I Sought and I Found. (RESEARCH:)

As I stated before Gary Sullivan entered a (what is now considered Flarf) poem in a contest on Poetry.com. Feeling as though it was just a mere marketing scheme by the creators of the site, Sulliven intentionally entered this vulgar nonsensical poem to test Poetry.com’s standards of a creative poem. “Mm-hmm” was Sullivan’s first documented flarf poem. Those who reviewed his poem called it, “imaginative, and a fresh new perspective on life” (here). Since then Flarf has evolved into the first movement of the 21st century. Gary Sullivan has also extended his writing to Flarf plays such as “Gray Matter” and “PPL in a Depot” which you can view here.

Flarf uses the internet and all of its glory to its fullest. Usually search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc are used to create these delicious word salads. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, a word salad is “a mixture of seemingly meaningful words that together signify nothing” (Encyclopedia Britannica). It is also very similar to Spoetry (Spam poetry,) where poets use spam emails to create their works. Early Flarf is more juvenile due to focus on bodily functions, intentional typos, “internet talk:” lolz, omgz, TTFN, etc, politics, and most contained offensive language. Even though many consider Flarf inappropriate, some believe it represents a clear new and sharp view of what our culture has evolved into. Especially since Flarf uses the language of our people today, old, young, naive, intelligent. The crazy phrases in Flarf poetry are found through the web, a medium which connects millions. Maybe, someone will even see my blog and use my ideas as an example in a project similar to my own.

K. Silem Mohammad wrote an article on “sought poetry.” In his writing he explains that Flarf is more sought than found. A found poem is something that one “stumbles upon and says, hey that’s poetry” (here). Mohammad states sought poem is the “result of invasive surgeries performed on already mangled bodies” (still here). Flarf poets are surgeons of language. They sort through the words that make some people cringe or even faint and they create a story. These poets give the mangled bodies a new life.

Relfection:

Flarf is unlike anything else I have read. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when choosing Flarf as my topic. All I wanted was something interesting enough to keep me going through the end of the year. And that is exactly what I got. Flarf poetry is almost like jumping into an ocean of insanity, filled with waves of vulgar language and ideas. The creation of Flarf is what first intrigued me, and the reason I chose this subject for my final project.

What is Flarf, you may ask? It’s a poetry movement created in late 2000 by a man named Gary Sullivan initially as a joke. Flarf contains no strict rules or guidelines. It is, exactly what it sounds like, a whole load of Flarf (definitely not Fluff.) I was lucky enough to have Willies blog from last year to help guide me through this project. As he stated, it’s hard to find Flarf for there are no books dedicated to it and most of it is performed. Reading and viewing these pieces give the mind a chance to dive into a mess of gargled up poetry. Or can it even be considered poetry?

Similar to Slam Poetry (Michael!) Flarf poetry is best performed. (View here or Youtube.) Listening to this Flarf is more humorous than just reading, because most lines are very dry, awkward, or vulgar. In Nada Gordon’s “My Favorite Things Redux,” she sings the lines of her poem to the tune of “My Favorite Things” from the movie The Sound of Music. When reading poems such as Chickee Chickston’s “My Mary Oliver,” one may think the finds of the poem would be lovely and nice as it seems to be about a woman or love interest. However lines range from, “My Mary Oliver has three stomachs:greater omentum, peritoneum, and kitty cat tummy” to “My Mary Oliver knows who black people are.” Juxtaposition is what makes or breaks Flarf poems. Most of these poems are already pushing the line of literature, so meticulous collaging of the lines throughout these pieces that give them a special oomph, and make them bearable.

"A goofy non sequitur avant-garde poetry that favors typos and other ways of being “wrong,” flarf is often built from collaged Google search results and Internet chat-room texts (and so distills something elemental of our era). The technique is sometimes called “Google sculpting.”
GREG COOK (No Relation to Mr. Cook) The Boston Phoenix.

I found this quote on Willie's blog and thought I would share it. Although some people think Flarf is garbage, I think it’s a way to glorify the bad by favoring typos or showing off the strange elements in our world. Flarf is a comedy, but due to the difference in personal humor some people can’t stand it. Flarf is no family movie, but it is definitely worth the read. Cook also refers the technique behind the poetry as “Google sculpting.” This reference places this type of poetry as art. Poets in the Flarf collective creatively place each line with and open minds as they string these poems together.

Just a Little Intro:

First off I just want to let everyone know, I’m just a student doing this blog for a class project. I’m no Flarf champion; I just want to pass my English class. So let me start by introducing you to this glorious subject.

Welcome to Flarf.