On August 25th, legendary Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward gave his first-ever public poetry reading at The Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles. The special event celebrated Absence Of Corners, the new art/poetry book-and-vinyl set based on Ward’s 2013 art series of the same name. An excerpt from music writer Joel Gausten's story on the evening appears below:

In addition to reading seven poems from the book (“Indestructible Youth,” “Hello, I Don’t Think We’ve Met [Yet]”, “High on a Memory”, “Solidarity”, “Perfection as a Distortion”, “We Focus, We Persevere”, and “This Evening”), Ward shared some of the emotions he faced and ultimately overcame while creating the series in 2012. As Black Sabbath fans know, that was the year he parted company with the band over contractual issues.

“In 2012, I went through such a departure of love and relationship; something that was really damaging for me and damaging for a lot of people in those relationships,” he told the crowd. “A lot of the things which are kind of emerging in the poetry are really in my recovery from the detachment from something that was very sacred to me. My love was torn apart; my heart was ripped to pieces.”

Fortunately, Ward was quick to assure attendees that the pain of his recent past was behind him.   

“I feel very much at peace. The things of 2012 are past. I’m in a very enlightened place; I love the people I’ve worked with all my life…I’m through anything that was negative about those times.”

During the Q&A portion of the evening, an audience member asked Ward what advice he’d give someone who was going through a rough time.

“If you believe in a higher power or if you believe in God, then I would suggest that you go to God and see if you can find some solutions,” he replied. “If you don’t believe in God, then try to be as honest with yourself as you possibly can. When I’ve chosen the light of God or self-honesty, my own misery has brought me to a solution. My own pain, my own sadness has brought me to a place of surrender, so I’ll surrender to the truth anyway and go, ‘You know what? I need to talk to somebody about this.’ Try not to be alone with your own pain. Try to find someone you can trust your pain with. It’s really important that we communally share what’s going on with each other. Otherwise, we’re going to be walking around in a very sorrowful place.”

The complete story is available at this location.

In this short documentary from SceneFour Inc., drummer Bill Ward discusses writing poems to each of his art pieces for the Absence of Corners Book + Vinyl Set.

The Absence Of Corners art collection was a career first for Bill Ward. Artwork built from rhythm, Ward was one of the pioneers in bringing this new medium of rhythm-on-canvas to the world. Now, for the first time, he is offering a comprehensive look at the collection and expanding on each of the pieces with poetry, both in writing and spoken word. The Absence Of Corners Book + Vinyl Set is a moving experience for both the eyes and the ears.

Following the creation, release, and various exhibitions of the collection, Bill Ward began crafting poetry to bring readers into the work in a much more personal way. The result is 19 works, each associated with his entire fine art debut collection. To add a new dimension to the experience of reading and viewing the art within the book, Ward recorded an album of spoken word poetry to round out this experience.

Not simply a book and not just a record, the Absence Of Corners Book + Vinyl Set is a unique creative exploration. Owners of this set are encouraged to put on the vinyl while they review the book to experience its impact completely, and as intended.

The First Edition is remarkably limited to just 200 sets. Each is numbered, stamped within, and certified to note its inclusion in this highly limited release. All sets are shipped with Certificates Of Authenticity by art publisher SceneFour. All books in the First Edition are individually signed by Ward.

More info at BillWardDrumArt.com.