“There are unique milestones for every Detroiter to find their own way to track the changes of the city around them. 2011 was significant for myself and many others in the art, music, and poetry scenes marked by the unexpected death of David Blair, commonly known as Blair, who passed only at the age of 43. “Five years ago…”, Philip Levine was named the United States Poet Laureate at age 83. These two poets were known for their extensive writing about their experiences working on factory floors in Detroit. Levine worked in factories until he was 25, when he moved away from Detroit, about the same age Blair was when he arrived in Detroit and worked manufacturing jobs while writing and performing his music and poetry.

I asked friends and colleagues who have recently moved to Detroit (within the last five years) to transcribe the two poems “Detroit (While I was Away)" by Blair and Philip Levine’s “What Work Is” in their own handwriting. The physical act of re-writing the poems is a process of taking the words of the poet and moving them through one’s own mind and body. Resaying the words as if they were your own, if only temporarily, embodies the poet’s language within the scribe. These transcriptions are then collaged together, scaled up, redrawn by my hand, and transferred onto the exterior and interior of the pavilion for POPX. 

The visitors to POPX are invited to transcribe the poems within their own handwriting, sign the transcriptions, and pin them to the interior walls of the pavilion. 

“Thank You” to these fine people who donated their time & energy to support this project:

Transcribers & Poetic Penmanship: Laura Beyer, Julia Callis, Michael Garguilo, Benjamin Gaydos, Nick Hagen, Ruth Koelewyn, Steven Mankouche, Morgan Meis, Abigail Murray, Kelsey Shultis, Julia Yezbick

Special Thanks to Michael Nagara for assistance with installation.”

— Original statement about the work