T.S. Eliot talked about modern literature reflecting the “presence of the past” upon the “pastness of the present.” These days, it seems, those forces slam against one another. In some respects the Renaissance remains a work in progress.
In literature, as well as art, elements of the past and present clash in the cultural particle collider of our times, making it new. “Make it new,” is what Ezra Pound urged the writers and poets of his generation to work toward. So, Renaissance Slam is that poetry slam in New York, or Portland, or Firenze where one of Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’s Crack Squirrels could be the guide through the Purgatorios of our age. Renaissance Slam is also artist Guiseppe Veneziano’s Ronald McDonald likeness posed as Michelangelo’s David. It is artist Vic Muniz’s recasting of Caravaggio’s Medusa shield in pasta and marinara sauce.
This is what this blog theme is all is all about. That, and the travel experience in getting there. Renaissance Slam. Please stay tuned. This is too is a work in progress from a guy who writes modernist fiction, some journalism, and travels to immerse himself in a past that coexists in a present where Vatican accountants seek corporate sponsorship for renovations on a 2,000-year-old stadium in Rome.
