En/Gulf: Ecopoetics of the Gulf & Bay

en/gulf:
[en-guhlf]
the liminal space between water and land 
the Gulf of Mexico and its environs 
an abbreviation of the above 
an ecopoetic (nonhuman-centered) expression 
a verb: affirming complete surround and wholeness 
a verb: threatening total immersion and destruction 
a collaboration between poets and graphic designers
 

University of Houston Graphic Design Seniors collaborated with UH Creative Writing in the Fall of 2015 for the exhibition En/Gulf: Ecopoetics of the Bay & Gulf, an immersion into the Gulf Coast environs.
 

The exhibition consisted of a series of poetry videos and an installation of 70 glass jars that visually referenced scientific collections of specimens for research and conservation. Along with the exhibition, the students designed and hand letterpressed a book of broadsides which were sold with proceeds benefiting Houston Audubon.
 

In April 2016, the students held a 50-minute presentation at Brazos Bookstore discussing their explorations into the ecology of the gulf and bay. Creative Writing students read their poetry and poetry videos were presented by Graphic Design students. 

 

En/Gulf was made possible through a collaboration between the School of Art, the Creative Writing Program, and the Interdisciplinary Art Program (IART) at the University of Houston. IART is a program of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, which cultivates interdisciplinary collaboration in the performing, visual, and literary arts. From its base at the University of Houston, the Mitchell Center offers public events, residencies, and courses that fuse artistic disciplines, ignite dialogue, and present new ways of experiencing the arts in contemporary life. The Mitchell Center forms an alliance among five units at the University of Houston: the School of Art, the Creative Writing Program, Moores School of Music, the School of Theatre & Dance, and Blaffer Art Museum.