polyjam is a sanctuary for creative experiment, shared attention & authentic performance
inspired by poet CA Conrad’s somatic writing rituals & idea of “extreme presence”
in collaboration with the New York based Strother School of Radical Attention
“SANCTUARY — […] the cultivation of spaces and times (physical, virtual, fixed, fleeting) that provide shelter and nourishment for attentional capacities.”
polyjam’s practices involve tuning into what stirs in your body during heightened sensory & communal attention, creating from that raw material, & sharing the spontaneous result with openness & authenticity.
let’s be real…
what the hell is all this?
polyjam is an attentional experiment conducted by a collective of Austin poets & musicians.
it’s ½ generative workshop ½ performance series
where first we conduct a ritual to summon new writing
& then we perform what we made together
it’s improvisation & immediacy & controlled artistic chaos
it’s also whatever it becomes
what do you mean by attentional experiment?
radical attention is a practice of holding our attention intentionally and together.
during the generative ritual, we are attending to the world around us as a medium to see what poems might be hidden there. (they’re sneaky like that.)
during performance, we are paying attention to each other & to our shared art, with the notion that someone’s attention on you is a safe & desirable thing. to see & be seen.
how does this work? where is polyjam held?
polyjam occurs in a secret and translucent space that manifests twice monthly in our world. (that is, you’ll receive an email with the location 24 hours before the event.)
in said email you’ll also be told what you might want to bring with you & a passcode for the “experiments” tab above should you want to peek at what we’ll be doing during the generative workshop.
if you’re interested, give us your email & we’ll handle the rest.
