Into the Brain

Abstract

My senior project is a 33 page poetry manuscript consisting of a four page essay and 32 poems. The poems in this manuscript are formatted with a visual component. This visual component has been edited into distortion, then given a low opacity to allow the overlay of the corresponding poem to be easily read. Then, the original, unedited visual component has been placed alongside the poem as a vivid aid to imagination in the corner/unoccupied portion of the page. This design is meant to offer as much context as possible for my words, however both without making the poetry overshadowed or serving as a strict guideline as to how to visualize the words.

This visual component consists of paintings and photographs that offer a sensory aspect aimed to evoke synesthesia. For each of my poems, I aimed to include strong imagery that would evoke an image in the reader's mind. This image in the reader's mind is meant to mirror the visual I included for the poem in a meaningful way. I wanted to bridge the gap between art disciplines by means of direct correlation between image and text. This bridging of the gap between visual and text is also intended to take place within the poem as well, this is the synesthesia. Within my poems are metaphors, narratives and images meant to combine multiple sensory factors.

Along with synesthesia, my poetry also defines itself as confessional. This manuscript is devotedly emotional. The emotions in my poems are analyzed and personified in a manner thorough enough to evoke a sense of surrealism. This combination of synesthesia, confessionalism and surrealism are all aimed to create a saturated sensory experience for my readers. I want my poetry to be surround-sound and bottom-less with imagination and correlation.