Poise is the chosen title of a film I wish to make. Based on three characters—M. W. and A. — I have begun this project with this series of prints, Poise: film drafts. I look upon these prints in perhaps the same way a screenwriter might build the identity of each character, their settings and the narratives that intersect. Though they are numbered, the prints are not to be read in any sequence. These are random notes that are poised in a frame, but their sequences—even their eventual inclusion—as film are yet to be determined.

Like much of my work, the heteronym is an ally once again. Poise arrives at two meanings accompanied by separate pronunciations. Is it poise (poiz) or poise (pwäz)? The former, as a noun: A state or condition of hovering or being suspended. The latter, as a noun: A centimeter-gram-second unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter. These divergent conditions of suspension, stress and strain will form the core of the film’s narrative.