Poema visual (Visual Poem), Joan Brossa

The letters "A", whole or broken; punctuation marks scattered on the grass. These elements create a curious, attractive ensemble that can be read like a vast corporeal poem. An urban sculpture which seeks to foster reflection on a journey from birth to death.

In Joan Brossa's corporeal poems, letters become large sculptural objects that interact with their surroundings. In this case, in 1984, Brossa created one of his visual poems in the new gardens that were laid out as part of the project for the city's velodrome, the Velòdrom d'Horta. He named it Poema visual transitable en tres parts (Transitable Visual Poem in the Three Parts) because the ensemble, which is made of artificial stone, traces an itinerary from the beginning to the end, from birth to destruction.

The itinerary begins with a large letter "A" standing 12 metres high and marking the entrance to the poem. This is the beginning. A beginning that leads to the stumbling blocks and evolution of life, which here takes the form of punctuation marks. The full stops, commas, brackets, question marks and exclamation marks lead us to the end of the poem. Once again we come across the capital "A", but this time it is broken into fragments. It represents the end, death and destruction.