painting portraits, one is not inspired by camels. Thinking in terms of Plato’s reality as consisting of archetypes or forms beyond human sensation - perhaps in this instance ‘perfect prose’ - we as artists, as vispro practitioners, are imitating an existing literary experience, seeking the special qualities – the aesthetic qualities – be they beautiful or sublime and/or dreary and monotonous - of prose. Q: So what you're proposing (I think) is that 'vispro' be defined beyond merely re-creating the visual impression or suggestion of prose. I am having a hard time grasping the concept, but that's not a bad thing. It's good exercise for the old brain... A: Absolutely, we are delving into the guts of prose – Aristotle’s art as imitation – art enabling what ‘nature cannot bring to a finish’. As artists, we are seeking to separate the forms of prose and imposing interpretation, delight, visual creativity – we are re-presenting, re-constructing – not dissembling, or deconstructing the nature of prose – although that process is valuable in coming to formal solutions in a personalized approach and attitude to artmaking. The final vispro form must enhance and support the initial concept – not merely be an illustration of a specific set of data.
Vispo/vispro?? I asked certain artists whose work I value to submit examples to aid in defining vispro. There was much debate on other terminology such as visual-prose-poetry. As I stated in various discussions, perhaps there is such an animal, but it is an animal not in my sights. I realise too that attempting to categorize any artistic endeavour draws loud voices of dissention – but that has always been the case. The following three examples are by 3 well known vispo artists and their work has always been categorized as such. They are happy with that categorization and I am not attempting to reframe their examples, but have included them as interpretations of vispo intent, each outworked according to a unique approach. In discussion, all three artists termed their work ‘vispo’ and their textual contribution is included with thanks. …30
