Physical vs. Textual -- Nora's Question

Can you really print a poetry walk? What is being lost, regained, hidden because we can't take the physical journey with Sand (or at least walk the detailed path)?

A video recommended by Nora

Hiwot Adilow Performing at Brave New Voices

Archival Material -- Arnea's Question

In Remember to Wave, Sand's use of archive material is very dominant. Do you feel this supports her words or does the use of these materials distract the reader?

A Poem Or Not A Poem? -- Jeremy's Question

What makes "Remember To Wave" a poem? or not?

Extra-Poetic Artifacts -- Jeremy's Question

Do the artifacts and photographs add to or detract, or simply distract from the the poetry?

Multiple Histories -- Jake's Question and Sarah R.'s Question

JAKE: With the continuous reappropriation of land and space it often happens that there are multiple histories in the same area. When making art or poetry in the space, does it need to address or interact with all the histories or only the current state? // SARAH: Part of what I found most interesting in Sand's "Remember to Wave" was how she characterized place. It seems that there is an inherent history, regardless of whether one is aware of it or not. I guess what I'm trying to figure out is how the history of a place seems to pile up, so to speak, and how an interaction with said place changes based on one's prior knowledge and experiences of it.

Displacement, Social Justice and Art -- Jake's Question

How can you capture the story of displaced people and lost space and what can be done about those in the context of social justice and art?

Reshaped Stories -- Sara B.'s Question

How does Kaia Sand's walking poem actively (or not) reshape the story of the Japanese internment camps? Keeping in mind, perhaps: "I misheard much, rearranged some, but mostly tried to 'get it down.'" In other words: Where does Kaia Sand stop and Clara Yokota begin?

Real and Fictional Animals -- Anthony's Question

In the excerpt at the end of section 1, Kaia Sand compares Ichishkiin and English saying "English fails to differentiate between the animals with heartbeats and the animals in legends." What are some of the implications for the English language (and English language cultures) that it does not directly differentiate between real and fictional animals?

Lost Histories -- Jake's Question

Is it possible to recover lost histories from spaces in the same context that they existed?

Place, Politics, and Historical/Natural Phenomena in artworks -- Abel's Question

can you think of more works of art that incorporate these elements of reading the geography of a place, reading the political past and present of a place and the natural phenomena that has occurred as a point of departure for creating material? what are they?

Art, Love and Changing the World -- Abel's Question

Sand writes at the very end of the book, "through attention to the elsewhere and erstwhile it is here & in this time I am alive to love you." do you think this kind of process for making art and this message of love have the power to create a more just and compassionate world? why, or why not?

Who is "us"? -- Abel's Question

At the end of the poem "Uptick," Sand tells the reader: "count us with the former ice/ count us with the warming sea/ count us with the strident storm// still, count us in" To whom is she referring as "us"? And what does she wish to be counted into?

Situationist Dérive -- Lauren's Question

Kaia Sand's Expo Center Portland portion of the book gives the reader instructions for a journey that recall the International Situationalist's dérive, an unplanned journey through an urban landscape in which the traveler's awareness of how their surroundings shape their consciousness is heightened. This is evidenced in the following page, which asks the reader/traveler to reflect on sights, sounds, discomforts, and other environmental responses that the reader may have to the journey. How literally should the reader consider her call for travel to Portland? This instructive quality is also reflected in the workbook-like format of the page with blank lines to jot down/fill in responses to the journey. Unlike the Situationalist dérive, Sand offers a quasi-structured plan for her readers' intended journey, making it specific to Portland, Oregon and even providing a monthly events calendar. Moreover, much of the pictorial and conceptual content connects with landscape scenes. What is the meaning of Sand's appropriation of the Situationalist dérive technique, but customized to her own locale? (P.S. from Jen -- if you want to read a text describing the Situationist Dérive, this essay by Guy Debord is great.)

Construction/Design - Layla's Question and Jeremy's Question

LAYLA: I was very interested in the book's construction and how it blurred genres.  I would call it a mix of poetry, lyric essay and collage but I think part of the spirit (the idea of a walk) of the book is to resist those firm categories and to force the reader to contend with the book on its own terms, the reader must be manipulated/changed, forced to turn the book this way and that to read the different sections, the reader is moved in a literal sense. It reminded me of some paintings I have seen where the side of the canvas is very thick and you have to walk around it and physically move yourself to see the entire painting. What is the effect of the book's construction/design on its content? // JEREMY: How does having to rotate the book to read affect the meaning or feeling of the text?

Inexpertise -- Amy's Questions

Kaia Sand grants the reader permission for inexpertise: "Inexpert, I notice with the attention and drifting inattention of poetry / Inexpert, I investigate / Inexpert, I walk, and walk." How does inexpertise frame the narrative of Remember to Wave, and what kinds of knowledge does it allow? What histories or sites would you like to investigate further and how might inexpertise help you to do so? What potential problems arise from inexpertise?

Houston Poetry Walk -- Cecelia's Question

Using the framework provided by Kaia Sand for a multidisciplinary poetry walk, which Houston neighborhood would you most be inspired to lead a poetry walk through? What images and ideas would you include for those participating in your walk?

Elsewhere and Erstwhile -- Cecelia's Question

Kaia Sand talks about "being attuned to aspects of the geography more difficult to read...what I came to call the the elsewhere & erstwhile." How would you define the concept of the elsewhere & erstwhile, and why / why not is poetry the most expressive and appropriate form for documenting this concept?

Welcome to IART In the Between's Class Blog

We thought this would be a good, simple way to create more dialogue outside of class.

It won't be the prettiest site on the Internet, but hopefully there will be some thrilling discussion.