Close up of the book, the lines cut out of the book leave thin horizontal paper strips with words here and there left behind. By autistic Artist and Architect Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — Close up of the book, the lines cut out of the book leave thin horizontal paper strips with words here and there left behind.

DISSECTION

2020 // FOUND POETRY // NYC

I once received the wrong book in the mail—a memoir by a Juilliard-trained opera singer in New York, far from my own life as an autistic artist and architect from rural Denmark. Although it was a mistake, I was drawn to it.

My work often involves rearranging existing matter into new constructions. As a visual thinker with dyslexia, I see words as shapes and process the world in images. I constantly realign external impressions to build inner landscapes.

I took an X-Acto knife and began cutting out words, searching for reflections of my own voice. Like a surgeon, I carved away matter to reveal a new spatial structure—poems formed by absence, by sculpting the page itself. Each page stands as a poem, but layered together they create a three-dimensional reading space, inviting the audience to explore their own path through the book, as if we could scale down and fly through its inner architecture.

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: About Taking Sentences Apart. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — About Taking Sentences Apart
an impossible maze / the assistance / perfectly mirrored / is nil / as authentic as a national / not only memorizing but taking / apart every sentence in order to understand how each word is trans- / lated painstaking pronunciation / vowels are open / and it takes a great deal of time and patience / to memorize / in a dialogue / memorization, / is learning / memorization

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: Therapy. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — Therapy
I was brushed / as I looked out at the people / I fell apart completely / nonexistent holes / halls across the world / that frightens me / drenches me in cold swear / throat tightened breadth stopped / in the house / it was finally over / I saw a therapist for the first time / I didn’t even understand / and how to do the right thing so that I could see a positive reflection / to want to be

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: Crisis, there is no exact language for the thing. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — Crisis, there is no exact language for the thing
beyond me / my voice, then things / come / approach a sense / or abandon me / I came back / into a complete crisis / mind covering / avoid it / a way to communicate / voice / there is no exact language for the thing

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: Haiku. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — Haiku
to avoid the drafts / I can be generous with / a doubt in my mind

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: A Rampant Sliced Through Broadcast of Self. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — A Rampant Sliced Through Broadcast of Self
language / implies ambivalence, and performance / encounter an obscure / clash with / memory / or a / rampant / sliced through / broadcast of / self / or simply a spontaneous / courage to return / time / still / experience / in / their own stories and swap them / beautifully and

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: Like Trying To Have an Intelligible Conversation While Yawning. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — Like Trying To Have an Intelligible Conversation While Yawning
perhaps seemed too heavy / as some bemoaned the passing of / the available pool of contemporary voices / in the language / that voice is general were produced for brightness / like trying to have an intelligible conversation while yawning

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: Forget That I am Solidt | In The Ephemeral Approach. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — Forget That I Am Solid
forget I’m / solid / to approach / experience / the concept of going into suspension / rather than / to step out of / a shape in my mind / it would appear as the silhouette / decisions in rehearsal
In The Ephemeral Approach
in the / ephemeral / approach / the words / there’s / breath the shape / strung together / on the page / depth / that is / to collaborate with the / elements / each scene / left / for movement / of the work / of interaction / to / rhythm / to project their voices

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: Inhabiting Myself. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — Inhabiting Myself
incompatible combination / suspend disbelief / speaking; the physical / ability / inhabiting / myself / a believable performance / a suitable voice . of sensitive / discipline / a dedication to / discover the voices / to project their voices

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: A Host of Different Emotions. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — A Host of Different Emotions
I remember before seeing / I could / get the emotion / then experience it / in the work / and then begin to contemplate / the next thing / much better / in a margin / never experienced / I am by nature a person / a host of different emotions / into a rehearsal / begging for time / in the confrontation

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: Locating You. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — Locating You
a character / first / not entirely / being / my pwn / version / watch / myself perform / my interpretation / of a / critical voice

Photo of a book, with words and lines physically cut out of a book, leaving a found poem, it's written out in the image caption, titled: Unimpressed. By Troels Steenholdt Heiredal — Unimpressed
work as a fragile / voice to emotions / to others / an interpersonal exchange / from all strata / face / time / informed / necessity / no choice / I’m rehearsing / interrupt me / for my attention / welcome to it / to expose . places, and situations / finding / an understanding / in the chorus / when I realized / something / was driving / the / virtuosic / perfectly in place / and with it / I saw / time / thinking it must have been / totally unimpressed