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Blackout Poetry Project

The Boutelle-Day Poetry Center at Smith College

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Erased Land

This image shows an art piece made on a page of T.S. Eliot's poetry. The majority of the page has been covered in red and purple tissue paper. The tissue paper is cut in the top left corner to reveal the page number, "62". The tissue paper is also cut in the center of the page to reveal a large drawing of red roses, made in marker. Some of the text is partially visible underneath this drawing, but, the art is the focus of the piece.

62

This image shows a collage poem created from T.S. Eliot's writing. The background is a black-and-white image of light flooding in from semicircular windows. Parts of Eliot's poems have been cut and pasted together to form a new poetic message.

214

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "THE WIND SPRANG UP AT FOUR O'CLOCK". The background is predominantly painted over in streaks of multicolored markers, and the majority of the text is drawn over in purple marker. Select words have been left uncovered, forming a new poetic message.

A DREAM

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The page's original text has mostly been drawn over in silver marker, with select words left uncovered to create a new poetic message.

A RUNNING STREAM

This image shows an art piece created on a page of a T.S. Eliot's writing. The letters "AdR" are written in yellow marker at the bottom of the page. In the center of the page, there is an drawing of a crown done in yellow and black marker and decorated in gold rhinestones. This illustration conceals some of the text. Select paragraphs are left uncovered, and accompany the drawing in its poetic message.

ADR

This image shows a blackout poem created on a page of T.S. Eliot's work. The majority of the page's text has been painted over in white-out. Select words and phrases remain uncovered, and form a new poetic message against the stark, white background.

AGATHA

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The background includes small pencil illustrations of stars and plants. Select words and phrases from the original poem have been highlighted in green, forming a new poetic message.

AND THE STRANGER WILL DEPART

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "IX". The poem is framed by cut-out images of eyes, ears, and anatomical hearts. The majority of the original text has been drawn over in purple, blue, and black crayon. Select words and phrases are left uncovered, forming a new poetic message against the collaged background.

BEHOLD

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The page's original text has been mostly covered by a painting. Half of the page is painted in blue and white spirals, and the other half is painted in jagged black marks. The words "BROKEN ENVY FAITH Pride ENVY HELP US HELP I ENVY YOU" are written in red on top of the black paint. Two black birds are painted on the blue side of the page, and two orange and black fish are painted towards the bottom of the page. Select words and phrases from the original text are left uncovered, revealing a new poetic message against the painted background.

BROKEN

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The page's original text has been mostly covered by a painting of a galaxy. The stars are painted in white, yellow, red, and blue, and occupy the majority of the page. The background is black and red, with a few blue and red planets drawn in the upper left corner. Select words and phrases from the original page are left uncovered, revealing a new poetic message against the painted background.

CHEERFUL FACES

This image shows an illustration that has been inspired by T.S. Eliot's "Choruses from 'The Rock'". The background of this piece shows various drawings done in marker, including roses, a phoenix, and a mountainous landscape. Cutouts from page 96 of "Choruses from 'The Rock'" have been pasted on top of the illustration, including the page's header, the page number, and four paragraphs of prose. The text excerpts and drawings work together to form a poetic message.

CHORUSES FROM “THE ROCK”

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page of a T.S. Eliot verse drama. The page has been scribbled over with blue and gold marker. Two images of butterflies are pasted onto the page. Select words and phrases from the original text are left uncovered by the blue and gold markers, and are instead highlighted and outlined for emphasis, forming a new poetic message against the illustrated background.

CONSCIOUS

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "CONVERSATION GALANTE". The background includes pieces of patterned tape, as well as some small pencil illustrations. The original text of the page has been partially drawn over with dark brown marker. Select words and phrases are left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message against the background.

CONVERSATION GALANTE

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page of a T.S. Eliot verse drama. All across the page, there are small, scattered illustrations of red and black eyes. At the page's center, there is a pasted image of a group of smiling women eating at a table. The page's text is mostly drawn over in black marker, with select words and phrases left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message against the illustrated and collaged background.

DO YOU LIKE TO BE STARED AT?

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The original text of the page has been partially collaged over with images of floral patterns and cutouts from a dictionary. Select phrases from the original text have been left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message against the collage.

DO YOU SEE NOTHING?

This image shows a drawing done on page 215 of T.S. Eliot's "Murder in the Cathedral". The page's text is mostly covered by pink tissue paper and an illustration of roses done in red and green marker. A few sentences from the dialogue of the "First Knight" character are legible against the art piece in the foreground.

FIRST KNIGHT

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The page's original poem has been mostly covered by black marker, with select words and phrases left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message.

FOLLOW

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "II". Next to the poem, a printed illustration of a garlic has been pasted and lightly colored in. The page's words are mostly drawn over in green, pink, and purple crayons, with select words and phrases left uncovered to reveal a new poetic message against the illustrated background.

GARLIC TRILLING IN THE BLOOD

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The original page of text has been mostly collaged over by a silver-dotted blue paper. At the bottom of the page, a small collage has been made of torn images of a flower, a face, windows, and red rectangles. Some of the blue and silver paper has been cut out to reveal select words and phrases from the original page underneath it, creating a new poetic message against the collage.

THE CRY OF BATS

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page labeled as page 154. The original text of the page is predominantly collaged over with images of wallpaper print, a statue in the center of wreckage, and a woman whispering to a man. The man's eyes have been cut out to reveal a phrase from the original page reading: "He likes to lie". Select words, phrases, and paragraphs from the original page have been left uncovered to form a new poetic message against the collaged background.

HE LIKES TO LIE

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "COLLECTED POEMS 1909-1935". The page is collaged with floral-patterned tape and an image of orange blooms. The page's text has been mostly drawn over in black marker, but select words and phrases remain uncovered, creating a new poetic message.

HORNY POETIC SHITPOSTING

This image shows a portrait drawn on a page with the header "Ash Wednesday 1930". The page's original poem has been almost completely covered by the portrait of a woman glancing over her shoulder. The woman's bright red hair is covered in blue eyes, which, much like the woman, stare at the viewer. The only words left visible from the original poem are "I do not / I do not hope", and these words appear on the left side of the woman's face, forming a new poetic message against the illustration.

I DO NOT HOPE

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "THE NAMING OF CATS". The page has been almost completely covered by a colored pencil illustration of flowers. Large orchids of various kinds, as well as bleeding-heart flowers, cover the page. The background is filled in with red spots and a teal-yellow gradient. Select words and phrases from the page have been left uncovered, revealing a new poetic message against the illustrated background.

I’M MAD AS A HATTER

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL". The page has been nearly completely covered with a colored pencil illustration. In orange, the artist has drawn a large eagle in the center of the page, flying over a trio of small doves at the bottom of the page. The background is colored in black, with pencil marks visible. Select words from the page's original text have been left uncovered, and outlined in black pen, forming a new poetic message against the illustrated background.

IF YOU SPEAK

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "II". A jellyfish sticker is pasted in the top right corner, above the page's text. The text is mostly obscured by black marker, but, select words and phrases have been left uncovered, forming a new poetic message.

II

This image shows a watercolor painting made on a page of T.S. Eliot's verse drama, "Murder in the Cathedral". The word "Murder" of the page's header has been drawn over in black marker. The dialogue has been left mostly visible, but is partially painted over with an image of a large black bird flying above a tree and towards a rocky cliff.

IN THE CATHEDRAL

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page of a collection of T.S. Eliot's poetry. Select words and phrases have been circled in black marker in order to form a new poetic message. The rest of the page's words are left uncircled, or completely obscured by the black marker.

INVENT, PLEASE

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL". The page has been drawn over in warm-toned pastels, forming the image of an anatomical heart with a bright orange and yellow background. Select words from the page's original text have been left uncovered, forming a new poetic message against the illustration.

KEEP DESIRE

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page marked "10". Various cut and torn images are pasted along the margins of the page, such as a crescent moon, aqua paper scraps, a potted plant, and a portrait of a man and three boys. The page's original text is predominantly painted over in white-out. Select words and phrases are left uncovered in order to form a new poetic message against the images of the background.

LA COMÉDIE

This image shows a blackout poem created on a page with the header "MORNING AT THE WINDOW". The page's original text has been mostly covered by brown marker, with select words and phrases left uncovered to form a new poetic message.

MORNING

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page with the header "MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL". An large illustration of a three-eyed cat is drawn over the center in blue and yellow. The page is splattered lightly in teal paint, and its text has been mostly covered by dark teal lines. Some words are left untouched, and form a new message to accompany the art piece in the center of the page.

MURDER IN THE CAT

This image shows an art piece made on a page with the header "MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL". The art piece is made from gold, silver, red, and pink rhinestones, and it resembles the Catholic symbol of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Above the symbol, one of the page's paragraphs is painted over in red and pink, while the other is left completely untouched. This visible paragraph accompanies the sparkling art piece.

MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page of a T.S. Eliot poetry collection. The background is predominantly drawn over in black, blue, and yellow marker. Black-and-white images are also cut up and pasted around the poem. Select words and phrases are left untouched, forming a new poetic message against the illustrated and collaged background.

MYSTERY

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on a page of a T.S. Eliot poetry anthology. The background is predominantly drawn over in black marker, obscuring most of the original text. An image of a car with its hood popped is pasted at the top of the page, and drawn over with a small illustration of a bird. Select words and phrases are left untouched, forming a new poetic message against the dark background.

PAIN WITHIN THE SKULL

This image shows a collage poetry piece. Parts of various poems have been cut and pasted together to form a new poetic message. Images of two female singers, red hearts, and the moon are also pasted around the poem.

PAINTED PEOPLE

This image shows a blackout poetry piece. The original text of the page is mostly covered with a white paper, which is decorated with an illustration of a person dancing below a large human hand. Around the person and the hand, there are crayon drawings of multicolored circles. This illustrated paper has been torn in some places to reveal select words and phrases from the original text, forming a new poetic message to accompany the drawing.

PATIENT

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