Haptic poetry

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Alternative poetry
Spoken poetry
Oral tradition Oral interpretation Oral literature Oral poetry • Ethnopoetics Poetry reading How to read poetry out loud Performance poetry How to perform poetry Sound poetry • Slam poetry Spoken word • Rap • Dub
Found poetry
Cento  • Erasure poetry Cut-up technique Flarf • Spoetry
Visual poetry
Pattern poetry Carmen figuratum Diamante • Calligram Concrete poetry How to write a concrete poem Haptic poetry Concrete and visual poets
Digital poetry
Hypertext poetry Interactive poetry

Haptic poetry, like visual poetry and sound poetry, is a liminal art form combining characteristics of typography and sculpture to create objects not only to be seen, but to be touched and manipulated. Indeed, in haptic poetry, the sense of touch (and, to a lesser extent, the other senses) is equal to, if not more important than, the sense of sight, yet both text-based poetry and haptic poetry have the same goals: to create an aesthetic effect in the minds of the intended audience.

History

The history of "poetic objects" may be traced back to the Dada productions of Marcel Duchamp and Kurt Schwitters, and to the surrealistic boxes of Joseph Cornell (among others), as well as Fluxus objects and editions, but an even older tradition of charms, talismans, Gnostic gems, seals, and fetishistic objects exists. A further tradition exists in the use and exploration of braille in the creation of literary texts. Yet another and more recent tradition that feeds into the idea of "poetic objects" is the creation of artist's books.

The ever-widening application of haptic poetics to the burgeoning field of digital art, with the creation of increasingly sophisticated, interactive and virtual environments, has yet to be properly documented.

Haptic poets

Contemporary haptic poets of note include Julian Blaine (France), John Furnival (USA), Kathy Ernst (USA), Ian Hamilton Finlay (Scotland), and Kitasono Katue, Takahashi Shohachiro, Ay-O, Ozono Yumiko, Mori Ikuo, Nakayama Yutaka, Kubota Jun, Aoiki Eime, and Hayashi Michiyo (Japan).

See also

• Readymades of Marcel Duchamp
• Why Not Sneeze Rrose Sélavy?
• Kurt Schwitters
• Joseph Cornell
• Fluxus

External links

• The Pace, a haptic poem by Elizabeth Knipe
• Scores by Justinkatko and Katharine Frank
• Stream of Consciousness, a haptic poem by Tom White and David Small c.1998.
• Ekleksographia Haptic Poetry Issue