Digital poetry

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Digital poetry is a form of electronic literature with a wide range of approaches to poetry that all have in common prominent and crucial use of computers. Digital poetry can be available on the World Wide Web or Internet (via email lists, for instance), CD ROM, DVD, as installations in art galleries, in certain cases also recorded as DV or film.

A significant portion of current publications of poetry are available either only online or via some combination of online and offline publication. There are many types of 'digital poetry' such as hypertext, kinetic poetry, computer generated animation, digital visual poetry, code poetry, experimental video poetry, and poetries that take advantage of the programmable nature of the computer to create works that are interactive, or use generative or combinatorial approach to create text (or one of its states), or involve sound poetry, or take advantage of things like listservs, blogs, and other forms of network communication to create communities of collaborative writing and publication (as in poetical wikis).

Digital computers allow the creation of art that spans different media: text, images, sounds, and interactivity via programming. Contemporary poetries have, therefore, taken advantage of this toward the creation of works that synthesize both arts and media. Whether a work is poetry or visual art or music or programming is sometimes not clear, but we expect an intense engagement with language in poetical works.

Contents

[edit] Some Examples of Digital Poetry

[edit] Computer Poetry Pioneers in Europe

We have some pioneers of e-poetry in Europe, developing Italian and Russian Futurism, Concrete Poetry, Visual Poetry, performance, interactive art, hypertext:

(Barcelona 1919 - 1998) In 1977 the Catalan poet, playwright, graphic designer and plastic artist Joan Brossa experimented with a computer in order to compose sestinas, one of his favourite forms. After inputting the formula of this poem and the six rhyme-words, the computer composed hundreds of sestinas. However only one interested the poet, and so has been published under the title "Cybernetic sestina" (Brossa, Joan. Viatge per la sextina. Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1987, p. 116).

(Rome 1924 - Rome 2007) In the early 80 the Italian journalist, poet, writer Gianni Toti begun an experimentation where he mixed poetry, cinema, and electronic art. He called it “poetronica”. Many of his works were realized in the 90s in collaboration with CICV (Centre de Recherche Pierre Schaeffer - in Montbéliard-Belfort, France). He is considered the father of electronic poetry. Among his long electronic video-poem-operas: Originedite (1994), Planetopolis (1993), Tupac Amauta (1997).

Italian poet, writer, artist, she realized computer poetry animations since 1990, exhibited in Rome since 1992. In 1997 in the Venice Biennale, in VeneziaPoesia. Since 1998 she created in the Internet Karenina.it, the first net-poetry on line, a conceptual art project where network e-communication is assumed as material for art and concrete poetry. Net-Poetry was exhibited for the first time in the Venice Biennale in 2001 (Bunker Poetico on line event).

  • “Alire“ (experimental e-poetry review) (F)

Founded by Philippe Bootz, Frédéric Develay, Jean-Marie Dutey, Claude Maillard et Tibor Papp, it is considered as the oldest digital-review in Europe.

  • “Doc(K)s” (Experimental art review, Ajaccio, F)

Founded by Julien Blaine. New series (since 1990) directed an dedited by Akenaton (Philippe Castellin, Jean Torregrosa) and Julien Blaine, focalizes on new media poetry. "Doc(k)s" is an international multimedia and multilanguage review of experimental art, concrete poetry, visual poetry, performance, new media art. A point of reference for the international avant-garde. In this review have been published representative samples of experimental poetry, new media poetry, digital poetry. Paper and then +CD/DVD in the 90s. Since 1997 on line.

  • Jean-Pierre Balpe (F)

In the 90s utilizes sound, text, imagege digital generators.

  • Reiner Strasser (Be)

Net-artist since 1996. Poetry related works since 1998 (involving picture, word, sound, hypertext): r.i.c. (reflection, imagination, communication), Weak blood (1999), Amour and conscience (1999).

[edit] Computer Poetry in Brazil

A rich experimental poetry tradition exists in Brazil. The pioneer of media poetry in Brazil is the poet Albertus Marques, who in 1961 presented his "electric poems", as he called them. Albertus Marques participated in the Neo-Concrete art movement. Some poets who participated in the Concrete Poetry movement adapted their poems to new media and digital art.

B. S. Paulo 1931. Critic, concrete poet. One of the founders of Concrete poetry. In the 80s begins to experiment with new media and in the 1992-93 realizes Poema Bomba, and SOS, in collaboration with Cid Campos. Clippoemas, digital poetry animations, are exhibited for the first time in 1997.

Other creators of digital poetry include:

(B. 1960 - D. 2000) Experimental poet, critic, semiotic professor in S. Paulo (Br) Catholic University, curator. His digital poetry works: Interpoesia, CD of intermedia poetry realized with the artist Wilton Azevedo in 1997-98. He collaborated with Caterina Davinio in Karenina.it, net-poetry project (1998).

  • Alckmar Luiz Dos Santos

Writer, poet. In collaboration with the computer artist Gilbertto Prado created digital poems, published in the rieview "Doc(k)s" (F). We recall Segmento circular (1996, technology: web, Director, Flash).

  • Regina Célia Pinto [3]

Artist, writer. She created and publishes The Museum of the Essential and Beyond That, which has an important gallery of digital poetry. Her own work, as Nests & Magic (2007), for example, is poetic cyberliterature. She started to show art on the net in 1997, so that she is a pioneer of web.art in Brazil.

[edit] Computer Poetry in Argentina

  • Ana maria Uribe

Visual poet. Anipoems (1997)

[edit] Short Bibliography

  • AAVV, La coscienza luccicante. Dalla videoarte all’arte interattiva, Gangemi, Roma 1998
  • Jean-Pierre BALPE, "L'Ordinateur, sa muse", in "Pratiques" nº 39, Metz 1984
  • Jean-Pierre BALPE, "La position de l'auteur dans la génération automatique de textes à orientations littéraires", in "Lynx" nº 17, Université de Paris-X Nanterre, Nanterre, 1987
  • Caterina DAVINIO, “Parole virtuali. La poesia video-visiva tra arte elettronica e avanguardia”, in "Doc(K)s. Un notre web” (libro e CD), serie 3, 21, 22, 23, 24, Ajaccio (F) 1999
  • Caterina DAVINIO, "Scritture/Realtà virtuali" in "Doc(K)s" (web), 2000
  • Caterina DAVINIO, Tecno-Poesia e realtà virtuali (Techno-Poetry and Virtual Reality), essay with preface by Eugenio Miccini (Italian/English), Mantova, Sometti, 2002.
  • A. DE CAMPOS, Re/visão de sousândrade (with Haroldo de Campos), Edições Invenção, San Paolo 1964 (2nd edition, Nova Fronteira, San Paolo 1982)
  • A. DE CAMPOS, Teoria da poesia concreta (with D. Pignatari and H. de Campos). Edições Invenção, San Paolo 1965; 2nd edition, Duas Cidades, San Paolo 1975; 3rd edition, Brasiliense, 1987
  • A. DE CAMPOS, Poesia antipoesia antropofagia, Cortez e Moraes, San Paolo 1978
  • Eduardo KAC, New Media Poetry: Poetic Innovation and New Technologies, "Visible Language" Vol. 30, No. 2, Rhode Island School of Design, 1996.
  • Eduardo KAC, Hodibis Potax, Édition Action Poétique, Ivry-sur-Seine (France) and Kibla, Maribor (Slovenia), 2007.
  • Eduardo KAC, Media Poetry: an International Anthology (Second Edition), Bristol: Intellect, 2007.
  • Eduardo KAC, Telepresence, Biotelematics, Transgenic art, Association for Culture and Education, Maribor 2000
  • Philadelpho MENEZES, Poetics and Visuality, translation Harry Polkinhorn, San Diego State University Press, 1995.
  • Philadelpho MENEZES, Poesia Concreta e Visual, São Paulo, Ática, 1998.
  • Philadelpho MENEZES(org.), Poesia Sonora: poéticas experimentais da voz no século XX, São Paulo: EDUC (Editora da PUC), 1992.
  • Philadelpho MENEZES, "Poesia Visual: reciclagem e inovação", em revista Imagens, número 6, Campinas, Editora da Unicamp, 1996, pp. 39/48.
  • Philadelpho MENEZES, "Poetics and new technologies of communication: a semiotic approach" in Face - Revista de Semiótica e Comunicação, D.1, 1998, site: www.pucsp.br/~cos-puc/face
  • Kenneth MEYER, “Dramatic narrative inVirtual Reality”, in Frank BIOCCA e Mark R. LEVY (eds.), Communication int eh Age of Virtual Reality, Hillsdale, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum, 1995, pp. 219/259.
  • Janet MURRAY, Hamlet on the Holodeck – The future of narrative in Cyberspace, Cambridge, MIT Press, 1997.
  • Walter J. ONG, Orality and literacy – The technlogizing of the word, Londres, Routledge, 1989.
  • Eric VOS. "New Media poetry - Theory and Strategies" in : Eduardo KAC (ed.), New Media Poetry: Poetic Innovation and New Technologies, "Visible Language" Vol. 30, No. 2, Rhode Island School of Design, 1996.
  • Directories and Lists:
  • The Electronic Literature Organization has a directory of digital poetry <http://directory.eliterature.org/>
  • Cd-roms:
  • Michael JOYCE, Afternoon, a story, Watertown, Eastgate, 1987.
  • Eduardo KAC, "New Media Poetry: Poetic Innovation and New Technologies", limited edition CD-ROM published in conjunction with "Visible Language" Vol. 30, No. 2, Rhode Island School of Design, 1996.
  • P. MENEZES, W. AZEVEDO, Interpoesia, São Paulo, EPE-PUC/Dep.Artes Mackenzie, (no prelo).
  • Stuart MOULTHROP, Victory Garden, Watertown, Eastgate, 1991.