Context and intention
In this project, I set out to explore the boundaries of respect, consideration, and admiration toward other—sometimes cynical—creators of content, such as Ștefan Augustin Doinaș or one of my favorite poets, Marin Sorescu.
Already interested in alternative ways of “coding” messages—beyond spoken or written language, into visual arts or music—I felt the need to experiment. I wanted to understand how a poetic message could be perceived and interpreted from multiple points of view, across disciplines.
Engaging with the poems
I selected a few poems that I genuinely admired, even though I hadn’t lived in the era when they were written. I studied the historical and cultural context of that time, but ultimately realized that one can never fully “grasp” the depth of such works from all possible angles.
So instead of striving for perfect understanding, I chose to engage creatively: I added a new visual layer over the poems—switching to a deliberately cartoonish, almost autistic drawing style.
The cartoon as a universal medium
This “cartoonish” visual treatment served several purposes:
- It acts as a universal language—accessible, emotional, and expressive.
- It offers an ironic yet sincere way of interacting with complex material.
- It functions as a kind of cultural excuse: even if you don’t fully “get it,” you still do something with it—out of respect for others who may one day encounter your take on it.
In this sense, the project was also a subtle invitation for other creatives to reflect on the meaning of poetry. It was a playful, indirect way of acknowledging that, outside the author and perhaps a few close friends or relatives, no one really has full access to the “true meaning” of a poem.
The persona and the gesture
By working with overlaid visuals, I stepped into the role of a persona: an autistic but talented graphic artist, someone who doesn’t necessarily “respect” the author in the traditional sense, unless the author’s work becomes something to interact with, reinterpret, play with, or even imitate.
The gesture was not about irreverence, but about active engagement.
This persona lives and creates in solitude, then shares their work online with a small circle of friends or followers. The aim is not approval, but rather to enrich a shared space—to offer new styles, methods, or interpretive roles.
Unexpected reach
What surprised me was that the project spread further than I anticipated. Small quotes, fragments, and reactions reached me through various channels. This became further proof that online work is increasingly quoted, shared, and replicated—both inside and outside digital ecosystems.
Conclusion
This wasn’t a translation of poetry into visuals—it was a reflection on the tension between respect and distance, contemplation and action. It was a personal response to poetry through drawing—not to explain it, but to interact with it, question it, and transform it into a playful, open-ended artistic dialogue.
( written around 2014, on/from file “poems.txt”, and then rewritten with ChatGpt )
You can view the visual project on my Behance profile :
PAUL SELING 
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