Poetry is a product of words. Words give poetry its shape and substance, whether they are summoned through hours of contemplation, grabbed from fleeting flashes or left to float out on their own, regardless of whether they are conscious or subconscious. They are the fundamental element that carry sense, sound and meaning. What’s poetry other than words?
This exhibition invites us to think differently about the question. How? It’s not necessary that they leave behind words, although some do. Lettrist hypergraphies blow up the written words. It is not safe to use vowels or consonants in Gil Wolman’s megapneumies. Francois Dufrene’s cr-rythmes and the Henri Chopin recordings. Words are the most common ingredient in experimental poetry, and they give life to nearly every piece of it. As poetry has always used words? Not quite. They aren’t the only element of the composition, even though they appear to be the entirety of the poem. Layout, color, layout, and even the material supports (paper, canvase, wood or iron to name a few) all have an impact on how words are presented. Are these elements part of words? Isn’t it just part of them? Subordinate, but necessary to give concrete physical form to words and allow them to be heard or read? Well, no. Although typography, layout, ink and material supports are necessary to make words appear on a page of text, they can also serve other purposes. Experimental poets and avant-garde artist ask us to look beyond words as compositional elements. They challenge us to think beyond the words.
It is amazing to see the variety and range of experimental poetry. The drive to discover expressive potential in the physical, nonverbal side of poetry has been a driving force for over a century. Post-Impressionists, like Cubists, set the stage for modern art’s revolution by exploring the flatness and physical properties of paint. Experiments with printing, handwriting and voice recording allowed for a new understanding of poetry. They were both deeply interrelated. Modern art and experimental poetry have many similarities, such as collage, montage. The line between them is blurry and becoming more difficult to draw. Both cases have seen the ripples from explosions since the beginning of this century continue growing. They will not end anywhere or when they will.
Beyond Words is a very small portion of the vast world. The exhibition is very limited in its attention to postwar Continental Europe. Even though the Iron Curtain was a barrier to many Eastern European poets, there are no vital contributions. It is also impossible to find any connections with Japanese, American, or British allies. Most notable of all is the absence of the Brazilian concrete poets. This is mainly because they are seen as foils. It is glaring that such omissions exist. The postwar Europe of sound and visual poetry is impossible without collaboration with like-minded artists all over the globe. One need only look at avant-garde reviews like Cinquieme Saison and Ou to understand the importance Europeans put on maintaining global networks. The decision to concentrate on works from the Continent – and in particular France and Belgium – obscures much of their meaning and composition.
It does allow for some exploration of artist and movement details that are often unfamiliar to even the most ardent postwar experimenter. Francois Dufrene and Maurice Lemaitre’s work offer a chance to think about the key role Lettrism had in shaping battles for visual and sound poetry during the 1950s to 1960s. Paul de Vree and Henri Chopin were the key alliances that revealed the centrality of Belgium during the 1960s, 1970s. Luciano Caruso and Lamberto Pignotti offer glimpses into the complicated, obscure, but densely populated world of Italian politics.
poesia viiva
. Although this episode is only one in a series, the scope of sound poetry and visual art in postwar Europe easily exceeds the boundaries of an exhibition.
Experimental poetry was vibrant with color, texture. It also exhibited a passion for sound, sight, and fury. This intensity was especially evident in the decade immediately following World War II. This amplification was fueled by technological change. Sound poets were able to use microphones and reel to reel tape recorders to discover dimensions of their voice. They could also manipulate, splice and overlay words, and compose with them. Visual poets remained loyal to the classic typewriter. But, new techniques of silkscreening and offset printing, and more importantly photoduplication (the “Mimeo Revolution”) greatly expanded their range and reach. Technology is only a tool. However, technology can only take you so far. The terrible trauma of Second World War echos in Lettrist poetry of the first half of the 20th century, in the “transhuman” compositions by Altagor, and more persistently in the writings of Henri Chopin. Henri Chopin is the one who first discovered to appreciate the raw sounds made by the human voice during a famous “death walk” from Nazi concentration Camps, surrounded in Eastern European survivors speaking in languages he could not understand. “After the war we witness the death of language as it was known,” Chopin wrote of the birth of postwar sound poetry: “the Word-Accomplice-of-the-Old-World was besieged and broken.” Younger poets, such as Jean-Francois Bory, made the attacks on the “language power” more intense and strident. Experimental poets vented their dismay at the manipulation of image and text by mass media, Cold War propaganda and the new, more sophisticated ways they were able to manipulate text and images. Alain Arias Misson’s first “public poetry” was displayed in a large font for Christmas shoppers in a busy Brussels square. Eugenio Mikcini declared, ” poesia visiva” and explained the strategy to invert the “iconography in mass media” using collaged poems. He said, “And it wages war like the guerilla.”
Postwar Europe’s experimental poetry asks us to look deeper into words. To see their true nature, we must examine them from all angles. Only then can they be understood and explored for their potential. The works displayed here are drawn from Beinecke Library’s rich archive. It is worth looking deeper into the past as we grapple with text and image in an age of technological revolutions and new media. This is similar to how the postwar avantgarde looked to Futurism and Dada to address the challenges of our time. Beyond Words invites you to explore. It’s time to dig in.
