Today is Friday and the weekend is upon us. These days (the ones of COVID-19), there is barely a difference between the week and weekend. Days and time have shifted into a new, unusual place / space / zone. Our eyes, habits, rituals and routines have, in many different ways, become unstuck; dare I say ‘fragmented’. No, that would be too close to opportunism, given the title of this project.

There is a profound ‘shaking up’ underway. Layer after layer is being stripped away from what was – before COVID-19 invaded every country, every person, all the time. We are all trying to get through this strange and challenging time in ways that are reflective of change, of a sense of solidarity, in a way that tunes into the unknown and for the moment the unknowable.

This blog post isn’t about the current situation though. I am working my way through the archives of my blog posts from 2014 – and ‘reloading’ them in this new 53 Fragments RELOADED.

This one dates back to 11 November 2014:

A short exchange (on Facebook) with one of the contributors (Chris Madoch) to 53 Fragments –  Chris wrote:

‘This is a part of the Dean Pasch project which I have admired so much because as if by magic he brought to ripe fruition a COLLABORATION on such a scale that I would have thought it impossible of FB. I tried such a thing many times and every time the project failed. Of course the common factor was always me so I must take a large portion of the blame. BUT congratulations to Dean for proving to be, maybe more patient and certainly far better at logistics and juggling personalities [my word for them is singularities] than me.’ CM (Chris Madoch)

My response:

Dear Chris – It’s good to read your positive appraisal of the project 53 Fragments. It’s important for me to say this isn’t a Facebook (based) project – it lives somewhere else (in terms of platform) – I chose wordpress for that task and this was important. Secondly it is a project that has been gestating for some considerable time and the participation in one or two other projects crystalized my wishes and served as fruitful catalysts – to get myself going.

It is an undertaking that required a belief I could ‘pull it off’ with the support and participation of a collection of poets, visual artists and musicians who I approached and who embraced the concept and committed themselves to it and its 1 year reach. Not everyone answered my approach and not everyone agreed to take part who did answer.

I am therefore especially grateful to those who did and who have sent me the ingredients for Part 1, well in advance. This has allowed me to have a better opportunity of bringing together the combination of words, picture and music that I feel express themselves individually but especially so as a multi-media experience.

The expression in terms of theme and content has been (and remains) paramount. I have been amazed and dazzled, moved and rewarded by the superb scope and scale, variety and individuality of the contributions to Part 1 – and equally stimulated by the overlaps, the echoes and how they make me feel there is a rich and powerful closeness within the differences.

I’m looking forward to presenting your contribution in 2 weeks times (with a picture and piece of music) and applaud it here – thanks for the preview here and for your supportive and encouraging words.

The project lives and breathes from those who have contributed and continue to contribute – and lives and breathes even more so through the visitors to ‪www.53fragments.com

Having said this is not a Facebook (based) project – I should still make mention of how many of the contributors to the project have become a part of my creative life as a direct result of Facebook – it’s a place with obvious flaws and warts – but what places don’t have their fair share of them? I am grateful to all the people I have contact with on Facebook who show an interest and share and encourage. It’s a treasure – and as I have always said – it’s free (even if Facebook does profit from our presence and activities here).

I hope this project will continue to proposer as it unfolds and look forward to the other parts and to the next 10 months of presenting more poetry, pictures and music. Thanks again. Warm wishes – Dean

The weekend begins here in 2020 with the trees bursting with new green leaves and blossom. Flowers are everywhere and the world is experiencing something remarkable. I am always cautious about expressing positivity in these troubled times – with all the death and sickness that is taking place. Nonetheless I close this blog post on a note of optimism. COVID-19 is killing people. It is making millions of people around the world sick. Economies are being punched and kicked by the pandemic. People are suffering. Yet at the same time there are waves of hope and narratives of an opportunity to reinvent life. A necessity to redefine society. Revolutionary movements may have been on the wane over the last decades – but the COVID-19 impact has the ‘grammar’ of revolution. Let’s see where this takes us. Let’s reflect on where we want it to take us. Let’s decide what we want to be different and make a difference.