate your own experience.

II.

III.

This section was originally performed via livestream October 22-24, 2020

IV.

Composite image of three photographs of small pink sculptures tied loosely together with red string on a dark background.

VI.

VII.

This section was originally performed via livestream October 22-24, 2020

VIII.

This is a 360° video.

Here is how to watch:

Mobile: Turn your mobile device in any direction or use your finger to move around.

Desktop: Use the on-screen arrow keys or “click and drag” inside the frame or use your WASD keys to move around.

If you have a VR headset, use it now.

Or you can make one following the instructions HERE

IX.

Welcome to Love Songs IX.

There are many bodies here, some nude.

There are also dogs, baths, Valkyries, and sperm ghosts.

[You might want to have some water nearby,

[and something delightful to taste or smell,

but only if you want to.]

Thank you for spending your precious time with us.

Watch this alone.

Text in a red dripping font with bubbles around it, against a pink pulsing background. On either side are vertical panels with cherubs, coral, and women with crescent moons, in shades of pink and red against cloudy green

XI.

XII.

How to Experience this Section:

This section is a short meditative game. It takes most people around 15 minutes to play.

You can access the document here, or open it in a new tab with the button at the top right; my suggestion is that you download it from the new tab and open it in a PDF viewer, as you’ll be able to zoom in if you need to more easily.

The game is best experienced by gathering the Tools and then immediately proceeding, step-by-step, rather than reading through the entire document first.

An Ego's Nec Layouted FINAL.pdf

XIII.

A lone Black man in a damaged sailboat, drifting in a turbulent sea. Sharks circle the boat.

Winslow Homer, "The Gulf Stream" (1899)

XIV.

How to Experience This Section:

We recommend wearing headphones if you are able.

There are three audio tracks that make up the piece, reflecting 3 separate impressions given by the text of the poem.

Start any of the audio tracks at any time you want. At any time, you can pause a track, play a track, or skip forward or backward in time of a track. The three tracks were written to complement each other, but they can also stand alone. Please feel free to play around with it and mix the tracks to your liking.

If you have trouble playing the audio files simultaneously, please try another browser/device.

XV.

Ashley M. Thomas' poem "Prophet of the Nile" in black text against a background of a cloudy blue sky. Around the poem are icons (counter-clockwise): flames, a crown, a purple leafy plant, the outline of a heart, the outline of three hearts, a black moon and yellow stars, a red gem, ocean waves

XVI.

XVII.

some things grow apart

XVIII.

Welcome to 18.! When you enter, you’ll be given a first-person view through a virtual gallery. We recommend exploring it in fullscreen, for which there is a button in the top left. Above that there is an “i” that will give you a little tutorial for how to move and look around. Turn on your sound. Maybe with headphones. If you click on the speech bubbles in the bottom right you’ll have access to some settings (make sure “hide visitor avatars” is unselected if you want to encounter any other simultaneous visitors in the space). If you see >> arrows <<, try clicking.

Take your time and enjoy yourself. There are roughly 4.5 little rooms we’ve made for you.

We recommend visiting the gallery sometime between 11pm and midnight, as this is the relative hour through which we sent the objects that make up 18., though this is by no means a requirement.

Below are some snapshots of the space, in case you find the gallery difficult to navigate.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER SECTION 18.

XIX.

XX.

How to Experience This Section:

This is noise. There is no beginning or end, no climax, no narrative.

Listen from wherever you please. Listen for five minutes, listen for an hour, put it in a loop and listen for the entire day.

Use headphones, or do not. Close your eyes, or keep them open.

At times there is harsh-ish noise, so listen as loud as you want.

Really there are no rules to it. Joy might find you, it might not.

XXI.

How to Experience This Section:

If you are able, headphones are recommended for experiencing this piece.

Music: Unexpected Visitors by Scott Buckley

XXII.

XXIII.

XXIV.

XXV.

In the window below, use the plus and minus buttons in the upper left corner to zoom in and out on the image and your mouse (on a computer) or finger (phone or tablet) to move around and explore.