31 March 2022 press release

The exhibition “Poetry in 3D. Text Sculptures and Poem Objects since 1960” at the German Museum of Books and Writing provides an international overview of the many different forms of three-dimensional poetry. Be it physical poetry, acoustic poetry, text-based films, paper-based works or examples of early digital poetry: the exhibition features radical approaches by famous champions of experimental poetry who demonstrate the rich connections between linear text and three-dimensional form. With a surprisingly modern attitude and clear statements on escaping the conventions of book-based formats, the works presented in the exhibition add to the debate over “the end of the book” currently taking place in the features sections of the major daily newspapers.

The 1960s were a time of great social upheaval. Social norms, middle-class conventions and political authorities all came in for scrutiny. Visual artists questioned traditional production processes and established practices. Artists from Europe and around the world came together at exhibitions and festivals. Avant-garde publications helped disseminate new ideas, works and concepts.

Comparatively radical approaches appeared in the world of literature, in the form of visual, physical and acoustic poetry, text-based films and digital poetry. Physical and visual poetry in particular had a great influence on the development of poetic objects. The newly created textual sculptures transcended the boundaries between artistic disciplines. They freed texts from the flat surface of the paper and gave them a third dimension. The creation of verse in 3D represents an important facet in the expansion and liberation of literature, the international dimension of which has hitherto received little attention.

The approximately 80 objects presented in the exhibition reveal the many possibilities for combining texts with sculptural forms. Media, materials and techniques that are new and unfamiliar within the literary context feature heavily here. Transparent acrylic makes it possible to overlay different textual strata as well as mirroring and reflective effects. Holograms create floating verses. Photographs and films capture ephemeral actions and performances in which sculptural letters are presented in urban and rural settings. In some instances, the human body is also transformed into a textual sculpture. Only a handful of exhibits – such as fold-out cards, whose texts are revealed like the characters in a pop-up book upon opening – are still reminiscent of opened books.

“Meditation-aiding objects” is how the poet Eugen Gomringer defines the works of physical poetry. As three-dimensional objects, they often only reveal their meaning through a change of perspective or through touch. The exhibition is thought-provoking: what form can a text take beyond the confines of lines printed on paper? What sort of sensory impressions can be conveyed by reading beyond the linguistic content? What role do materials and techniques play? How can one describe the world using abstract symbols?

The exhibit presents international interpretations by artists including Alain Arias-Misson, Arman, Nanni Balestrini, Josef Bauer, John Cage, Augusto de Campos, Carlfriedrich Claus, Attila Csernik, Klaus-Peter Dencker, Peter Downsbrough, Valie Export, John Furnival, Heinz Gappmayr, Jochen Gerz, Carlos Ginzburg, Dietrich Helms, Dom Sylvester Houédard, Dieter Jung, Miroslav Klivar, Milan Knížák, Ferdinand Kriwet, Gastão de Magalhães, Franz Mon, Ewa Partum, Octavio Paz, Julio Plaza, Géza Pernecky, Gerhard Rühm, Konrad Balder Schäuffelen, Takahashi Shohashiro, Regina Silveira, Karel Trinkewitz, Timm Ulrichs, Peter Weibel.

It is curated by the literary scholar and art historian Christoph Benjamin Schulz (Wuppertal) and supported by the Centre for Artists’ Publications at the Weserburg Museum of Modern Art Bremen.

To mark the exhibitions “Poetry in 3D” and “Sculptural Poetry” (26.3. to 14.8.2022) at the Centre for Artists’ Publications (Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen), Grass Publishers is publishing the first five editions of the new series “paper-poem-objects”, edited by Christoph Benjamin Schulz, published in cooperation with the German Museum of Books and Writing and the Weserburg. The series is available to purchase at the museum. A publication on sculptural poetry is being prepared.

Poetry in 3D. Text Sculptures and Poem Objects since 1960
Exhibition of the German Museum of Books and Writing Leipzig at the German National Library Leipzig
8 April to 30 October 2022
Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, Thursday 10:00 to 20:00
Public holidays (except Mondays) 10:00 to 18:00
Admission free

Information: www.dnb.de/dichtung3d

Background

The book has shaped our culture and civilisation like no other medium. For centuries our knowledge about the world and its peoples has been stored in books. The task of the German National Library’s German Museum of Books and Writing is to collect, exhibit and process evidence of book and media history. Founded in 1884 in Leipzig as the Deutsches Buchgewerbemuseum (German Book Trade Museum), it is the oldest museum in the world in the field of book culture, and also one of the most important with regard to the scope and quality of its holdings. The Museum also pays close attention to issues relating to the future of media in our networked societies.

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Images for editorial use

Images for editorial use with reports on the exhibition. Press image material is only available in German.