The American poet David Daniels (1933-2008) has always amazed me, not only because of his kindness and wisdom but also the ingenuity with which he crafted his shape poems with a computer program like “Word for Windows.” It is impressive to note the quality/innovation of the shapes he obtained with his texts/poems/animations using software that was not designed for that purpose. Not only that, but the ease with which he worked and played with the language is enviable. Reading and observing his poems is always a process of rediscovery, because they contain a dual semiotic system, one for writings and the other for imagery.

I followed the creation of his 200 + Humans with a sense of enchantment, thanks to the vast net that enables artists to exchange experiences in an international context. This series is fascinating, not only because of its undeniable artistic value but because of its anthropological aspect. Daniels constructed his poems by asking many different kinds of people from different countries some very simple questions. As a result, these poems reveal similarities and differences, while demonstrating what humans are like at the beginning of the 21st century. I can’t help imagining what it would be like if someone read these poems in the next century, and have fun imagining that person’s (?) response.

It is also interesting to underscore that, mixed in with the human beings mentioned in the previous paragraph, there are some familiar famous figures, such as Shakespeare, Edith Piaf, Mozart, Marx, Charles Dickens, Fernando Pessoa, Kafka, Freud and even Jesus, all of whom are eternally human and recreated through Daniels’s imagination.

As a result, it is very moving to present the “Humans” series by David Daniels, which I have produced in DVD format. This will be one more way of attempting to preserve his Poems.

Enjoy.
Regina Célia Pinto
Leblon, Rio de Janeiro, September 21, 2009.

Translated into English by Sabrina Gledhill
CONTENT:

DVD 1 – to be inserted in a computer’s DVD drive.
> The Humans series in PDF format, exactly as Daniels produced it.
> The essay Lift up Your Heads, O Ye Gates, An Appreciation of David Daniels, by British author and critic Edward Picot.
> The interview with David Daniels that Jorge Luiz Antonio and I conducted in 2004.

DVD 2 – to be viewed on any DVD player
> A page for all the humans in the series, with sound and movement, a festival of colors and unusual shapes.

 
 
 
 
 
 

DVD 1

DVD 2

 

 
 
Archives and People that received a copy of "David Daniels' 200 = Human Beingèd Hymn to Humanity":
 

  • Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry (Marvin A Sackner , USA)

  • Duncan of Jordanstone  Library - University of Dundee (Marie Simmons > Scotland - United Kingdom)

  • Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library - Duke University (Will Hansen,  Assistant Curator of Collections, USA)

  • The Poetry Collection -  University at Buffalo (Michael Basinski, Curator , USA)

  • Thomas J. Watson Library - The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Kenneth Sockner, USA)

  • The Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art -  Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections (Timothy Murray, Curator, USA)

  • Library of Congress - Washington (USA)

  • Universitat de Barcelona - Barcelona (Laura Borràs, Spain)

  • Furtherfield - London (Marc Garret, UK)

  • Arquivo de Poesia Digital - biblioteca do IEL - UNICAMP, São Paulo (Brazil)

  • Avant Writing Collection - Rare Books & Manuscripts Library - The Ohio State University Libraries (Dr. John M. Bennett, Curator, USA)

  • Arquivo da Bienal Internacional de Poesia Experimental (México)

  • Biblioteca Curso de Letras - ULBRA (Universidade Luterana do Brasil) - Canoas, RS (Brazi )

  • Laboratório Arte Alameda (México)

  • FILE 2010 - http://www.file.org/ - São Paulo (Brazil)

  • Avant Writing Symposium / 2010 - Ohio (USA)
  • Jorge Luiz Antonio (Brazil), Edward Picot (UK), Mark Zielinski (USA), Rachel Seavey (USA), Gina Bruno (USA), Chris Daniels (USA), David A. Silva (USA), Mary Godwin (USA),  Giles Goodland (UK), Joel Weishaus (USA), Satu Kaikkonen (Finland), Jim Andrews (Canada), Michael Szpakowski (UK), Martha Deed (USA), Patrick Burgaud (Netherlands), John M. Bennett (USA), mIEKAL aND (USA), Cesar Horácio Espinosa Vera (Mexico), Luís Dohlnikoff (Brazil), Carlos Vogt (Brazil), Klaus Peter Dencker (German ), Alessandra Ribeiro Faria (Brazil ), Regina Vater (Brazil), Paulo Villela (Brazil), Marcelo Frazão (Brazil ) & Regina Célia Pinto (Brazil)