“NO HOLIDAY” (Ünneptelenül)

Posted on July 23, 2019November 18, 2019 Tagged Ünneptelenül, Baranyi Tamás, Diane Sophrin, NO HOLIDAY - VII, Present Continuous Poems, Tamás BaranyiLeave a comment

NO HOLIDAY – VII

Muteness facing
noise outpacing furious
stride keeping
up slowing
down holding
in breathing
out sweetly beating
them at their own
game one hand
tied behind
Yes
No holiday!

How needling
words scrawling
sprawling splaying
playing across this time
yellowing
stained sheets
how coaxing cajoling conjuring
confessing and then
birthing itself thus
this late stage
of the game
No holiday!

Thinking idly about
the smooth potato
this time nothing
beckoning reckoning no
absence or presence
silence being soft
and darkness not
unfriendly just
unfriended
mute
a new game
No holiday!

– Diane Sophrin.
Vermont, 6.28.19

ÜNNEPTELENÜL – VII

Némaság néz szembe
a dühös lépteket lehagyó
zajjal felzárkózva
lelassulva lélegzet-
visszafojtva kienged
édesen győzik le
őket saját
játékukban fél kézzel
hátrakötve
Igen
Ünneptelenül!

Hogyan firkálják
össze napjainkat rézsút
terpeszkedve játszadozva
a tűként szurkáló szavak
sárgára festve
a foltos lapokat
milyen csábosan hízeleg elvarázsol
beismer és aztán
így lett játékból
ez a végjáték
Ünneptelenül!

Tétlenül
a sima krumpliról elmélkedve
most semmi sem
hívogat nem számít
sem jelenlét sem hiány
a csend puha
és a sötétség nem barátságtalan
csak baráttalan
néma
egy új játék
Ünneptelenül!

– Baranyi Tamás, translation.
Budapest, 9.29.19

click here to open in PDF format

“BOOK OF CHAOS – II”

Posted on October 18, 2018November 10, 2019 Tagged A KÁOSZ KÖNYVE – II, Baranyi Tamás, Book of Chaos - II, Diane Sophrin, Tamás BaranyiLeave a comment

BOOK OF CHAOS – II

Breakfast.
Behind the stolid silence
a night of strange murmers
hints allusions memories
mutterings confusions guesses
Chaos.

The Book of Chaos
there, it’s named!
meanwhile between each page
coffee kifli
concerts art cakes liquor
and all the lesser things.

Peel back further still
pulsating beneath
Fear nodding
unknown known
in a sexy new suit.

Now we know
how they felt
before each maelstrom.

– Diane Sophrin.
Budapest, 10.16.18

click here to open in PDF format

A KÁOSZ KÖNYVE – II

Reggeli.
Az egykedvű csend mögött
különös morajok éjszakája
allúziókat emlékeket sugdolózásokat
zűrzavarokat találgatásokat sejtet
Káosz.

A Káosz Könyve
tessék, neve is van!
mindezalatt minden egyes oldal között
kávé kifli
koncertek művészet torták likőr
és csupa apró-cseprő dolog.

Hámozd tovább még mélyebbre
alant pulzáló
Félelem bólogat
ismeretlen ismert
egy szexi új öltönyben.

Most már tudjuk
milyen érzés volt
minden egyes roppant örvény előtt.

– Diane Sophrin
Budapest, 16.10.18

– translation by Tamás Baranyi

click here to open in PDF format

PRESENT CONTINUOUS / FOLYAMATOS JELEN – EXHIBITION

Posted on May 3, 2018August 30, 2018 Tagged Diane Sophrin, Ferenc Takács, György Orbán, Nyitott Műhely, Present Continuous, Tamás BaranyiLeave a comment

PRESENT CONTINUOUS EXHIBITION / FOLYAMATOS JELEN KIÁLLÍTÁS

Diane Sophrin’s latest solo exhibition at the Open Workshop / Nyitott Műhely opened on April 13th and ran through May 15th.

A dense body of work created over the hard winter of 2017 – 2018, the Present Continuous / Folyamatos jelen series relies on poems written in tandem with the making of the visual pieces. The list of linked poems can be found here. For a detailed description of the entire project, including paintings and poems, click here.

The opening was a stimulating mix of Diane Sophrin’s visual work and verse, a musical performance by Tamás Baranyi, cofounder of world music band Anu Mauri, and a substantive and lively panel discussion between György Orbán, publisher and Ferenc Takács, literary historian.

The event began with Tamás performing his own compositions on the Persian Santur. Among them was a new piece written expressly for the exhibition using text of Sophrin’s verse Desperate Ones.

Poetry came next, with Diane reading two of her poems, which were then recited in Hungarian translation by György and Ferenc: Miracles / Csodak and Doubt / Kételkedni. The Párbeszéd or dialog between György and Ferenc followed, with participation from the audience.

My deepest appreciation goes to to Tamás, Gyuri and Feri for their positive support, gracious and creative participation in this event, as well as their generous feats of translation! Warm thanks to Kováts Albert, president of the Society of Hungarian Painters / Magyar Festők Társasága http://www.magyarfesteszet.hu/en, for his help in arranging this exhibit. Finally, I’d like to express my gratitude to Finta Laci, Director of the Open Workshop / Nyitott Műhely for his kindness and tremendous dedication to a wonderful creative and intellectual meeting place!

– Diane Sophrin. Budapest, April, 2018

DIANE SOPHRIN: NEW WORKS AND FREE ASSOCIATIONS. DIALOGS WITH ATTILA JÓZSEF

Posted on October 9, 2017July 14, 2019 Tagged Attila József, Baranyi Tamás, Dialogs with József Attila, Diane Sophrin, Ferencvárosi Helytörténeti Gyűjtemény, József Attila, New works and Free Associations, Tamás BaranyiLeave a comment

DIANE SOPHRIN: NEW WORKS AND FREE ASSOCIATIONS
DIALOGS WITH ATTILA JÓZSEF

Diane Sophrin’s latest solo exhibition at the Ferencvárosi Historical Museum in Budapest, runs from September 14th through October 14, 2017. The opening ceremony took place on September 22nd.

This newest body of work is comprised of three interconnected projects: the Wetted Scrolls Series, Postcards from Attila József and Dialogs with Attila József. The latter two relate directly to the poetry of Attila József (József Attila in Hungarian name order) one of the most famous and beloved Hungarian poets of the 20th century. This poet, although not so familiar to the English speaking world, is astonishingly pertinent to our world today.

These works, along with my comments and the poems of Attila József ás well, can be found on this site here, and here. The image of each work is linked to it’s own page where the relevant poem can be read in English translation as well as the original Hungarian.

The opening lecture was presented by Dr. Ferenc Takács; critic, literary translator, literary historian, associate professor at ELTE’s Department of Anglo-Saxon Studies, and President of the James Joyce Society of Hungary.

György Orbán, founder of the Ráday Könyvesház Bookstore, publisher and littérateur gave a poetry reading of Attila József’s Breath of Air .

Tamás Baranyi, cofounder of Budapest world music band Anu Mauri accompanied himself on keyboard, singing Attila József’s Oh Heart, Be Still and Qumashtra, one of his own compositions.

József Seregi, Julianna Vízi, Csaba Asztai

Gábor Szabó, Diane Sophrin

DIALOG WITH JÓZSEF ATTILA – 12

Posted on July 26, 2017July 14, 2019 Tagged A Collection of Free Associations In Two Sessions, Attila József, Baranyai Tamás, Dialogs with József Attila, Diane Sophrin, József Attila, Szabad-ötletek Jegyzéke két ülésben, Tamás BaranyiLeave a comment

DIALOG WITH JÓZSEF ATTILA – 12

Mixed-media on stitched, gessoed paper.
41″ x 34″ (105c x 86c)
2017

This large format mixed-media piece draws from József Attila’s controversial writing entitled A Collection of Free Associations In Two Sessions, or Szabad-ötletek Jegyzéke két ülésben. HIs audacious writing inspired an increase in the scale of my work, pushing the use of handwritten text as form-generating source material to a more developed level.

The Free Associations, written by J.A. in the context of sessions with his psychiatrist and quite raw at times, was long seen by many as being outside his body of verse. However, as I pulled excerpts from this long piece of experimental writing, working the fragments of phrases and words into my Dialogs, the free-flowing process of association at the core of so many of his poems was clearly recognizable. In Free Associations, József Attila offered himself up as object, to be penetrated with the same excruciating vision he so often directed towards the external world.

A full English translation by Tamás Baranyi can be read here in pdf format.

The original Hungarian text can be found here online, or here in pdf format.

DIALOG WITH JÓZSEF ATTILA – 11

Posted on July 22, 2017July 13, 2019 Tagged Attila József, Baranyi Tamás, Dialogs with Attila József, Diane Sophrin, Fire is Now White, József Attila, Most Fehér a Tűz, Tamás BaranyiLeave a comment

DIALOG WITH JÓZSEF ATTILA – 11

Mixed-media on stitched, gessoed paper.
28″ x 11″ (70c x 28c)
2017

Fire is Now White
by Attila József

Console the tormented twilights, my loved one too belongs to them
Dolefully writhing with her sorrowful flames
She is running before me, I kissed her and now time is sinking around us in profound silence
And I’m trying to hold on to it in vain
On the blazing surface of agony
The lights are on in the graveyard
Our tears are rinsing black crystals
We have no words that we could utter
Our remaining dreams are now incinerated
Only the dark hopes of murderers are left shining
Foolishness is dashing before us on an express train
All our birds are now wing clipped
Innocent like the white foreheads of pebbles
I’ve always called her Ria
We have nothing not even straw mats but they are still grabbing them from underneath us
Our celebrations are lying about unconscious
Sing, pure sorrow
I’m lying down here, the Moon will be my headrest
Sing, pure sorrow
I’m lying down here, the Moon will be my headrest

Autumn of 1924

Translation by Tamás Baranyi

Most Fehér a Tűz
József Attila

Vigasztaljátok a szenvedő alkonyokat, közéjük való kedvesem is,
szomorú lángjaival zokogva kergetőzik.

Előttem szalad, megcsókoltam s az idő nagy némasággal elsüllyed
körülöttünk,
de üres kezemmel hiába kapkodok utána
a fájdalom vakító felületén.
Temetőkben világít a villany,
könnyeink fekete kristályokat mosnak,
nincsen szavunk, amit kimondhatnánk,
elhamvadt maradék álmunk,
csak a gyilkosok sötét reményei világítanak még.
A butaság expresszvonaton robog előttünk,
minden madarunk szárnyaszegett.
Olyan ártatlan, mint a kavicsok fehér homlokai.
Én mindig Riának hívtam.
Gyékényünk sincs és mégis kihúzzák alólunk,
ünnepeink ájultan hevernek.

Énekelj tiszta szomorúság,
lefekszem itt, a hold a fejemalja.
Énekelj tiszta szomorúság,
lefekszem itt, a hold a fejemalja.

1924 ősze

DIALOG WITH JÓZSEF ATTILA – 7

Posted on July 21, 2017July 14, 2019 Tagged A Collection of Free Associations In Two Sessions, Attila József, Baranyai Tamás, Dialogs with József Attila, Diane Sophrin, József Attila, Szabad-ötletek Jegyzéke két ülésben, Tamás BaranyiLeave a comment

DIALOG WITH JÓZSEF ATTILA – 7

Mixed-media on stitched, gessoed paper.
28″ x 11″ (70c x 28c)
2017

This large format piece draws from József Attila’s controversial writing entitled A Collection of Free Associations In Two Sessions, or Szabad-ötletek Jegyzéke két ülésben.

A full English translation by Tamás Baranyi can be read here in pdf format.

The original Hungarian text can be found here online, or here in pdf format.

DIALOG WITH JÓZSEF ATTILA – 9

Posted on July 20, 2017July 14, 2019 Tagged Attila József, Baranyi Tamás, Dialogs with József Attila, Diane Sophrin, Free Associations In Two Sessions, József Attila, Szabad-ötletek Jegyzéke két ülésben, Tamás BaranyiLeave a comment

DIALOG WITH JÓZSEF ATTILA – 9

Mixed-media on stitched, gessoed paper.
41″ x 34″ (105c x 86c)
2017

A full English translation by Tamás Baranyi can be read here in pdf format.

The original Hungarian text can be found here online, or here in pdf format.