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.

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