Come to Pass

Gifted

Flowchart #2

There are so many instances in our lives when we are contained, held back within a period of waiting, and we have to remain inactive in the expectation of something. The kind of thinking that we bring to such a time is vital. How do we work with this waiting period, how do we use the interval, how do we receive, respond to the moment?

For me the creative process requires a parallel, counter-encounter with this, in the form of a slow, contemplative focus, a position of being open to possibility, allowing, permitting, one of sitting within the movement forward and not forcing or pushing for an outcome. But nevertheless of course, working towards that end. It's the alignment of mind and body locked in an unfolding process, the clearing of preconceptions, the readiness to tread a path unrecognized.

And part of this is an unquestioning and forward-looking basis of trust. A basis of trust out of which one functions in the making of a work, a trust, in spite of and inclusive of, doubt, stalemate, dryness. A trust in the resolution to come, bringing with it the deep-seated satisfaction of a completed work.

A work resolves as the result of the reciprocal movements of standing back and coming towards, by remaining steadfastly open, trying a move, making a change, pausing, reflecting, positioning, repositioning, positioning again, and then trying another move once more, and so on.

And at the centre of all this movement of making lies the text, the repetition of words like a mantra, their resonance, constancy, melody, rhythm, impact. How a word or phrase reverberates within the ear, where it takes you, how far it reaches. Like a heartbeat, like the flicker of a flame.

David Felix is a youthful septuagenarian English visual poet who lives in Denmark. For more than fifty years his writing has taken on a variety of forms: in collage, three dimensions, in galleries, anthologies, festival performances and video and in over forty publications worldwide, both in print and online. Born into a family of artists, magicians, and tailors, he was raised on oil paint, sleight of hand, and Singer sewing machines.

More on David Felix’s work can be found on our Links page.