Concrete poetry is a form of poetry that has been around since the 1500s, and was originally called "pattern poetry" or "shape poetry". It is a type of poetry in which the meaning or effect of the poems are conveyed partly or wholly by visual means. The definition used to extend into the realm of visual poetry, but in 1968, Mary Ellen Solt identified that certain trends included under the concrete poetry label were shifting towards a "new visual poetry", and in 2008 Marvin Snacker extended her thoughts by saying "I define concrete poems as those in which only letters and/or words are utilized to form a visual image, whereas visual poems constitute those in which images are integrated into the text of the poem."
Anatol Knotek, an Vienna-based, Austrian born artist, is another artist whose work I can file under "Art that makes me go omg yesss". Knotek deals in visual poetry, a type of text work that I've come across before but never identified as an actual thing. His pieces are wonderful: funny and clever, but also really poignant and thought provoking.
This isn't really anything to do with the art, but have you every played Dingbats? For those unfamiliar, Dingbats is a game that involves solving puzzles in which common sayings or words are hidden in the cryptic arrangement of words or letters. I used to play Dingbats all the time with my family when I was younger, and Knotek's visual poems really remind me of the puzzles the game had to offer.
Also, an an interesting aside, this type of puzzle is called a 'rebus', an allusionary device in which some words or parts of words in a phrase are represented by pictures. Rebuses were commonly used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames, apparently, but they have made a dramatic comeback in popular culture with the use of emojis. For example: please go and check out Anatol Knotek's work on his
website, Tumblr, and Instagram, because it's 🔥🔥🔥
Also, an an interesting aside, this type of puzzle is called a 'rebus', an allusionary device in which some words or parts of words in a phrase are represented by pictures. Rebuses were commonly used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames, apparently, but they have made a dramatic comeback in popular culture with the use of emojis. For example: please go and check out Anatol Knotek's work on his
website, Tumblr, and Instagram, because it's 🔥🔥🔥