Asemic Front 2 Top Ten Vispo Faves of 2024

 

"field recording; winter highway; rain; swoosh (databending)" 

by Kristen Szumyn (Sydney, Australia) (circa 2024)

Asemic Front 2 Top Ten Vispo Faves of 2024

 

Friends know I would never seriously present my opinions concerning the “Top Ten Visual Poets of 2024” disguised as an objective ranking. However, these end-of-the-year ratings are a staple for bookish blogs. And fun.

I had a great year reviewing, interviewing, writing review-essays & curating for Asemic Front 2 as well as my New Concrete Poetry blog. I seldom write “negative” reviews, and this has been a year of non-stop innovations & breakthroughs in postavant poetics. So I believe my 2024 fave list will expose you to some of the most exciting poets & artists working today.

As 2024 fades, I present my list (not in any real order) of annual highlights for 2024 at AF2. The list is based on articles and work curated on the blog during 2024.

 

AF2 2024 Top 10 Vispo Faves

 

1 Collected (minimalist concrete poetry) by Charlotte Jung (Sweden/USA). Review. Full-length collection published by Timglaset (Sweden 2023). (AF2 November 12, 2024).

2 Light Pours In by Amy Rodriguez (Arkansas, USA). Review. Chapbook published in the Anhinga Press Visual Poetry Series (Florida, USA 2024). (AF2 July 21, 2024).

3 “Hyperreality, Simulation, Simulacra & the Metasemic: Recent Work by Kristen Szumyn (Australia).” Essay-review, gallery. (AF 2 September 23, 2024).

4 “The Lettrist Presence in Current Vispo: Serse Luigetti (Italy).” Review/essay & gallery. (AF2 August 7, 2024).

5 Wars by Angela Caporaso (Italy). Review. Chapbook published by above/ground press (Canada 2024). (AF2 July 9, 2024).

6 “The New Object Poetry & Terri Witek’s (Florida, USA) ‘materiality series.’” Interview/review & gallery. (AF2 August 12, 2024).

7 “Neoglyphics & Other Recent Asemics” by John Richard McConnochie (Australia). AF2 Gallery: digital asemics. (AF2 September 14, 2024).

8 Glitchy Women (glitchtext anthology). Review, gallery. Full-length anthology. Van Vliet Gallery (Vermont, USA 2024). (AF2 May 14, 2024).

9 “Ferran Destemple’s (Spain) Asemic Erasure of William S. Burroughs’ The Soft Machine.” Review, gallery. (AF2 August 7, 2024).

10 Colorways: Poems & Images by Andrew Brenza (NY, USA). Review. Full-length collection in the Anhinga Press Visual Poetry Series (Florida, USA). (AF2 April 20, 2024).

- De Villo Sloan

December 18, 2024

Elbridge, NY

De Villo Sloan is a concrete poet who lives in Upstate New York and writes about postavant art & lit. He is director of the Winifred & De Villo Sloan, Jr. Charitable Fund.

mIEKAL aND Collabs with ChatGPT (AI) to Chart 750-page Conceptual Epic (Wisconsin, USA)

 

By mIEKAL aND (West Lima, Wisconsin, USA) (December 2024) 

(Image courtesy of the artist)

Vispo & AI

Like many other visual and concrete poets, I follow with great interest poets and other experimentalists using tools of artificial intelligence to express their visions and push boundaries. Lanny Quarles' (Texas, USA) AI-assisted work appears regularly on Asemic Front 2. mIEKAL aND recently shared results of his collab with ChatGPT to create a 750-word post avant poem "in the style of mIEKAL aND."

The implications for composition are epoch-changing. Throughout his career, mIEKAL aND has been at the forefront embracing new technologies & concepts. As one of our leading visual poets, he is an ideal guide into the new concrete.

- De Villo Sloan

December 11, 2024

By mIEKAL aND (December 2024) (Image courtesy of the artist)

By mIEKAL aND (December 2024) (Image courtesy of the artist)

By mIEKAL aND (December 2024) (Image courtesy of the artist)

AF2 Gallery: From "Homage to Pablo Neruda" & Other Selected Asemic Art by Daidi Hu (Taiwan)

"Homage to Pablo Neruda" by Daidi Hu (Hualien, Taiwan) 

(October 2024) (Mixed media on MDF board. 

Each 20×20cm.) (Image courtesy of the artist)

"Debris series #1 - Write right!" by Daidi Hu (November 2023) 

(Mixed media. Collage & ink on paper. 20X28.2 cm.) 

(Image courtesy of the artist)

"Abacus Series #23" by Daidi Hu  (August 2024) (Ink & acrylic 

on paper. 14.5X21 cm.) (Image courtesy of the artist)

"Debris series #4 - Erasing messages" by Daidi Hu  (November 2023) 

(Mixed media. Collage & ink on paper. 20X28.2 cm.) 

(Image courtesy of the artist)

"Epitaph Series #02. a-c" by Daidi Hu  (November 2023) 

(Ink, acrylic & mixed media on paper. Total - 32.5X57.6 cm.)

(Image courtesy of the artist)

Daidi Hu  (Hualien, Taiwan)

AF2 Commentary: "Pansemic Futurism: From Semantics to Quantum Meaning" by mIEKAL aND (Wisconsin, USA)

 

"Pansemic Futurism" by mIEKAL aND (Wisconsin, USA) 

(November 2024) (Image courtesy of the artist)

Pansemic Futurism:

From Semantics to Quantum Meaning

by mIEKAL aND

The rapid advancement of technology is transforming our very concept of meaning. By exploring the etymology of "semantics," we trace a path toward a future where "quantum meaning" is widely understood. The term "semantics" originates from the Greek sēmantikos, meaning "significant," derived from sēma, or "sign." This highlights humanity's enduring quest to assign significance through symbols.

Historically, the act of signification has evolved with technology — from oral traditions and manuscripts to the printing revolution — each era redefining how meaning is conveyed. Walter Benjamin noted that while the "aura" of art diminishes with mechanical reproduction, accessibility increases, a paradox still relevant in the digital age.

Pansemic Futurism envisions a world where meanings are interconnected, fluid and universally accessible. Combining pan ("all") and semic ("relating to signs"), it suggests a holistic landscape of meaning. The concept of quantum meaning, inspired by quantum mechanics' superposition and entanglement, proposes that meanings are not fixed but hold multiple potentials simultaneously, dependent on the observer's context and perspective.

This societal cognitive evolution reflects a shift toward embracing ambiguity and paradox, facilitated by technologies like artificial intelligence and neural networks that mimic human cognition. While there is a risk of semantic saturation and information overload, this era offers an opportunity for deeper understanding through multiple perspectives.

The implications of Pansemic Futurism are vast. In education, it demands the promotion of critical thinking and interpretative agility. Culturally, it encourages artistic expressions that embrace complexity and challenge singular narratives. In communication, new methods are needed to convey layered meanings effectively. Redefining the role of signs, they become dynamic interfaces within a networked cognition, blurring the lines between author and audience as meaning is co-created in real time.

Ultimately, meaning is not a singular truth but a mosaic of diverse expressions. The pansemic horizon invites us to embrace uncertainty, find unity in diversity, and navigate an infinite tapestry of signification.

- November 24, 2024

West Lima, Wisconsin

"LINE" - (concrete, minimal. glitchtext for Charlotte Jung) by De Villo Sloan

 

"LINE 1 for Charlotte Jung" by De Villo Sloan 

(November 2024)

"LINE 2 for Charlotte Jung" by De Villo Sloan

(November 2024)

"LINE 3 for Charlotte Jung" by De Villo Sloan 

(November 2024)

"LINE 4 for Charlotte Jung" by De Villo Sloan 

(November 2024)

"LINE 5 for Charlotte Jung" by De Villo Sloan 

(November 2024)

"LINE 6 for Charlotte Jung" by De Villo Sloan 

(November 2024)

"LINE - Source1" by De Villo Sloan 

(November 2024)

"LINE - Source2" by De Villo Sloan 

(November 2024)

"LINE - Source3" by De Villo Sloan 

(November 2024)

AF2 Review: "Collected" (minimalist concrete poetry) by Charlotte Jung (Sweden) - Review by De Villo Sloan

                                   

                              

Essay/review - Collected: Concrete Poems by Charlotte Jung

 

Malmo, Sweden: Timglaset (2023)

 

124 pages, perfect bound, 7” X 8”

 

Review by De Villo Sloan

 

In preparing to write this essay on the minimalist poetry of Charlotte Jung, I have been greatly assisted by the publication of Collected: Concrete Poems by Charlotte Jung. This edition was released in 2023 by Timglaset, the acclaimed Swedish publisher of postavant lit.

Collected gathers the majority of Jung’s minimalist compositions to date, including the contents of entire chapbooks and longer sequences, among them C (2019), (SEED) (Timglaset 2020), Hole Being (No Press 2021), and RAPE (The Blasted Tree 2022), among others.

This substantial volume does much to establish Jung as an important, innovative minimalist poet of the 21^st century. Readers of contemporary visual poetry, asemic writing and new poetic genres will want to have Collected in their libraries. According to her webpage as well as an informative interview in Train, Jung names Susan Howe, Agneta Eckell and Aram Saroyan as particularly important inspirations and influences.

From ABCDE in Collected by Charlotte Jung (2023)

(Image courtesy of the artist)

To understand the concrete formalist components of Charlotte Jung’s work, a familiarity with poetic tropes established by Aram Saroyan is a significant aid: Like Saroyan, Jung also focuses on single letters and words. Occasionally larger linguistic structures emerge that appear on the page as works similar to sound poetry scores.

Jung’s contemporary iteration of minimalist poetry involves exploring the dual nature of language – letter, word – as simultaneously both image and sign. Seldom does she go very far beneath the textual surface to fragment, disrupt and repurpose.

Thus, Jung’s Collected has little to offer in the way of asemics; however, exceptions are present. The CO2 section fragments and cuts-up words to create a powerful environmental protest poem.

From CO2 in Collected by Charlotte Jung (2023) 

(Image courtesy of the artist)

Aram Saroyan is frequently ranked one of the world’s premier minimalist poets, but the literati were not prepared to embrace him when he first shared his breakthroughs. Critics assigned him to the minimalism that took the visual arts by storm. Unfortunately, the result was marginalization in global poetry communities. Minimalist concrete territory is still largely unexplored but has great potential.

Traditional minimal concrete poetry with its geometric precision and austere economy of signs is often considered an exercise in hyper-formalism and ultimately too restrictive for creativity. Pre-Jung, my own subjective view of poetic minimalism was that it exuded a problematic masculine terseness. Charlotte Jung’s contribution thus far is to bring a healthy organicism and pleasant liquidity to revitalize classic minimalism. She also expands the field of content to find vital new messages and meanings using classic tropes.

By utilizing the ideo-cultural stance of the avant garde, Charlotte Jung’s concrete poems address reproductive freedom, domestic violence, rape and gender identity. Her ideo-poetics have the passion, conviction and precision of legendary activist poet Clemente Padin.

In her self-reflective statements, Jung refers to “a feminist reclaiming of concrete poetry,” which I believe she has done eminently in Collected. By “feminizing” the masculine terrain of minimalist verse, Jung – and her individual talent should not be minimized in her achievements – opens this exciting genre to more women and new possibilities for freedom of expression among all poets and artists. I see Charlotte Jung as a writer making remarkable contributions.

- De Villo Sloan

November 5, 2024

Elbridge, New York, USA

De Villo Sloan is a concrete poet living in Upstate New York. He writes about postavant lit & art and is director of the Winifred & De Villo Sloan, Jr. Charitable Fund.

Vispo Sonnet by Hilde Vandenhout (Belgium)

 

"Untitled (ink on paper)" by Hilde Vandenhout, (Sint-Niklass, Belgium) 

(October 2024) (Photo courtesy of the artist)