The Gull and I
© 2008 John William Carroll

I almost missed him, white
on white, but for that startle,
less than fright, that tells
me something else is sensible nearby.
We shared a snowy rock, the dying gull and I.
Only the slow opening and closing
of a yellow eye signaled more life
was left in him to ebb away.
He faced the sea -- gun gray and white the sky -- his colors.
Wind ruffled the feathers along his back;
he made no move to preen.
One wing slid from his side
like a shawl from a shoulder.
Snow fell into the sea and melted.
Snow fell onto his feathers and stayed.
The eye died open, unafraid.

New York City Premiere
of Reuben's New Sung Poems.

Hello,

We are pleased to annouce that we will perform May 18th at 6:30 pm at a group show featuring other artists from past Watermill Residencies.

This event marks the New York City premiere of songs created and recorded at our residency in March of 2008. Read below to learn more about the May 18th event and the other participants.

And, visit our "SUNG POEMS" BLOG to read about our Watermill Residency and the progress of our next album.

xo,
Reuben.
reubenbutchart.com

Watermill: A Laboratory for Performance
US Theatre Series at The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center

Monday, May 18th, 2009
6:30 p.m.

Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Programs
The Graduate Center, The City University of New York
Elebash Recital Hall
365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th St.)
New York, New York

Free and Open To The Public

Join us for an evening highlighting the work and mission of The Watermill Center. The event will feature performance excerpts by artists supported by the Center including: Reuben Butchart; The H*E*R*D Group, featuring Declan Rooney and Eunhye Hwang; Hsiao Chen and Ama Saru. The evening will also include an introduction and discussion by celebrated performance artist Marina Abramovic, Watermill's creative director Jörn Weisbrodt and its Director Stephanie French.

Reuben Butchart is a singer-songwriter and composer who joined forces with acclaimed poet John Carroll and an eclectic chamber orchestra to develop and record a cycle of "sung poems" at The Watermill Center in March of 2008.

H*E*R*D Group, a Watermill Center Spring 2009 Artist-in-Residence, is based in Berlin where they create their pieces primarily in alternative sites, apartments, studios, project rooms, working in mediums such as live performance, video, music CD-R production and self published zines.

Hsiao Chen from Taipei and Ama Saru from Bucharest, also Watermill Center Spring 2009 Artists-in-Residence, are now based in New York City working in various mediums, including video, photography, sculpture, and live performance.

Marina Abramovic has pioneered the use of performance as a visual art form. Abramovic has presented her work with performances, sound, photography, video, sculpture and Transitory Objects for Human and Non Human Use in solo exhibitions at major institutions in the US and Europe. She is currently establishing a center for long durational performance art in Hudson, N.Y. Abramovic sits on the Watermill Center Residency Selection Committee.

Hello,

Michael Harren interviewed me for his podcast MikeyPod. Check it out.

MikeyPod Podcast

xo,
Reuben

www.reubenbutchart.com
www.myspace.com/reubenbutchart