Book Spine Poetry
May 4, 2012 10:03 PM Subscribe
Book Spine Poetry is poetry made from the words on the spines of books.
Indeed, most poetry begins at the spine.
From there, the poetic impulse travels upward to the cerebellum, which is responsible for determining if there is a genuine poetic message, or if the signals are merely random body noise. After passing through the cerebellum, all forms of poetry are mediated by the lower anterior portion of the temporal lobe, which checks for basic rhythmic and rhyming structures. The poetry is then passed on to the parietal lobe, which begins a semantic analysis of metaphorical possibilities. The best and brightest of these are kicked over to the occipital lobe, which imagines the possibilities. After this, the frontal lobe may or may not initiate impulses back to the effector musculature, possibly resulting in an utterance such as "wow".
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:51 AM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]
From there, the poetic impulse travels upward to the cerebellum, which is responsible for determining if there is a genuine poetic message, or if the signals are merely random body noise. After passing through the cerebellum, all forms of poetry are mediated by the lower anterior portion of the temporal lobe, which checks for basic rhythmic and rhyming structures. The poetry is then passed on to the parietal lobe, which begins a semantic analysis of metaphorical possibilities. The best and brightest of these are kicked over to the occipital lobe, which imagines the possibilities. After this, the frontal lobe may or may not initiate impulses back to the effector musculature, possibly resulting in an utterance such as "wow".
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:51 AM on May 5, 2012 [1 favorite]
Neat.
For those hungry for more, there's a similar project by Nina Katchadourian , which I learned about here.
posted by eotvos at 1:07 AM on May 5, 2012 [4 favorites]
For those hungry for more, there's a similar project by Nina Katchadourian , which I learned about here.
posted by eotvos at 1:07 AM on May 5, 2012 [4 favorites]
If you dig this sorta thing, I highly recommend Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:26 AM on May 5, 2012
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 7:26 AM on May 5, 2012
I started doing these a couple of years ago after coming across Nina Katchadourian's Sorted Books project.
It's terrific fun – though the results aren't always particularly poetic.
posted by Stan Carey at 12:37 AM on May 16, 2012
It's terrific fun – though the results aren't always particularly poetic.
posted by Stan Carey at 12:37 AM on May 16, 2012
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What I did discover is that somehow a number of these books seem to have formed attachments of their own, apparently for their own satisfaction. For instance, I discovered "Perfume" and "Jitterbug Perfume" hanging out together (I guess it makes sense to them), Paul Auster and Jane Austen next to each other being snobby in their little exclusive club of authors who begin with A-U-S-T-E (this had nothing to do with me; I've never, ever organized my books at all). I also saw "My Family and Other Animals" snuggled up to "Raise High The Roofbeam, Carpenters." I think they're besties who never stop gossiping about their siblings.
Typically, I guess, William Gibson and Neal Stephenson are huddling with Frank Herbert, and alpha male China Miéville is straddled over top the three of them (those guys really need to get out more). I really have no idea why Gertrude Stein and Ian Rankin are tête-à-tête, though.
I'll have to check out the rest of the bookcases to see what other unholy alliances have been forged.
posted by taz at 11:02 PM on May 4, 2012 [1 favorite]