andrew topel
technology and poetry
anyone who lives in a home with electricity most likely does not come home and light a candle to see around but instead flips on the light switch. similarly, anyone who has a microwave to cook a frozen meal will most likely use it rather then starting a fire to thaw and cook the food. in the same way, i use technology to help craft visual poetry, embracing and taking advantage of technology to push the possibilities of the poem, moving forward rather then stepping backwards. abstract art has been a part of culture for decades now. it's past time for abstract writing to hold a similar place.
my poetic weapons are a scanner, a computer, a photoshop program, a publisher software that allows me to resize, re-shape, re-envision, overlap - a near limitless ability to bend the poem's reality. i take the very ink of each letter, its black shape against the white of the page, and use it to create a thought-composition. if a picture is worth a thousand words, then visual poetry has much to say.
letters swarm in my mind, colliding and congealing to form fully comprehendible thoughts, but one goal of the visual poem is to capture thoughts that need to move beyond a standard language of communication. i also need a way to visually show how the thought-process works. enter visualanguage; it manifests through technology at this point.
the mind - this is where poetry begins, this is where technology begins. invisible thoughts to solid reality. first we thunk it, then we done it. technology - another tool for the poet to use. the concrete workers/writers used the photocopy machine to help build architexture. technology mixed with chemical aggregates to cement their thoughts. i use whatever i can get my hands on, my thoughts around, my tongue to taste, my words to take visual form through/onto the computer screen, sending them through the electronic airwaves. from blood cells and brain-waves to gigahertz, from hand to keystroke, from eye to screen - vviissiioonnss from my optical outlets. technology: tech nine-ology: model kg-9 submachine gun loaded with 26 alphabullets, safety off, firing to pierce the mental walls, to kill ancient, chained-down methods of creating a poem. mind coded poetry decoded by the computer program, re-coded in coats of cement from the concrete influence. thought data. compilers translate. mnemonic sub-outlets reduce programmer error. blood type AMD Athlon 64. opcode machine language fills my lungs as i exhale visual language.
anyone who lives in a home with electricity most likely does not come home and light a candle to see around but instead flips on the light switch. similarly, anyone who has a microwave to cook a frozen meal will most likely use it rather then starting a fire to thaw and cook the food. in the same way, i use technology to help craft visual poetry, embracing and taking advantage of technology to push the possibilities of the poem, moving forward rather then stepping backwards. abstract art has been a part of culture for decades now. it's past time for abstract writing to hold a similar place.
my poetic weapons are a scanner, a computer, a photoshop program, a publisher software that allows me to resize, re-shape, re-envision, overlap - a near limitless ability to bend the poem's reality. i take the very ink of each letter, its black shape against the white of the page, and use it to create a thought-composition. if a picture is worth a thousand words, then visual poetry has much to say.
letters swarm in my mind, colliding and congealing to form fully comprehendible thoughts, but one goal of the visual poem is to capture thoughts that need to move beyond a standard language of communication. i also need a way to visually show how the thought-process works. enter visualanguage; it manifests through technology at this point.
the mind - this is where poetry begins, this is where technology begins. invisible thoughts to solid reality. first we thunk it, then we done it. technology - another tool for the poet to use. the concrete workers/writers used the photocopy machine to help build architexture. technology mixed with chemical aggregates to cement their thoughts. i use whatever i can get my hands on, my thoughts around, my tongue to taste, my words to take visual form through/onto the computer screen, sending them through the electronic airwaves. from blood cells and brain-waves to gigahertz, from hand to keystroke, from eye to screen - vviissiioonnss from my optical outlets. technology: tech nine-ology: model kg-9 submachine gun loaded with 26 alphabullets, safety off, firing to pierce the mental walls, to kill ancient, chained-down methods of creating a poem. mind coded poetry decoded by the computer program, re-coded in coats of cement from the concrete influence. thought data. compilers translate. mnemonic sub-outlets reduce programmer error. blood type AMD Athlon 64. opcode machine language fills my lungs as i exhale visual language.
posted by jim leftwich at 9:58 AM
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