Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Poem Art

This is not a new idea, but I heart the surrealism and visual loveliness that brings these poems to life. Billy Collins was the poet laureate of the National Library of Congress, and otherwise a literary figure and professor at various universities. His spoken word pieces are interpreted by various animation houses - each stylistically different, weirdish and hypnotic.

Wouldn't it be nice if advertising occasionally looked more like this? Or if art pieces were sponsored like ad segments - like a random piece of prettiness to stare at for a few seconds.

The above image is from the poem titled 'Budapest'

The above image is from the poem titled 'Today'.

See them all here.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Wouldn't it be nice if advertising occasionally looked more like this?"

Yes, probably,
It would be,
For you and me.

But we both perfectly know,
This is too surrealistic,
Something that ads don't show,
Advertising has to be simplistic.

In other words - thanks for posting, I like it ;)

Leicentious said...

I like it too. :)
And your delightful expository poem.

There is some advertising that has approached this sort of surrealistic energy - Coke and Honda have run their fingers across the edges of it. I hope it's not impossible, if you have a story to tell.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree... However, the question is if this makes sense for them (what are the results...). I mean, I'm not sure if Coke's "surrealism" makes (or would make, in case of real surrealism) sense, cause in my opinion this is not the thing that would be suitable for the masses... And beside that, the very connection between Coke and surrealism - seems very surrealistic to me, if you know what I mean. But probably I'm too idealistic in my definition of what surrealism actually is... ;)

Leicentious said...

What's your definition of surrealism? ;)

Anonymous said...

definition of real surrealism... I won't make the whole depiction, but one aspect of it would be something that is not easily (or at all!) understandable... that's why I think it's not suitable for the ads... surrealism is for poetry and art, where you can only guess the meaning of the content...

Leicentious said...

But I suppose that's why I love the idea of something like this being framed as an advertisement.
you're totally right - likely not feasible. I don't know a single brand manager that would be like "I'm out to sell automobiles. What we need is a scene of an eyeball being sliced open."
Maybe my response is a reaction to being spoonfed marketing messages. Seemingly, the advertising that is hailed as breakthrough is the stuff that doesn't forcefeed you bylines. It's the stuff that delivers the message in an indirect way, but still powerfully. It's nice to occasionally wonder how or why someone actually came up with THAT.
Also, yea. it's art. And it's lovely. and that would be nice too - where possible. A brand that decided to donate some time to pure visual beauty - because they can - would be something.

Anonymous said...

Yep, I see what you mean. I totally agree with you about the indirectness - it can be very effective and interesting at the same time.

Probably I took this surrealism thing too radically.

But hey! I wonder what would be the results of the campaign you indicated, with the cars and an eyeball... because you see, I like your example very much :)) but I'm a bit strange, so I don't count... unless - if you sell things to "weirdos" like me, and here's the catch... --> it doesn't work in the mainstream advertising, but it can/could work in some niches!??

Hmmm, maybe this is actually the thing that is not yet fully exploited, the real surrealistic advertising and its effects...

Leicentious said...

I imagine a breakaway renegade agency would be the best way to address this.

Crazy, fucked up art house films run as tv spots, random street performances, unorthodox online techniques that leave you screaming with confusion.

I love it. Let's be those people.