Alex Max – The Visible Poetry Project

Film Producer /电影制片人

Interview at Voyage Coffee, Beiluoguxiang, Dongcheng于东城区北锣鼓巷Voyage Coffee采访

KL: The first thing I need to ask is for you to clarify exactly what this Hybrid project entails.

AM: Absolutely. Hybrid is an evening of different artist collectives from around Beijing collaborating with each other. and then within each of those collectives, we have some kind of internal collaboration across different media. The folks over at Spit-Tunes are bringing together some local bands, some local DJs and then pairing them with poets from the Spittoon organisation to create these performances that are somewhere in between a concert and a poetry recitation. Then we have the Visible Poetry Project, which has brought together thirty poets and filmmakers from around the world and paired them up to make thirty short videos that present poems as short films. We did that as part of an initiative with National Poetry Month back in the US and released one of these videos each day throughout April.

KL: Is the impetus for doing this actually coming from the US or is this a China-driven project?

KL：首先我要明确，Hybrid 到底是什么？

AM：当然，Hybrid是一个由北京的不同艺术家们相聚一起的夜晚，在这些艺术家里，我们会通过不同的形式进行内部合作，Spit-Tunes里的一些人会引入当地乐队，DJ，然后整合Spittoon里的诗歌去创造一些介于音乐会和诗歌朗诵之间的表演。然后还有Visible Poetry Project，这个项目汇集了来自世界各地的三十位诗人和电影制片人，并且分配他们去把三十个诗歌以短片的形式展出，我们做这个一部分原因是参与美国全国诗歌月，并且整个四月，我们每天都发布一个视频。

KL: Is the impetus for doing this actually coming from the US or is this a China-driven project?

AM: Hybrid started off as something much smaller than it currently is now. It started as myself and a friend of mine, Kassy Lee, just looking to do a screening for the Visible Poetry Project. Kassy was one of the poets involved and I was one of the co-creators and executive producers on that project. We started looking around Beijing and we spoke with some venue owners such as Penghao Theatre and a few other places and it was difficult to find a screening venue that fit our needs – the right number of people, the right location, the right vibe, everything like that. Then one day Kassy suggested I go and check out Yue Space and it was one of those things where I walked and I was immediately, “we’ve gotta do it here.” SO then we were confronted with the problem that it’s a big venue, the capacity is up to five hundred people and we just felt like we needed to put on an event that really maximised the potential of what the space can be. Thankfully, Kassy is part of a collective of artists here in Beijing called Transmigrant Flow and they were able to put me in touch with these other organisations here in Beijing, Spittoon, BLK GEN and this idea of having a whole night of poetry performances, video screenings, music and poetry just grew organically until suddenly we were like, “Wow! We have an incredibly awesome event here.”

KL：这个项目的动力来自美国还是中国呢？

AM：Hybrid启动时的规模比现在小很多，我和我的朋友Kassy Lee创办的，一开始我俩在为Visible Poetry Project做短片放映，Kassy是其中一位诗人，我是这个项目的共同创办人和执行制片人。我们开始在北京寻找场地，我和一些场地的业主谈判过，例如蓬蒿剧场，但是很难找到满足我们需求的场地——合适的人群，正确的地点，满意的氛围，等等。然后有一天Kassy叫我去看看乐空间的场地，于是我立马跑到乐空间，发现这就是我要的地方！但接踵而来的问题是这是一个容量能达500人的庞大场地，我想我们如何把演出的容量尽可能做到最大，谢天谢地的是，Kassy是Transmigrant Flow的其中一位艺术家，并且这个协会能帮我接触到一些北京的组织，比如Spittoon, BLK GEN等。我们就很顺其自然地想到花一整晚举办诗歌表演，音乐短片观看，知道突然我们发现：诶，我们能在这儿做一个很牛的项目！

KL: So, at this point Spittoon are organising the Spit Tunes part of it, you’re organising the Visible Poetry Project video part of it and…

AM: Yes and then BLK GEN is going to open with some slam poetry potentially with some live music backing..

KL：所以，Spittoon 负责组织 Spit Tunes的部分，你组织这个Visible Poetry Project的视频部分？

AM：是的，BLK GEN正在筹办诗歌会，很可能还有现场音乐。

KL: I’m not familiar with BLK GEN, which is surprising. Tell me what they do.

AM: BLK Gen have put on a series of events in Beijing, most recently their event Sankofa was affiliated with Black History Month. The folks over at BLK GEN would be able to give you a better description [stay tuned for a loreli interview with BLK GEN in the coming weeks] but I think they see themselves as promoting events among the African diaspora and the African American community here in Beijing. Their events incorporate some live music, some poetry, so they are showcasing the depth of the diversity that you have here in Beijing when it comes to people doing and creating art from all over the world.

KL：我对BLK GEN不太熟悉，告诉我他们做什么的。

[G4]  AM：BLK Gen 在北京举办了很多活动，最近的活动是在黑人历史月举办的Sankofa，BLK Gen里的人能跟确切的告诉你 {敬请期待Loreli几周后对BLK Gen 的采访}，在我看来，他们把自己看成是在非洲侨民和美国黑人这个社区里宣传活动的人，他们的活动结合了现场音乐、诗歌以及对文化多样性的展示，北京的这种文化多样性体现在来自世界各地的艺术家身上。

KL: How long have you actually been here in Beijing? Have you been living here for awhile?

AM: I’ve been here in Beijing on and off since 2012. This current stint, I’ve been here for just a few months. It’s that ever-constant battle to keep the Chinese level up. I’m currently based mostly out of New York where I work in film production.. Eventually I’d like to break into Chinese production but my love affair with Beijing goes back to 2012 when I first came out here. It never ceases to amaze me how this city continues to grow and swell and flourish.

KL：你在北京待多久了？有好长一段时间了吧？

AM：从2012年起，我断断续续在北京待着。目前我只停留几个月。把我自己的中文水平提高真的是一个困难的挑战。目前我主要居住在纽约，在那进行电影制作，之后想打入中国电影市场。我的北京爱情故事可以追溯到2012年，那是我第一次拜访北京，我一直惊讶于这座城市的繁荣与发展。

KL: Were you surprised in any way at how easily you could put together a creative event like this and the level of not just artists and poets working but how well organised they are into collectives?

AM: I would say that, first off, this would not have been possible without Kassy Lee and the folks at Transmigrant Flow, they were incredibly helpful and kept saying, “Oh, you’ve gotta talk to this person and you’ve gotta get in touch with this organisation!” I would say that it definitely seems surprising at first when it all seems to coalesce and come together very naturally and quite easily but I think one of the defining aspects of the artist community here in Beijing is the openness and willingness and just genuine friendliness that seems to pervade the whole scene. Especially coming from New York, a town that is obsessed with, “who are you and what have you done? Where has your work been shown and what can you do for me?” I think that Beijing has this element of “let’s collaborate, let’s create, let’s do something worthwhile…”

KL：你轻而易举的就将活动举办得那么好，并且组织水平相当，你为此感到惊奇吗？这些诗人和艺术家不止水平很高，而且很容易就能聚在一起组成不同的组织，并且很高效。

AM：首先，我想说，如果没有Kassy和Transmigrant Flow里的人的帮忙，就不可能完成这些活动，他们很乐于助人并且坚持跟我说：你要去和这个人谈，你要去找这个活动方。这一开始让我很惊讶，但后来这些事情就自然而然的凝结到了一块儿。其次很重要的一点是，北京的艺术圈子很开放很有毅力，整个圈子弥漫着真诚的友谊。比如在纽约，整个城市关心的之是“你是谁？你做过什么？你的作品在哪里展览过？你能为我做什么？”，而北京的艺术氛围是“让我们一起合作，一起创新，做点有意义的...”

KL: It’s surprisingly democratic.

AM: Yeah. I could not have put it better. Anyone who has ever lived in Beijing knows that on any given night out you meet someone who works in film production or is a cinematographer over at CCTV and two months later you're hitting up that person on wechat saying, "Hey I have this idea for a video, " and they'll say, "I'd love to do that. Let's grab a coffee and figure it out." I really think the collaborative spirit of the artist community in Beijing is really a defining aspect of it. 

KL：挺民主的感觉。

AM：对啊，你说的太好了 。在北京住过的人都知道你若在某个夜晚偶遇电影制作人或者央视摄影师，两个月后，你说：hey，我想做个片子。他们会说：好啊，我们找个地方坐坐聊聊。我真心认为北京艺术家的合作精神确实是这里一个很特别的地方。

KL: The show is coming up next month?

AM: The show is on June 8th, 8 pm at Yue Space. Like I said it's going to be this mixture of live performance and video screenings and music and we're planning on some of the Spit Tunes artists keeping the groove going pretty late. We really want to turn it into a whole night and create this narrative of how we can smash these boundaries of how we define artistic genres. When is a poetry reading a musical performance? Why do we need to put things into little boxes that say what this is and what it isn't? And so, in some sense, I think it is emblematic of that collaborative spirit of the Beijing art scene. We're distilling it into one night.

KL：你的表演在下个月吗？

AM：演出在6月8号，乐空间，晚上8点。就像我说的，这次现场表演会是短片放映，现场演出和音乐的结合，我们还想让Spit Tunes的艺术家们把活动带到深夜，我们真的很想呈现一个完整的夜晚，告诉大家我们是如何打破这些界限和定义艺术流派的局限。诗歌朗诵怎样也能是一种音乐表演？为什么我们要限定一个东西是什么，不是什么？所以某种意义上，它象征着北京艺术圈的协作精神，我们将它们浓缩到这个夜晚里。

KL: Trying to answer the age-old question, is Bob Dylan a poet?

AM: I think the Nobel institute settled that for us this past year?

KL：是要试着解答“Bob Dylan算是诗人吗？”这个问题嘛？

AM：我觉得去年的诺贝尔文学院已帮我们解决这个问题了吧？

KL: I think the arguments continue. As a film producer, will any of your work be featured on the night?

AM: My work with the Visible Poetry Project was as an executive producer on numerous videos on the project as well as one of the chief architects of the whole thing. We haven't settled on a final line-up. Definitely, some videos that I produced will be screened.[G6] 

KL：但是仍有很多争议。作为制片人，你有自己的作品会在这个晚上展出吗？

AM：在Visual Poetry Project作品里，我是大部分短片的监制和整个策划的总设计师，我们还没决定好最终的阵容，但我的一些视频肯定会展出的 。

KL: Not all thirty?

AM: No. We’re doing a select few. Among which, our video that I think we’re most excited about, is an original Neil Gaiman poem written for the series, which was subsequently animated by this fabulously creative animator Anna Eijsbouts, a professor at the Utrecht School of Arts, . It is a three-minute animation sequence entirely animated by hand and it's been featured on more than a few blogs and websites across the internet. 

KL：不会三十个视频都放？

AM：不是。会选几个放。其中有一个我们特别期待的视频， 是一个尼尔盖曼为此次活动原创的一首诗，并且之后由一个非常有创意的动漫家Anna Eijsbouts制作成动画短片。Anna是乌得勒支艺术学院的教授。这是一个三分钟长的完全用手画的动漫系列，它现在已传遍整个互联网网站和博客了。

KL: To get such high profile people involved in the project does this mean that you’re condemned to this being an annual event? Is that something you’re looking forward to?

AM: Yeah. Well, I think we are certainly hoping to turn it into a long-term annual project. One of the great things about the buzz we’ve had since debuting this year’s videos is we’ve already had our inboxes flooded with people being like, “Hey, I saw one of your videos. I’d love to be poet next year. I’d love to be a filmmaker next year. Put me on your mailing list. Keep in touch.” So, we’re in the process of applying for grants as well as trying to organise some of our videos as showcases for festivals during the fall festival season.

KL：让如此高调的人员参与到这个项目是否意味着这个会演变成年度的活动吗？这是你期待的事吗？

AM：是的，其实，我们当然希望把它做成一个长期的年度项目，有一件很令人自豪的事情是，自从今年的视频发布以来，我们的邮箱便堆满着这样的留言：“hey，我看了你的视频，我明年想做诗人，明年想做电影导演，把我列入你的计划名单里，保持联系吧。”所以我们还在申请资金的过程中，并且尝试把我们的一些视频展示在秋季的一些电影节上。

KL: Obviously you have some high profile contributors but is there a focus on involving emerging writers and filmmakers as well?

AM: Yes. Our poets included people who immigrated to the US from Sierra Leone twenty years ago as well as unpublished poets from the Bronx in New York. We were operating from the very beginning with the thesis: If you are doing great work then we would love to have you. If we can tell that you put a lot of work in your craft and you are reallyputtingheart and soul into your product then we want to feature you. Some of my favourite poems and videos in the series were created by a filmmaker who's fresh out of film school or poems by some middle-aged woman in Philadelphia who found our call for submissions and thought, "I like to write poetry in my free time." And we thought this is fantastic, we'd love to use this. One of my favourite stories was a poet who was from Mexico City, moved to the states maybe twenty-five years ago and collaborated with a filmmaker out of Seattle who has primarily done nature videos and documentaries in the past. He saw her poem and felt inspired and they collaborated on creating a project that gives me chills every time I watch it. So, to take these people from disparate backgrounds and put them together has been one of the most rewarding things about the project.

KL：显然你召集了多很高调的艺术家 。你们有没有同时专注于新兴作家和电影制片人的挖掘呢？

AM：有的。我们的诗人，包括20年前从塞拉利昂移民到美国的，和来自纽约布朗克斯区的未发表作品的诗人。我们从一开始运作的核心思想就是：如果你有好的作品，我们会非常欢迎你的加入。如果我们能从你的作品里看出你和你的心血，你的灵魂，我们就会展示你的作品。这个系列里，一些我很喜欢的视频就是由一个刚从电影学院毕业的电影人创作的，还有一些诗歌是由一个费城的中年妇女创作的。这些人发现我们的提交通道，并且说：我喜欢业余创作诗歌。我们想这个人太赞了，我们很乐意合作。我最喜欢的一个故事是一个来自墨西哥城的诗人，她在二十五年前搬到了美国，然后与一位西雅图的电影制作人合作，他曾在过去的一段时间里做过自然录像和纪录片，他看到她的诗后，深感鼓舞，然后他们开始合作了一个项目，每当我看见这个项目，我都会很激动。所以，项目最有意义的地方是你将不同背景的人融到了一起。

KL: As far as it being an international project, trying to get into some of the less represented areas of the world, do you find there is a different amount of energy you need to devote to making sure they are covered? Do you have to go and chase in some places?

AM: Absolutely. This was the first year of the project but going forward it is fully our intention to genuinely push the global scale of this project. That’s a huge part of our current grant application process, creating the financial wherewithal next year to seek out poets and filmmakers and give them a platform, people from places where they might not otherwise have that platform.

KL：作为一个国际项目，你们试图融入到一些欠典型的地区，你觉得确保你的项目覆盖到这些地区所用的精力和现在的又缺别骂？你会需要花更多的精神在这些其他地方吗？

AM：当然有啊。这是该项目的第一年，未来我们将会全面推动这个项目到全球规模。我们资金申请过程的一部分原因就是这个，我们明年的财政支出计划是寻找诗人和电影制片人，给那些来自不同地区，缺乏资源的艺术家一个平台。

KL: How will you go about that?

AM: That’s the task that we are figuring out right now. I think that one of the great things about the democratization of the Internet is that it never fails to surprise me how international and wide our networks are, particularly in the international creative community. I might talk to a friend of mine and say, “Hey, I’m heading to Seoul for the weekend,” and he’ll be like, “Oh, I have a friend who was a dance major when I was getting my MFA. You should hit her up.” You meet up with that person and you go out with someone who’s clued into this whole new community. I think that our plan going forward is to leverage this burgeoning global arts community. It’s out there and you’re only ever a few degrees of separation from being able to access arts communities in every corner of the world.

KL：你要如何实行这个计划呢？

AM：这是我们目前正在讨论的任务。我认为互联网民主化的伟大之处在于它从来不会让我对社交人脉的国际化和广泛度感到失望，特别是在这个国际创作人圈里。譬如我会对朋友说：“我这个周末要去首尔。”然后我朋友会说：“我在首尔有一个舞蹈专业的朋友，我当时读美术硕士时认识她的，你可以和她碰碰面。”你和她见面然后你和这个熟悉当下新环境的人一起玩儿。我们的计划是利用这个新兴的全球艺术界，它就在那儿，你离它只有一步之遥，便能接触到散落世界各个角落的艺术人士。

KL: Regarding the Hybrid event, is this something you are doing in other cities around the world or is purely a Beijing project?

AM: As I mentioned, Hybrid in this iteration has grown organically from the Beijing scene. The Visible Poetry Project had four live screenings in New York City and then one at a community in upstate New York that serves as a writers’ centre for the Hudson Valley. That’s what we were able to put together this year in conjunction with Beijing. Going forward next year I think you will see us in a lot more cities in a lot more countries.

KL：关于这个Hybrid活动，你在世界其他地区也办过类似的吗？还是纯粹只在北京办？

AM：正如我所提过的，Hybrid在北京的艺术圈里自然地发展重复着，Visible Poetry Project之前在纽约办过四次现场放映，在纽约州北部的哈德逊谷作家中心举办过一次，明年你会看见我们在更多的城市和国家放映。

KL: I hate this question, it makes me feel kind of dirty and that’s why I feel compelled to ask it… How would you convince someone to come down on June 8th?

AM: I guess what I would say is what we’re offering this evening isn’t just a video screening. It isn't just a poetry slam. It isn’t just music or a poetry reading. So what I would say is, if you are someone who has a deep abiding interest in poetry, film, whatever it is, what we are trying to do here is expose the person who loves film to a love of poetry they might not have realised they had before and vice versa. Let’s expand these horizons, let’s break down these barriers, let’s engage all of our audience in all of these different mediums simultaneously.

KL：：你如何说服大众6月8号来你的活动？我很讨厌这个问题的，有种很卑鄙的感觉，但我不得不问。

AM：我想说的是那天的演出，不是简单的视频放映，诗歌朗诵，或者音乐诗歌会。如果你是一个对诗歌、电影有浓厚兴趣的人，我们要做那些爱电影的人发现他们对诗歌的潜在兴趣，反过来也是。让我们开阔下视野，打破所谓的常规障碍，同时用不同的媒体方式融入所有的观众们。

Sinophile, audiophile, close friend and ally of all felines, Alex Max currently splits his time between Beijing and NYC. As a film producer in NYC he has worked on numerous ad campaigns for multinational companies, various webseries, and live concert videos. You can find him most nights practicing his Beijing-huar over *more than* a couple Yanjings and some spicy Sichuan-cai. Alex is producing his first feature length film this fall about the trials and tribulations of a fictional pornography studio, but that does NOT make him a porn producer. At least, not yet.

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