Light Haiku: Poetry Made of Light!

Light Haiku is an exciting new public art project developed for downtown San Jose by visual artist Chris Eckert and recording artist/poet pc muñoz. One of eight public art projects selected by the city for their new temporary art program Who’s on First, What’s on Second, Light Haiku enables compelling artistic expression through cutting-edge technology.

The project merges haiku, an ancient form of Japanese poetry, with sophisticated engineering and contemporary content. Eckert’s Light Cannon, a unique computer controlled spotlight designed and built specifically for Light Haiku, will “write” original poetry on an enormous 650 square foot luminescent screen in downtown San Jose. As a focused three-inch spot slowly plays across the screen, its glowing wake gradually produces an ethereal billboard-sized haiku. It emerges from the darkness, then fades away – producing a visually striking, interactive experience.

Light Haiku features over a hundred new poems written by muñoz (creator of the award-winning multimedia project twenty haiku) along with contributions by special guest poets from around the world. Part of the exhibition will be entirely devoted to haiku contributed by San Jose grade-schoolers. If you are interested in submitting a haiku, click SUBMIT to be taken to our submission page.

Light Haiku is made possible through the San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs.