BODY HYNN is a collection of “found poems” inspired by interviews Mark Laita conducted with Evelyn, Ruby, Caroline, and Amanda, residents of the Skid Row neighborhood in Los Angeles, California.
In the titles of his videos, the identities of these women are reduced into words like “prostitute,” “drug addict,” and “homeless woman” and broadcast to millions of people on the internet.
Throughout my life people like Laita made attempts to name my loved ones with the same words. These poems are an exploration of dis(ease), a rejection of that reduction, and a celebration of multiplicity.
Formatted into a 5″x5″ booklet resembling a hymnal pamphlet or compact “thumb bible,” the pages sermonize not the word of God but the words of outcasted women.
I wrote, edited, and laid out the book in one week, in order for copies to be ready for the FAC residency exhibition.
Read the full text here.
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