Curbside Haiku Poetry Project in New York City [Experimental Friday]
Experimental Friday focuses on experimental writing projects, including digital writing, new media projects and other writing that goes beyond the book, and beyond the expected. Particularly projects based in the United States, but not exclusively.
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Are you in New York City? If so, you might notice something new hanging on the light poles as you’re making your way through the crowds or hailing a cab: colorful, artistic signs with haiku poems presenting a transportation-themed message. The dozen designs and 216 signs are part of a new campaign by The New York City Department of Transportation and were made by artist and poet John Morse who lives and works in both Atlanta and New York City.
Being the poetry lover that I am, hearing about this project on Twitter from poet and writer Andrea Beltran (@Drebelle) made me initially excited. I love it when poetry seeps into everyday life. The combination of artwork and words makes it even more appealing. I hope these little curbside haiku will make more people think about poetry. I’m skeptical that these signs will make enough people think twice before stepping out into busy traffic (as they are supposed to do,) but I do love them for their artistic intent.
“Curbside Haiku seeks to merge public art with public awareness to infuse a bit of beauty and joy into the public sphere with the images while underscoring the realities of the message with poetry,” Morse told a writer for Parkside Patch. “I’m aiming to engage, edify and inform and nothing does that better than art.”
Some of the signs have a QR code instead of words; when the code is scanned, a poem will be downloaded onto the smart phone.
3 Curbside Haikus
Here are three of the 12 poems. You can see all the signs, including a map of where they can be found, on this document.
1. “Imagine a world/Where every move matters/Welcome to that world.”
2. “She walks in beauty/Like the night. Maybe that’s why/Drivers can’t see her.”
3. “8 million swimming/The traffic rolling like waves./Watch for undertow.”
John Morse’s Roadside Haiku in Atlanta
Before this NYC project, the artist installed 500 road signs around Atlanta that altered advertising language into haiku.
Flux Projects, which creates innovative temporary public art throughout Atlanta, created a video of Morse’s project.
In the video Morse says, “People read these signs. [...] If they read it and they like it, great. If they read it and they don’t like it, great. The fact is, they’ll read it. And that’s my goal. [...] I want people to read my poetry.”
In the news stories about the NYC curbside haiku project, most passersby seem to ignore the signs. But this may be another reminder that we all need to pay more attention and live in the moment.
What affect do you think these haiku poems will have? Do you know of any other experimental poetry or writing projects? I’d love to hear about them.
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Tags: curbside haikus, experimental writing, haiku, literary, new york city art, new york city poetry, poet john morse, poetry
