Taylor Mali

Blog this:  How does the form of the poem affect your apprehension and appreciation for it?


I watched the video that was all graphic design and animated text over the audio of Taylor Mali reading the poem. So when I watched the video of him actually performing it, I did not get the same impact. It was more effective for me to see the words while he was saying them. The animated text took initiative to help tell the story within the poem and was designed appropriately to exaggerate and push forward Mali's points. One part sticks out in my mind. When he asks "Where are the limbs at which we once walked" small foot-print like images surround the words that now resemble branches of a tree and the foot-prints look like leaves and as Mali speaks the words "chopped down" the tree is hit by the word chopped and falls to it's side. Creating visuals through text is an art form that I value because it is difficult but it can create such great meaning.