Join us for Salon Night – Lyrical Code: Visualizing Generative Poetry

Sunday, June 30th, 2019 5-7pm

Featuring the art of generative poet Nate Smith in collaboration with generative video artist James Pricer 

Poetry is a writing form well suited to the generative medium. Like generative video, poetry uses rhythm, sound, and meaning to activate emotional memories that allow us to find patterns and construct purpose. The exhibition Lyrical Code features three new collaborative artworks that transform existing generative verse into generative videos. The collaborating partners are poet Nate Smith and video artist James Pricer.

These works of video poetry have an ambient pace that allows the underlying systems and lyrical concepts to reveal themselves slowly. We become aware of patterns and symbols, and over time assign meaning and emotional states to these moving marks. Knowing that poetry is the underlying source of the videos changes how we perceive the abstract imagery. Our personal interpretations feel less like a guessing game and more like a responsive, imaginative exercise; much like the hearing or reading of a poem. 

The show also features the “Hello World” series of transparent prints by Shirley Steele Ph.D., Brain and Language. 

Title “Escape” (still from video) Generative Poetry by Nate Smith & Generative Video by James Pricer 

Title “Notebook” (still from video) Generative Poetry by Nate Smith & Generative Video by James Pricer 

Title “Chiastic” Generative Poetry by Nate Smith & Generative Video by James Pricer

“Hello World” by Shirley Steele, Ph.D. 

“Visual motifs that turn up in my work include ancient writing systems like hieroglyphics and runes, contemporary memes like power-up buttons and emojis, and modern writing systems made of disparate graphemes and signs, which nonetheless express the same ideas. I am interested in how language makes thinking possible, in whether the structure of thought is influenced by the use of a particular language, and in how thinking is influenced by interaction with technology. Visual investigation of these abstract questions yields unique insights, and also expands the very nature of art.”                                          – Shirley Steele Ph.D.  

“Hello World” is a series of ink on acetate prints with hand-painted elements; featured languages including Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Punjabi, English, and Tamil.