what is the experimental? lately, that question has arisen for me. i just finished another collection and have been writing a little prose, but through the process i find myself wondering what is experimental? bela bartok liked to say that no revolution happens in art, only evolution. but evolution? what exactly is that? is it a re-combination of the arts? is it pushing language in a new direction? (is it possible for a poet to push it anywhere outside of the page?)
on top of these questions, i've been reading through many poetry collections, and some amaze me through their craft or their creative subjects, but experimental? i can count on one hand the works in the past year or so that blew me away for their experiments. and it's not like i'm not looking or reading quite a lot. so the question is what hasn't been done with language that needs to be done and is not just experimenting for experimenting sake?
perhaps this question is one of those questions a writer asks himself or herself at a moment of change, but i'm also asking it to explore the nature of the experimental without just claiming that what i write is experimental.
can anyone suggest a work that will amaze, floor, shock, or impress?
on top of these questions, i've been reading through many poetry collections, and some amaze me through their craft or their creative subjects, but experimental? i can count on one hand the works in the past year or so that blew me away for their experiments. and it's not like i'm not looking or reading quite a lot. so the question is what hasn't been done with language that needs to be done and is not just experimenting for experimenting sake?
perhaps this question is one of those questions a writer asks himself or herself at a moment of change, but i'm also asking it to explore the nature of the experimental without just claiming that what i write is experimental.
can anyone suggest a work that will amaze, floor, shock, or impress?
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