Lauren Bancale is an artist, poet, and “passerby” from France. She creates in English, French, and Yiddish, accompanying her words with bold, oversaturated images.

By playing with capitalization, spelling, and punctuation, she creates unique collages of letters, meaning, and rhythm. Bancale’s portfolio is a completely unrestrained stream of consciousness. Every idea and poem appears to be treated with equal care and importance. Even though it seems that we are free to roam through her mind by being able to read raw thoughts, the author remains masked behind an artistic persona, hidden behind the vivid rebus of her work.

Letting the artist speak for herself:

“Why-Farvus-Why this. Attempt. At words. End. At sending those words. Is NOT.REALLY.A.FULLSTOP THIS NOT.TRULY.A.FULLY.FULLFILLED.FULLSTOP THE QUESTION QUESTION MARK A marK. . End. MarK.K.K.SSSSSS. And. End. As in me. Frantically resuming writing. A manuscript. Series of fragments. ”A. Mad-e-line. To End.”

SO

Vayl-Because-Unveiled of. A deep-rooted need-instinct-impulse stemming from B.eing UN.rooted yearning to taste what rootED couL.d feel like while this automatic writing’s oozing out of DOTSDOTSDOTS Truth is. I don’t know. I really don’t. I don’t know why this Tongue Yiddish French English and those arcane fragments have started demanding to B.e written.”

Bancale’s poem reads like the unobstructed speech of a performance artist—a manifesto recited to an auditorium that remains perplexed. The words are transmitted as succinctly and rapidly as if someone were trying to say as much as possible in a single breath.

It captures a struggle to convey thoughts and emotions when language becomes a barrier instead of a conduit, representing a relentless effort to find the reason why the “performance” had to happen. Paraphrasing the cavalcade of piercing words at the end of the poem, “Truth is, I don’t know. I really don’t know why this tongue has started demanding to be written.”

ALEF-BEYZ

L. COMMA L.B. COMMA L. L.B. and others FULLSTOP-ONE Others
within the shell left by the shell of other ones’ shells inside the shells of
even more shells ancient shells stemming from new shells and of all these
FULLSTOP All of these shells sheltered in a one and only shell a unique
shell an exact same shell for each of these cells shells selves FULLSTOP-
TWO
So
So it seems
So it seems there needs
So it seems there needs to
So it seems there needs to B.e two
So it seems there needs to B.e two that are full full as two FULLSTOPS
So as to
So as to end
So as to end these
So as to end these first
So as to end these first lines
Or
Or it seems
Or it seems there needs
Or it seems there needs to
Or it seems there needs to B.e two
Or it seems there needs to B.e two that are full full as two FULLSTOPS
So as to
So as to end
So as to end the
So as to end the last
So as to end the last line
YES
END THE LAST LINE AND THEN START START A NEW LINE
START A NEW LINE AND DON’T ADD ANY COMMA
Don’t add any COMMA because this word comes with two Ms while
while there there could have there could have been only one or even none
none AS IN -no-M-no- yes no M is needed to start a new line and when
this new line is is no no AS IN NO FULLSTOP
NO FULLSTOP
A SILENCE
A SILENCE THOUGH
Here it is it is started thus repeat reap-it and don’t don’t think of adding the
double-M word as there is no there is no there is no need for a broch tsi dir
SLASH dir du ikh SLASH ikh AS IN ikh vel nisht sein ein schlimmazeL.
thus repeat and think think of adding Mazel since the shells the selves and
the cells are yearning craving raving for oytser raving for der bobes oytser
vin der pletzl Shlomo shtetl Shloïme vin der shtetl du vest nisht sein ein
schlimmazel thus repeat and when all this is did do done there wiL.L. B.e
five five words left five words left to speL.L. FULLSTOP

Lauren Bancale