Tatiana Bonch-Osmolovskaya

Statement

In these visual poems, 'Dreaming (almost Heinrich Heine)', 'Tetrahedron of forking paths' and 'Squaring the sphere' I explore geometrical shapes through poetry. An infinite chain of reflections: night and day, dream and reality, heat and coldness, north and south are presented on the Mebious band as two parts of the same image referring to the famous Heine poem; moving along a side of a tetrahedron with a line of a poem, the reader comes to a choice of turning left or right for the next side and the next line, the path continues till the next vortex, and never ends; segmentation of the spherical surface and shifts by one cell for a letter allow me to fulfill an operation of squaring the sphere. Mathematics and poetry are inseparable here, as the poetical intention defines a choice for the form, and geometrical forms define poetical messages, all together, by sphere, regular polyhedron and one-side band making a minimum encyclopedia of formal poetry.

Artworks

...If you turn left you will lose your head If you turn right your horse will fall dead If you turn left you’ll get a herd instead If you turn right you will be nicely fed If you turn left you will rise from dead If you turn right all your blood will be shed If you turn left you will become blind If you turn right you‘ll be the first among mankind If you turn left you’ll get into a hive If you turn right you will largely thrive If you turn left you will wear red If you turn right will eat led bread If you turn left you will eat white bread If you turn right you’ll get back your head If you turn left you’ll live a king’s life If you turn right you’ll get the cutest wife If you turn left your horse will be alive If you turn right you will die in strife If you turn left you will lose your mind If you turn right you will be left behind If you turn left you’ll be completely mad If you turn right your mum will be so glad...

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...On a tropical far southern land In the middle of desert red sand Stands a palm tree. Alone in despair Under the brightest blue sky and thick air Under the moon and the Southern Cross stars, She is trembling, her leaves like old scars Under the hot sandy wind. She is dreaming – She’s a pine-tree. As if from the beginning She is seeing herself On a far northern land Among snow and ice she is standing Over waves, over tide’s never-ending On a high desert cliff she’s alone Growing high at the edge of a storm Over grey windy seas, beneath clouds Far away from the cities and crowds, Under bright seven stars of the Great Bear There’s nobody near her to care. She’s alone, half-unconscious, losing Her strong branches by the storm, and musing As in daydream she sees…