Mary Claire Gustafson
Today, Mike, Sarah, and I spent eight hours touring the Musée National de l'histoire de l'immigration, the grande mosque of Paris, and the Institute du Monde Arabe. We are still processing all of the information that we possessed throughout this short day. Please stay tuned as tomorrow we have set aside long blocks of time to write, on our last full day in Paris.
In the meantime, I have written a poem based on our experience at Musée National de l'histoire de l'immigration.
Like birds on a high voltage wire,
We look over the wall:
This intrinsic boundary.
That which extrinsically separates us
From people.
food.
toys.
movies.
flowers.
cars.
sports.
music.
dancing.
tradition.
religion.
love.
We are bound to migration.
We cannot leave the high voltage wire
For fear of being shocked.
The issue of walls
is that the shock is
called assimilation.
In the meantime, I have written a poem based on our experience at Musée National de l'histoire de l'immigration.
Like birds on a high voltage wire,
We look over the wall:
This intrinsic boundary.
That which extrinsically separates us
From people.
food.
toys.
movies.
flowers.
cars.
sports.
music.
dancing.
tradition.
religion.
love.
We are bound to migration.
We cannot leave the high voltage wire
For fear of being shocked.
The issue of walls
is that the shock is
called assimilation.
Above is an anamorphic image.
"Anamorphosis is a trompe-l'oeil art form that alters the rules of perspective. Used since the Renaissance, it uses optical effects to modify our spatial perception. The object in question, subjected to anamorphic distortion, can be seen with its original proportions when watched from a certain vantage point" (Institute du Monde Arabe 2016).
"Anamorphosis is a trompe-l'oeil art form that alters the rules of perspective. Used since the Renaissance, it uses optical effects to modify our spatial perception. The object in question, subjected to anamorphic distortion, can be seen with its original proportions when watched from a certain vantage point" (Institute du Monde Arabe 2016).