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This paper develops and makes an argument for a new form of poetry referred to as a space poem, defined as a poem that is composed with an awareness of multimodality during its creation in such a way that results in a poem in which multiple modes work together symbiotically to create the poem. I trace the development of this concept over the course of my experience as a student in the Critical and Creative Thinking Master’s degree program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Beginning with a consideration of my past artistic multimodal projects created at different moments during said studies, I then attempt to analyze different conceptual understandings of the relationships between modes, primarily focusing on verbal and visual modes. This is followed by my research regarding multimodality in art, firsthand interviews with artists Patti Harris and Mark Mendel, current criticism of poetry, and my own experiences in writing poetry. Finally, I narrate and reflect on my process in making three space poems, and how these experiments resulted in the definition above as well as a series of guiding steps for anyone creating a space poem. Overall, the paper provides an example of a journey through the creative process, which makes use of both critical and creative thinking, and includes but is not limited to phases of reflection, research, idea development, innovation, experiment, risk-taking, and various habits of mind such as maintaining comfort with ambiguity, perseverance in the face of setbacks, openmindedness, and flexibility. |
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