S5 Mike Flatt
               -Convergences

In 2006, Lawrence Weschler published "Everything that Rises: A Book of Convergences." Weschler's central assertion is that classic works of art are "hard- wired" into the minds of contemporary visual artists, and that those making art today cannot help but repeat compositions and themes found in these classic pieces. This isn't exclusive to visual art. Themes and metaphors tend to resurface decades apart in writing as well. The ripples made by modernism's big splash 100 years ago are reaching unexpected shores in today's culture. My idea for this project came while reading a collection of poems by Greek surrealist Miltos Sachtouris, with new translations by Karen Emmerich (Archipelago Books, 2006). One of the poems, "The Sheep," struck me instantly as following a similar line of

thought as the song "Floater" by the band Every Time I Die. Singer
Keith Buckley's lyrics regularly incorporate the darkly surreal imagery and pessimistic tones found in Sachtouris's work, and that of many other modernist poets. The similarities I saw between "The Sheep" and "Floater" were thematic and tonal. Each relates an understanding of hope as a futile enterprise, leading to a man on a bridge and concluding with a personified
body of water embracing a living body. There is also a stated relationship between a man and a river in each piece. Here they are side by side, along with a recording of "Floater."