Poetry of Unknown Words (book chapter)

This chapter, co-written by Susan Johanknecht and Katharine Meynell was commissioned for the publication 'The Book is A - Live!' This book was produced to document and respond to the conference ‘Book Live!’ International Symposium held in June 2012, at South Bank University. It was peer reviewed by Emmanuelle Waekerle, Bookroom, University of the Creative Arts and Richard-Sawdon-Smith, South Bank University, the institutions funding the event and publication. Collaborative practice and ‘transforming’ or ‘expanding’ of the page in relation to the book are key themes of my research. 'The Book is A - Live!' 2013 book publication was published by RGAP, distributed by Cornerhouse and DAP. Abstract Poetry of Unknown Words explores an expanded notion of the book and the archive socially culturally and politically. Using a number of libraries & archives we reference key works in a variety of technologies moving between the digital, letterpress and hand made mark. Responding to existing artifacts, making new works, we examine issues of material values and shifting meanings. This interest in the artifact itself, rather than the signifying text/image alone, gives us the opportunity to understand historical context through material means. Work aware of it’s history allows “a re-emergence of (that) history through detail” to not replicate or eradicate history but to keep the origins as visible traces. Taking the format of Iliazd La Poesie de mots inconnus and applying it to a new series of works which in turn reference extant works by women makers and thinkers. Sections pay particular attention to technologies, their scientific and artistic applications thus reworking ‘thingness’. If the medium is also the message, and the site and location carry additional meaning, these must be accounted for in a re-rendering – the physical qualities of the paper, ink or fustiness of the rare books collection –and being mindful of that which is left out. Implicit in this is our acknowledgement of the untranslatable, the lost nuances, and the stains collected by the shifting of context within a new language or medium. In both translation and transcription there are taints, residues and colouring, both lost from the original, and acquired in re-forming a work in a new guise, with new technologies. In considering the difference between translation and transcription it is useful to remember that one is notionally linguistic, and the other moves between modes of expression such as in music or in painting, or between movement and reenactment. What we understand we are doing in Poetry of Unknown Words incorporates both. For us these are open and moveable concepts – responsive and pragmatic. The literary section shown at the Poetry Library, South Bank (March–May 2012) included: HD's notes on thought and vision: taking the jellyfish as an erotic symbol of creative force, which we are using in combination with an archivist's account. Emmy Hennings' Dada performance writing and puppetry: reworked through ‘Google translatate’ keeping the spirit of non-sense for that era. Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons: transcribed from words to buttons, uses text to generate system and order. Scanned buttons represent words, set out as 'Type' in InDesign leading to a new typography and code. Valerie Solanas' SCUM Manifesto: we consider the form of manifesto as a work, which linguistically proclaims a struggle against oppressive forces. Using Chicago type designed by Susan Kare and on the verso, a loss of information without uploaded font. Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women: using letterpress and random inking, presents her contents page as abstract with digital facsimile stamp. These processes of remaking engage with historical distance and new approaches to what the book can be. We see this chapter within 'The Book is A - Live!' as part of our ongoing 'process notes' - being reflections and documentation of our Poetry of Unknown Words project.