This week I’m reviewing Blackout Bard. Blackout poetry is a form of found poetry that uses existing text (poems, prose, textbooks, etc.) as the basis for new works with new meanings. The writer will redact (black out) selected words or phrases from the original work to develop a new poem. These pages can be further embellished with drawings, photos, or collage elements. For a tutorial on using this technique check out this video by ZArt. The Blackout Bard app takes the concept of blackout poetry and applies it into a digital format.
Sample blackout poem created with the app.
Intended Use: The app is intended for art and creative writing.
Target Audience: The app is listed as being appropriate for ages four and up. Due to the reliance on text, the app is best suited for users who are able to read/write at a fourth grade level or higher.
Usability: The interface utilizes a touch screen but is prone to selecting and unselecting the same text unintentionally. In some forms of blackout poetry all but a few words are blacked out, whereas in other forms all of the words remain visible and the words of the poem are circled/highlighted. In this app, users is only allowed to black out/highlight eight consecutive words at a a time before a break is required. This may necessitate thinking in inverse depending on how much of the original text the user wants to obscure.
Users can tap the “i” icon for basic instructions for the functions of the app.
Cost: The app is free. There are options for in-app purchases for $0.99 (admittedly, I could not find where to make these purchases on the iPhone version or what you get exactly).
Technical Requirements: Available for iOS and Android.
Pro’s: The app comes preloaded with a variety of literary excerpts to start with. Users can also paste text from other sources. The app comes preloaded with a limited a palette of premade colors but users can also mix their own custom colors. Although there is no drawing that can be done directly in the app, users can import photographs from their device to use as a background for their text. There are also several background textures to choose from. The user can experiment with various blackout settings from highlights and redacting to patterns. You can save your pieces and continue working on them at a later time. Finished pieces can be exported as a JPEG or PDF for printing or exporting to other apps.
Con’s: The interface is not immediately intuitive and requires some experimentation to get used to. The user cannot draw on the text in the app directly. The user would need to use the annotate tools native to their phone, import the image into another app, or print their work and illustrate the piece by hand. The app is only available in English, however, you can copy/paste or manually enter text from other languages (including special characters).
The advertising for the app is somewhat problematic. On the App store the app is listed as Blackout Bard: Blackout Poetry with the tag line Art Therapy by Erasing Words. While it is true that there are art therapists (and poetry therapists, expressive arts therapists, and other mental health professionals) who use blackout poetry as a technique with their clients, the app itself is not the same as art therapy. What is missing from the app is a key component of art therapy which is the use of the creative process within the context of a psychotherapeutic relationship. While it may seem obvious that an app is not the same as therapy, the surge of telehealth therapy, self-help apps, adult coloring books, etc. the waters surrounding art therapy have been muddied which can lead some members of the public to be unclear about what services they may be receiving.
Is it worth it? The app is a decent introduction to blackout poetry. It has limitations with respect to adding free-hand visuals (e.g. doodles, sketches, illustrations) but these can be worked around. There are sufficient tools in the free version of this app for personal or clinical use, however, you may have a more robust experience of blackout poetry by working on paper.