Optical poetry

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Optical poetry is a term coined by the author Nicolas Nowack. The term describes literature in public space that can be viewed optically, whereby the text must relate to its location or the environment. A relationship arises between the text and neighboring things, so that e.g. For example, a bench, a square, a stone or a lawn can become part of the poetic text.

Definition

By including the environment, optical poetry is close to the visual arts and conceptual art , but places greater emphasis on linguistic expression. The reception goal is that when looking at and reading - directed by the author - often humorous, multilayered fields of association arise. The act of perception is conceptually integrated; The active, moving recipient takes the place of the still seated reader. The spatial approach can lead to a change in what is perceived (e.g. through different font sizes): From a distance, one thinks that one sees a mandatory or prohibitive sign, then reads the words "Stop! Here limit" - and only with further ones The entire text becomes more accessible with the small print.

As with visual poetry , visual representation is important; In contrast to visual poetry, optical poetry deliberately goes beyond the boundaries of sheets or books. The inclusion of what is found by chance, as practiced in Dada , is not alien to optical poetry. The reference of the content to the characters (as in Concrete Poetry ) or the syllable or (alienated) word sound (as in phonetic poetry ) often play a role. Basic for optical poetry is its representation in public space with a content-related reference to the concrete, objective and implicit (e.g. historical, artistic, political, social) environment.

Definition of terms

In addition to the term "optical poetry", Nowack himself occasionally uses the terms "opto-poetics", "optopoetics" or (based on publicly readable sound poems) "opto-phonetic poetry" as well as their English translations. The term "optical poetry" is used with an obviously different meaning in depictions of the filmmaker and pioneer of abstract film Oskar Fischinger .

Optical poetry in the work of Nicolas Nowack

Around 1980 Nicolas Nowack began working on optical poetry in Hamburg by furnishing public places with his poems. On the west side of the Berlin Wall he attached an onomatopoeic poster dedicated to "all self- firing systems ". In the public telephone book he discovered a page that he published as a phonetic poem and his most popular, "millions of times printed" text: "Notes on telephoning / ... / tüt tüt tüt / with an announcement: Please pay attention to the text". Supplemented by the title "Lauter Louute / Lautpoesie" he put it in a public telephone booth.

In 2003 a "Path of Optical Poetry" designed by Nicolas Nowack was set up in Salzwedel . Around 50 text panels reminiscent of mandatory or prohibitive signs with poems, explanations and other short texts by Nicolas Nowack were installed in downtown Salzwedel. They parody official "regulation rage", are supposed to counteract the dwindling interest in reading and poetry and thematically often pick up on reunification or the nearby inner-German border. In the years that followed, almost all of the text boards fell victim to theft, renovation work or damage, so that only a few places in the cityscape are the remains of the Salzwedel "LiteraTour path". Nicolas Nowack's book "Here will soon be a sense of purpose. Optical poetry" contains a complete photographic documentation of these optopoietic installations.

The book also presents a selection of earlier optopoietic projects by Nicolas Nowack as well as examples of unintended, "involuntary" optical poetry in public space that he has collected. In Nowack's opinion, the reproduction in a book does not contradict the intentions of optical poetry - the panels are shown at their locations so that the literary texts are presented as photos.

literature