WRITING IN PRACTICE VOL 10

ABSTRACT

This article emerges from a larger project: to develop new modes of responding, in ways that might be understood as ekphrastic, to modern and especially abstract works of art. It posits different ways of looking, in contrast with the poet believing that they know where to look and what is to be considered important. I want to emphasise the point that unknowing can be a creative device. Methodologically, I draw on Georges Perec and art historian Giovanni Morelli. What they have in common is a concern for how attention is directed and how to cultivate methods that enable an even or free-floating perception, where all elements of the image are given equal weight. Employing a pedagogic approach (where my poem might focus on trifling or marginal details, or show other ways of looking), and procedural and Oulipo techniques, I demonstrate an innovative mode of ekphrasis.

KEYWORDS

ekphrasis; modern; art; poetry; image; abstraction; subjectivity 

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE

Wright, Patrick (2024) The Ekphrasis of Abstract Paintings through Oulipo and Other Critical Techniques, Writing in Practice. 10. 99-113. DOI: 10.62959/WIP-10-2024-08