UnƧightly [Sound Poetry] 2020

In Celebration of Monstrosity! Happy Birthday, Godzilla! And Happy Election Day!

“Times inhabited by social and political turmoil can spark vivacious moments of togetherness and creativity, as demonstrated through the founding of Zürich’s Cabaret Voltaire in 1916.” (Colby Mugrabi)

Experience sound poems and performances ranging from classic recitation to speecherly encryption.

Video premiered November 3rd.

Playlist (Start time of each video segment. Full video length 17:17)
UnƧightly Intro (00:00)
Aka Ji Oy Kajoy (00:07) Wild Don Lewis
Karawane (00:48) Costantino Rizzuti, with Ernesto Orrico (voice actor)
Trava-Língua n°8 (01:55) Yuri Bruscky
from the pooseum of modern fart (03:03) audipoeta
Ah Bati Ka Chi (03:41) Karena Massengill
Chorus (04:25) Michael Mersereau
E saH o-punga (05:33) Flamboyant Hag
Anuk Sunamünn (06:37) wtchcvlt
so so po po (07:47) nusik + MANSPLAINERTAINER
YOPONUKI 1 (08:55) Martin Espino
Incantation No. XVI (10:03) The Silver Duckling
The Age of Not Believing (12:01) Jamie Mc
Chi te via (13:05) Costantino Rizzuti, with Ernesto Orrico (voice actor)
TOKAN’XO CHOKANLA (14:14) Martin Espino
Inland Empire (15:19) Michael Mersereau
Skreeongk (16:26) nusik

On September 14, 2020 FLOOD put out a call for sound poems in honor of Hugo Ball (died September 14, 1927), creator of “Karawane,” (Cabaret Voltaire, 1916). We requested recitations of an original sound poem or of another’s work, with a deadline of October 17th in recognition of Zang Tumb Tuuum: Adrianopoli ottobre 1912: Parole in libertà (Zang Tumb Tuuum: Adrianople October 1912; Words-in-Freedom) an evocation of the sounds of mechanized war.

Sound poetry occupies the overlap zone between music and speech. It seeks to capture the musicality of language free of any meaning. It is language abstracted to the point of not belonging to any language group or family. It approximates or appropriates the sounds of language; it may turn any sound into a sonic approximation of language.

Keep in mind that a continuous strand of “traditional” onomatopoeia does not constitute sound poetry (e.g. “POW KABOOM POP etc.”). These words can be part of a poem but do not constitute the whole thing.

Reference/examples:
Sound Poetry on Wikipedia
Video intepretation of Hugo Ball’s Karawane. Excerpt from 100 Years Dada, Rechte bei Arte, Johannes Gees.
17 recordings of Karawane by Hugo Ball read by LibriVox volunteers.
Marie Osmond – yep, that one – recites Karawane.