Chapter I, April 2024

 

We are thrilled to unveil ‘Visual Poetry’, Atelier’s first group show in 2024.

 

Within the ever-evolving domain of artistic expression, Visual Poetry serves as a testament to the dynamic tension between the timeless tradition of writing poetry and innovation. We are naturally keen to explore the union of generative art with visual poetry, and for our first group show under this vast heading, welcome endeavors across three subcategories:

 

• Typography and Design: How typographical elements convey meaning, emotion, and aesthetic appeal to a generative art project.

• Language-Based Art: Using words and visual elements to explore the interplay between linguistic constructs and artistic form.

• Signs and Symbols: A semiotic approach to crafting visual narratives that transcend language barriers, using symbols as a universal language to communicate ideas and emotions.

 

Rooted in the ancient traditions of oral expression, poetry emerged as an art form intimately bound to the spoken word, evolving from its primordial oral incarnation to a written medium. Its roots run deep into the collective human consciousness, providing the conceptual framework from which diverse forms of art have blossomed. In a fundamental sense, everyone is a poet because no one stands outside of language. Coding is by extension another means of poetic expression. 

 

The advent of visual poetry in the late 1950s and early 1960s marked a transformative juncture in the evolution of interdisciplinary artistic expression. Avant-garde art movements such as Fluxus, and poets such as Emmett Williams and Öyvind Fahlström, sought to transcend the confines of traditional written verse, and ventured into ‘Concrete Poetry’, which leveraged the visual medium and opened a space for a new form and quality of expression. Visual poetry, with its atemporal quality and nonlinear structures, embodies a departure from conventional linguistic constraints. By merging linguistic elements with visual aesthetics, it challenges the viewer to engage in a multifaceted exploration of meaning, unbound by the linear progression inherent in traditional poetry, and often unencumbered by actual words. In this radical departure, visual poetry also becomes an expression of the malleability of artistic forms, offering a lens through which to perceive and contemplate the essence of language and expression. 

 

The fusion of generative, algorithmic art with visual poetry represents an interplay between technological innovation and the enduring human drive for creative expression. The unpredictable dynamism introduced by aleatoric elements in algorithmic processes injects a spontaneous vitality into visual poetry, mirroring the capricious nature inherent in traditional poetic creation. From typography to inventive manipulations of language, signs and symbols, the expansive realm of visual poetry adapts and evolves, embracing the collaborative influence of algorithms. In this symbiotic relationship, algorithms act as creative partners, introducing an element of chance that resonates with the unpredictable currents of human thought and emotion. By incorporating generative techniques, visual poetry opens pathways to explore the intersection of human creativity and computational ingenuity.

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Ongoing Explorations

 

In establishing our collective, we embarked on a journey exploring three expansive creative themes. After 'Outliers', 'Visual Poetry' marks the beginning of our second theme. Our third and upcoming theme engages in an experiential inquiry into color.

 

Given the vastness of these themes, we envision ongoing explorations rather than one-off releases, ensuring a continuous engagement with each theme by a growing number of artists. This approach contrasts with conventional standalone group shows.