'I'M A REAL ARTIST'

I’M A REAL ARTIST
I’M A REAL MAMMAL
I’M A REAL SON
I’M A REAL AMERICAN
I’M A REAL HOMOSEXUAL
I’M A REAL BROTHER
I’M A REAL HOMINID
I’M A REAL CREATOR
I’M A REAL THIRTY-YEAR-OLD
I’M A REAL FRENCH
I’M A REAL UNCLE
I’M A REAL COOK
I’M A REAL MASTURBATOR
I’M A REAL DESCENDANT
I’M A REAL PRACTITIONER
I’M A REAL READER
I’M A REAL POET
I’M A REAL WORKER
I’M A REAL SLEEPER
I’M A REAL LOVER
I’M A REAL OMNIVORE
I’M A REAL PLAYER
I’M A REAL COUSIN
I’M A REAL EMPLOYEE
I’M A REAL STUDENT
I’M A REAL PISSER
I’M A REAL STEP-SON
I’M A REAL RESEARCHER
I’M A REAL NEPHEW
I’M A REAL DREAMER
I’M A REAL WINE DRINKER
I’M A REAL BIKER
I’M A REAL NON-DRIVER
I’M A REAL MYSTIC
I’M A REAL PEDESTRIAN
I’M A REAL NON-SMOKER
I’M A REAL WHITE MAN
I’M A REAL PRIVILEGED PERSON
I’M A REAL COMPUTER USER
I’M A REAL DIRECTOR
I’M A REAL SEDENTARY MAN
I’M A REAL ADULT
I’M A REAL LOVER
I’M A REAL FELLATOR
I’M A REAL QUÉBÉCOIS
I’M A REAL SWALLOWER
I’M A REAL SON-IN-LAW
I’M A REAL INSOMNIAC
I’M A REAL DRINKER
I’M A REAL VOYEUR
I’M A REAL VIDEOGRAPHER
I’M A REAL LITTLE SON
I’M A REAL SPENDER
I’M A REAL COLLECTOR
I’M A REAL CATHOLIC
I’M A REAL MAN
I’M A REAL ANIMAL
I’M A REAL VISITOR
I’M A REAL HEIR
I’M A REAL OBSERVER
I’M A REAL STEP-BROTHER
I’M A REAL WESTERNER
I’M A REAL SHITTER
I’M A REAL TOURIST
I’M A REAL SPITTER
I’M A REAL LIVING
I’M A REAL LITTLE NEPHEW
I’M A REAL SLOBBERER
I’M A REAL MONTREALER
I’M A REAL HOMO SAPIENS
I’M A REAL FUCKED
I’M A REAL SUPPORTER
I’M A REAL FUCKER
I’M A REAL CONTINENTAL
I’M A REAL FEMINIST
I’M A REAL BELIEVER
I’M A REAL LISTENER
I’M A REAL BOURGEOIS
I’M A REAL BUYER
I’M A REAL PILGRIM
I’M A REAL ISLANDER
I’M A REAL SPEAKER
I’M A REAL SCREWER
I’M A REAL SAVER
I’M A REAL CLEANER
I’M A REAL ASSISTANT
I’M A REAL PERFORMER
I’M A REAL ESSAYIST
I’M A REAL BORROWER
I’M A REAL PAYER
I’M A REAL FAN
I’M A REAL PLAYER
I’M A REAL SPEAKER
I’M A REAL CONSUMER
I’M A REAL MOVIE BUFF
I’M A REAL PARISHIONER
I’M A REAL EATER
I’M A REAL PAPIST
I’M A REAL SUBJECT
I’M A REAL SCHOLAR
I’M A REAL TAXPAYER
I’M A REAL CUSTOMER
I’M A REAL FRIEND
I’M A REAL TENANT
I’M A REAL SPECTATOR
I’M A REAL LEFTIST
I’M A REAL CITIZEN
I’M A REAL THINKER
I’M A REAL UNKNOWN
I’M A REAL CHILD
I’M A REAL MORTAL
I’M A REAL EARTHLING
I’M A REAL TRAVELER
I’M A REAL SINNER
I’M A REAL JOKER
I’M A REAL DESPERATE
I’M A REAL LUNATIC
I’M A REAL MESS
I’M A REAL PLAGIARIST
I’M A REAL ARTIST

“I’M A REAL ARTIST (JE SUIS UN VÉRITABLE ARTISTE)” was first published in May 2012 in French by No Press.

CODA: In 1972, the conceptual artist Keith Arnatt was photographed as a sandwich man, holding a placard which read “I’M A REAL ARTIST” to create his Trouser-Word Piece. This photograph was accompanied by a philosophical text that questioned the term “real.” However, Arnatt’s piece remained ambiguous: Was it simply tautological (an artist says that he is an artist within a work of art …), or was it ironic? Forty years after the creation of Trouser-Word Piece and in a similar spirit, my poem “I’M A REAL ARTIST (JE SUIS UN VÉRITABLE ARTISTE)” questions the possibility of having a “real”/stable identity.