Spoetry
Encyclopedia
Spoetry or spoems are poetic verses made primarily from the subject lines of spam
e-mail messages.
began writing spam poems in his production journal in 2004 http://www.bitterfilms.com/forum.html. Translator Jorge Candeias wrote a “spoem” a day during a whole year, between the 5th of May 2003 and the 5th of May 2004, using spam subject lines as title and inspiration; these are in Portuguese
, based on spam bylines mostly in English http://lampadamagica.blogspot.com/2007/05/spamesia-aqui-est-uma-das-tais-postas.html.
A book entitled Machine Language by endwar
was published in 2005 by IZEN and was followed by Machine Language, Version 2.1 also by endwar in 2006. The latter edition includes a CD of spoetry read by Microsoft Sam and set to ambient musical sounds by Michael Truman who also tweaked the automated readings. Each edition indicates endwar as editor, but in the second edition he has admitted to using cut-up technique
and having combined shorter pieces from the first edition, which lends more authorship to him in his creation. These pieces were also read at the opening of Blends & Bridges, a concrete and visual poetry show at Gallery 324 in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 1, 2006, by endwar with the sounds by Truman backing. The experimental poet, endwar, cites his own collaboration with Ficus Strangulensis, the experimental poet, in 1995, The Further Last Words of Dutch Schultz published by IZEN as an earlier experiment in generating random text poetry, in this case, the software altered text of the bizarre last words of Dutch Schultz
as published in The New York Times
in 1935, as well as the cut-up influences of Brion Gysin
and William S. Burroughs
and even the musicians Throbbing Gristle
and David Bowie
. The useful bits of spam for purposes of endwar's variation of spoetry, i.e., the part that is not the advertisement, but the random words assigned to trick spam filters, endwar calls "paratext". Interestingly, endwar indicates that, in his view, "the effect of the evolution of paratext is that computers are learning to talk to each other by in some sense imitating human texts." The advertisements are the human-to-human conversation in the same email sources.
A book entitled 'Spam: E-mail Inspired Poems' by Ben Myers
was published in 2008 by Blackheath Books http://www.blackheathbooks.org.uk/2.html Myers claims to have been writing spam poems since 1999.
The creation of spoetry is similar to Gysin and Burroughs's cut-up technique in that individual subject lines of messages are pieced together in poetic form; making the creation of spoetry an exercise not in creativity as much as in having an eye for the unexpected.
The end result can be crafted into any literary form the author desires: haiku
, concrete poetry
, limerick
, dada
, and so on. Thus, spoetry is not a literary form but rather a means of creating poetry.
What Can You Do in 3 Minutes?
Look out your window
Make a child happy
Groom those bushy eyebrows
Get residency in Panama
Lose 10 lbs.
Remove dents
Pupate
Haiku Style:
Santa Claus catholic
Looking for medications
Your stocking stuffer
Smoking is harmful!
I do it because its fun
White Teeth Guaranteed
Memo: to My Pets
I know what you are doing
No, oh, that's just wrong
E-mail spam
Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
e-mail messages.
What is spoetry?
It is unknown as to when the first spoem was started as several writers and bloggers have claimed to have created the form. However, it is estimated that the idea began in 1999 as Satire Wire http://www.satirewire.com/index.shtml held their first spam poetry writing contest in 2000 http://www.satirewire.com/features/poetry_spam/spam_winner.shtml. Animator Don HertzfeldtDon Hertzfeldt
Don Hertzfeldt is the creator of many short animated films, including the Academy-Award nominated Rejected and Everything Will Be OK. His animated films have received over 150 awards and have been presented around the world. Before the age of thirty, his films were already the subject of several...
began writing spam poems in his production journal in 2004 http://www.bitterfilms.com/forum.html. Translator Jorge Candeias wrote a “spoem” a day during a whole year, between the 5th of May 2003 and the 5th of May 2004, using spam subject lines as title and inspiration; these are in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, based on spam bylines mostly in English http://lampadamagica.blogspot.com/2007/05/spamesia-aqui-est-uma-das-tais-postas.html.
A book entitled Machine Language by endwar
Endwar (concrete poet)
Endwar is the primary penname of Andrew Russ, a concrete poet from Athens, Ohio, USA, born in 1962. His work has been published through IZEN, his own micropress, since 1990, and in numerous other titles by other micropresses in the US and Canada...
was published in 2005 by IZEN and was followed by Machine Language, Version 2.1 also by endwar in 2006. The latter edition includes a CD of spoetry read by Microsoft Sam and set to ambient musical sounds by Michael Truman who also tweaked the automated readings. Each edition indicates endwar as editor, but in the second edition he has admitted to using cut-up technique
Cut-up technique
The cut-up technique is an aleatory literary technique in which a text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. Most commonly, cut-ups are used to offer a non-linear alternative to traditional reading and writing....
and having combined shorter pieces from the first edition, which lends more authorship to him in his creation. These pieces were also read at the opening of Blends & Bridges, a concrete and visual poetry show at Gallery 324 in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 1, 2006, by endwar with the sounds by Truman backing. The experimental poet, endwar, cites his own collaboration with Ficus Strangulensis, the experimental poet, in 1995, The Further Last Words of Dutch Schultz published by IZEN as an earlier experiment in generating random text poetry, in this case, the software altered text of the bizarre last words of Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz was a New York City-area Jewish American gangster of the 1920s and 1930s who made his fortune in organized crime-related activities such as bootlegging alcohol and the numbers racket...
as published in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in 1935, as well as the cut-up influences of Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique, used by his friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs...
and William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
and even the musicians Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle were an English industrial, avant-garde music and visual arts group that evolved from the performance art group COUM Transmissions...
and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
. The useful bits of spam for purposes of endwar's variation of spoetry, i.e., the part that is not the advertisement, but the random words assigned to trick spam filters, endwar calls "paratext". Interestingly, endwar indicates that, in his view, "the effect of the evolution of paratext is that computers are learning to talk to each other by in some sense imitating human texts." The advertisements are the human-to-human conversation in the same email sources.
A book entitled 'Spam: E-mail Inspired Poems' by Ben Myers
Ben Myers
Ben Myers is an English writer.His first novel The Book Of Fuck, a fictionalised account about a hapless music journalist, was published to underground acclaim in 2004 through Wrecking Ball Press. Myers claimed it was written in six days "as a joke"...
was published in 2008 by Blackheath Books http://www.blackheathbooks.org.uk/2.html Myers claims to have been writing spam poems since 1999.
The creation of spoetry is similar to Gysin and Burroughs's cut-up technique in that individual subject lines of messages are pieced together in poetic form; making the creation of spoetry an exercise not in creativity as much as in having an eye for the unexpected.
The end result can be crafted into any literary form the author desires: haiku
Haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
, concrete poetry
Concrete poetry
Concrete poetry or shape poetry is poetry in which the typographical arrangement of words is as important in conveying the intended effect as the conventional elements of the poem, such as meaning of words, rhythm, rhyme and so on....
, limerick
Limerick (poetry)
A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line or meter with a strict rhyme scheme , which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century...
, dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
, and so on. Thus, spoetry is not a literary form but rather a means of creating poetry.
Examples
Several examples of poetry created from spam can be found across the Internet.What Can You Do in 3 Minutes?
Look out your window
Make a child happy
Groom those bushy eyebrows
Get residency in Panama
Lose 10 lbs.
Remove dents
Pupate
Haiku Style:
Santa Claus catholic
Looking for medications
Your stocking stuffer
Smoking is harmful!
I do it because its fun
White Teeth Guaranteed
Memo: to My Pets
I know what you are doing
No, oh, that's just wrong
External links
- Article published in 2003 by the Harvard Business School Newspaper
- Article published in 2003 by BBC News
- Article published in 2004 by The Age (Australia)
- Article published in 2006 by The Guardian (United Kingdom)
- Anthology of Spam Poetry
- Spam Poetry
- Ben Myers' Spam Poetry
- Review of Ben Myers' Spam poetry book
- see journal entries from July 31, 2004 and April 22, 2004 by Don HertzfeldtDon HertzfeldtDon Hertzfeldt is the creator of many short animated films, including the Academy-Award nominated Rejected and Everything Will Be OK. His animated films have received over 150 awards and have been presented around the world. Before the age of thirty, his films were already the subject of several...
- “Spam of the Day” in Flak MagazineFlak MagazineFlak Magazine was a pioneering American online magazine, founded in 1998. The chief editor is James Norton, the managing editor is Joey Rubin. , it reported over 250,000 unique visitors monthly. In 2008, Flak suspended publication....
’s The Splog - Kristin Thomas' Spam Poetry
- Spoetry Site
- Site featuring dynamically generated rhyming couplets
- Article and samples published in 2007 by The Guardian
- Review of 'The Spam Anthology' published in 2007 by 3:AM Magazine
- 'The poetry of spam' September 29, 2006, Arts Hub US
- Andrew Gallix of The Guardian on the history of Spam Lit, July 2008