Great link, Jan, and very interesting that it's on an Allen Ginsberg site.
The first time I can ever remember seeing asemic writing in a "real" book was when reading Henri Michaux (I think Miserable Miracles) in a college class. Guido Vermeulen was a big Henry Michaux fan.
As you might be seeing, Jim Leftwich claims the current asemic writing movement did not start until the 1990s. So this looking back to people like Michaux and Brion Gysin is finding sources who are influential but did not call themselves asemic writers.
I saw LOTS of asemic writing in the network before it was named: John M. Bennett has been doing it a long time as well as Jake Berry, just to name two.
Again, wonderful link that is very relevant to current dialogs here and elsewhere.
People have been playing around with fake oir asemic writing forever. I've seen fake glyphic writing on the back of bricks used in Mayan and Andean buildings,
06.09.15 Dare De Villo S. & John M. B., ...in regards to asemic historical references...I would suggest our own childhood memories .... I seem to recall( even other younger children than I) drawing with crayons & simulating "words"or the writing of adults by the simple act of scribbling flamboyant across the page with our crayons....Not to mention the practice of scanning pages & pages in a book or magazine looking for a particular passage or illustration (or just looking). ...then, there's the business of Dyslexia & all the variables in that human condition. I personally know all about the cliche' "It's Greek to me."...I'm faced with a similar experience to what I would easily consider "asemic" whenever I come face to face with a completely foreign language. All I can do or know to do is just look at it & or admire it. Ave uh nez dae. Richard C. Post Scriptum: Is Alzheimer's disease some sort of variable of Asemic literature???
I also agree with Richard--I had a pre-literate fascination with written words. Even after I learned to read, as a child I loved looking at people's signatures because they were indecipherable--a scrawl that somehow represented the uniqueness of the person who made it.
My introduction to anything like asemic writing came from Robert Grenier's visual poems, via Ron Silliman's blog, about ten or so years ago. I believe he calls them "drawing poems"--very short poems in an almost impossible to read (at least for me!) style of handwriting. Not purely asemic, but of possible interest. Here's a link to some of them:
Noma Jean - we also know Richard Canard as the Quacker Jack Kid aka the Prince of Pop. It's terribly confusing.
Thanks for the comments on asemic writing and childhood. I far prefer saying, "It's so easy a child could do it" to going into pomo literary theory, which is another avenue.
Perhaps this pre-literate (?) fascination w/language is some essential stage in human development. I don't know psych well enough to say.
Richard has a point: The asemic experience is also similar to certain states of psychosis or extreme disassociation. (I am not joking.) I notice some of the literary folks make much of the "unintelligible," so that can be a perspective as well.
AND remember the Surrealists were so interested in automatic writing and drawing. I keep threatening to do a piece on automatic writing and asemics.
Richard says I always try to get in the last word, so don't let me.
And Chris Wells - thanks to the Bob Grenier links. Those are great pieces and more evidence that poets have been doing this a long time before the naming of the current movement. (Jim Leftwich has interesting things to say about the history, and he pinpoints Tin Gaze in Australia as being important. (A lot of guys, huh?"
Well, the L=A=N=G=P=O folks have always been very supportive of vispo. I did note that Jan found the Michaux piece on a Ginsberg blog because I think an important source is Burroughs and Gysin. I could see a Beat influence in the Grenier pieces, although he could have gotten the idea elsewhere. For me, Grenier has always been this transitional figure half in Black Mt. and half in Langpo, although I am sure it's more complicated.
An excellent interview w/ visual poet Miekal And in the "Huffington Post." Many of you probably know him from FB or when he was (hugely) active in the network. Miekal is producing some excellent asemic work, although he tends to want to call it vispo.
I don't know if everyone can see it. John Bennett and Diane Keys have done some collabs that I think are spectacular, and they are going to be published. This one I shared on my FB page:
I received this great asemic piece from Richard Canard (Illinois, USA). These decomposed letters are an approach both Jim Leftwich (Virginia, USA) and Tim Gaze (Australia) favor. As a result, I've started calling it Deconstructive Asemics. Anyway, a tremendous contribution, IMHO.
Here is a link to a review of a book on typewriter art (aka concrete poetry) that has some tremendous images. The work is by people who are recognized visual poets now, only going back in time. Asemic symbols are definitely present in the work, although the terms was not used when much of the work was made. In short, it is some amazing, pre-digital work (from the Sackner Archives):
I've blogged three vispo TLPs I received from Jim Leftwich. These are collabs by Jim and John M. Bennett. Definitely there are asemic elements in these pieces.
DeVIllo, just so you won't need to lose any sleep over the orientation of my latest piece, the red stamp in the bottom left (vertical orientation) is how it was created. The red stamp is my monk name in Japanese and is not asemic. That's a quandary on a purported asemic piece, to "sign" or not. But I'm also appreciating the spare use of words in your pieces (as below) and others, as a counterpoint to the nonsignified symbols. I also appreciated the comment about global/ universal perspective. I'm fond of creating out of the centerless center. In true nondual fashion, we can question (or just forget about) any sense of orientation (interesting word, that!).
Thank you so much, Jan, for the clarification/explanation.
Using terms such as "right" and "wrong" in this group is a kind of jello wrestling. BUT I am glad I was able to glean your intent w/ my original use of the vertical scan. I admire the other who had us look at it from different perspectives as well. I have been disastrously wrong on several occasions. That's for sure.
Yes, I know that's your stamp.
And I do look forward to your asemics especially because I know about your involvement in Buddhism and I am curious as to how a Buddhist (or the Buddhist philosophy) approaches asemics.
I like this, De Villo. Lately I'm drawn to asemics that mirror the "syntax" of our writing, so the shape of a "paragraph" for example or poetic style of enjambment. I also find myself chuckling over putting a lot of thought into meaning around asemics! Thank you for your piece.
A theme for one of the collaborative books we did in this group with Cheryl Penn was "Asemic Syntax." I remember she and I were both very interested in the topic. I am still.
Guido Vermeulen felt Asemic Syntax was a self-contradictory topic, that Asemic Syntax is impossible. I had to pause on that one because Guido was so tremendously knowledgeable.
I really need to post those books somewhere all together. I'll see what I can find in terms of the ways different contributors addressed Asemic Syntax.
I hope to be starting a conversation with Marton Koppany regarding the idea of an 'asemicity kit' consisting in: a text* which is intended to be intelligible to the recipient and a hammer with instruction (*) to apply the hammer to his head until the text becomes asemic to him.
Welcome to the group, Grethe. Thank you for sharing the work. Yes, that looks asemic to me. And very nice visual poetry too. Feel free to keep posting, ask questions, make comments, etc.
De Villo Sloan
Sep 2, 2015
Jason C. Motsch
Thank you for your comment about vispo/asemics, De Villo. It was helpful.
Sep 4, 2015
Jan Hodgman
Much wonderfulness appearing here!
Just ran across this video---wish I understood French, though the visuals alone are fantastique:
http://ginsbergblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/spontaneous-poetics-131-he...
Sep 4, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Great link, Jan, and very interesting that it's on an Allen Ginsberg site.
The first time I can ever remember seeing asemic writing in a "real" book was when reading Henri Michaux (I think Miserable Miracles) in a college class. Guido Vermeulen was a big Henry Michaux fan.
As you might be seeing, Jim Leftwich claims the current asemic writing movement did not start until the 1990s. So this looking back to people like Michaux and Brion Gysin is finding sources who are influential but did not call themselves asemic writers.
I saw LOTS of asemic writing in the network before it was named: John M. Bennett has been doing it a long time as well as Jake Berry, just to name two.
Again, wonderful link that is very relevant to current dialogs here and elsewhere.
Sep 6, 2015
John M. Bennett
People have been playing around with fake oir asemic writing forever. I've seen fake glyphic writing on the back of bricks used in Mayan and Andean buildings,
Sep 6, 2015
Richard Canard
06.09.15 Dare De Villo S. & John M. B., ...in regards to asemic historical references...I would suggest our own childhood memories .... I seem to recall( even other younger children than I) drawing with crayons & simulating "words"or the writing of adults by the simple act of scribbling flamboyant across the page with our crayons....Not to mention the practice of scanning pages & pages in a book or magazine looking for a particular passage or illustration (or just looking). ...then, there's the business of Dyslexia & all the variables in that human condition. I personally know all about the cliche' "It's Greek to me."...I'm faced with a similar experience to what I would easily consider "asemic" whenever I come face to face with a completely foreign language. All I can do or know to do is just look at it & or admire it. Ave uh nez dae. Richard C. Post Scriptum: Is Alzheimer's disease some sort of variable of Asemic literature???
Sep 6, 2015
John M. Bennett
You're absolutely right, Richard!
Sep 6, 2015
MISS NOMA
Sep 6, 2015
chris wells
I also agree with Richard--I had a pre-literate fascination with written words. Even after I learned to read, as a child I loved looking at people's signatures because they were indecipherable--a scrawl that somehow represented the uniqueness of the person who made it.
My introduction to anything like asemic writing came from Robert Grenier's visual poems, via Ron Silliman's blog, about ten or so years ago. I believe he calls them "drawing poems"--very short poems in an almost impossible to read (at least for me!) style of handwriting. Not purely asemic, but of possible interest. Here's a link to some of them:
http://www.whalecloth.org/grenier/pennscans/pennscans.html
Sep 7, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Thanks for the comments on asemic writing and childhood. I far prefer saying, "It's so easy a child could do it" to going into pomo literary theory, which is another avenue.
Perhaps this pre-literate (?) fascination w/language is some essential stage in human development. I don't know psych well enough to say.
Richard has a point: The asemic experience is also similar to certain states of psychosis or extreme disassociation. (I am not joking.) I notice some of the literary folks make much of the "unintelligible," so that can be a perspective as well.
AND remember the Surrealists were so interested in automatic writing and drawing. I keep threatening to do a piece on automatic writing and asemics.
Richard says I always try to get in the last word, so don't let me.
Sep 7, 2015
De Villo Sloan
And Chris Wells - thanks to the Bob Grenier links. Those are great pieces and more evidence that poets have been doing this a long time before the naming of the current movement. (Jim Leftwich has interesting things to say about the history, and he pinpoints Tin Gaze in Australia as being important. (A lot of guys, huh?"
Well, the L=A=N=G=P=O folks have always been very supportive of vispo. I did note that Jan found the Michaux piece on a Ginsberg blog because I think an important source is Burroughs and Gysin. I could see a Beat influence in the Grenier pieces, although he could have gotten the idea elsewhere. For me, Grenier has always been this transitional figure half in Black Mt. and half in Langpo, although I am sure it's more complicated.
Sep 7, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Tin Gaze = Tim Gaze
Sep 7, 2015
De Villo Sloan
An excellent interview w/ visual poet Miekal And in the "Huffington Post." Many of you probably know him from FB or when he was (hugely) active in the network. Miekal is producing some excellent asemic work, although he tends to want to call it vispo.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/feliz-l-molina/visual-poetry-with-mie...
Sep 7, 2015
Jan Hodgman
A beaut arrived from Jason......
only slightly mangled in flight:
Sep 10, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Excellent work by Jason. Thx Jan
I don't know if everyone can see it. John Bennett and Diane Keys have done some collabs that I think are spectacular, and they are going to be published. This one I shared on my FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153751510119728&set=a...
Sep 10, 2015
Jason C. Motsch
Thanks Jan and De Villo. I did see the collabs by Diane Keys and John Bennett and think they are amazing. I absolutely love their work.
Sep 10, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Our own Ruud Janssen has asemic work featured on Michael Jacobson's post-literate blog. Join the Digital Asemic Revolution! Very interesting work.
http://thenewpostliterate.blogspot.com/2015/09/digital-asemic-revol...
Sep 22, 2015
Ruud Janssen
Sep 22, 2015
De Villo Sloan
I received this great asemic piece from Richard Canard (Illinois, USA). These decomposed letters are an approach both Jim Leftwich (Virginia, USA) and Tim Gaze (Australia) favor. As a result, I've started calling it Deconstructive Asemics. Anyway, a tremendous contribution, IMHO.
http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/storage-shed-wars-read...
Sep 25, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Received asemic writing from Maria Morisot (Iowa, USA). Many thx!
http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/asemic-forecast-by-mar...
Oct 12, 2015
John M. Bennett
Oct 12, 2015
Grace Sanford
"SMOG" (this is my first one of this style)
Oct 13, 2015
John M. Bennett
nice one, Grace!
Oct 13, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Second that. Thanks for sharing here, Grace.
Oct 13, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Here is a link to a review of a book on typewriter art (aka concrete poetry) that has some tremendous images. The work is by people who are recognized visual poets now, only going back in time. Asemic symbols are definitely present in the work, although the terms was not used when much of the work was made. In short, it is some amazing, pre-digital work (from the Sackner Archives):
http://hyperallergic.com/242249/looking-back-on-100-years-of-typewr...
Oct 15, 2015
Bob Jones
Oct 15, 2015
Ficus strangulensis
Amazon is offering the book 'Typewriter Art' 2B released 26 October.
Oct 16, 2015
Jan Hodgman
http://iuoma-network.ning.com/photo/jan-hodgeman2/next?context=user
Oct 16, 2015
Jason C. Motsch
Oct 18, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Group members probably know asemics and Trashpo meet in a practice called Trashemics (which I think Neil Gordon invented).
Jim Leftwich sent me his very interesting Trashemic essays that I am sharing with you here.
http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/trash-tropes-trashemic...
Oct 18, 2015
De Villo Sloan
http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/three-tlp-tacky-little...
Oct 19, 2015
John M. Bennett
Thanks for posting these, De Villo -
Oct 19, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Here is a link to the third (and final) blog documenting the work Jim Leftwich sent.
http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/vispo-collabs-by-rea-n...
Oct 21, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Many thanks to group member Jan Hodgman (Washington State, USA) for sending this FAB, crisp piece.
http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/asemically-yours-by-ja...
Oct 23, 2015
Ficus strangulensis
I want to turn it 'upside down' and, of course, don't know top from bottom.
Oct 23, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Oct 23, 2015
De Villo Sloan
http://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/erasemic-writing-asemi...
Oct 25, 2015
Jan Hodgman
DeVIllo, just so you won't need to lose any sleep over the orientation of my latest piece, the red stamp in the bottom left (vertical orientation) is how it was created. The red stamp is my monk name in Japanese and is not asemic. That's a quandary on a purported asemic piece, to "sign" or not. But I'm also appreciating the spare use of words in your pieces (as below) and others, as a counterpoint to the nonsignified symbols. I also appreciated the comment about global/ universal perspective. I'm fond of creating out of the centerless center. In true nondual fashion, we can question (or just forget about) any sense of orientation (interesting word, that!).
Thanks for the conversation.
Oct 25, 2015
John M. Bennett
Oct 25, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Thank you so much, Jan, for the clarification/explanation.
Using terms such as "right" and "wrong" in this group is a kind of jello wrestling. BUT I am glad I was able to glean your intent w/ my original use of the vertical scan. I admire the other who had us look at it from different perspectives as well. I have been disastrously wrong on several occasions. That's for sure.
Yes, I know that's your stamp.
And I do look forward to your asemics especially because I know about your involvement in Buddhism and I am curious as to how a Buddhist (or the Buddhist philosophy) approaches asemics.
Thanks again, Jan
Oct 27, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Oct 29, 2015
Jan Hodgman
I like this, De Villo. Lately I'm drawn to asemics that mirror the "syntax" of our writing, so the shape of a "paragraph" for example or poetic style of enjambment. I also find myself chuckling over putting a lot of thought into meaning around asemics! Thank you for your piece.
Oct 30, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Thanks, Jan.
A theme for one of the collaborative books we did in this group with Cheryl Penn was "Asemic Syntax." I remember she and I were both very interested in the topic. I am still.
Guido Vermeulen felt Asemic Syntax was a self-contradictory topic, that Asemic Syntax is impossible. I had to pause on that one because Guido was so tremendously knowledgeable.
I really need to post those books somewhere all together. I'll see what I can find in terms of the ways different contributors addressed Asemic Syntax.
Oct 30, 2015
Ficus strangulensis
An Asemicity Thought for 2day"
I hope to be starting a conversation with Marton Koppany regarding the idea of an 'asemicity kit' consisting in: a text* which is intended to be intelligible to the recipient and a hammer with instruction (*) to apply the hammer to his head until the text becomes asemic to him.
YOB, Fike [currently at Planet Fike]
Oct 30, 2015
Ficus strangulensis
http://www.irvingweiss.net/vv_theimp.html
A poem I LOVE and which impinges on the notion of semicity.
Oct 30, 2015
De Villo Sloan
I always knew you were a Poundian at heart, Fike. You nailed it!
And as for some SSP (Shameless Self Promotion), I found Michael Jacobson used my asemic piece on the Post-Literate blog. Many thanks to Michael!
http://thenewpostliterate.blogspot.com/2015/10/asemic-writing-by-de...
Oct 30, 2015
Grethe Bjørnhaug
Thank you for membership in this group. I hope I have understood it right, and that my pictures are asemic writing. Otherwise, please tell me.
Nov 2, 2015
De Villo Sloan
Welcome to the group, Grethe. Thank you for sharing the work. Yes, that looks asemic to me. And very nice visual poetry too. Feel free to keep posting, ask questions, make comments, etc.
Nov 2, 2015
Grethe Bjørnhaug
Nov 2, 2015
Ficus strangulensis
I'm thinking that a parallel could be drawn twixt asemicity and safety.
Neither is possible or entirely possible. All that may be guaranteed are a reduced degree of semicity or hazard.
Nov 3, 2015