Japanese aesthetics in the art of poetry film

Challenges and opportunities occur when placing written poetic text in a visual, kinetic and aural setting. Mainstream poetry places a distinct emphasis on verbal effects, although it is also visual, since all written text with the exception of braille needs to be seen in order to be read. Aural and kinetic dimensions come into play in the performance of poetry, but it is in poetry film that the verbal, the visual, the aural and the kinetic work together to produce a creative whole that, as William Wees pronounced, neither verbal nor visual text produce on their own. The negotiation and interaction of visual, aural, kinetic and textual dimensions in a work is very much integral to Japanese aesthetics, particularly in the areas of haiku, calligraphy and Noh. This is the aesthetic of ma, where such interaction occurs in a moment of silence or blankness