Perec in Peckham

I spent last Wednesday night talking about Georges Perec in an (allegedly) ex-crack den in Peckham with sawn off logs for seating, outdoor composting lavatories and excellent whisky-based cocktails.

This is my co-speaker, Karl Whitney, enjoying the 'bar' while we watched The White Review's editors, no mean roadies, drill a projector shelf into a ceiling beam.

 

Did we offer to help? No - we were too busy worrying about our talks discussing the finer points of Oulipo.

The Peckham Hotel was actually a lot nicer than this photo seems to show: in fact Karl is sitting in front of a roaring fire burning what looked like the missing floorboards from the rooms upstairs. 

This was the first time I'd seen Karl since I met him in the Place Saint Sulpice to record some street noise outside Cafe de la Mairie, working around Perec's essay, Tentative d'epuisement d'un Lieu Parisien. 

(Karl's not on the above pic but Perec is - the drawing was a private commission I did at the same time as the recording). 

I used the sounds as the basis for an audio-visual piece, working with David Bramwell (sound), Lauren Elkin (photos) Isabelle Carreira (montage), Sofia Saldanha (voice) and writer, Deborah Levy, who generously contributed a piece of writing to the project in response to Perec's work.

Karl paid tribute to Perec's translator, Gilbert Adair, who died this week, and gave and excellent explanation of Perec's use of the grid system in his lifelong Lieux project.

I talked mostly about Espèces d'Espaces/Species of Spaces - Perec on the describing and repurposing space (there's my photo of Paternoster Square again)

As is usual in my talks there were props (slightly mouldy tangerines which weren't actually used in the end), games and mild humiliation.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped set up and who came. Great evening! We must do it again sometime.

Incidentally I'll be doing another drawing workshop at Tent City University on Monday 19th December at 3pm. If you'd like to drop by on the day the Occupy LSX St Paul's camp's eviction ruling will be decided, please do.

 

Comments

[Amy]

Sounds like a very interesting and rousing eventing. You've given me a new subject to follow down the internet linking rabbit hole (and perhaps a trip to the library as well)! I'm not familiar with Georges Perec or Oulipo.