Caeri
Bertrand
Poetry
for So Much Blood (image above)
Jewelry
is our murderous nation of consumerism,
our ßaunting of blood ties, blood money, blood
lust.
Our gold and diamonds are open wounds of promises,
lies, costumes, games. It is all so much blood
The
Captiva Project is a mixed media installation
that addresses the void that actively exists in situations
that beg for spoken words, and the people within them
who have no voice. Using self-portaiture photography,
found objects, poetry and text, The Captiva Project
tackles subjects from the artist's own story as well
as the larger shared experiences of people who find
themselves lost and voiceless globally. Pieces use
the photographs and the main poetry to illustrate
topics from the original sin to housekeeping to the
bling bling bulimia and kidnapping and sex trade.
Each piece has a tabloid-style headline (Exclusive!
Special Edition! Who Knew?) and from the main poem
beneath each photograph, the text deconstructs a la
Derrida into related, hot-button elements organic
to the entire piece. As the pieces spin out from the
main piece, they will be written on any available
writing surface from cocktail napkins to designer
handbags, and physically linked to the main body of
the work by elements from rhinestones to strip and
strapping tape. The effect is to please the eye of
the captive participant while relentlessly taking
them down different lines of questions and ideas about
the topic at hand.
All of the pieces endlessly ask the questions: Are
You Captive? Do You Have A Voice? Who Do You Hold
Captive? To Whom Could You Grant A Voice?
The last space in The Captiva Project is a
place for everyone to write anything they want, sign,
graffiti, make a mark. In this way, The Captiva
Project can begin the process of someone finding
their voice, their ideas, setting themselves, in the
sense of the project, free.
About the Artist:
Caeri Bertrand has been working in words and music
in three countries and eight cities since 1989. Highlights
include getting kidnapped briefly in Tokyo, guerilla
poetry poster campaigns in LA and NYC, reading at
The Knitting Factory in NYC without passing
out, getting a few degrees that made nice kindling,
and surviving Miami for three years and counting.
The Captiva Project has been at work for two
years in book and installation forms. Bertrand is
also the author of But Now I See (fiction),
Birt Githbee and the Flying Canoe (children's)
and a volume of poetry. She also paints in mixed media
on canvas and makes hardware into jewelry. Bertrand
is the proud daughter of professional golfer Bob Bertrand
(go Bob!) and despite being from a founding family
of Detroit is a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
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