Print Poetry vs. Kinetic Poetry

 The affordances of Oni Buchannan’s “The Mandrake Vehicles”  are numerous, but how does kinetic poetry compare to print poetry in terms of  what it does for us as readers? Print poetry allows us to hold the book of poetry in our hands, to feel that connection and to be able to take that book with us wherever we go. Kinetic poetry, on the other hand is restricted to the internet. You have to be near a computer to be able to enjoy it. However, with  laptopsm, Iphones and Blackberries becoming more and more the norm, we have internet we can take with us wherever we go. So the convernience is only a small issue in poetry found only online.

Moreover, much of the world’s poetry is only available in books you have to purchase from the store. Kinetic poetry like Oni Buchannan’s “The Mandrake Vehicles” is posted on the internet for anyone and everyone to enjoy. This touches upon Lawrence Lessig’s idea of shared digital media. Our culture has evolved from a sit back and read culture to a culture obsessed with writing, designing and sharing ideas. He argues that we do this not because we all want to become millionaires, but because it’s fun and we love it. Notoriety and recognition is enough payment for this new generation of internet savvy kids.

It is safe to say that kinetic poetry resembles print poetry only in the most rudimentary way; it contains words. The animation added makes the poem inherently different because it changes the meaning of those words. In Oni Buchannan’s “The Mandrake Vehicles”, the poem is not concrete. The words change and so does the meaning of the poem overall. The transformation the poem goes through cannot be achieved on a piece of paper.

What’s the message?

Oni Buchannan’s work echoes the cut up method of Byron Gysin. The cut up method, a form of oulipo is nothing new in the world of literature. In fact, Buchanan often uses oulipo in her poetry. She has written many poems in prisoner’s constraint and text message language. Oulipo is important to Buchannan’s work because the very style in which the poetry was written determines where it ends up. However, her innovation to the old method is in the flash animation she uses to make the cut up letters come to life and float down the page. This allows the reader to see the actual process, not just the result of the process. By ditching the scissors and electronically cutting up the words, Buchannan creates a new medium of work. The animation becomes a part of the poetry, a conveying a message stronger than the words themselves.

Marshall McLuhan asserts in his article “The Medium is the Message” that the medium is what is important in creating a relationship with the audience. He argues that it is not the content, but the mode of writing that is the essential to communication to the reader.  In this article, he mentions cubism as an example of how the medium shapes the message.  The new medium, a painting broken up and reassembled, gives the painting multiple layers of meaning.

The message of  cubism as a new medium was to  abandon the traditional single perspective way of thinking and understanding.  Similarly,  kinetic poetry, the medium used by Oni Buchannan in writing “The Mandrake Vehicles”  breaks existing boundaries adds a new aspect to the work that  allows the reader to interpret more from the poetry. The animation is a type of image shapes the way we interpret the content. Like McLuhan argues, the content is not the main message I take away from “The Mandrake Vehicles”. The message lifted from this medium is similar to that of cubism, it gives us more than one perspective of the work as a whole, the animation gives new meaning to the words.

Picasso, the creator of cubism, recognized his work as not only a conveyor of message, but as a language. He essentially combined paint, canvass, and cut up images and even some words to create a new language that speaks to us as the audience in a way that has not been achieved by any other artist. Check out this slide show that illuminates Picasso’s innovative language. Similarly, Cathy Park Hong’s poetry creates a new language from Spanish, English,Korean, and even made up words. Through her new language, her medium of amalgamation, Hong sends a message of global peace and understanding. So how does this relate to Oni Buchannan and “The Mandrake Vehicles”?

In Kress’ “Reading Images”, he says that images contain meanings equivalent to words, and in some instances are more important than the words themselves. Just ask Picasso. He and Kress seem to be on the same page. So if images can be considered a form of communication, then animation can also be used to convey messages.Oni Buchannan’s unique mixture of text, the cut up method, and flash animation creates a language that actually echoes the language of the internet itself. The internet as a technology has emerged as a language, by conveying messages by mixing images, videos, and text . The fact that this poetry is interactive and multi-layered is the message Buchannan’s aiming to send. The title to Carr’s article poses the question “Is Google Making us Stupid?” To that, I say no. It is making us innovative. Yes, the way we read has changed, but the internet (and Oni Buchannan’s poetry) allows us to make the most of our new multi-layered and interactive world.

A Transformation?

An interesting concept brought forth by Carr is the idea that your mode of writing can change your style of writing.  Carr cites Nietsche as a significant example of how technology can change the way literature is produced. Nietsche had bad eyesight and could no longer work. The solution was to use a typewriter. He began working again but his work was different, his writing became less elegant and more to the point, as if writing a telegraph. Carr believes the change in his writing style is due to the change in the mode of writing from pen and paper to typewriter. In my study of Oni Buchanan and the “Mandrake Vehicles” I cannot help but to wonder if this new mode of writing most commonly referred to as kinetic poetry will change the way poetry is written just as the typewriter changed Nietsche. If our brains are as malleable as Carr says, can we expect Buchannan and other kinetic poetry authors to mold into email-like writing?

On the one hand, it can be argued that the visual effects like flash animation and video imaging can adequately replace elevated rhetoric by conveying equal emotion, only through a visual format. On the other hand, it is true that most kinetic poetry I have found uses only basic rhetoric, presumably to make the animation the center focus.If this true, then it is rational to believe that poetry will decrease in quality while enhancing its visual effects.

 

 

This kinetic poem differs from Oni Buchannan’s poetry because it is read to you and it has no hidden words or meanings. It is simply a poem in which the words move around, a literal representation of ‘kinetic poetry’. Unlike “The Mandrake Vehicles” the animation is this poem does nothing to enhace the meaning of the words themselves. However, the authors of kinetic poetry cannot solely be held responsible. In his article, Carr argues that because we get much of our information from the internet, we are losing our ability to interpret what we read. We tend to skim long articles just to get the main points, but we don’t actually read them. This kinetic poem is no different. I have to admit the first time I saw it, my mind was more preoccupied with the moving letters than the poetry itself . Only after I wrapped my mind around the animation did I go back and read it word for word. Interpretation is fundamental to poetry. If, by reading technologically enhanced poetry from a screen, we lose our ability to interpret and take in all the meanings, then maybe kinetic poetry for the sake of moving words around is not such a good idea. Buchannan’s “The Mandrake Vehicles” avoids the mindless animation because her animation has meaning and is part of the poetry, not a mere actor acting out the words.

Hidden Poetry

Hidden poetry is no new concept. Oftentimes words are revealed to us by using capital letters for the words that will be used for a new poem. In other works, the old words are blacked out. Either way, the hidden poem is the result of some form word elimination.

Oni Buchanan’s “Mandrake Vehicles“, a flash-animated series of poems, is a new and innovative form of poetry. Her poetry not only presents a new way of writing, but it also bestows on the reader a new way of reading, absorbing and comprehending poetry. Buchanan takes advantage of this fact in naming her poetry “Mandrake Vehicles”. I did a little research and found out that a mandrake is plant. No surprise there, since almost all of  Buchanan’s poetry is nature themed. But, the interesting part of this plant is that is resembles the form of a human being, when pulled out by the root. If you are a Harry Potter fan you will remember in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone” the magical screaming mandrakes that return people who have been cursed to their original state.

The mandrake metaphorically represents the poems as human-like. Through the flash animation, letters fall away as leaves, and words are formed from the left over words to make new poems, poems that were hiding in the midst of the original. Finally, after three times of revealing hidden poetry, a bare and essential poem is left, a mere eighteen lines of only two or three words each. It seems as though the poem is being stripped down to its roots. From start to end, the affordances of the poem affects the reader significantly.  In the words of J.J. Gibson, “affordances are relationships”. The affordance of the reader in the Mandrake Vehicles is to be stripped down, emotionally and literally through the sparsely worded poetry, to the ‘natural’, and’human’ form of the mandrake. The continuing metaphor allows the poem and the reader to be a mandrake shedding its leaves to get to its most human form, the root. The design of  electronically revealing the hidden poems is new concept in poetry and in this case is very moving. The  The flash animation allows Buchannan to form a relationship with the reader, so that in witnessing the act of revealing the hidden words and poems combined with the meaning of the words, the reader is afforded an emotional experience that may not have been possible in reading poetry from a book. In effect, the flash animation enhances the meaning of the poetry.

What is at stake?

My rhetorical analysis on Oni Buchanan’s Mandrake Vehicles presents not only an interesting study of the cut-up method and other rhetorical strategies, it represents a possible future. In this future will animated poetry be the the norm or will it be a new genre of writing altogether, like Shakespeare did with his sonnets? Or, will Oni Buchanan’s style of flash animated poetry be an anomaly, never to be repeated kind of like Cathy Park Hong’s amalgamated language poetry. If you think about it, “The Mandrake Vehicles” is also an amalgamated language. It is the combination of written language and visual,textual language to create a new language. What shall we call it? Oni Buchanan still refers to her work as poetry, because essentially it is. But actually it is more than that and I’n not sure if we can go on calling it poetry when it breaking the boundaries. Animoetry? That sounds silly, but I’ve made my point.

Will Buchanan be the next Shakespeare, shaking up the literary world and changing poetry as we know it? Probably not, but she does open up a world of possibilities for the future of poetry. If Buchanan’s work builds up enough momentum in the literary world, one of two things will happen: 1.Poetry will be redefined to include technological adjustments to text or 2. Buchanan will cause a divide poetry into two separate realms, plain text poetry and animated/technologically altered poetry. Technology is not going anywhere, in fact it is claiming more and more territory in the literary world.

Reading Response: Oulipo

One of my favorite poets, Oni Buchanan is a master at Oulipo. I attended a poetry reading of hers last year and was amazed at ingenuity with words. She incorporated technology with text to make a unique and totally new reading experience with the Mandrake Vehicles. The Mandrake Vehicles is similar to the cut-up method discussed by Byron Gysin. However, Oni Buchanan took his method one step further. She uses technology in the form of flash animation to actually show the poems being cut up and rearranged. As a result, these rearranged words create a new poem. Furthermore, she cut up  the poems further than  Byron Gysin who simply cut up sentences and rearranged the words to form new meaning. Oni Buchanan cut up the words and rearranged the letters.  This creates a whole new effect. Plus, it is mesmerizing to see the process. When the letters are gone, and before the new poem is compressed, you can just barely makeout the words that will make up the new poem. So in this sense, the reader is fully engaged not only with the meaning of the words and the poem, but with the how the poem is formed.

So what does Oulipo do for us as a society? It’s creators, by finding new ways to express themselves, find new ways to entertain us. But it is more than that. It is more than entertainment. What Oulipo does is engages us. It encourges us to see the endless possibilities of text and expression . And I for one, am a big fan.

Grills Gone Wild

Grilling has always been thought to be a ‘guy thing’. Just take a look at every advertisement for a grill that has ever existed, if you don’t beleive me. Guys do the outoor cooking because there is fire and meat involved, going back to their roots in the cave men days I suppose. I propose a change in this tradition. I enjoy a pulling a nice pan full of chocolate cupcakes out of the oven as much as any chick, but I also love to roll up my sleeves and get smoky at a grill. Being the daughter of a grilling legend, this is only natural.

Actually, the grilling talent goes back two generations. My grandfather and my father were both competition barbeque grillers. Yes, these competitions exist, and they are very intense. For as long as I can remember, my father drug me all around the state to attend barbeque competitions. These competitions are where I learned to grill from the best.

 

This video makes me cringe!  It demonstrates just how far we’ve come in terms of gender equality. However, even though women have made great strides in the professional world, we are still lacking on the home front. Women can do anything a men can do, including taking charge of the outdoor cooking.  The grill has long been a man’s territory, but it is time to share. Plus, you can’t call yourself a cook unless you have mastered the grill. Just ask Bobby Flay. Some really great food can be made on the grill and its about time women got in on the action. The days of beery-eyed men standing around a grill looking at  charred hamburger patties are over. Think quick, convenient, tasty and healthy meals. Grilled vegetables take minutes. Even fruit can thrown on a grill. There is nothing sweeter or juicier than grilled peaches. Or, if time permits, try something elegant to impress guests like a marinated pork roast or a grilled rack of lamb. I’m not the only one calling for this grill revolution. Check out girlsatthegrill.com. Also, there are even all-women barbeque competition teams now. So, with the weather getting cooler, grill season is almost at an end. If you dare to defy your gender role, grab some tongs and head outside to the grill! These are some of my favorite grilling recipes:

• Grilled Herbed Vegetables
• Grilled Chicken with Jalapeno Caramalized Onions
• Grilled Brown Sugar Pork Chops

Shish Kabobs

 

Stressed? I’m not stressed…..

 

With the LSAT looming just days away, it is time to do what I do best when I’m stressed out:bake. After studying for three months, there is not much I can do at this point to help my cause. So, to avoid going absolutely crazy while I’m supposed to be ‘resting’,  I have assembled a sort of gameplan to kind of unwind. Baking, for me, is a great stress reliever because it is a very exact process and involves a lot of steps that that need your total attention, thus distracting me from the numerous logical problems swirling around in my head. Adding ingredients to a bowl and mixing them is so straightforward and does not involve any rationalizing at all so it gives my brain a welcome break from the strains of the upcoming test. Here I am again talking about the test. Crap.

Okay, so first thing on the ‘menu’ is my personal favorite Ooey Gooey Chocolate cake by Puala Deen. Despite her nasally way of talking and and annoying Southern catch phrases, Puala Deen is my hero. The woman knows how to cook. I don’t think anyone can deny that. Also, she is a complete inspiration because she never went to a school to learn how! She is self-taught which gives her an air of originality because she is not simply churning out carbon-copy gourmet recipes they teach you in culinary school. Furthermore, she is not snooty with her cooking. Her recipes vary from really simple to somewhat complicated, which is why her fan base is made up of both seasoned chefs and amateurs like me. This recipe is pretty simple, and I promise you, it is one of the most decadent chocolate desserts you will ever eat.

Next up, cream cheese pound cake. This is a crowd favorite. This cake is always requested by family and friends at any kind of get-together. It, too is not that complicated. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com, a handy recipe exchange website. I like AR because it is mostly made up of recipes submitted from people like me and you can get all types of recipes for different skill levels.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Finally, after realizing just how much sugar (1.5 lbs.) and butter (4 cups) went into the two previous recipes, I decided to make something sweet, but a little bit healthier. I love oatmeal raisin cookies and I make them pretty often, so I wanted to mix things up a little bit; I put dried tart cherries in the batter instead. I was a little iffy about how they would turn out, but they were wonderful! Definitely a new favorite.

All in all I used 4 and 1/2 cups of butter. To put this in perspective, it comes to about 8 sticks. As everyone knows, Puala Deen is the queen of butter. So when I’m stressed out, it helps to embrace my innner Puala Deen  and go for the butter. Not surpsingly, after baking all these sweats and consuming enough of them to go into hyperglycemic shock, I felt much better about the LSAT.

Oh what a meme…..

One of my favorite memes:

Hoodrat

This little guy makes me laugh every time.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcqOgnQyXp4&NR=1&feature=fvwp

The Great Cupcake Debate

Yesterday was my boyfriend’s Birthday. Every year I bake something special for him, and every year, I go through the cake vs. cupcake debate. I take pride in my baking and I want to make Brian happy, so its an important issue. Sometimes, I get so frustrated with it, I make both a cake and a batch of cupcakes. But with limited time and even more limited resources this year, I had to make a decision. So, I did what any reasonable person would do in this situation: I weighed the pros and cons of each before carefully making my decision, hence, the Great Cupcake Debate of 2009.

Cakes take longer to bake, but can be worth it when they come out of the oven looking perfectly moist yet firm. However, cake disasters are more common than cupcake disasters ( I should know, considering I have had my fair share). That is another thing, I tend to have a higher success rate with cupcakes than cakes. But, still I don’t attempt to make them, I won’t get better right? This is the point in the debate at where I was almost convinced I was going to make a luscious three layer chocolate cake with chocolate icing. But the thought of assembling the three layers with so much opportunity for disaster had me shaking in my sneakers. I am imagining cake all over the floor or broken layers and a goppy mess of icing. Thus, the debate continued.

Cakes are hard, but I love a challenge. At least that is what I keep telling myself. Cupcakes on the other hand, are intriguing. They are mini cakes which makes them iherently cute, because in my opinion, anything mini is cute. Plus, you can hide surprises in them which is always fun. I love hiding maraschino cherries inside chocolate cupcakes. Okay, so maybe I’m partial to cupcakes….this year. I ultimately settled on Black and Gold Dark Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes, which turned out amazingly, if I may say so myself. For next year, I have promised myself to tackle a marvelous layer cake.

Black and Gold Dark Chocolate Caramel Cupcake