Illuminating the word: visualisation of poetic experiences through filmmaking

Freud acknowledgedthat poets have explored the unconsciousmuch before he himselfdevelopedit into his psy-chologicaltheories(Jay, 1984: 23). Visionarypoets such as Blake and William Wordsworthsuggestedthe psychoanalyticprocess much before Freud himselfpractisedit (see also Shengold,2004: 28). In my research I propose to direct this psy-choanalyticinquiry, which I suggestto term ‘Psychopoetry’,towards makingexplicitand visualisingthe creative processthat visionarypoets undergo before they put words down to paper. ‘Visionarypoetry’is definedas a form of poetrywrittenas a result of experiencesthat provide a strong sense of the beautyof life (Raine,1975: 36-37).Within those experiences,I am interested in the process of poetic inspiration,and less in the ‘final product’,the poem itself. The process of inspirationis visualised,turnedinside out in my research – visiblefor all to see. Drawingon my own experiencesas a researcher anda poet/filmmaker, I create films, poetry, installations,performancesand graphicdesignsthat act as case study, combininga ‘diary’form of documentationof experienceswith criticalanalysis.Observingeverystep of the poetic experiencethroughmeansof technology(creatingstills and movingimages)allowsme to distancemyselfand enableas objectivean analysisas possible.In doing so I invite othersto be criticalof the creative self and to be consciousand active participantsin theprocess.The academicliterature tends to discusspoetryto its final form while disregarding the process,thus methodsofpoetic experiencesare not shared and not developed.In my ongoinginterviewswith poets I observethat poets often arguethat they flow withina creative power‘larger’ than themselves,but cannotcriticallyreflect on it and share it with others.This articledeals with three elementsof the process of poetrymaking:Word, Imageand Channeling.These elementsareexemplifiedwith short films, which can be viewedonline(links are providedin this article)