Vispo: Sensible Things / Sense and meaning in my Visual Poetry

RTomens, 2022

Letters may well be 'sensible things'...until they form words in a language you do not know. Visual Poetry is an unknown language to most people, is it not? After all, what 'sense' is there to make of letters adrift from a sensible order which forms words and sentences. Even then, language being the tricky beast that it is, we may not even understand what the letters are saying. Personally, when it comes to matters philosophical, I rarely understand what the letters are saying. I tell myself "You understand these words individually, so how come you don't know what they mean collectively?". No doubt we have all been there and not just regarding philosophy. James Joyce anyone? Ah, poor Joyce; conjured up so frequently as the arch villain in literary comprehension. Still, I stand by what I often say now regarding Joyce. Give him time, perhaps only a little of your time and the rewards are substantial. The same is true of Shakespeare, of course, with the added challenge of 16th century syntax.

The text in Sensible Things is from George Berkeley's Three Dialogues. Whilst he posits the question of what is suggested and not just said by letters in the sense of philosophical meaning(?) I thought it very apt for Visual Poetry of the kind I create. Others, such as formal Concrete Poets, have played with meaning, rearranging words etc. It's not something I find especially interesting. I am, after all, driven by the visual rather than literary. I should rephrase that. The literary is often a starting point, a springboard for my visual play with letters. Sometimes the patterns I create reflect the text somehow, others they do not. Yet even when the patterns seem to bear no relation to the text I think it informs my choices when I type the letters, subconsciously, perhaps.

Ultimately, I place no great importance on 'meaning'; thus I have more in common with the abstract artists. They have, after all, informed my work as much as visual poets such as Bob Cobbing. Them and the Russian Constructivists. 

Is it too late for a 'Happy New Year'? Probably, but what the hell, I wish you one anyway!