haiga rap

(in the grass version)

SOME USEFULLY INTERESTING IDEAS THAT RELATE TO HAIKAI IN GENERAL AND PARTICULARISED IN A HAIGA DISCUSSION

The haiga illustrated here was the primary focus. Basically though, when we do haiku and related, because of the visualisation imperative (quite apart from the concrete illustration itself) we tread deep waters of psychology and even mystic vision. Moreso than any other literary/art form, many would agree. The reason for this peculiarity of haiku and its related forms (haikai) are essentially to do with the cultural background. Japan and its inspiration China has an ancient tradition that stems unbroken from the days of our hunter-gatherer past when we lived in a consciousness not determined by logic and logical formulae. Individualism had yet to emerge and we all lived in a group consciousness itself linked to the consciousness of the environment. One of the many benefits of practising haiku et al, is that we have the opportunity to develop a broader range of awareness than the modern world currently encourages. But we need to do it properly. The haiga's haiku discussed here has an indirect reference to Zhungzi and his famous butterfly dream.[see Jun-2 for the original geodesic_eye post]

T R A N S C R I P T

• • • HOST I was looking to experiment along the lines of this and there was nothing to be found in the time I had. However, recently I was exploring the drawing tool on Pixlr and was quite impressed with the whole editor, but in particular the tool in question. This has many options of type of tool and width of thickness and speed of application for different effect. So, will get into the whole editor for a while. The claim is that PIXLR is simply the best FREE online editor out there. The text/sepia and notebook effect were achieved using Photoscape (which is currently my primary photo editor).

    • QUERENT Your experiment has worked quite well, visually. This reminds me of an etching plate, and often the negative is more interesting than the positive. The simplicity and free form of the drawing is appealing. I'm not quite sure that the typeface does justice to your lovely haiku in this instance, but I am not quite sure what to suggest. I think one can only find out by trying various things, and suddenly, one gets that "eureka" feeling. Of course it also depends on the resolution of the graphic, and how much one can enlarge it and maybe place the text elsewhere. In this case (appreciating that it is probably a quick experiment), the text seems too linear and too big. I would like to see more "white space" - a personal preference of course. It would also be interesting if you experimented with adding a coppery colour to the sun, and maybe applying it to the text too? Your comments about the programs are helpful - thanks!

• HOST

If this is imagined to be what it appears to be (page from a sketchbook), then, yes, of course, it forms the basis for a more complete expression of the basic idea. However, being totally lazy and happy with the ethos of original haiga (simplicity, minimalism and low-tech fulfilment values) then developing this idea is a mute point. If the spirit moved one, sure. But, even in that case I'd be doing it, typically, at the time. Having suggested development I will give it some thought though. Thing is, a haiku does all the work, really, adding an image then soups up the possibilities and/or underlines or spins the haiku's original content. Now, some people work in different ways and so do I sometimes. For example: Starting with the image as stimulus. So, it's not written in stone how we approach this haikai production genre. As haiga has now become global there is much more variety in how it's basic technique is permutated. I often enough haiku a music video over here:

Haiku Music

Post music (on the page) with a seasonal theme - plus, add three consecutive and seasonally

relevant lines from your selected song's lyric, or a haiku / senryu inspiration of your own

invention - soundtracked by your musical choice.

• • • QUERENT I disagree that the haiku "does all the work" in haiga! Just as it might be argued that there is such a thing as a proper haiku, so too do I think there is such a thing as a proper haiga (what "proper" means can only be measured by consensus of opinion, and is therefore a nebulous concept, ultimately).

    • Having said that, I think that if anything is worth doing well, it is worth learning about the history of a genre and mastering the "rules" before experimenting and giving reign to one's indomitable creative spirit. Rules are not intended to stifle, but to enhance creativity, and there will always be room within the practice of discipline for individuality.

    • Early haiga were calligraphic, with the words and the brush strokes being one and the same thing - a word painting. This, for me, remains at the heart of modern haiga (well, ideally). The words and digital image (in this case) BOTH do their equal share of the work, and through the experiential process, on a perceptive and emotional (and sometimes spiritual) level, blend. This process is more complex in many ways because in modern ELO haiga the text and the picture are separated in time and space.

    • In addition, the paradoxes created by the juxtapositioning of apparently disparate images, requires more complex associations. In a haiga where no mind is given to the exquisite balance between words and the picture (in any medium), and their mutuality, no amount of framing, attention to grammar, composition, colour, or tweaking the text etc. with digital manipulation is going to trick the discerning eye into thinking it's a haiga. Bling is bling. Haiga is haiga.

    • I feel the same way about grammar. One doesn't need to be a slave to the "gods of grammar", but if one doesn't know the rules in the first place, how can they be broken, purposefully? Without purpose, why not just call one's efforts "dabbling" - not that there is anything wrong with dabbling - but don't pretend it is anything else!

    • My thoughts shared here are not a reference to any specific haiga posted here, or to any particular person. They are simply musings.

• • HOST When I experience a haiga the text is seen as the primary instruction from the originator. Classical haiga is an illustrated haiku, basically. Of course, we can use an image to stimulate a haiku-response and then that haiku has its image bound to it (or not, if one chooses to juxtaposition another image).

    • Once we deepen into the contemplation of a haiga, that surface feature recedes and we are now delving into the psychology of the piece. If we carry on with our dive we will arrive at the foundation of the haiga. Its soul's core message, if you will.

    • Perceiving the soul of a haiga -- like perceiving the soul of anything -- is a data-matrix of all that we have figured out, been told by and generally intuit in our meditation on the haiga. This matrix synthesises synergically into a whole thing ('soul'). The words are the first step though. And, in the final analysis, the last step. They are also the constant reference point as we research the haiga from its inside.

    • This textual habit (or cultivated instinct, more like) helps to stop us from drifting away into unrelated musings. The words maintain our focus in the chaos of possibilities. This is the job of words. Of course, the haiga, in and of itself, is a much larger entity than the words in and of themselves. But, the words are the skeleton holding all that flesh in a specific pattern of meaning.

    • -

    • Grammar. When we use words to render a haiku's ineffable ghost of meaning in dream symbols, then those words need to be as unobtrusive to that primary function as possible without becoming gobbledygook. Formal grammar tends to place the speaker in primary position. This occludes the haiku process. As we reduce the grammar to its simplest form of expression (at the seaside of gobbledygook, where logic thins out into the virtual sensorium of boundless dreamland) the inner meanings become more transparent to our understanding.

ADDENDUM (from a related discussion)

As I see it, the general idea with haiku and its variations is to leave prosaic considerations out of the mix. This allows us to have the text as unobtrusively informal as possible. I personally tend to capitalise proper nouns only. But that's just my established style of haikuing (it shows respect to cities and people's names, etc). However and asically, We don't want to be interrupted by redundant to purpose grammar and so on as the inner meaning begins to materialise in our mind's eye. Provided our textual decisions service the spirit and functionality of haiga (and not pay reflex lip-service to the gods of formal grammar) this should be good enough. Other than this all we need to remember is to show and not tell. Present a virtual sensate experience in the mind's eye of the reader using allusion and let the living picture tell a 1,000 words, or whatever.

NOTE: This item is worth using as the basis of a broader treatment.

jp 19-06-12

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This musing is a living document and as such will develop - so, be sure to return regularly to this page, if you like. Not just to note any changes, but also to review the material in the light of your own understanding.

♪

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