"You can not will spontaneity. But you can introduce the unpredictable spontaneous factor with a pair of scissors." -William S. Burroughs
The second chapter of Electronic Literature by Scott Rettberg explored combinatory poetics, which relies on the randomness of computer algorithms to create poems. This randomness removes subconscious constraints that writers place on themselves when creating, allowing the unconscious to "fuel" creative practice and form something new (Rettberg, 24). The key artistic practice for combinatory poetics and generative writing is the randomness of the computer, and this functions as an ironic critique to standard literature, which relies heavily on logic, rationality, and grammatical constructs. I enjoyed learning about the Dadaists and their anti-art movement post-WWI, which Rettberg touched on in the beginning of this chapter. Rettberg described how this movement influenced modern poetry generators and combinatory poetics, and has encouraged writers to re-define what poetry, and art, really is.
A notable section of this chapter was when Rettberg described the characteristics of compelling poetry; often, he described, if you read a text that you are told is poetry, you will feel "compelled to make meaning of it" (Rettberg 35). After experimenting with Cent mille milliards de poèmes, I found that this was true, as I caught myself looking for the meaning in the random sonnets I created. This critique of poetry and a broader mockery of the literary/publishing world lead me to explore Jim Carpenter and his Issue 1: Fall 2008 - a 3,785 page collection of poems advertised as the work of contemporary poets, but instead all created by a poetry generator. UNH has blocked a lot of sites that still have this anthology, but you can access it here. (Beware!)
Here's a section from "Of idleness", a poem featured in the anthology:
It's not a world, it's a
rite
More helmented than idleness
Imperceptible worlds in unbuttoned
existence, where earths seemed
narrow
Turning idleness with sleep
Naturally, Carpenter's publication created significant backlash. Barry Schwabsky, one of the poets "featured" in the anthology, said that the publication was "the most provocative hoax to hit the poetry world". Unlike Schwabsky, I found the satire amusing.
Love the cat photo, again, the Burrough's quote, and Carpenter's publication is a fun example.
ReplyDeleteI love your comment on 'searching for meaning' in the random lines you created. We're obviously always looking for patterns, deeper meanings, and other visible changes in the world around us. I looked through all of the poems posted on the blog and while I was reading I was also getting hung up on patterns or phrases that stood out as being cohesive or meaningful. It's easy to say that randomness negates meaning, but accidentally cool and deep phrasing isn't meritless.
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