Howl
A project from a zine to an interactive structure to express the essence and understanding of the poem Howl by Allen Ginsberg. Howl is the most representative poetic expression of the Beat movement in the 1950s in America. Young people who are called the “Beats” expressed their alienation from the conventional culture by advocating personal release and illumination through the amplified sensory experiences inducted by drugs, sex, jazz and Zen Buddhism. The poem as a description also shows the despair and frustration of American youths, with plain emotions and no revisions to convey immediate experiences.
For this zine, the images are handmade collages scanned by a copy machine to increase stability and provide the ability to be produced in more copies. They are then attached to black cardboard that are cut by hand.
Zine Creation
While the handmade aspect of zine increases the connection between the producer and reader, more interaction is needed to better convey the idea. Instead of a traditional zine, a 3-D zine is created to involve the readers or the audience as the participators who go through the process of facing the chaos, figuring out a way to put things together, then experiencing the emotions and expressions, just like the American young people who are described in the poem.
Outside the 3-D structure, it was purely black, just like nothing was happening from the eye of the mainstream culture. The contents are inside, and that refers to the howling happened inside of the Beats. The lines represent the howling voices, and an observing eye in the circle belongs to the recording poet.
Installation
To continue looking for a better way of experiencing the context of the poem, the experiment of media is conducted. A bigger structure is created in order to let the audience peak inside the structure and look at the images. In this way, a further experience is created to put the audience into the environment of the poem.
The structre from outside
Pink neon lights are installed to provide illumination and create the atmosphere of the 1950s late night underground gatherings.
An audio of Allen Ginsberg reading the poem Howl. While creating the ambience of poem reading of the Beats in the 1950s, a multimedia experience by Ginsberg’s voice conveys the atmosphere of the poem.
A smell of bourbon whisky, a botanical extraction, coffee and smoke are added to recreate the turbid atmosphere of underground cafes in 1950s as a part of experience of the poem.
