Thera-Poetic

Continuous TheraPoetic Audio Files | French & Arabic

Listen here for a continuous recording of French TheraPoetic audio.
Listen here for a continuous recording of Arabic TheraPoetic audio.

TheraPoetic Artwork

TheraPoetic is a mixed media artwork that uses calligraphy, poetry, and 3D art to depict Narrative Psychotherapy. It is a story re-told through re-written love letters, which constitute the build of a box that has nothing but words.

TheraPoetic Premise:

Our relationships with objects of loss are not static but rather constantly developing. The stories told of loss can get bigger than the loss itself. But why is that?

We think that this is caused by language. We form impressions, comparisons, and judgments using words. Language is the material we use to store memories, stories, feelings and thoughts. Indeed, it’s due to language that we suffer and grieve, and with language, we can find healing and relief.

TheraPoetic box

The 3D artwork is an empty box, except for words embedded in its walls and decorating its exterior. TheraPoetic exterior reads: This is an empty box, a box of words, a box of empty words, an empty box filled with everything. The words embedded in the walls are love letters and poems re-written. Originally told in English, the poems re-written in French and Arabic are transformed with new music, beauty, and literary interest to be re-integrated into a life filled with alternatives. By retelling stories of loss in enriching ways, the box becomes a representation of Narrative Psychotherapy.

The empty/full box is a reminder that words are the substance of everything (memories, feelings, thoughts), but they could also lack meaning and significance.

iNTERACT WITH THERAPOETIC

Feel free to pull a poem from the sides of the box or listen to the retold stories by scanning the QR codes leading to the French and Arabic poems.

Once you have read or listened to the poems, you cannot unread them or unhear them, but you are welcome to rewrite them!

Contributors:

Arwa Aburizik (Design, re-writing, poetry reading)

Antoine Agostini (Re-writing)

Cheryl Jacobson (Calligraphy and Construction)

Osman (Calligraphy)

Tyler James (Audio production)

Lauren Brahm (Website production)