Poetry?

Miriam Webster dictionary definition:
1 a : metrical writing : verse b : the productions of a poet : poems
2 : writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm
3 a : something likened to poetry especially in beauty of expression b : poetic quality or aspect

Poetry. It is such a vast form of expression that appears to be ever developing, ever expanding. What then differs poetry from other writing? Or even from other art forms?

If we went with the first and second definition of poetry provided above, then pretty much anything that pertains to some measurement of time and evokes some kind of feeling or meaning. Would this then, not be considered poetry? Or this? Or this?

It is amazing how far you can stretch the boundaries of language, and just how much you can play with it. Compare Ball’s sound poetry with Young-hae Chang heavy industries ‘digital literature’ and Ligeti’s music. Just as Hugo Ball’s lack of comprehensible text brings attention to other factors such as tone, and overall concept, Ligeti’s poeme symphonique for 100 metronomes which lacks tonality, shifts the focus on to the relationship between the different tempos. Consider Young-Hae Chang’s work ‘Where’d all the smart guys go? was one of my favourites from the exhibition at LACMA. The combination of dissonant music and the emptiness of the black and white text juxtaposed with the robotic voice created a feeling of irony that complimented the text perfectly. There is something incredibly hilarious in a robotic voice feigning confusion and asking thought provoking questions.

All of these works are created in relation to time, and all trigger some kind of response, whether positive or negative, emotional or even physical. Every single one of them is poetry.