Howl

       I created a visal piece based on the poem “Howl Part 1” by Allen Ginsberg. When reading and analyzing the poem in class, I had a particular jolt of inspiration that I recorded via doodle in the margin. I tend to doodle in the margins of my notebook often, and so I decided to expand that initial response to the work into a deeper concept. The doodle displayed an elongated male figure with his head bowed, attached to strings as marionette puppet. I felt as if the people that Mr. Ginsberg was describing were being controlled, had become puppets in a sense.

The figure’s head is lowered in such a manner to suggest that the character is holding a dystopic reality within their mind. He is positioned in the center of the composition for he is the focal point of the piece. The first line of the poem states, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.” To expand upon this thought, I created the environment around the character ensued with some madness. Billows of smoke are a prominent part of the design with some ruins of old buildings peaking through the haze, a war torn city.                                                               

        Another line in the poem states, “who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz” which inspired the reason the figure is shown floating above this city in ruin. Perhaps this action means there is some hope for him? There is a chance he may to come to his senses, to buckle down, and handle reality. But regardless, he is ungrounded, wondering off, sort of lost in his own existence and perception.

The character is detached from the environment by being shown with no value, just simply white and black. This was to show the disconnection between the conscience and the surroundings of the character, such as the people described in Ginsberg’s piece and those apart of the Beat movement. Those with the “beat” mentality consider themselves rather isolated from societal views, which is subtly implied in the value separation of the figure. The white also provides the simple connotation and color symbolism of purity, once again the figure is not entirely without innocence or hope.

The character is also attached to marionette control bars, this symbolizes something deeper controlling him, perhaps its anxiety, depression, drugs, or other psychological/emotional complications or dependencies. These issues have the power to manipulate the character, shown through strings attached to limbs and body, however, his head stays limp and detached. The head remains unattached from the contraption to symbolize further that those coping with the baggage are not necessarily in the wrong mind. 

        They wish to seek out something supernatural, something spiritual, as why many people deciding to use entheogens wish to achieve initially. But as time goes on, this method ultimately does not come without its complications and repercussions. The figure is also shown dripping/leaking, referring to a section of the poem that states, “Shuddering mouth-wracked and battered bleak of brain all drained of brilliance.” Towards the end of the poem Ginsberg states, “rejected yet confessing out the soul to conform to the rhythm of thought in his naked and endless head,” referring to the never-ending conflict and war within the mind, particularly in the mind of a madman.