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poetry Tom Thomas Installs Poetry at Word on the Street Mackay by Dianne > i/i ^ _he idea of reading poetry is often with derision and disA h greeted e dain. Many people seem to have a visceral dislike for it; they view verse as an irrelevant diversion that can be appreciated only by intellectuals and academics. Tom Thomas is a West Vancouver -based poet and visual artist who has spent most of his career challenging people's assumptions about poetry. He is scheduled to perform at this year's Word on the Street event. Thomas is the creator of poetry installation, an interdisciplinary art form that combines written words, visual artistry, and live performance, Using large plastic letters. Thomas carefully lays huge versions of his poems on the ground at public venues. A long poem can cover up to 15 metres of space and take half a day to lay out. Each installation is temporary: the plastic letters that take hours to arrange are scooped up and carried away at the end of the day. Thomas stresses that all his poems are original pieces that have existed long before he puts them in an installation. He considers himself a poet first and foremost, priding himself on the care and consideratiofi he puts into his writing. "I rewrite a lot," says Thomas. "I'm ruthless about editing. I rewrite and rewrite and sometimes I let a poem sit for two years." Thomas explores a wide range of topics in his work. His installation at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 1992 commemorated Father's Day, while the piece he produced for 1994's Lawn Ornamental show explored themes of eroticism and divinity. The death of Robertson Davies in 1995 prompted Thomas to install a tribute poem to the author at Library Square. Why does Thomas use poetry installation? Why not present his ideas in the more time-honored tradition of the poetry book? The problem with T books of poetry is that very few people read them: Thomas is determined to make his work accessible to the public. "Poetry tends to be restricted generally to small audiences," says Thomas. "I want to experiment with new ways of bringing it to a larger audience." There is little doubt that Thomas' installations attract attention. Many curious, and sometimes skeptical, onlookers are drawn by the sight of a man placing large tracts of text on the ground. Some people simply watch Thomas work; others actually reach down and touch the letters. Thomas is pleased and intrigued by all the reactions his work provokes. "I'm not that concerned with what people get out of it at the time," he explains, "as long as people have noticed the poem and have interacted with it." Laying plastic letters on the pavement may seem like a relatively simple exercise, but Thomas' installations actually take a lot of effort and planning. The letters are created from a durable plastic compound that Thomas started using only after years of experimenting with other materials. He also spends several weeks before an event mapping out the site, choosing the proper placement for his installation. So what's next for Thomas? He is planning an installation tour of Canada in 1998 entitled Poetry at Large. In 1999, he is hoping to present a photographic exhibit that documents the contents of his bulletin board over a ten-year period. And then there is the Internet, an attractive medium for an adventurous artist like Thomas. He is currently exploring the creative challenges of cyberspace with his own Website, File 404:Not Found (http://infomatch.com/~thomast/). I'm always pushing the limits," says Thomas. "I'm always trying to go a little bit further." For the many people who have interacted with his installations, Thomas' efforts have made poetry a brief but memorable part of their lives, sc Word on the Street takes place on September 28 from I lam to 6 pm at Poetry installation Park. Library Square. Please phone 6848266 for more information. at Queen Elizabeth