Art Type Identification
January 23, 2011 12:28 PM Subscribe
What kind of "descriptive word art" is this officially classified as?
I have seen this type of descriptive word art before, but most recently, I saw it popping up on Chipotle's water cups.
Here's an example of what I am talking about:
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5145/photone.jpg
I have seen similar art with a picture of a human heart constructed entirely of text describing each part of the heart, with the text corresponding to the shape of what it was describing.
I have seen this type of descriptive word art before, but most recently, I saw it popping up on Chipotle's water cups.
Here's an example of what I am talking about:
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5145/photone.jpg
I have seen similar art with a picture of a human heart constructed entirely of text describing each part of the heart, with the text corresponding to the shape of what it was describing.
Response by poster: Where can I find more of this art? Online galleries? Books? Purchasing?
posted by nathanm at 12:43 PM on January 23, 2011
posted by nathanm at 12:43 PM on January 23, 2011
Sometimes they're called Shape Poems, usually in grade school.
And there's designers about.
posted by Ideefixe at 12:57 PM on January 23, 2011
And there's designers about.
posted by Ideefixe at 12:57 PM on January 23, 2011
Also called concrete poems.
posted by Night_owl at 1:20 PM on January 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Night_owl at 1:20 PM on January 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
lettercult.com has a bunch of these and other types of text art...the best of 2009 even made it onto the blue...some really groovy stuff there...
posted by sexyrobot at 2:34 PM on January 23, 2011
posted by sexyrobot at 2:34 PM on January 23, 2011
Well, it's slightly complicated. There are different names for this kind of object. In terms of aesthetics and design they're pretty interchangeable, but it's a matter of who makes them. Calligramme is mainly used for the visual poems of Guillaume Apollinaire and people who are consciously evoking his works, for one reason or another. There is a figurative tradition in Islamic calligraphy of creating images out of words, but using the word calligram about that is an entirely Western thing. Apollinaire coined the word in 1916.
Concrete poetry is a name that three disparate groups use in the post-war period, the Noigandres group in Brazil, Eugen Gomringer and others around him in Switzerland, and Öyvind Fahlström and others in Sweden. All seem to have come up with the name 'concrete poetry' independently. Most likely they were all influenced by the Concrete art movement (certainly Gomringer, who was Concrete art head honcho Max Bill's secretary). Of these poets, the ones closest to what you're searching for are Gomringer (see his Apfel and Silencio here, apfel means apple and silencio means silence), Ian Hamilton Finlay and Mary Ellen Solt.
An even older term is 'pattern poetry.' That is usually applied to pre-modern poetry that is arranged into shapes (it was popular in Ancient Greece and at various times since, e.g. in the Jacobean era in England). Another popular term is vispo, short for visual poetry.
The best places to look are the aforementioned poets, many of which can be found in Anthology of Concrete Poetry and Concrete Poetry: A World View. However, and this goes for all the terms I've mentioned so far, a lot of concrete poems aren't what you're looking for, e.g. Aram Saroyan (1, 2, 3) and Dieter Roth. Hopefully this will get you started as you look for these kinds of works.
posted by Kattullus at 2:44 PM on January 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
Concrete poetry is a name that three disparate groups use in the post-war period, the Noigandres group in Brazil, Eugen Gomringer and others around him in Switzerland, and Öyvind Fahlström and others in Sweden. All seem to have come up with the name 'concrete poetry' independently. Most likely they were all influenced by the Concrete art movement (certainly Gomringer, who was Concrete art head honcho Max Bill's secretary). Of these poets, the ones closest to what you're searching for are Gomringer (see his Apfel and Silencio here, apfel means apple and silencio means silence), Ian Hamilton Finlay and Mary Ellen Solt.
An even older term is 'pattern poetry.' That is usually applied to pre-modern poetry that is arranged into shapes (it was popular in Ancient Greece and at various times since, e.g. in the Jacobean era in England). Another popular term is vispo, short for visual poetry.
The best places to look are the aforementioned poets, many of which can be found in Anthology of Concrete Poetry and Concrete Poetry: A World View. However, and this goes for all the terms I've mentioned so far, a lot of concrete poems aren't what you're looking for, e.g. Aram Saroyan (1, 2, 3) and Dieter Roth. Hopefully this will get you started as you look for these kinds of works.
posted by Kattullus at 2:44 PM on January 23, 2011 [1 favorite]
To clarify one thing... when I say "it's a matter of who makes them" I mean that similar works have had different names depending on who produced them, e.g. post-WW!! visual poetry usually gets identified as concrete poetry.* Apollinaire's poems are called calligrams, and also the figurative works of Islamic calligraphers. Visual poems by poets from before the 20th Century, whether you're Simias of Rhodes and lived in the 3rd Century BC or if you're 17th Century English poet George Herbert, are usually called Pattern poems or shape poems. Vispo is usually used for contemporary poets.
* I am, for the sake of clarity, ignoring Lettrists and Situationists, whose visual poetry is rarely in the vein you're searching for.
posted by Kattullus at 3:02 PM on January 23, 2011
* I am, for the sake of clarity, ignoring Lettrists and Situationists, whose visual poetry is rarely in the vein you're searching for.
posted by Kattullus at 3:02 PM on January 23, 2011
Since you asked for books, maybe you'd like The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) by Ellen Raskin. It's a children's book with wonderful calligram illustrations by the author. I couldn't find any images online (I guess there's still a need for libraries!) but I assume current editions of the book include the original illustrations.
posted by Quietgal at 4:35 PM on January 23, 2011
posted by Quietgal at 4:35 PM on January 23, 2011
« Older Good breakfast buffet in Jackson/Pearl Missippi | Woodworking without a personal shop? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by yaymukund at 12:31 PM on January 23, 2011 [3 favorites]