by Tony Schanuel
Sky Mirror Encounters
Anish Kapoor’s mirror sculptures – five responses
1/
Morning in London, walking out for coffee,
beside terrace houses, small squares
and there it is: A marble floating in green grass,
a peaceful, perfect planet sitting among us.
We so rarely look at the sky –
who sees clouds changing moment to moment?
But here I can’t ignore anything,
gently tilted, everything’s in motion.
First encounter with the Sky Mirror –
I’m lost in a trance, an ever-changing noon.
2/
Working off an extended boom lift,
a man is cleaning the clouds.
As he runs a cloth across the mirror,
we see him and his reflection. Plus a dog.
Is it a re-enactment? Michelangelo’s
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel –
God’s arm outstretched, creating
Adam, who stretches for the divine?
Here is a man cleaning the clouds,
searching for his god or dog.
3/
People cross over a field in summer.
In the mirror they are deified.
Now I’m thinking of Van Gogh painting
workers in a field, under dark clouds,
reapers toiling, making haystacks
on purple soil, sky ready to rain.
I thought I could tell fixed point
from moving object, canvas from brush.
Now, I’m not sure what I’m seeing,
sight and perception all mixed up.
4/
Here the mirror looks like a photo of Earth
from the Moon. So beautiful. So oblique.
When people are caught in the mirror,
they become works of art, floating.
We find the mysteries of existence
in this vision field.
An elderly mom and pop peer into the distance.
They are near the top, pot raised.
Nothing is as it once was, nothing is level.
They wave to themselves, inside the eye.
5/
Last time I looked the sky was redder
in a way I’d never seen before. Wow.
What was once distant and cold is now
here among us. And the day is warm.
Someone is rowing into oblivion. In a kayak.
These blemishes in the grasses are perfect.
Don’t think it’s all about refraction. Or reflection.
We are pilgrims, on a pilgrimage.
Ask the question that questions the question you ask,
embraced and lifted by ineffable things.
Michael Mintrom is a poet from Aotearoa New Zealand based in Melbourne, Australia. His poetry has recently appeared in Amsterdam Quarterly, Cordite Poetry Review, Dust Poetry Magazine, Ekphrastic Review, Halfway Down the Stairs, and Stone Poetry Quarterly.
Tony Schanuel is an award-winning photographer and visual artist who has fused a professional background in photography, digital technology, painting and mark making to create fine art that transcends those mediums. His work has been featured in Digital Imaging Magazine, Computer Graphic Magazine, Wild Heart Journal, St. Louis Design Magazine, and is a featured artist in Cyber Palette and Extreme Graphics, two books showcasing digital artists and their work. He has exhibited at the Florence Biennale and his art is held in private and corporate collections including the Fine Arts Museum of Houston permanent photographic collection. http://www.schanuelphoto.com.