Surface Tension

In Surface Tension, poetry is liquefied, flowing away from meaning, letters, and words gather and pool into puddles of poetry, reflecting street signs and logos in the oily sheen of polluted gutters. This book presents striking compositions that are being presented sequentially in book form, but would not be out of place hanging on the wall. The kinetic, glitchy quality of their alphabetic strangeness keeps them unrecognizable as poems, making them a beautiful product of a self-aware and intelligent process.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 128 pages
Publication date: 20 October 2022
Publisher: Coach House Books

In Surface Tension, poetry takes on a liquid form, flowing away from its traditional meaning and merging into puddles of words and letters. Street signs and logos reflected in the oily sheen of polluted gutters of rainwater become part of this poetic landscape, creating a distorted reflection of the language that surrounds us. The pages of the book drip over the margins, suggesting that we are actively immersing ourselves in this poetic world.

Surface Tension is a contemporary take on visual poetry, challenging us to reevaluate the way we perceive and interpret words. It encourages us to see letters as visual images rather than mere text, to appreciate their aesthetic beauty and find meaning in their intricate shapes. The striking compositions found in Surface Tension are presented in a sequential book format, yet they possess a visual appeal that would be equally at home on a gallery wall.

The artist, Derek Beaulieu, has developed a unique style characterized by his distinctive visual palindromes and angled axes of symmetry. He harnesses the power of Letraset, a twentieth-century technology, to create his intricate and captivating works. Beaulieu's mastery of Letraset allows him to manipulate and transform letters into abstract forms, creating a sense of movement and dynamism that is both captivating and thought-provoking.

In Surface Tension, Beaulieu explores the boundaries between legibility and illegibility, challenging the traditional notion of what constitutes a poem. His kinetic, glitchy alphabetic strangeness keeps the works from being immediately recognizable as poetry, allowing them to exist in a realm of ambiguity and mystery. This ambiguity is what makes Surface Tension so powerful, as it encourages us to engage with the text on a deeper level, to interpret it through our own personal lens and to find meaning in the spaces between the words.

One of the key themes of Surface Tension is the idea of the irreducible plasticity of numbers, punctuation marks, and letter forms. Beaulieu emphasizes the beauty and complexity of these elements, showcasing their ability to transform and evolve in unexpected ways. He challenges us to see them as more than just symbols of language, but as dynamic and malleable entities that can be shaped and molded into new forms of artistic expression.

Through his work, Beaulieu invites us to rethink the way we communicate and interact with the world around us. He encourages us to slow down and pay attention to the language we use, to appreciate its beauty and power, and to find new ways of expressing ourselves that are both meaningful and visually striking. Surface Tension is a testament to the endless possibilities of poetry and visual art, and to the power of creativity to transform our perception of the world.

Dimension: 152 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781552454503