NEWSPAPER BLACKOUT POEMS

CATASTROPHE INTO NOTHING

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 | Permalink

with little to gain or lose / he was red and unfinished and forward / i don't know how many times over the years / he looked up a dress / with owlish eyes / and somehow turned catastrophe into nothing

This is poem 8 out of 30 celebrating April as National Poetry Month (Inter)national Newspaper Blackout Poetry Month!

There’s nothing especially remarkable about this poem, except for the fact that I did it live in front of a camera. Because I don’t keep track of time while I’m making them, I never really know how long these things usually take—but this one took about 17 minutes, which I think was more of a result of nerves in front of the camera than any poetic ingenuity.

Here’s the making in 224 frames:

Making a blackout poem in 224 frames
see it bigger

And here’s a time-lapse video:


Making a newspaper blackout poem (time-lapse video) from Austin Kleon on Vimeo.

Just a little experiment. Hope you enjoy it.

TODAY’S SHOUT-OUT! goes to Drew Myron, who took a stab at his her (sorry, Drew!) own blackout poem. Rock on, Drew!

international newspaper blackout poetry month

Become a fan of the poems on Facebook

Blog Widget by LinkWithin

See more of my NEWSPAPER BLACKOUT POEMS

Read more posts about: , , ,




4 Comments on “CATASTROPHE INTO NOTHING”

  1. j Says:
    April 8th, 2009 at 10:14 pm

    great idea. love it. what’s the music?

  2. Austin Kleon Says:
    April 8th, 2009 at 11:51 pm

    Thanks, J. That’s actually a little ukulele four-track recording I did a couple years ago!

  3. drew Says:
    April 9th, 2009 at 10:55 am

    Austin,
    Thanks for the shout. (Just a note, I’m a ‘she’ not a ‘he.’ don’t worry – sigh – it happens a lot.)

    Love the time-lapse poem!

    thanks again,
    drew

  4. Austin Kleon Says:
    April 9th, 2009 at 11:00 am

    Damn, I’m sorry, Drew! Fixed it.