Object Poems

Norma Cole
San Francisco, California

Collective Memory

This book came out of an installation I did in San Francisco, December 2004–April 2005. My 3-part installation, “Archives Tableau,” “Living Room circa 1950s” and “House of Hope,” was housed at the threshold of a large exhibition called Poetry and Its Arts: Bay Area Interactions 1954–2004. The exhibition was curated by Steve Dickison, Director of the Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, and shown at the California Historical Society.

Collective Memory’s preface or “Prelude” is followed by a poem, “Speech Production: Themes and Variations,” written during the 4 months that I performed as “poet” within the site-specific “Living Room circa 1950s.” This section is followed by “Collective Memory: History,” line drawings and notations providing insight into the process of developing the installation. Another section of text, “House of Hope — in Memoriam, Montien Boonma 1953–2000,” is separately bound into the covers at the bottom of the book in such a way that it runs parallel to the above noted text. “House of Hope” is composed of 416 quotes (20 years of writing in notebooks) from a wide range of artists, poets, filmmakers, philosophers, and other writers. It references my hanging sculpture of the same name. It was reproduced as a poster given away at the exhibit, and then in this book. The book is illustrated throughout with photos (like contact sheet strips) from the installation. Collective Memory was co-published by Granary Books, New York, and the Poetry Center, San Francisco State University. The book was designed by Emily McVarish.

Letterpress and offset, bound in buckram over boards. 2006. Edition of 48 copies.

Out of Print    

House of Hope — in memoriam Montien Boonma, 1953–2000

Offset poster. 2004. Unlimited edition.

$25 (signed copies)

To purchase, please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery.

About the Artist

Norma Cole’s most recent books are Natural Light (Libellum), Where Shadows Will: Selected Poems 1988–2008 (City Lights), and TO BE AT MUSIC: Essays & Talks (Omnidawn). A new book of poetry, Win These Posters and Other Unrelated Prizes Inside, will appear from Omnidawn in 2012. Current translation work includes Jean Daive’s A Woman With Several Lives, Danielle Collobert’s Journals, Fouad Gabriel Naffah’s The Spirit God and the Properties of Nitrogen, and Crosscut Universe: Writing on Writing from France. Cole teaches at the University of San Francisco.