well this page definitely IS going to be a long story
because i’m going to give the history leading up to the ‘field’ pieces
note that due to the present lack of access to original examples of these pieces
this page will only be dealing with their evolution from 1970-4
so back in 1970 i was 19 years old and had just left CalArt because as far as i was concerned i had gotten my vision
which is all one can really ask for from a learning experience
so for better or worse, i thought it best to get out and start living a life in the real world
as opposed to spending another 3-5 years in school and THEN meeting the real world face to face
so at this point i was typing both ‘contemporary’ poetry
and sound poems/scores (but still ‘on the page’ as it were), which i was then referring to as confusongs
so here are examples of a poem [left] and a confusong [right]
and just for some perspective on this endeavour
for me, writing poetry was process of distillation
that is, pieces went through countless versions
maybe one poem a month would be completed, maybe
because i’m going to give the history leading up to the ‘field’ pieces
note that due to the present lack of access to original examples of these pieces
this page will only be dealing with their evolution from 1970-4
so back in 1970 i was 19 years old and had just left CalArt because as far as i was concerned i had gotten my vision
which is all one can really ask for from a learning experience
so for better or worse, i thought it best to get out and start living a life in the real world
as opposed to spending another 3-5 years in school and THEN meeting the real world face to face
so at this point i was typing both ‘contemporary’ poetry
and sound poems/scores (but still ‘on the page’ as it were), which i was then referring to as confusongs
so here are examples of a poem [left] and a confusong [right]
and just for some perspective on this endeavour
for me, writing poetry was process of distillation
that is, pieces went through countless versions
maybe one poem a month would be completed, maybe
and so there is/are always the next step/s, right? and for me it happened sometime around late 1972
and the date isn’t certain because the actual ‘trigger’ piece that i kept i neglected to date
so the ‘trigger’ was a correction to what was probably the first typing of a sound poem/score
that would have first been pen & pencil
and looking at it i had the idea for what became a series of sound poem/scores
that then developed into the earliest visual poems
so here is an example of a pen & pencil piece – notated as ‘improvisation’ Oct. ’72 on the backside [left],
and the ‘trigger’ piece [right]
and the date isn’t certain because the actual ‘trigger’ piece that i kept i neglected to date
so the ‘trigger’ was a correction to what was probably the first typing of a sound poem/score
that would have first been pen & pencil
and looking at it i had the idea for what became a series of sound poem/scores
that then developed into the earliest visual poems
so here is an example of a pen & pencil piece – notated as ‘improvisation’ Oct. ’72 on the backside [left],
and the ‘trigger’ piece [right]
so this brings us to the inreadables sound poem/scores and then to the UNREADABLES – series 1,2 & 3
so with the inreadables i was dispensing with vowels, and with the unreadables i was overlaying the letters
and thus dispensing with the words and this then was the actual beginning of my producing visual poems
so with the inreadables i was dispensing with vowels, and with the unreadables i was overlaying the letters
and thus dispensing with the words and this then was the actual beginning of my producing visual poems
now because this page is also a history, and because life isn’t lived and work evolve in a linear manner,
there was parallel typed writings going on as well the contemporary poetry
which had gradually been shifting into something more akin to prose poetry
and the confusong form was being referred to as compomotions
so here’s a compomotion [left] and the first page of a 4 page piece titled Re:semblances [right]
there was parallel typed writings going on as well the contemporary poetry
which had gradually been shifting into something more akin to prose poetry
and the confusong form was being referred to as compomotions
so here’s a compomotion [left] and the first page of a 4 page piece titled Re:semblances [right]
so we’re coming to the end of the line here
so these examples are from 1974, on the left is the 20th page of a 28 page work titled EXAGGER,
and the closest piece i have to a field piece at hand
so these examples are from 1974, on the left is the 20th page of a 28 page work titled EXAGGER,
and the closest piece i have to a field piece at hand
the earliest visual poetries i was producing, from 1973-75 were ‘field’ pieces produced using a manual typewriter
a page was completed filled letter by letter
now manual typewriters were touch sensitive
that is, as each strike of the key naturally varied, so did the resulting image of the letter on the page
that is, some were lighter and some were darker
besides this was the fact through the absorbing of all the striking
the piece of the paper took on a texture the result was that each finished page was an object in itself
and not just a medium for the information it displayed
a page was completed filled letter by letter
now manual typewriters were touch sensitive
that is, as each strike of the key naturally varied, so did the resulting image of the letter on the page
that is, some were lighter and some were darker
besides this was the fact through the absorbing of all the striking
the piece of the paper took on a texture the result was that each finished page was an object in itself
and not just a medium for the information it displayed
and on the right is a from a xerox of a cut up i was using to generate source for a piece titled SHARDS,
which process reached a fuller development
when i began producing the work for my first one person show that opened january 4 1975
at Beyond Baroque Foundation in Venice CA
which process reached a fuller development
when i began producing the work for my first one person show that opened january 4 1975
at Beyond Baroque Foundation in Venice CA