AN EXPLANATION OF SORTS

The Left Hand of Dogma (A Stop-Start Manifestation of Poetry In Motion) was conceived, created and launched by writer-director, Kevin Williamson, on Saturday 10th June 2006, during a residency at the Hotel Chevillon, Grez-sur-Loing.

The Left Hand of Dogma is a marriage of poetry and film whose creative impulse is DIY, immediate, and allows room for imperfection.

The poetry texts have been written by hand. The Stop-Start films are made guerrilla style, by the author, in a single take. Both are subject to The 20 Rules of Engagement.

The 20 Rules of Engagement are neither as arbitrary nor as pedantic as they may seem. Their purpose is to give artistic constraint to the project. On the rare occasions when poetry is filmed, for television for instance, the technicians involved can often get so carried away with their own visual pyrotechnics that the author’s text can be overwhelmed. Such an approach may enhance the budget of the producers but does little for the appreciation of the poetry.

By presenting together, online, an original hand-written draft of the author’s poetry text, replete with alterations, plus a short film of the author reading his work, alongside the finished text, the author was possibly poking a little fun at his own tightly held belief in the creative mystique of poetry. Or maybe inviting a little voyeurism. Whatever.

This website is my Stop-Start base camp. Should anyone else wish to participate in The Left Hand of Dogma, then feel free. Let me know how you get on. Read The 20 Rules of Engagement and when you have published your own work online, email me the internet address to your own project’s base camp and I will link to it here.

Finally, I should mention that the creative impulsiveness of the original Dogme 95 Manifesto is pleasurably incorporated here. Lars von Trier in particular is the absolute epitome of artistic integrity and long may he continue to rattle the cages of his many beasts.

Kevin Williamson
June 2006