The New Concrete: Visual Poetry in the 21st Century

London: Hayward Publishing, 2016. Limited Edition. Original Wraps. Fine in Fine Archival Box. Limited Edition. Original Wraps. "This sumptuously designed, colourful and beguiling anthology begins with a compendium of quotations on the nature of concrete poetry from poets past and present. The Bolivian poet, Eugen Gomringer, sums up the spirit of the early concrete movement: ‘The purpose of reduced language is not the reduction of language itself but the achievement of greater flexibility and freedom of communication. The resulting poems should be, if possible, as easily understood as signs in airports and traffic signs.' And: ‘The visible form of concrete poetry is identical to its structure, as is the case with architecture.' Here we have recognition that concrete poetry was more than a working around the materiality of language and that it was a way of working with that materiality towards a fresh communication in a broad range of forms."
Four of the five artists that feature in the limited edition set of prints first appeared together in the 1967 anthology: An Anthology of Concrete Poetry (Emmett Williams, Ed.). The poets include, Augusto de Campos, Franz Mon, Hansjorg Mayer, and Eugen Gomringer. Remarkable. Tight, bright, and unmarred. White paper wraps, black ink lettering, five laid in signed plated, black cloth archival box. 8vo. Numbered limited edtion of 5.