Stack poems.
July 24, 2007 11:21 AM   Subscribe

Max Dohle's Stapelgedichten is a simple concept. Stack up some books, take a picture: a poem is born. Most are in Dutch, but there are some English ones as well.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane (32 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
We blog
Revolting librarians
Everyware
O Amor É Fodido


Somehow doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:22 AM on July 24, 2007


It's a cool idea but I must admit that it's hard for me to not read them as lists of book titles. That may be because I'm familiar with so many of the titles.

(But, really, I don't know how good the poems could be anyway when the guy isn't even smart enough to write the bulk of his blog in English.)
posted by OmieWise at 11:29 AM on July 24, 2007


I know someone who writes an endless amount of "deep" "poetry" that sounds just like this. I've always wanted to make a generator to poke fun at him, turns out I just need to visit my bookshelf.
posted by hermitosis at 11:30 AM on July 24, 2007


The one I clicked on was hard to read not just because of the ingrainedness of book titles but also because of the terrible glare. But I guess this isn't an art site where he might have spend months composing each entry only to ruin it with bad lighting.
posted by DU at 11:32 AM on July 24, 2007


It's user-submitted, DU, if that wasn't immediately clear.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:38 AM on July 24, 2007


*Ahem*
Uh, hi... um, this is called "Books on a Shelf, From Right to Left":

Snow crash
Voice of the fire
The death and life of Superman
An underground education
Fastfood nation
Men of tomorrow
Come and knock on our door
Wild years
Savage art.


*Bows deeply*
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:40 AM on July 24, 2007 [2 favorites]


Similar to this, from this thread last month.
posted by quin at 11:46 AM on July 24, 2007


We can do this with MetaFilter titles:

Don't go in the basement
The man of the hole
smell like Alan Moore's Swamp Thing
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:46 AM on July 24, 2007 [4 favorites]


Ah, the dulcet tones of DU griping. What was MeFi like without them?

Love the site, by the way, all kidding aside. It's a cool idea. I'm always trying to feel better about how many books I have by convincing myself that they have significant aesthetic value even piled up in the corner.
posted by OmieWise at 11:47 AM on July 24, 2007


Whee! All the books, magazines etc. piled on my desk and return are art! I am a poet! Who knew?
posted by Cranberry at 11:51 AM on July 24, 2007


"Due Date 09 Aug 2007"

Tales to astonish
the writers.
Invaders from the north,
anarchy for the masses.
Ghost town,
no country for old men,
you can't get there from here,
Chip Kidd.

posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:58 AM on July 24, 2007


Oooh! Oooh! I want to play! Let's call this "Books on the Office Shelf, a Poem" (You have to add "a poem" to emphasize the depth.)

The Earth Through Time
Rivers and Floodplains
Response to Sea Level Change
Sedimentation in Volcanic Settings
Carbonate Sedimentation and Diagenesis in the Evolving Precambrian World
Palynomorph Preparation Procedures Currently Used in the Paleontology and Stratigraphy Laboratories, U.S. Geological Survey
Sand


hmmm That wasn't really deep art. Shoot.
posted by barchan at 11:59 AM on July 24, 2007


This one's titled Why Am I No Fun At Parties?

p-adic Numbers
Ultrametric calculus
Mathematical Constants

And here's a punchy little ditty for you, which I call Желтые свиньи, куда пошли?

Differential Geometry, Vol. 1
Differential Geometry, Vol. 2
Differential Geometry, Vol. 3
Differential Geometry, Vol. 4
Differential Geometry, Vol. 5
posted by Wolfdog at 12:12 PM on July 24, 2007 [4 favorites]


Linux in a nutshell
Mac OSX The Missing Manual
Learning the VI Editor
Essential Sharepoint
posted by Hicksu at 12:16 PM on July 24, 2007


Wolfdog, for an English title, may I suggest: "Differential Geometry!" to heighten your factorial subtext.

Though you'll find that it packs a lot more punch if you move the first line to the very end:

Differential Geometry, Vol. 2
Differential Geometry, Vol. 3
Differential Geometry, Vol. 4
Differential Geometry, Vol. 5
Differential Geometry, Vol. 1

Lovely closure there.
posted by hermitosis at 12:20 PM on July 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


I feel I'm on the verge of discovering 118 other poems.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:23 PM on July 24, 2007


Country Cuzzins,
Fisting Firemen 9.
Debbie Does Dallas;
oh shit. Forget you read this.
posted by invitapriore at 12:37 PM on July 24, 2007


invitapriore--WTF are you doing in my apartment?
posted by OmieWise at 12:43 PM on July 24, 2007


Poetry!
posted by invitapriore at 12:50 PM on July 24, 2007


I can't read some of them. Can someone who speaks Hollandaise translate for us Americans? kthxbye
posted by bashos_frog at 1:02 PM on July 24, 2007


The only 2 non-technical books on the work desk at the moment.

New York Eats
Stories of Your Life and Others


I need to go home and rearrange my bookshelves.
posted by JaredSeth at 1:03 PM on July 24, 2007 [1 favorite]


derail
I spent yesterday evening in a pub in NYC asking a bunch of English and Irish guys what language they spoke in their country (and trying to keep a straight face). It should make for interesting future MeFi threads
/derail
posted by bashos_frog at 1:16 PM on July 24, 2007


Stapelgedichten

Worst "Safe Word" ever!
posted by tkchrist at 1:24 PM on July 24, 2007


I'm going to try this tonight. Stapelgedichten !
posted by Mister_A at 1:30 PM on July 24, 2007


The housewife's desk:

Writing My Life
Stupid Sock Creatures
Forever Odd
The Creative License
posted by FunkyHelix at 1:44 PM on July 24, 2007


New York Eats
Stories of Your Life and Others

That's the most profound couple of lines I've read all week.
posted by hermitosis at 1:45 PM on July 24, 2007


Making The Right Moves
At the Bench
Drosophila: A Practical Approach
The Making of A Fly


Can't decide whether to stop there or add one last book and aim for worst limerick of the week:

Acros Organics Reference Handbook of Fine Chemicals
posted by nowonmai at 2:32 PM on July 24, 2007


This reminds me of If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:38 PM on July 24, 2007


Lovely idea! To be honest, I'm amazed no one thought of this before.

I present to you:

Cards on the Table

Black Coffee
Sparkling Cyanide
Endless Night
Postern of Fate

posted by lioness at 7:25 PM on July 24, 2007


The Case of the Lost Objective (Case)
Farmers of Forty Centuries
Ecopoetics
The word museum
The pretended Asian
From India to the Planet Mars
Cultivating Sacred Space
The Grape Grower
Wines of the World
Wines of the World
posted by memexikon at 7:50 PM on July 24, 2007


I have a 'public' bookshelf in my room with a subset of my books, only the nice ones with geek cred make it in there. In my head the resulting poem kind of falls into couplets

Status Anxiety (a poem)

JRR Tolkein
Working the Wheel

Sweets
Java Man

Mutants
The Ancestors Tale

Girlfriend in a Coma
Reed Field Guide to New Zealand Birds
posted by shelleycat at 9:16 PM on July 24, 2007


This was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

1
foxfire
the dark tower
arc d'x
indie fonts
pandora's clock
10,000 dreams interpreted
seven types of ambiguity

2
pure
native son
ancient shores
time future
a clash of kings
the light fantastic

3
the moon men
bikini planet
an alien affair
a matter for men
war of the worlds
the conquering sword of conan
posted by rhapsodie at 10:39 PM on July 24, 2007


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