Could Visual Poetry be the Future?
Poetry has been fused with different art forms throughout time. Poetry was originally a spoken art that was transferred between people by oral tradition and song. Now poetry can be experienced in many forms: spoken and printed, combined with art, fused with music, made into hypertext poems, and interpreted as visual poetry in short film.
The combination of poetry and film is something that doesn’t have a large audience, but some believe it is the next step in bringing poetry to the general public again. Visual poetry gives a poem a new life and can lead viewers to a particular interpretation in a way similar to music in the 1980′s when music videos became popular.
In the contemporary world of poetry, most books of poetry are bought by other poets and the world of academics. In the same line of thinking most poetry readings and spoken word events/competitions are attended mostly by other poets and the friends of poets participating. There isn’t a general audience of poetry for those who aren’t associated with it.
Short visual poetry is something that could potentially invite more people into the world of contemporary poetry. There have been a few articles in magazines about it. One in Poets & Writers magazine discusses the history of visual poetry form and the direction in which it might be headed. It also points to several destinations where they can be found.
Visual poetry is all over the web in small communities. The best resource I’ve found is the Video Poetry Archive at About.com which links to other websites where video poetry can be found. Is the visual poem a viable medium, or a niche form that can only be appreciate by a small audience? Only time will tell.
http://poetry.about.com/od/videopoetry/Poetry_Shows_Video_Archives.htm
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