Hybrid Experiment

•Write down a specific memory of your life.

•Try to write it in memoir form using a good amount of adjectives and vivid detail.•Find a piece of found text that you feel relates to an element of your memory – emotionally or physically.•The found text could loosely/abstractly relate to the memory or relate in an obvious manner.
•Write the piece of found text after your memoir sentence.•Your outcome could be funny or serious or a combo!!!!!!!!

Getting the Knack

Getting the Knack by Stephen Dunning and William Stafford is a collection of writing exercises of various types. I was lucky enough to find a PDF of the chapter on Found Poetry titled "Found & Headline Poems" ! The chapter starts stating that found poetry is pleasant to write because you don't have to start "from scratch". I found this interesting because I never really thought of it that way but that is probably one of the reasons why I love writing it!

The writing exercise for found poetry in this chapter is very loosely similar to the Dadaist poetry exercise we did in class but their version takes all the Dada "chance" out of it. They advise to choose 50 to 100 words from a found text that you "like" and copy them down in the order you found them. Their rule for the source text is that it can't already be an arranged poetic form such as a poem or song lyrics. The third step is to study the words that you found and remove anything that seems "dull", "unnecessary", "sounds bad", or is "offensive". (This is where it REALLY differs from the Dadaist poetry exercise). They advise to negate about half of your chosen words. After this you're supposed to cut out the words into strips and arrange them physically in an order OF YOUR LIKING. They also advised to title it when finished.

This exercise is like a PG version of a found poem in my opinion. It essentially is to make a found poem that doesn't read as a found poem by curating the words in a way that sounds well written and reminiscent of a poem. Although this sounded much less interesting and kind of boring compared to the Dadaist poem exercise due to the lack of chance, I thought I'd give it a try! It was actually pretty fun and allowed me to practice "curating" found text in a poem form.

Here's what I came up with:
(My source text was the book What Happened to Art Criticism? by James Elkins....a dry read)

Refusing Art

a found poem by Em Jensen

Lovely French idea

Thus ants exposed

presume premodern practitioner 

Refusing art

Upbeat philosopher critiqued disdain,

asked catalog claim

Glossy plywood bridge

ran currently

Practice crisis 

Sources I used:

Getting the Knack by Stephen Dunning and William Stafford

What Happened to Art Criticism? by James Elkins

PDF to the Getting the Knack experiment: 

https://secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Books/Sample/18488chap1.pdf

Flarf Poetry

I have recently learned about the Flarf Poetry Movement, which is a genre of poetry very similar to Found Poetry and some might consider it a sub-genre of Found Poetry. It is an avant-garde poetry movement from the early 21st century. The term "Flarf" was coined by poet, Gary Sullivan. Sullivan wrote some of the original Flarf poems in existence.

Flarf poetry relates heavily to the type of Found Poetry I want to utilize in my writing as it embraces the Internet for its content. It often heavily uses Google search results in order to create poetry. Flarf embraces the absurd and the occasional offensive. The verb form of "Flarf" means to showcase the inherent awfulness of some preexisting text. The Flarf movement also embraces community in a way as it relies on the interaction and revisal of other poets. This further shows the importance of appropriation within Flarf. 

Poets.org describes the adjective form of Flarf, "Flarfy" as meaning "wrong, awkward, stumbling, semi-coherent, fucked-up, un-P.C. To take unexpected turns; to be jarring. Doing what one is not supposed to do."

Flarf rejects the traditional standards of poetry through embracing a quality and tonality not typically considered appropriate in poetry. An approach to creating Flarf poetry is to bombard Google with peculiar search terms then sift through the results to create comical and occasionally disturbing poems. It began as an email list- another reason computer technology is heavily relevant to this movement. It fell silent in 2001 but soon after 9/11 occurred the movement picked up speed again. This shows the absurdity of this poetry as it may embrace talk of tragedy in the media for its content. 

I think that the type of Found Poetry I myself have been working in might be most similar to Flarf poetry. I utilize the internet and social media for my found text and my poems often have a cynical undertone that imply social critique of a type of "awfulness" in our digital culture as well as often having an identifiable sense of humor.

Sources I used:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flarf_poetry

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-flarf-poetry

Newspaper Blackout

I have been doing some research on a book/movement called "Newspaper Blackout". The book, Newspaper Blackout, was released in 2010 and was written by Austin Kleon. The book contains a collection of poems made simply by taking a newspaper and a black permanent marker and blacking out the words not needed within a poem, constructing through deconstruction. The book then led to the creation of a popular website which publishes poems made in the same way by readers all over the world.

I am fascinated with how the book by Austin Kleon turned into a movement. By publishing poems made by many in this way, one can see how the changes of someones geographic location effects the diversity of the poetry through coming from different types of media/sources.

This is very obviously a type of found poetry by starting with a preexisting source and appropriating the content within it. This type of found poetry is also extremely accessible in both practice and concept. Anyone with access to a newspaper, which is seemingly everyone, can participate in making this type of poem. Furthermore, the concept of this type of found poetry is simple to comprehend. Its visual form clues in the reader on the obvious nature of how its made. The content, varying in emotion due to the varied articles of newspapers, is always fascinating and playful to read due to its form.

These poems are sometimes very comical/humorous and other times very serious, dark, and somber. In both cases, this type of work can be seen as a commentary on our paper based media as well as a commentary on the world around us and how it is illustrated through media. It also very heavily relates to the concepts and themes found in the Dadaist art and poetry movement. On the other hand, this type of work can also be seen as merely a playful and simple practice or experiment.

Sources I used:
http://www.foundpoetryreview.com/about-found-poetry/
http://austinkleon.com/newspaperblackout/
http://newspaperblackout.com/
http://newspaperblackout.com/about
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0061732974/wwwaustinkleo-20/ref=nosim/

Ezra Pound's Cantos

Ezra Pound was an American poet who lived from 1885 to 1972. His Cantos is a long unfinished piece of poetry. It is in 116 sections, each section within "canto" form. (A canto is a form of division in a long poem.) This piece has been considered a very important piece of Modernist poetry in the 20th century. It is epic in length and has been known to be difficult to read. This piece uses found poetry as it includes letters written by presidents and popes. It also includes a variety of official bank documents and governmental documents.

I read an excerpts of "Canto I" and "Canto XIV" to research this piece of hybrid found poetry. I have to say, even the excerpts were difficult reads. I read it looking for the pieces of found poetry and they were challenging to locate for me. I think that is because the piece is dated and as well as the appropriated media, making locating it difficult for someone from my generation. However, in the excerpt titled Canto I, I am pretty sure where he switches to Latin, he is using found text from Homer's writings;

     And I stepped back,
And he stong with the blood, said then: “Odysseus
Shalt return through spiteful Neptune, over dark seas,
Lose all companions.” And then Anticlea came.
Lie quiet Divus. I mean, that is Andreas Divus,
In officina Wecheli, 1538, out of Homer.

I think this use of found poetry is interesting as it references the work of Homer which represents the classical world and epic poetry. Pound's Cantos is very much a piece of epic poetry in its length and I feel by referencing Homer it is referencing that of its kind, queuing the audience in to read Cantos as if they are reading the Illiad. It is also interesting where he switches the language abruptly on the reader (In officina Wechelli).  Although the reader may not be able to translate the portion of found text, they may read it objectively as two beautiful words in a line of poetry.

Truthfully, I found the excerpt titled Canto XIV easier to get through. I got more out of it and found it somewhat comical;

Addressing crowds through their arse-holes,

Addressing the multitudes in the ooze,
    newts, water-slugs, water-maggots,
And with them. . . . . . . r,
    a scrupulously clean table-napkin
Tucked under his penis,
    and. . . . . . . . . . . m
Who disliked colioquial language,
stiff-starched, but soiled, collars
    circumscribing his legs,
The pimply and hairy skin
    pushing over the collar’s edge,
Profiteers drinking blood sweetened with sh-t,

Although I can't locate any use of found poetry in the above, I wanted to include it because I think he's doing some interesting things here poetically. It is cynical in its use of profanity- something I use within my own creative work. 

Overall, I have mixed feelings about Cantos by Ezra Pound. There were parts that made me laugh and read easily for me yet there were also parts that felt isolating and unattainable for me as a reader. Although incredibly different in readability compared to my work, I am interested in how Pound hides snippets of found poetry throughout his works.

References I used:

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/found-poem-poetic-form

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/ezra-pound

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/canto-i

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/canto-xiv

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cantos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canto

Incredible Dreamz

When I heard that Andrew Jeffrey Wright and Rose Luardo were having a performance at Space 1026 for Fringe, I knew I had to go! I have been a fan of Andrew’s work and his internet presence for quite some time now and hadn’t yet had a chance to see him perform live. Andrew and Rose are known for their peculiar performances that merge absurdist comedy, improvisational acting, and choreographed dancing. I thought it was a great chance to study this performance through the lens of a hybrid genre.

            The performance opened with a very choreographed feel. There was limited dialogue for the first thirty minutes as the four main characters moved throughout the stage setting, occasionally interacting with each other in ways that expressed conflict. The music and lights would change with the movements to suggest emotions such as anger or terror. There were definitely moments within the first thirty minutes where the movements and corresponding music/lights suggested a horror genre feel. However, the performance never stayed with one genre for very long, switching from horror to comedy back to horror without fluid transitions.

            After thirty minutes of choreographed movements with limited dialogue, the lights went on and the performance immediately transitioned into an absurdist comedy skit. At this point, the audience was introduced more personally to the characters through the introduction of comical dialogue. After a scene of absurdist dialogue where we find out the four main characters are in a polyamorous relationship as they prepare bologna/mustard roll-ups while they talk about their absurd days at their various jobs, the performance then turns into improvisational comedy. The characters asked for audience one-word suggestions for an improv skit that actually never happens.

 The performance ends with absurdist comedy acting as the characters get into bed together, kiss each other on the cheek and say “Incredible Dreams” to each other. Following that, the performers stand up, announce that the performance is over, take a member from the audience, and challenge her with the question of what she took away from the performance. After being unsatisfied with her answer, they then place a huge dunce cap on her that says, “I don’t understand art” and tell her she has to stay for the next performance. 

This strange performance merged so many genres, including but not limited to absurdist comedy, improvisational acting, choreographed dancing, surrealism, horror, and romance. Although it left the audience very confused, it made everyone laugh. I loved that it poked fun at performance art while being performance art; I see that as a type of absurdist humor. I always relate to that type of ironic humor and it usually comes out within my own creative work.  Overall, I was very inspired by the performance and would suggest Andrew and Rose’s performances to anyone interested in hybrid genre performance work.

Read more about it here. 

Day by Kenneth Goldsmith

After the touchy conversation about Kenneth Goldsmith in class, I was interested in reading more of his work out of curiosity. Kenneth Goldsmith works solely with Found Poetry. His book, Day, was published in 2003 and was comprised entirely of every piece of text, letter, or number printed within the September 1, 2000 issue of The New York Times.

Although I haven't read the whole piece, I have read an excerpt for research purposes. Here is the link to the excerpt:
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/day-excerpt

Before talking about my opinions of the actual content of the piece I want to talk a little bit about intentions. I think it would be safe to say that Kenneth Goldsmith is a type of absurdist through his occasional controversial appropriation of text (i.e. The Body of Michael Brown). With absurdism it is sometimes difficult to pinpoint the target audience of the work. After much speculation about Goldsmith's target audience, I have come to think that the ideal audience of his work is any American who consumes media. I believe this because I see Goldsmith's work as commenting on sources of media, especially within Day by taking its contents (word for word) out of context, rendering it as something other than a piece of consumable media.

Okay now for the content of the piece. I found that it read really interestingly. I don't know how it would be reading the entire piece all the way through but the excerpt was surprisingly very entertaining for me. I found myself most interested in moments that could clearly be read as either article titles or a successful line of poetry such as "The Rhetoric of Persuasion". Having those words in the form of a poem seem just as seamless as seeing that text titling a New York Times article. That dynamic interests me and I want to play with found poetry in a similar way.

Resources I used:
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/day-excerpt
http://bombmagazine.org/article/5522/kenneth-goldsmith-s-day