Physical poetry

History, fantasy, theory and practice of physical poetry

Petr Váša (1965) was born in Brno and studied art history. He founded the musical groups Z Kopce (1985), Ošklid (1987) and A-Beat (1990). After their activities ended, he devoted himself mainly to the project of physical poetry (since 1991 performances and recordings, since 1992 drawings - visual poems, seminars and workshops at various art schools and on special occasions). After years of solo performance, he founded the music group Ty Syčáci (1999), with which he released a number of diverse albums.

He has presented his work on many stages at home and abroad, published it in various media (books Texts, poems, poèmes physiques and The Return of Henry the Swimmer, CD Circus-Chaos-Minaret and Manifesto, TV and radio programmes, exhibitions, internet presentations). He currently performs alone, with the Sycaks and the revived group Jasná páka, teaches physical poetry and works on other literary, musical and artistic projects.

The book describes how the genre of physical poetry began and how it developed, and is both its manifesto and its textbook.