#SpinePoetry for National Poetry Month: Part II

In celebration of National Poetry Month, we asked Phillips staff to venture to The Phillips Collection Library and compile books into stacks—turning the titles into cohesive poems. See Part I here.

#SpinePoetry by Amy Wike, Marketing Manager.

#SpinePoetry by Amy Wike, Marketing Manager.

#SpinePoetry by Sarah Osborne Bender, Technical Services Librarian and Collections Metadata Specialist

#SpinePoetry by Sarah Osborne Bender, Technical Services Librarian and Collections Metadata Specialist

#SpinePoetry from the office of Cherie Nichols, Director of Budgeting and Reporting

#SpinePoetry from the office of Cherie Nichols, Director of Budgeting and Reporting

Brooke Rosenblatt, Head of Public Engagement

#SpinePoetry from the office of Brooke Rosenblatt, Head of Public Engagement

For National Poetry Month, Poesia e Fotografia Part I

As part of the 2013 Year of Italian Culture in the United States, the Phillips has partnered with the Embassy of Italy to present an exhibition that pairs contemporary Italian photographs with verses by celebrated Italian poets. On view at the Phillips through April 28, the show is complemented by posters featuring its photography/poem pairings on city buses. In honor of National Poetry Month, we bring you a selection from this series.

Gianni Berengo Gardin, Toscana, 1965.

Gianni Berengo Gardin, Toscana, 1965.

“L’Infinito” (1819)
Sempre caro mi fu quest’ermo colle,
e questa siepe, che da tanta parte
dell’ultimo orizzonte il guardo esclude.

“The Infinite” (1819)
Always to me beloved was this lonely hillside
And the hedgerow creeping over and always hiding
The distances, the horizon’s furthest reaches.

Giacomo Leopardi (translation by Henry Reed)

Found Poetry: Lunar Installation

Britton Minor found inspiration in cosmic and “giant, seemingly weightless” installations at the Phillips and responded to our call for found poems, working with words from the Intersections contemporary art series page on our website:

Lunar Installation

Silhouetted planets riff
on the moonlit mood

The perpetual rotation forces spatial
perception above sunrise,
nightfall paying homage to
a weightless architecture

Maintaining balance activates fragmented
organic objects and extends ecliptic practices

The ethereal glow of three-dimensional
spaces filters the monumental skies,
evoking the first outdoor sculpture
inspired by science

~ Britton Minor

National Poetry Month continues through Monday, and we’re still looking to post your found poetry creations. Read more about found poetry, and how to contribute your own, here.