ART AND POETRY

YOUR WEEKLY MIND EXPANSION JOURNAL

So Paulo, Friday 7th n3, 2014
ASEMIC WRITING
Asemic writing is a type of art involving lines that appear to form words but that are without specifc meaning.
Sometimes, the shapes of the letters or the words may suggest certain meanings, but all interpretations of the
text are equally valid because the words do not directly relate to those meanings. Tis type of writing is ofen
considered a form of art or visual poetry rather than writing for practical communication. Page 6
SPOKEN WORD POETRY
Spoken word poetry is poetry that is
written on a page but performed for
an audience. Because it is performed,
this poetry tends to demonstrate a
heavy use of rhythm, improvisation,
free association, rhymes, rich poetic
phrases, word play and slang. It is
more aggressive and in your face
than more traditional forms of poet-
ry. Page 2
CONCRETE POETRY

Product of a critical evolution of forms.
Assuming that the historical cycle of verse
( as formal-rhythmical unit) is closed,
concrete poetry begins by being aware of
graphic space as structural agent. Qualifed
space: space-time structure instead of mere
linear-temporistical development.
Page 5
Tony Burhouse, 25, designer
So Paulo, Friday 7th Spoken word poetry
SPOKEN WORD POETRY
What is spoken word poetry?
Spoken word poetry is poetry that
is written on a page but performed
for an audience. Because it is per-
formed, this poetry tends to demon-
strate a heavy use of rhythm, improv-
isation, free association, rhymes, rich
poetic phrases, word play and slang.
It is more aggressive and in your
face than more traditional forms of
poetry.
What should I keep in mind when
writing a spoken word poem:
Use of Concrete Language Use
words and phrases that project on
the minds of the listeners vivid
images, sounds, actions and other
sensations. If your poem is rich with
imagery, your listeners will see, smell
and taste what youre telling them.
Repetition Repetition is a simple
but powerful poetic device. Some-
times just the repetition of a key
phrase or image, with extensions of
image and thought for each repe-
tition, can help a writer generate
exciting poems.
Rhyme Rhyming can enrich
your poems and performance if used
with skill, surprise and moderation.
Attitude No attitude, no
poem! Feelings and opinions are the
stuf poetry is made of Each poet
has a unique perspective and view of
the world that no one else has. It is
important that a spoken word poem
embodies the courage necessary to
share ones self with the rest of the
world.
Persona Spoken word poetry
allows you to be anyone you want
to be. You can write a poem in the
voice of someone or something
BECAUSE A TEXT ISNT ENOUGH
other than yourself or with a person-
ality trait that is diferent from your
own.
Performance Remember, spo-
ken word poems are written to be
performed. Afer your poem is writ-
ten, practice performing the poem
with the elements of good stage
presence in mind
Posture Stand up straight, If
you approach the stage with your
head hung low and your shoulders
slumped, the audience wont be in-
terested in listening to you.
Eye Contact Dont stare at the
foor, or hide behind whatever it
is that your reading. From time to
time, look into the eyes of the difer-
ent people in the audience to hold
their attention.
Projection Speak loudly and
clearly so that your voice can be
heard from a distance.
Facial Expressions Smile if
youre reading something happy.
Dont smile if you are reading some-
thing serious. Use the appropriate
facial expressions for the various
emotions expressed in the poem.
Gestures Use hand motions
and body movements to emphasize
diferent elements of your perfor-
mance. However, dont rock back
and forth or wave your hands about
carelessly or the audience will be-
come distracted.
Memorization Committing a
poem to memory is a wonderful
exercise. If you have a poem mem-
orized you can focus more on the
performance of the poem. However,
so far as performance is concerned,
it is more important to learn your
poems by heart. If you are really
in touch with the meaning and the
emotional content of your poem,
even if you forget a word or a line
you can keep going. Learning by
heart allows you to incorporate
improvisation (freestyle) into your
poem which is one of the most
important elements of spoken word
poetry.
2
Dcio Pignatari, ummovimento fromNoigandres 3,
1956; English version Claus Clver.
So Paulo, Friday 7th Concrete Poetry
CONCRETE POETRY
A BRIEF GUIDE
Bye, by Anatol Knotek
While many readers now associate
the term concrete poetry with
poems whose outlines depict a
recongnizable shapeJohn Holland-
ers collection Types of Shape, for
examplethe ideas behind concrete
poetry are much broader. In essence,
works of concrete poetry are as much
pieces of visual art made with words
as they are poems. Were one to hear
a piece of concrete poetry read aloud,
a substantial amount of its efect
would be lost.
European artists Max Bill and yv-
ing Fahlstrm originated the term in
the early 1950s, and its early methods
methods were described in the
Brazilian group Noigandres man-
ifesto Pilot Plan for Concrete
Poetry. During this period, con-
crete poems were intended to be
abstract and without allusion to an
existing poem or identifable shape.
An interest in ideogramsand the
notion that words themselves could
be ideogramsaccompanied the ty-
pographical innovations developed
by these artists and by such visual
writers as E. E. Cummings and Ezra
Pound.
As the movement spread across the
continents, reaching the height of
4
of its popularity in the 1960s,
concrete poetry became less ab-
stract and was adopted by many
conventional poets as a specifc
poetic form rather than a combi-
nation of literature and visual art.
In response, some artists adopted
the term poesia visiva to describe
more experimental fusions of word
and image. As with much visual art,
concrete poetry and poesia visiva
now use photography, flm, and
even soundscapes in combination
with letters and words to achieve
new and startling efects.
An extremely well-curated
website that successfully addresses
the synthesis of literary, visual, and
sonic arts can be found at UbuWeb.
Te Sackner Archive of Concrete
and Visual Poetry, located in Flori-
da, maintains a brief, informational
website as well.
So Paulo, Friday 7th Asemic Writing 6
ASEMIC WRITING
IT DOESNT ALWAYS HAVE TO HAVE MEANING
Asemic writing is a type of art
involving lines that appear to form
words but that are without specifc
meaning. Sometimes, the shapes of
the letters or the words may suggest
certain meanings, but all interpre-
tations of the text are equally valid
because the words do not directly
relate to those meanings. Tis type
of writing is ofen considered a form
of art or visual poetry rather than
writing for practical communica-
tion. Tere are many diferent styles
and philosophies of asemic writing,
and the resulting art is ofen highly
individual.
People who produce asemic
writing typically consider themselves
artists, though they may be referred
to as writers. It is ofen said that
most people produce some form of
asemic writing at some time in their
lives, though not all of that writing
is artistic. Sometimes a person will
write without specifc semantic goals
when doodling, testing a pen, or
even when learning to write. Wheth-
er this art is perceived as art depends
on context and presentation as well
as the intention of the writer.
Tere are many diferent styles of
asemic text, and work produced by
an individual artist may vary over
time. Some people design the writing
deliberately, while others allow it to
fow naturally from the mind. Te
action of writing is ofen itself viewed
as pleasurable and part of the artistic
process, which is one reason many
people create this type art. Personal
interpretations of asemic writing de-
pend not only on the fnished prod-
uct, but also the personal experience
of creating it, which is not something
that can be directly transmitted to
viewers.
Interpretations of asemic writing
are highly individual and may be
inspired by the shapes of the words
or the piece overall. Some texts ap-
pear to express emotions, but there
is never any specifc interpretation
that can be said to be correct even
on an emotional level. It is, however,
arguable that works that incorporate
pictograms may have slightly nar-
rower meanings than texts that are
entirely abstract.
While many asemic works are
presented as two-dimensional static
images either in print or online, there
are many potential ways in which
this type of art can be presented. In
many cases, it is incorporated into
larger projects like books and works
of art. One interesting way in which
asemic writing can be presented is
in the act of creating it, in which the
writing itself becomes part of the
art. Tis can be used to highlight the
relationship between the author and
the text as well as the integral role of
works that I discovered along the
way are the enigmatic Voynich
Manuscript and the Rohonc Codex,
though these works fall more into
the category of cipher mysteries than
asemic writing. But who knows,
Luigi Serafni admitted recently that
the Codex Seraphinius is asemic. All
of the works previously mentioned I
fnd aesthetically pleasing, and I am
fascinated by the prospect that they
could turn out to be proto-asemic
textcomputers will tell!
the physical process of writing in
the production of this art.

History
Tere is a long history of peo-
ple creating unreadable works.
One could probably go back to the
beginning of time. Tim introduced
me to crazy Zhang Xu, a Tang
Dynasty calligrapher, who ex-
celled at cursive script. Zhang was
creating wild illegible calligraphy
almost 1200 years ago. Other older
Henri Michaux Narration, 1927
Yin yang, by Voltism
I Love, by Nicola Simpson
Menos, by Haroldo de Campos
Asemic Writing by Nuno de Matos
Asemic Writing by Rosaire Appel
Asemic Writing by Andrew Topel
Asemic Writing So Paulo, Friday 7th 7
Contemporary Situation
1997 was the year of genesis for the
current movement of asemic writing.
Its when visual poet Jim Lefwich
and Tim Gaze connected and started
sending out quasi-calligraphic works
to poetry magazines and calling
them asemic. I was doing something
similar in 98, but I didnt make
contact with them until 2005, when I
had the resources to ofcially pub-
lish and had gained Internet access.
Today asemic writing is a full-
blown movement. Tere are almost
1800 people in the Facebook group,
with 50 or so who are hardcore and
madly into it. Tere is going to be
an anthology of asemic writing put
out by Uitgeverij out of the Hague,
Netherlands, in late 2013. On the
backburner is a flm about asemic
writing, which I am not working
very hard on, with Quimby Melton
who is the editor at SCRIPTjr.nl.com

Tere is Nuno de Matos a.k.a. Matox
and Jos Parl a.k.a. Ease who have
brought grafti into asemic writing,
there is also a robot that performs
asemic writing live, and there are ar-
chitecture models which incorporate
asemic writing in the design process.
Asemic writing by TimMurray
Asemic writing by Stephen Vincent
Te use of english
if a writer is serious about the use
of language, she or he needs to weigh
up the moral issues of writing in
English.
the Roman alphabet is a collec-
tion of symbols without a theoretical
basis. each letter has its own history.
the uppercase & lowercase letters
are completely diferent symbol sets,
with only a few common elements.
unlike the Korean Hangul alphabet,
which was designed specifcally to
represent the shape of the mouth of a
person speaking Korean, the Roman
alphabet is a haphazard bunch of
symbols.
the letter o is the only letter with
a clear meaning: a mouth making
an o shape, & the resulting o sound
made by the human voice.
more loosely, we could say that an
s resembles a snake, & by exten-
sion, the sibilance of a snake sliding
along. but I wouldnt say that letter s
means snake or hissing.