REFERENT: CYNOSURE IN PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY. One Week Immersive Artist/Writing Residency, With Andrew Helton and Ginger Teppner. July 17 - 23, Summer 2022. “[They] can see nothing around them that is not their own image; everything speaks to them of themselves. Their very landscape is alive.” - Karl Marx. Cynosure (n.) - "a person or thing that is at the center of attention or admiration," 1590s, from French cynosure (16c.), from Latin Cynosura, literally "dog's tail," an old name of the constellation (now Ursa Minor) containing what is now the North Star, the focus of navigation, at the tip of its tail; from Greek kynosoura, literally "dog's tail," from kyōn (genitive kynos; from PIE root kwon- "dog") + oura "tail.” The primary question, how does external authority mirror an internal authority or vice versa? Second, how does geography influence this reflection? For one week we will use elements of dérive as a tool for exploring various terrains through writing—urban, biological, geographic, landscape, residential, climate, etc.—in order to gain insights into these questions and ultimately reveal the complex relationships between internal experience and external myth. We will illuminate what lies in the margins seeking a cynosure for all eyes.
