Digital literature that demonstrates the influence of dadaism is the poem "This is not a Poem" by Alan Bigelow. Dada is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary as " a movement in art and literature based on deliberate irrationality and negation of traditional artistic values". This poem is a digital version of a poem entitled "Trees". Firs it is deliberately irrational in that the title contradicts what the reader sees. Clearly this is is some type of poem. It is possible that the writer does not consider it a poem, due to its simplicity, however; many consider it a poem. The poem is shown on a disk with paper clips in the background. When the reader presses play the disk spins and a robotic voice reads the poem. As the reader rolls their mouse over the words of the poem, those words fly off the screen. The reader starts to read the poem from the beginning, omitting the words that have flown off the screen. This is not common in most poems, thus it is a "negation of traditional artistic values". Traditionally the poem is just there and the reader does not get to choose which words are omitted, or able to alter the poem at all.
In class we identified surrealism as a form of art that "rejects the idea that one can convey reality by trying to 'represent' it accurately in pictures or words". Although there probably is a message behind the ability to remove words, words are more than half of this artwork. The message is not as deep as other surrealist poems were of its era. The poem does not consider the poem "Trees" a real poem, not much dissection of this literature is required to find this message.
I have to disagree with your assessment of why the title of the digital piece is titled "This is not a Poem". Contrary to "clearly this is some type of poem", the author is referring to the fact that his digital work is not a poem despite the fact that it is in fact, an exact replica of an existing poem. I also just don't understand your statement about how there's probably a meaning behind the ability to remove the words, words are more than half of this artowkr; nor do I understand how "the message is not as deep as other surrealist poems were of its era. The poem does not consider the poem 'Trees' a real poem, not much dissection of this literature is required to find this message." That entire section leads me to conclude that you probably didn't understand much of what we discussed in class, especially the "This is not a Pipe" part.
ReplyDeleteSang, I'm still unclear of what part of class inferred that there was only one interpretation to the poem. This leads me to think that you were not present for the whole conversation because two different views were shared. We discussed the poems similarity to the "This is Not a Pipe" picture, however, we also discussed certain people's feelings towards the poem "Trees". It is possible that the poet meant his work was not a poem in both ways, it was digital art of the poem, and the poem "Trees" was not a "real" poem; however, I decided to focus more on the latter.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, when I talk about the contradiction of the title to what the reader sees, I am discussing what the READER sees, and not necessarily what the author means. The fact that the reader sees one thing, and the author means something deeper is what poetry of the Dada error was about, and that is the point that I am trying to make.
Next, my statement on "the message is not as deep as other surrealist poems were of its era. The poem does not consider the poem 'Trees' a real poem, not much dissection of this literature is required to find this message." is also, my personal opinion. You are entitled to yours. However, it is not hard to see that the author, probably did not consider the poem "Trees" a poem, or he does not consider a digital version of the poem, a poem. We did not have to go line by line, or click on a million different links to get to that conclusion. That is what was meant by that statement. Next time I'll try to be more detailed on my statements.