Vispo: What Did He Say?

What Did He Say? RTomens, 2025

As in you're unsure of what he said because he mumbled or spoke whilst others were speaking or spoke quietly...

...or as in you can't believe what he said, even though you heard it quite clearly. 

People can talk loud and say nothing, as James Brown told us. Talk today is cheap, if by talking we include online chat. Talk's currency has been devalued by the internet. Once upon a time, talking was actually opening your mouth and saying something to a person nearby. Do you remember when we'd go to bars and talk? People still do that, of course, but in my life it happens far less frequently these days. I 'don't get around much anymore', as another song goes.

Today we talk to people we've never met and will not meet. Our 'friends' and 'followers' or someone who's neither. Some even argue with names online. I confess to having done so years ago, but I've wised up to the futility of that. In a cynical mood, I may even doubt the worth of an online stranger-friend - any of them. People request my friendship frequently. I rarely accept. Only a good shared friend may tempt me. Half the time these people only want you to see what they're doing, having no interest in you or what you're doing - the nerve!

Vispo/drawing: Tired

Tired, RTomens, 2025

Our minds have grown tired...

It's conceivable that even the youngest (adult) mind may grow tired...tired of constantly scrolling, perhaps...tired of thinking about life - even as a teenager!

Meanwhile, at the other end of life, I have a good excuse - the accumulation of years can weigh heavy - memories are a burden! Carrying this mind and these bones around for almost 70 years! 

In Tired, The Walking Man (featured in previous pieces) has given up walking. He has laid himself down for a rest, trying to blank out the chatter of text, of people. He wants peace. He should visit the countryside, where the only sounds are those of the birds.

Vispo: Break Down The Barriers / Normal thinking in the arts

Break Down The Barriers, RTomens, 2025

In the shop 

 

An A5-sized piece for a change. I haven't worked this small for a while. One obvious advantage is that density in type can be achieved more quickly than in a larger space. You may notice that the black is heavier due to a new ribbon. This makes me ponder how much use I should try to get out of a ribbon. Perhaps I should change them more frequently. Then again, I've seen many pieces in books which are light in terms of blackness and it doesn't harm the overall effect. The temptation is always to get as much out of a ribbon as is possible before weakening the impact too much. 

'Normal thought' has to be placed in context, of course. I just liked the phrase when it leapt out of a short story. Normal thinking in one context may be abnormal in another. Normal is subjective, I suppose. Making visual poetry isn't 'normal', but does that make it abnormal? Artists like to think of themselves as not normal compared to those who don't make art. The romantic notion of the artists as 'crazy' outsider on the fringes of a 'straight' society dominated by common people who do normal jobs and rot their brains consuming normal entertainment - hah!

Scratch the surface of some artists though and you'll find they think very normally about certain things. Normal, that is, for the arts. Yes, there are supposedly 'proper' ways of thinking regarding some subjects in the arts community and woe betide anyone who thinks differently. Thinking outside the designated box could get you blacklisted. Ironic, eh? These people pride themselves in being 'individuals', not boring 'normal' people, yet they hold common beliefs that are the expected norm when you're an artist. There are rules in this world of 'rebels', you know. Don't break them! 

It's impossible to avoid groupthink, of course. Unless you're worldview is one-in-a-million on every subject you will find people for whom your ideas are normal. Yet to me, it is still unhealthy for groupthink to exists in the arts. Are artists not individuals? Do they not hold a diverse array of opinions on various subjects, just like non-artists? In my experience, no. Or rather, they may not dare reveal their thoughts on certain subjects for fear of being cast out. 

Breaking down the barriers of 'normal thought' as imposed on us by others, be they ultra-conservative or 'radical', can only be healthy for society and us as individuals.

Vispo: Politics

RTomens, 2025

 

Collage: The Night-Comers

RTomens, 2025

 Are they a dream....or a nightmare?

Vispo: Pessimism / How To Create A Visual Poem

Pessimism, RTomens, 2025

I'm not pessimistic by nature but...

...looking at the world one way...

...it's hard not to be pessimistic.

Then again, as I said to a friend the other day, we now look at the world through the online medium and potentially one can be dragged down a dark rabbit hole of doom! Whereas, pre-PC, we perhaps read a newspaper and not even the news, just the Sports pages, or the Arts (having only glanced at the headlines on the front page). We could choose because it was all contained within one manageable package and not the open-ended internet to which there is no end, no closure.

To avoid too much online news I make visual poetry. I would say it keeps me sane, but sometimes the act of creation can spark a kind of craziness. Mostly, though, it does keep me sane, except for the other day, when I started to lose my mind as it triggered my fingers on the keys of the typewriter. I was typing with no purpose. I was creating unsatisfactory work! Lots of it!

How could I get back on the right track?

Take a long break.

Think again.

Someone recently asked how I created the lines of text in a piece of work. I explained that a wide carriage typewriter was necessary to turn the A4 paper, thus getting the required angles. That was easy to answer. Someone once asked how visual poetry was made. Hmm...how could I answer that? I recall shrugging with a stupid grin on my face. 

Most people, understandably, don't even know what visual poetry is, never mind how it's made. That, dear reader, is why I have not got rich or made a living from visual poetry.

Any tool can be used to make visual poetry, from the humble pencil to software. Here I should say what visual poetry actually is, but that's almost as tricky as saying what Art is so I won't attempt a definitive answer, except to say that in my book visual poetry must feature letters or words. Don't laugh; I've seen quite a bit that doesn't, but is called visual poetry and even gets featured in books. 

All text can be deconstructed and all letters can be singular marks as opposed to forming words. Words can be played with, rearranged to make non and new sense. Visual poetry is ultimately playing with language and the components of language. I consider some of William Burroughs cut-ups to be a form of visual poetry. 

Recently I've been experimenting with a looser style involving marks made by pen or carbon, random lines and squiggles (see above). I've been making messier pieces. Not that I have ever been one for formal precision. This approach challenges the idea that a piece must be visually 'appealing'. Geometry, shapes, some colour, some bold forms all increase the chances of a piece appealing to the viewer. They help to create an impact. Since everyone is rapidly scrolling as opposed to standing in a gallery, to gain attention a piece of visual poetry needs to be eye-catching. If, that is, you want to maximise the chances of being properly seen and appreciated. But we know where that goes. 

Pandering to what one thinks the viewer wants is a trap I try to avoid. Why? Because life's too short (and getting shorter for me) to be worrying about what might get more 'likes', retweets etc. If I don't do what I want now, when will I? If I'm not free to do as I like now, when will I be free?

I didn't answer the question in the post header. I intended to before realising I had nothing to say about how to create a visual poem. 

Sorry 'bout that.

TTFN