ÉPÏKÂNÕVÀ

Cantos and fragments — cantos in fragments — constitute the on-going multilingual scriptural epic that intertwines contemporary life, the American cultural landscape, and the writing of one year (1978-1979) of the Iranian Revolution.Open Epic, as rendered by the Elastic Circus of the Revolution unfolds over time on multiple platforms, in multiple arenas and spaces (private and public), and through various scriptural strategies – from the traditional (handwritten sheets and books) to the new (electronic, web). Narrative conventions are challenged, and poetic, stylistic and performative operations exploit possibilities unique to different languages, mediums and sites. The overall experience is orchestrated through the creation of lasting artifacts as well as ephemeral events and monumental constructs.

A theoretical apparatus and a critical enterprise engaged with the history and forms of literature and the reading phenomenon, the work also challenges traditional modalities of publication, exhibition, commodification, dissemination and interaction. Ultimately, Open Epic functions as a collection of stories and chronicles, an almanac of poetic prose fragments, a treatise on writing and a theory of literature in motion, and a universe of ruptures and metamorphoses that intertwines various forms, objects and materials in order to usher in a new species of literary creation (an open epic).

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[accordion-item title=”On the Open Epic in general”]

Cantos and fragments – cantos in fragments – constitute the on-going multilingual scriptural epic that intertwines contemporary life with the writing of the Iranian Revolution and the seekings of a nomadic poet. These poetic fragments unfold over time on multiple platforms, in multiple arenas and spaces (private and public), and through various scriptural strategies – from the traditional (handwritten sheets and books) to the new (electronic, web). Narrative conventions are challenged, and poetic, stylistic and performative operations exploit possibilities unique to different languages and mediums. The overall experience is orchestrated through the creation of lasting artifacts as well as ephemeral events and monumental constructs. A theoretical apparatus and a critical enterprise engaged with the history and forms of literature and the reading phenomenon, the work also challenges traditional modalities of publication, exhibition, commodification, dissemination and interaction.

In the past couple of years, various kantos of ÉPÏKÂNÕVÀ, The Portable Open Epic as rendered by the Elastic Circus of the Revolution Unfolding have been published (Fiction International, Textpiece, Madbunkers, Editions Caractères) and performed, commissioned and enlivened in various galleries and public spaces including in our own backyard (Bowery Poetry Club, Queens Museum of Art, Uncomun 08 in Brooklyn, Janos Gat Gallery, Rio Gallery) and in several festivals around the world—Engendered Festival NY2009, Baroquissimo in Puebla Mexico 2010, Paris en toutes lettres in Paris in June 2010.

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