Ekphrasis 4

Introduction

In the second slide show of the module, you learned about art made in response to art of another medium. The blanket term for this is ekphrasis, and it is especially common in the modern world in the form of movies made from books, or – assuming the artistic merit of the medium – video games made from comic books, to name but a few examples. Traditionally, ekphrasis was an ancient Greek writing exercise in which a person would write a poem or prose piece as a kind of “translation” of a painting

Assignment

This assignment has two parts.

First, you will write an ekphrasis of your own. DO NOT GET AI TO DO IT. I can always tell, and you will receive a zero for this assignment.

Find some visual work from our textbook, something that seems to speak to you, and write either a poem or prose piece derived from the work. It’s important to stress that an ekphrasis isn’t merely a of a piece; instead it tries to capture the spirit of the original piece, so it is mindful not only of what is being said but also how it’s being said. Take this as an invitation to do something playful, and experiment with your writing. If you’ve never written poetry, try it out.

If you’re more interested in prose, you can play with that form, perhaps writing a short passage from the perspective of someone in a photograph, or imagining yourself inside a painting, participating in its scene. However you approach the ekphrasis, try to be mindful in the decisions you make (i.e. the language you use and the way you capture the original in your words).

Second, after you’ve given your ekphrasis, write a short of your creative process, explaining why you made the choices you did. What are its essential details as you see the work? How does your “translation” preserve the original? How does your work attempt to capture the mood and feeling of the image? What new understanding or interpretation does your ekphrasis bring to the original piece? No matter how your ekphrasis turns out, you’ll actually be graded on the latter part, in which you offer a rationale for the interpretive moves you make in trying to capture the piece in words.

Be sure to include the name of the artist and title of the work. The essay should be at least 400 words, total. This assignment will be assessed on its formal clarity, the quality of the writing and editing, its degree of engagement with its topic, its creativity/inventiveness/originality of ideas, and the sophistication of thought it expresses.

Ekphrasis Examples

Anne Sexton’s “Starry Night”: note how Sexton translates the images of the painting into a sequence of jarring, eerie phrases.

Anne Sexton’s Poem: Starry NightLinks to an external site.

Pieter Breugel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus/William Carlos Williams, “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”/W.H. Auden’s “In the Musee de Beaux Arts”: Look at Breugel’s fantastic painting in the link below. It is almost a visual joke (it helps if you know the mythic story of Icarus; if not, look it up). This painting has been the subject of two Ekphrases, one by W.H. Auden, and another by William Carlos Williams. Note how Auden’s poem is almost a philosophy essay on human indifference to suffering, while Williams seems to capture the mood and feeling of the painting with his quick matter-of-fact account, and lack of emotion.

Pieter Breugel’s Painting: Landscape with the Fall of IcarusLinks to an external site.
W.H. Auden’s Poem: In the Musee de Beaux ArtsLinks to an external site.
William Carlos Williams’ Poem: http://english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&poems/williams.htmlLinks to an external site.

Percy Bysshe Shelley “On the Medusa of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Florentine Gallery”: though we now know the painting is not an actual da Vinci, Shelley believed it to be for good reason. This poem gets inside Shelley’s reaction to the image, one that he thought unexpectedly combined horror and beauty together in an unlikely mix.

Flemish Painter’s Painting: On the Medusa of Leonardo Da VinciLinks to an external site.
Percy Bysshe Shelly Poem: On the Medusa of Leonardo Da ViniciLinks to an external site.

Reminder: While all of the above examples are poems derived from paintings, you may write in prose and you may use painting, sculpture, photos, or even architecture for your source material