Professor Patricia Search
Abstract: Visual poetics in new media design is a dynamic form of communication that integrates diverse media into poetic statements that form a new type of hybrid literacy. Early examples of visual poetics include petroglyphs and other forms of pictorial writing, as well as the pattern poems of Greek poets and Apollinaire. However, contemporary visual poetics now includes works of art and design that are three-dimensional, multimedia, and interactive. This paper includes an historical overview of visual poetry and contemporary new media poetics. The paper also includes an analysis of the complex syntax of this new literacy which includes multimodal semiotics, kinesthetic design, and interactive aesthetics. Examples of art and design ranging from indigenous to contemporary works are included to illustrate these concepts. Understanding the semiotic structure of this complex form of visual literacy will help researchers, educators, artists, designers, and other professional communicators define new ways to use these hybrid designs.
Keywords: interactive aesthetics, kinesthetic design, multimodal semiotics, visual poetry