“APERTURE was made by hand using dry-transfer lettering, without the use of computers, and subsequently digitally recoloured. Once ubiquitous in graphic design and advertising from the early 1960s to early 1990s, dry-transfer lettering been relegated to use by artists and hobbyists. At one point a specialized tool with an expensive price tag, dry-transfer lettering was used in graphic design and technical drafting, in order to standardize graphic elements, eliminate the individuality of the artist’s hand, and speed up the creative process.  As dry-transfer lettering ages, it cracks and ripples, becoming less pliable. Letters no longer adhere to surfaces faithfully; they flake and crumble, crack and crumble. These poems reflect that lack of cohesion; the letters crumble away from meaning, leaving rough traces of what could have been meant.”

About the author...

derek beaulieu is the author / editor of 20 collections of poetry, prose and criticism including two volumes of his selected work Please No More Poetry: the poetry of derek beaulieu (2013) and Konzeptuelle Arbeiten (2017). His most recent volume of fiction, a, A Novel, was published by Paris’s Jean Boîte Editions. Beaulieu has spoken, performed and exhibited his visual work across Canada, the United States and Europe and has won multiple local and national awards for his teaching and dedication to students. Derek Beaulieu was the 2014–2016 Poet Laureate of Calgary, Canada and is Director of Literary Arts at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.