#2—
Robert Herbert McCLEAN
NO APOCALYPSE
POETRY SLAM
I arrived at SMOCK ALLEY THEATRE, an awesome venue, to perform in some way at Phonica, upon invitation from the awesome poet, Christodoulos MAKRIS. Christodoulos said it would be cool to bring some video art poem things I was working on, we would screen them and I’d read some poems—probably from PANGS!—and two poems I’d published with THE WHITE REVIEW, which I’m still tremendously fond of. PHONICA was even advertised on the national RTE radio arts show, Arena, with me reading a promo from PANGS! Everything went fine at soundcheck but the hdmi cable or connection was dubious (if not faulty) as it ran from (or to) my cheap laptop, and the AV guy at the desk, I sensed he was for having had enough of my anxiety, so I asked him to forget about the video projection, and I simply read some poems, straight, instead. Over the years I’ve continued to work on these videos, and others, mostly for my own understanding and amusement, but this selection here is now part of a larger installation piece, unfinished as yet, but nonetheless, it’s a work in progress, entitled, NO APOCALYPSE POETRY SLAM, containing also an assemblage of paintings and collages. I think it’s poetry. Enjoy. Please and thank you anyone.
Robert Herbert McCLEAN is an Irish writer and audio-visual artist. His debut book PANGS! was published by Test Centre in 2015. In 2016, his debut album, INFINITY, was released by Blank Editions. He has been artist-in-residence at Forum Stadtpark, Belfast Exposed Photography Gallery, and The Curfew Tower. His text, SKRUBOLZ GARBILLKORE, was commissioned by Maria FUSCO as part of her Dialecty Series, supported by The Common Guild and published by BookWorks in 2018. He was a finalist for the Arts Foundation Futures Awards for Poetry in 2019. His most recent book, SONGS FOR IRELAND, was published by Prototype in 2020. In 2021 his debut narrative short, GRAVEST HIT, funded by NI Screen and BFI, premieres on the festival circuit. See here.