I have been thinking about the series of haikus presented a few meetings ago, and one of my poems which were both supposed to be picture prompt responses. I realised that unless you see the picture it is difficult to know whether the poem is describing the picture or your personal response to it. Ultimately if it is a poem then it must be judged on its literary merit, irrespective of the source of inspiration.

 As both a painter and a writer of poetry I believe that the “medium is the message” (Marshall McLuhan). It may be a cliché, but a picture can be worth a thousand words.

One of the haikus highlighted the Return of the Fighting Temeraire amongst others. Now if you have never seen the painting or cannot visualise it, I could describe the painting as thus:

 A ship of the line that fought at the battle of Trafalgar being slowly hauled by a blacken steam tugboat to be dismantled. The placid sea and sky are set against a vivid burst of the setting sun ablaze in reds and yellows that blend, almost water colour like into the composition

 Now in contrast if I express how I react to the painting I would express the following:

I see and feel many ambiguities expressed by Turner. Am I seeing a nostalgic reminiscence of past glories and the end of an era of sail? Am I seeing the dawn and realisation of a new industrial age of steam., the future? Is the bright blood red sky and water in direct contrast to the shadowy almost ghostly outline of the ship a reminder that she was an instrument of death too? A final glorious sunset or a sunset to recognise the gore and her final grave?

I believe that any work of art has to be judged and appreciated in the medium that it is created. The work must stand alone to succeed. If it does not communicate idea(s) or feelings by the medium you use, explaining it defeats the purpose.

Art, Music and Literature – The medium is the message

There is a wonderful scene in the film ‘Goodwill Hunting’ where Matt Damon (Will) is with his therapist, played by Robin Williams sitting on a bench overlooking a park lake.

The scene demonstrated that Will is not as superior as he thinks because of his incredible knowledge and intellectual powers. He can absorb data and solve complex problems that defeats even the greatest minds. He is humbled by Williams who says ‘you’re just a kid, if I ask you about love no doubt you could recite me a sonnet but you’ve never seen a woman with love in her eyes.’

A great and poignant movie that encapsulates the struggle between intellectual and emotional knowledge. The same struggle that exists in all art forms. Creativity fights for centre stage in the medium that it is presented but ultimately it is the medium that defines the message of the art. Why is that so?

For centuries, painting and drawing was representative of a 3D world on a 2D surface. The impact of this art was immediate as your eyes and brain received all the information simultaneously. The artist and the viewer were communicating in the same language so only the symbolism was open to interpretation. All that changed after photography liberated the artist from representative imagery. Movements such as Impressionism, Cubism and Abstract Art arose and often created conflict between artist and viewer because the language of the medium had changed. Just go to  Tate Modern to see and experience this.

The purest abstract form of art is music, but it only exists in time. It can only be listened to in sequence. The listener is at the command of the medium (music in this case). However, that changed when recording technology arrived and the music could be amplified and listened to repeatedly at leisure. We now debate the difference between live performance, vinyl recordings versus digital.

Finally, we come to the written word. It is potentially the only medium where 99% of its uses is practical and pragmatic: to communicate actions, ideas and information. Nowadays, we are subject to social media and e-mail. Intellectually, we recognise that the shorter the message the greater the action required. In summary: a sentence means action; a paragraph means action and information. Anything longer, information of declining value to the reader.

Is this so with literature?

The written word has 2 forms of messaging which can exist solely or jointly unlike other art forms. At school I read Shakespeare’s plays, but listening to Laurence Olivier reciting ‘now is the winter of our discontent’ form Richard the Third is the difference between understanding and experiencing human the condition.

So, when I read a poem, it is not the same as hearing it read to me. I can re-read it should I choose. I control the medium. Indeed, the media may give me a totally different message form the original content. For example, ‘Don’t stop’ has a totally different meaning if there is a pause between the two words.

When I hear a haiku, I often think that this format purports pretentiousness masquerading as profundity. It alludes to the same rules as a short e-mail at the emotional level./

There were once rules that defined how poetry should be written. The expectation was rhyme and rhythm. No more it seems but is this important?

Well, the only thing that really matters is knowing about how the medium impacts the message and the message you intend to convey by the medium you choose.

Keith Elliot,

November 2024