Asemic Writing for Mail-Artists

Asemic writing: something very beautiful, it makes me feel free.

Hi all,

New chapters asemic book on http://insomniesetartpostal.blogspot.com/search/label/ASEMIC

*--*

Here is the introduction for Asemics 16 - Edition 1. Feel free to cut and paste and keep with your book. All four editions will have introductions. Thanks!

Asemics 16

Collaborative Mail-Art Book Project

INTRODUCTION TO EDITION 1

The global mail-art network, which evolved from art practices in the United States and Europe in the 1960s, has for decades served as a conduit for visual-verbal forms. Mail-art’s close ties to the Fluxus movement have unquestionably strengthened this connection. Vital work long-nurtured by the network includes concrete poetry, visual poetry, haptic and object poetry as well as the fairly esoteric yet endlessly fascinating practice of asemic writing.

In May 2011, South African artist Cheryl Penn launched an ambitious collaborative mail-art book project encompassing four editions; this is the first. I have been greatly honored to coordinate the project with her. The International Union of Mail-Artists (IUOMA), founded by Ruud Janssen of the Netherlands, has served as an ideal headquarters in cyberspace for an effort that involves many artists from around the globe.

Through Asemics 16, Penn has sought to chronicle the work of contemporary asemic writers in the mail-art network, to encourage other artists to explore asemic writing, and to push the boundaries of current practice. Thus you will find in this edition work by asemic writers who are well-known in the field. You will also find artists who work in collage, painting, photography, and conceptual art, among others. By crossing traditional boundaries they have produced extraordinarily innovative contributions.

The realm of asemic writing includes the invention of imaginary languages with corresponding symbols and systems for their arrangement. Asemic writing suggests a language, might at times reveal traces of known language, but ultimately cannot be read as any existing language or extinct language that has been recorded. Through the absence, discontinuity or disruption of conventional signification, new meanings and realizations are made possible. Visual and material elements of written language are brought to the forefront.

Depending upon the approach taken by the individual artists in Asemics 16 – Edition 1, asemic writing can be wondrously simple or intriguingly complex. Some of the artists found inspiration in the scrawling of young children seeking to mimic the writing they have seen but not yet mastered; some delved into personal symbol systems they first created as children themselves.

Other contributors have made asemic signs and syntax from found material and asemic-suggestive shapes in nature. Some have delved into prehistoric glyphs and ancient texts; others have drawn inspiration from street art. The result in Asemics 16 is a vast, global dialog of human expression not constrained by time, space or language.

Asemic writing is also a medium that can be illuminated and explained through advanced cultural theory in fields including semiotics and linguistics. It addresses deeply philosophical questions involving indeterminacy, incomprehensibility, and meta-language. This edition with all its visual richness brings us together in the shared experience of being human and our relationship to the world.

De Villo Sloan

August 8, 2011

Auburn, New York, USA 

I'll second that.  Fantastic intoduction.

Delightful chapter from Cleveland Wall was received today.  Getting closer to the finish!

Also received some asemic writings in a matchbook from Marisha van den Heuvel.  Thank you Marisha.  Hopefully there are book pages on the way. 

Good intro DVS!

john

Thanks JMB - greatly appreciated. Asemic writing is something I've seen for years but this is the first time I dug into it. I remember Jake Berry did a lot.

Nancy, as with Project 26, you can take the intro and do or not do what you want with it. I think it helped as documentation in the last project. In the intros I'll try to sort of summarize points that were made during, in hindsight, the really interesting discussions buried in these threads.

Asemic #4 received from "E" this AM.  A wonderful chapter.  I now have 2 chapters, in my #4 file, and I am working on mine.  Thank you "E"!

Dear contributors to Edition #2, here is the intro for your books. Feel free to cut and paste if you want and use as documentation for the book:

Asemics 16

Collaborative Mail-Art Book Project

INTRODUCTION TO EDITION 2

In this second edition of the Asemics 16 mail-art project, you will find remarkable work by artists from around the world who have shared their talents and ideas to explore and expand the esoteric and fascinating practice of asemic writing.

We were very fortunate to benefit from the involvement of highly regarded artists and writers who work on the borderland where text and image meld. I offer special thanks to John M. Bennett and Cecil Touchon.

Asemics16 is made even more unique because it also attracted artists producing highly innovative work in areas including painting, collage, photography, and conceptual art. They brought tremendous excitement and enthusiasm. Their work opens vast possibilities for the future as we enter an era where traditional notions of poetry, fiction, and the text are reframed around the concept of post-literature.

The realm of asemic writing includes the invention of imaginary languages with corresponding symbols and systems for their arrangement. Asemic writing suggests a language, might at times reveal traces of known language, but ultimately cannot be read as any existing language or extinct language that has been recorded.

The Asemics 16 book project was launched in May 2011 by South African artist Cheryl Penn. As the result of her study of U.S. artist Ray Johnson, Penn has led a number of highly successful book projects through the global mail-art network. The International Union of Mail-Artists (IUOMA), founded by Ruud Janssen of the Netherlands, served as an ideal headquarters in cyberspace for an effort that required extensive coordination and communication.

One fascinating aspect of the project made possible through IUOMA was group discussions that preceded individual work on chapters (and later sharing drafts). These included forming a consensus definition of asemic writing where participants explored topics including the relationship of found and natural objects to asemic writing; the relationship of asemic writing to visual poetry and concrete poetry as well as haptic and object poetry; and applications of cultural theory to illuminate practice. Examples of work by earlier authors and artists were discussed, in particular Cy Twombly, Henri Michaux, and the collaborative work of Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs.

This second edition is rich in approaches to creating asemic writing. You will see beautiful and highly expressive cursive script where letters, words, and phrases emerge, mirage-like – hinting at a message to the reader – only to fade elusively back into incomprehension and fragmented shapes that rise and fall from the unconscious. Other artists take a material approach, fragmenting the existing letters into new symbols and syntax. Many of the artists have focused on placing their asemic work in a relationship with other images, often creating a narrative context and inventing various hybrid visual-textual forms.

In the pages ahead is a dialog about the nature of language and the human experience by artists from an incredible array of cultures and perspectives. I invite you to delve deeply and enjoy their tremendous contributions.

De Villo Sloan

August 10, 2011

Auburn, New York, USA 

De Villo, you are a multi-talented chap!  Thank you for writing these eliquent introductions.  What would we do without you? 

De Villo, I applaud your intro to Asemics #2.  w  o  w,  very nice.

 and diddo to Nancy Bell Scott's response.