A Finger in the Fishes Mouth

Synopsis

To mark the 20th anniversary of Derek Jarman's death, Test Centre has produced a facsimile edition of his sole, early, extremely rare poetry book A Finger in the Fishes Mouth. Heavily illustrated, the book combines text and visual imagery in a way which foreshadows his subsequent style as an artist and filmmaker. With the majority of the first edition having been destroyed by Jarman, this edition makes available a missing, significant piece of his oeuvre.

The poems in A Finger in the Fishes Mouth were written while Jarman was in his early twenties, and are illustrated by images from his personal collection of postcards. Many of the poems were inspired by trips or journeys Jarman made, and the verbal and visual imagery of the book often appears as a backdrop in his early Super 8 filmmaking. The format of the book is a vital component of its overall aesthetic, with a mirror cover reflecting the reader’s own image. On the front cover is a Wilhelm von Gloeden photograph of a young boy with his finger in the mouth of a flying fish, with Jarman’s name and the book’s title printed in his handwriting. Like Jarman’s famous notebooks, A Finger in the Fishes Mouth has the feel of a diary or journal, a collection of images and observations idiosyncratically collated. The poetry's playful offhandedness shows a reverence for the work of the American Beats, and little symmetry with the work of his British contemporaries.

This facsimile edition retains the book's original format, with a distinctive silver mirror cover, and an image accompanying each poem, printed in a striking green ink. Additional material comes in the form of a new Foreword and Afterwords by Sophie Mayer, Tony Peake and Keith Collins.