Thursday, May 29, 2008
5. Explanation of connection
I am very interested in painting and drawing so for my part of the project I decided to create my own take on an abstract expressionist painting. Like in Pollock's early work I decided to add words, but instead of them being just random I used the words from Philip Whalen's poem further notice. Instead of just putting the words in a design I tried to make it seem like the words were placed on the paper like the splatter of the paint from Pollock's most famous work.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
4. Response to a work of art
Jackson Pollock's Number 18
Jackson Pollock formally known as a drunk, and rebellious man changed the way many looked at art. Pollock was an artist who is directly thought of in regards to abstract expressionism. He used techniques which were different from another other abstract painter and were all his own. Much like that of the Beats, Pollock was all about freedom of expression and finding new ways to create art. Some say the paintings like Pollock's Number 18 are meant to be the representation of the energy in the movement of one's body. Instead of just paint splatters or just words on a piece of paper, the Beats, both the art and the Beat movement where created to prove a point. Each aspect were to create a new unconventional style to things that were already in existence. Much like the poetry one can see that the art of the time was also very off beat, new and different from the usual, accepted, realist way of painting.
Jackson Pollock formally known as a drunk, and rebellious man changed the way many looked at art. Pollock was an artist who is directly thought of in regards to abstract expressionism. He used techniques which were different from another other abstract painter and were all his own. Much like that of the Beats, Pollock was all about freedom of expression and finding new ways to create art. Some say the paintings like Pollock's Number 18 are meant to be the representation of the energy in the movement of one's body. Instead of just paint splatters or just words on a piece of paper, the Beats, both the art and the Beat movement where created to prove a point. Each aspect were to create a new unconventional style to things that were already in existence. Much like the poetry one can see that the art of the time was also very off beat, new and different from the usual, accepted, realist way of painting.
3. Research on the group
Beats, San Francisco Renaissance and Post-Beat poetry formed shortly after the ending of World War II and during the Cold War. The word "beat" was ultimately formed using the meaning, down and out, poor, or exhausted. Beats were exhausted from the values of the world set upon by the constant wars. Their poetry was meant to express the world in a new light and bring new values to peoples' thoughts. Because of the current way of the world Beats was suppose to be unconventional and bring back the art of poetry. The art of poetry was said to be lost because of the wars. After the wars many went backed to their homes and tried to find normalcy in modern appliances and gaining back of family life. All seemed to be the same. Because of this the Beats wanted to bring back creative thinking. The Beats were mainly started by the poets Burroughs, Huncke, Holmes, Solomon, Corso, Ginsberg and Kerouac when they were in college. They started living with a different lifestyle than the norm. Some were openly homosexual, which at the time was greatly looked upon badly, and most experimented with drugs. The first Beats created the way of thinking that was soon adopted by many other poets, creating the group.
2. Explication
A Book of Music
by Jack Spicer
Coming at an end, the lovers
Are exhausted like two swimmers. Where
Did it end? There is no telling. No love is
Like an ocean with the dizzy procession of the waves' boundaries
From which two can emerge exhausted, nor long goodbye
Like death.
Coming at an end. Rather, I would say, like a length
Of coiled rope
Which does not disguise in final twists of its lengths
Its endings.
But, you will say, we loved
And some parts of us loved
And the rest of us will remain
Two persons. Yes,
Poetry ends like a rope.
This poem in particular struck me. Overall the imagery of an ending love and its relation to poetry was what solely expressed the ideas. In the first two lines the general feel of the poem is set. The lovers are "exhausted like swimmers", meaning they cannot go on any further. The poem seems to be saying after love is gone it is so "exhausting" that one cannot go back. The next few lines describe how love has no boundaries or certain endings. Death is brought up which, morbidly, is thought of as the ultimate ending. The poem states that there is no "long goodbye" in love, it is not definite. There is a kind of comfort in the idea of there being a definite ending and the speaker of this poem is expressing the lack of this. Metaphorically love is compared to a coiled rope, which makes perfect sense. When one is in love they are entwined with another, like the coil of the rope, but as the love comes to an end the lovers go in two seperate ways, like that of a rope. A coiled rope is actually two strands which at their end go in different directions. The poem explains that having loved the parts that did love will go away and rest will remain, the aspect that lovers are ultimately two different people. The last line states "Poetry ends like a rope.", which again makes perfect sense. Poetry has no complete defintion. It can be interpreted in several different ways. A poem my also end going in different directions. Poems take several aspects and combined them into one, yet ultimately it is the several diverse aspects, such as imagery, line breaks and narration, that make up the actual poetry.
by Jack Spicer
Coming at an end, the lovers
Are exhausted like two swimmers. Where
Did it end? There is no telling. No love is
Like an ocean with the dizzy procession of the waves' boundaries
From which two can emerge exhausted, nor long goodbye
Like death.
Coming at an end. Rather, I would say, like a length
Of coiled rope
Which does not disguise in final twists of its lengths
Its endings.
But, you will say, we loved
And some parts of us loved
And the rest of us will remain
Two persons. Yes,
Poetry ends like a rope.
This poem in particular struck me. Overall the imagery of an ending love and its relation to poetry was what solely expressed the ideas. In the first two lines the general feel of the poem is set. The lovers are "exhausted like swimmers", meaning they cannot go on any further. The poem seems to be saying after love is gone it is so "exhausting" that one cannot go back. The next few lines describe how love has no boundaries or certain endings. Death is brought up which, morbidly, is thought of as the ultimate ending. The poem states that there is no "long goodbye" in love, it is not definite. There is a kind of comfort in the idea of there being a definite ending and the speaker of this poem is expressing the lack of this. Metaphorically love is compared to a coiled rope, which makes perfect sense. When one is in love they are entwined with another, like the coil of the rope, but as the love comes to an end the lovers go in two seperate ways, like that of a rope. A coiled rope is actually two strands which at their end go in different directions. The poem explains that having loved the parts that did love will go away and rest will remain, the aspect that lovers are ultimately two different people. The last line states "Poetry ends like a rope.", which again makes perfect sense. Poetry has no complete defintion. It can be interpreted in several different ways. A poem my also end going in different directions. Poems take several aspects and combined them into one, yet ultimately it is the several diverse aspects, such as imagery, line breaks and narration, that make up the actual poetry.
List of Poems/Poets
Philip Whalen:
Further Notice
Richard Brautigan:
Private Eye Lettuce
The First Winter Snow
Your Catfish Friend
Charles Bukowski:
the suicide kid
1990 special
so you want to be a writer?
Jack Spicer:
A Book of Music
Lawrence Ferlinghetti:
The Changing Light
Kenneth Rexroth:
Gic to Har
Further Notice
Richard Brautigan:
Private Eye Lettuce
The First Winter Snow
Your Catfish Friend
Charles Bukowski:
the suicide kid
1990 special
so you want to be a writer?
Jack Spicer:
A Book of Music
Lawrence Ferlinghetti:
The Changing Light
Kenneth Rexroth:
Gic to Har
1. Reflection
Beat poetry exemplifies inventive elements of poetry that many other forms do not have. Because of the events leading up to the creation of the Beat poetry the poetry is written in a free form rebelling against the wars of the time. Within the individual poems there are many factors that make the poems different. With many of the poems the speaker speaks through the first person. This makes each poem extremely personal for the reader and the poet themselves. It is like a direct connection to the poet's self expression. Beat poets wanted people to know what they thought, by writing in the first person it makes one feel the connection. There are a lot of references in the poems to aspects of culture. Some of the references are in spoken of in a mocking manner. It is clear that the poets are fed up with how conformed the society has become. In the majority of the poems there are line breaks in the middle of sentences, completely going against any structure. Many of the poems do not contain seperate stanzas, but only one collection of lines. This seems to go along with the way the Beats continuously list. Whether it is listening people names, or ideas there are many repetitive factors. There are many metaphorical statements using imagery to describe actual thoughts. All of the poems come off realistic and not far fetched. The poets are clear with what they believe and state their thoughts openly. Beats is all about being free and stating what they believe, going against the constraints that have previously been set on the society due to war.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a novel of the journey of the character Marlow through the continent of Africa. With his travels Marlow experiences the dark side of society. As Marlow's journey deepens the truth about man-made environments and what one may do for power is revealed.
It is clear that Marlow is disturbed by the norms of his surroundings, even in the beginning. One situation that particularly stands out is when Marlow spoke of when he traveled to the first station and was welcomed by the many African workers who were dying in trenches. Marlow describes the dying in a way proving that he found them to be as normal as any other human being: "They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now- nothing but black shadows lying in the greenish gloom." Marlow seemed to find after looking back that the treatment of those lower than himself in regards to the Company, the natives, was morally incorrect. He also questioned the values of society when reflecting on Kurtz. Kurtz mainly gained his power by his way of manipulating the natives. This seemed absurd because the most highly regarded employee of the Company is awful in the way that he treats the locals, even saying they should all just be killed. As Marlow went to see Kurtz's fiance sometime after his death, Marlow could not even talk of the truth of Kurtz to her for he found it too disturbing. After Marlow's journey it is clear his views of society and what he thinks in general, have changed. Looking back at his experience Marlow seemed to be confused and saddened.
It is clear that Marlow is disturbed by the norms of his surroundings, even in the beginning. One situation that particularly stands out is when Marlow spoke of when he traveled to the first station and was welcomed by the many African workers who were dying in trenches. Marlow describes the dying in a way proving that he found them to be as normal as any other human being: "They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now- nothing but black shadows lying in the greenish gloom." Marlow seemed to find after looking back that the treatment of those lower than himself in regards to the Company, the natives, was morally incorrect. He also questioned the values of society when reflecting on Kurtz. Kurtz mainly gained his power by his way of manipulating the natives. This seemed absurd because the most highly regarded employee of the Company is awful in the way that he treats the locals, even saying they should all just be killed. As Marlow went to see Kurtz's fiance sometime after his death, Marlow could not even talk of the truth of Kurtz to her for he found it too disturbing. After Marlow's journey it is clear his views of society and what he thinks in general, have changed. Looking back at his experience Marlow seemed to be confused and saddened.
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