Heart Changes

"Translator's Note

Shaolian Su's 'Heart Changes' is a suite consisting of a central poem within which six shorter tangential poems are imbedded. Its print version is a textual representation of a hollow man in modern society, wandering and searching for his 'heart.' In this digital version, each line of the poem suite constantly oscillates at an independent speed. This dynamic layout extends a formal gesture implying the agitation of the modern heart. The central poem and the six lexias intertwine and interlink as a loop, a formal simulation of a circular course with no exits, portending no hope of salvation. The dynamic layout, evolved from the tradition of concrete poetry, remains within the realm of representation, whereas the simulation of a loop with no exits transforms the reader into a participant in a textual VR world, wherein he becomes a character simulating/enacting the first-person narrator's endless quest for [a] heart in a life of repeated routines. As a whole, this work manifests an artistic connection between content and form.

In Chinese, the central poem stands at the beginning of the suite. It is relocated to the end in the English version for reasons of translation and readability." -- From The New River Journal