Asemic Front 2 Gallery: "Man from Cyclades" & Other New Asemic Writing by Tatiana Roumelioti (Athens, Greece)

"Man from Cyclades" by Tatiana Roumelioti (Athens, Greece) 

(July 2025) (Image courtesy of the artist)

"About Constellations" by Tatiana Roumelioti (July 2025) 

(Image courtesy of the artist)

"Within a Star" by Tatiana Roumelioti (July 2025) 

(Image courtesy of the artist)

"Under the Moonlight" by Tatiana Roumelioti (July 2025) 

(Image courtesy of the artist)

"Never Alone" by Tatiana Roumelioti (June 2025) 

(Image courtesy of the artist)

Asemic Front 2 Commentary: A Response to Federico Federici's "Misreading Asemic Writing as Kitsch" by De Villo Sloan

Visual poetry by Federico Federici (Italy) (2018) 

(Image courtesy of the Asemic Front Archive)

A Response to Federico Federici's "Misreading Asemic Writing

 as Kitsch: Scientific Forms and Structural Depth" 

by De Villo Sloan

Followers of the Asemic Front Project know of my admiration for the visual poetry and poetic theory of Federico Federici. He has published an essay at his Weisses Werk website that I believe is of particular relevance to themes consistently appearing here at Asemic Front 2: “Misreading Asemic Writing as Kitsch: Scientific Forms and Structural Depth.” By all means hasten to the primary source:

https://leserpent.wordpress.com/2025/07/23/misreading-asemic-writing-as-kitsch-scientific-forms-and-structural-depth/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLvfEpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHrZEFZ_PSNevzi8in9NRpujpC7JFU-G8-_sdkgKwKeql6OoxVQoNCAApACER_aem_TeKcIzyyCCb3ruA5aYmPRQ

Frederico Federici is a postmodern Renaissance person. He earned a degree in physics from the University of Genoa (Italy) and is a practicing scientist. He is also a prolific and acclaimed visual poet who publishes and performs worldwide. Federici offers us valuable insights of importance to the community. Here are some of my thoughts about the article: 

1) “Misreading Asemic Writing as Kitsch” primarily discusses the presence (or lack thereof) of structures in asemic writing/composition. I am a believer in asemic forms, especially as they are proposed by Federici. The late, brilliant Belgian poet Guido Vermeulen argued with me publicly saying, 'Form in asemic texts is theoretically impossible.' I wish my dear friend Guido were here to read Federici’s essay and consider its subtle nuances. Federici untangles the threads. 

This passage from "Misreading Asemic Writing as Kitsch" explains the primary binary opposition in his main premise (although Federici transcends the binary in his discourse): 

"Science, sharpened by methodological uncertainty, resists any closure: its pursuit of simplicity is not an aesthetic concession but the hard-won outcome of falsification and reduction. Kitsch, by contrast, operates through immediacy, relying on recognizable signs emptied of critical function and shaped by cultural clichés or personal resonance. It is thus evident that the symbolic thought underlying scientific notation differs radically from, and is irreconcilable with, any aesthetic-emotional perspective.

"Labelling asemic-scientific works as kitsch assumes that their scientific forms are deployed merely for their technical appeal. Yet, absent rigorous evidence, one could argue that the hybridization of asemic writing and scientific language operates on a cutting-edge plane, shaped by natively void signifiers and formal systems rather than semantic content. Hence, the asemanticisation process does not apply to the signifiers themselves but reveals the structures that bind and articulate them. This approach parallels symbolic computation, where signifiers function relationally without intrinsic content." (Federico Federici Weisses Werk)

2) My own forays into using scientific and mathematical signification systems in my own work are largely intuitive and often use found material. But my instincts – as Federici’s reasoning affirms – tell me these modes of discourse hold unprecedented opportunities for visual poets exploring the outer reaches of language and image. Many asemic writers are conducting similar experiments with musical scores and notations. 

I venture tentatively to suggest the cutting-edge of asemics today belongs to this – still early – experimentation with non-rational (irrational) systems. (The Leftwich & Gaze notion of asemic writing is one of the more complex linguistic-philosophical koans of the century!). 

My own involvement with asemic theory that I have – half jokingly – named “Asemiotics” requires new thought outside existing paradigms. (We struggle with imprecise terms and things that do not yet have names.) Given a resurgence of interest, I would suggest asemic writers become fellow travelers with Pataphysicians. Pataphysics can provide a synthesis of the humanities, sciences, and math required for this depth of inquiry.

 

 

From Deconstructions by Jim Leftwich (2006)

(Image courtesy of the Asemic Front Archive)

 

3)  I believe Frederico Federici’s main bone of contention in his multi-faceted essay is a concern over the designification of scientific, mathematical, and other systems into a Kitsch (faux) vispo that is churning through global currents of both pixilated ether and print journals. 

Stepping away from physics for a moment, I believe Jean Baudrillard’s (not optimistic) notions of commodification, collapse of the sign, and now the death-spiral of the Simulacra itself are visionary.

In hyper-reality we are bombarded and engulfed in the self-referential process of commodification, consumption, and control. Forms are replicating and mutating. We are experiencing the hyper-real over-production of images. As Australian visual poet Kristen Szumyn has explained to me, "The Meta-Modern is alive and well and shattering into an infinity of particles." How does a new form of discourse – asemic writing – factor into this revolution?

I generally agree with Federici that asemic writing is a well and the power is in its depths; however, Kitsch might not be the best descriptor of the aesthetic. I have had conversations about Kitsch with European friends, and the designation seems negative. 

In the USA, we have “Popular Culture,” which seems more egalitarian than Kitsch, somehow, should you have those ideo-cultural concerns. Inevitably, a faux "asemic art" has taken root; I am in complete agreement with Federici. For me, an asemic work is defined by its textuality, which deflates the "art" aspect.

I ask Frederico Federici to take into consideration the current interest among visual poets in Guy DeBord’s The Society of Spectacle (1967) (and its offshoots), the Situationists, the Lettrists, and others who challenged the system by reflecting back through, a sometimes distorted, mirror that expressed protest. Andy Warhol’s popart embodies this aesthetic. This particular approach has produced innovative results in vispo via the application of glitchart (or as I call it GlitchText).

My criticisms of “Misreading Asemic Writing as Kitsch: Scientific Forms and Structural Depth” by Federico Federici are few and minor. I think the piece is remarkable because it addresses so many issues receiving attention in the vispo and asemic writing communities now. This essay offers clear insights and elucidations to anyone seriously exploring asemic writing.

- De Villo Sloan

July 24, 2025

Elbridge, New York, USA 

Response by Federico Federici to De Villo Sloan's Commentary on "Misreading Asemic Writing as Kitsch" July 26, 2025 

Below is a response from Federico Federici to questions and insights from readers about his "Misreading Asemic Writing..." article including Australian visual poet Kristen Szumyn, Terry Reid, Daniel E. Stetson (and myself) along with others. We have had a lively and wonderful discussion. Here are the words of Federici: 

"First of all, I thank those who read my piece attentively. I respond here, briefly and in the form of notes, to some of the valid observations that have been raised.

"To state that 'the symbolic thought underlying scientific notation differs radically from, and is irreconcilable with, any aesthetic-emotional perspective' does not mean stripping the resulting insight of philosophical—nor, as scientists like Einstein or Feynman teach us—of aesthetic value. 

"What I mean by this statement is that the symbolic manipulation that produces the forms and formulas of scientific notation does not presuppose any aesthetic or emotional foundation in itself: there are precise rules, and these may be dictated by the need for adherence to the universe or by the mere internal consistency of a formal system that does not require any further interpretation. Nor is there any democratic or moral rule, for that matter. Often in physics one hears that certain forms are 'beautiful because they are simple,' but the point is that this is a consequence—they were not constructed with that goal in mind, nor manipulated for it. Their simplicity, moreover, almost always presupposes extreme complexity in interpretation.

"To state that mass and energy are equivalent and that the proportionality constant is the square of c raises interpretative questions that cannot be resolved through aesthetic-emotional reasoning. Of course, one may say, 'What a magnificent product of the human mind! Such a simple formula at the foundation of the universe!' But then what? The entire relational system of the universe is called into question: the concept of space, of time, of the combined metric of the two dimensions. Nothing simple—far from it. In fact, Minkowski’s metric was already known in mathematics before it was discovered that it could describe Einsteinian spacetime—further proof that, symbolically, content is not required.

"Popular science books, which constantly deal with paradoxes that are not paradoxes at all (see, for instance, the twin paradox), demonstrate how the mediation between natural language and scientific notation is not immediate. At times, it is 'irreducible' as in the case of the words 'wave' and 'particle' between classical and modern models. Addressing these issues formally is not within everyone’s reach, and even for those who can do the math, there remains the problem of 'translating' the meaning of those equations into a conventional language that was not forged with those ideas in mind. Consider the concept of time, the tripartition of past, present, and future—all things wiped away (in common sense terms) by Einstein, as Joyce’s work exemplifies in the artistic field.

"When, for example, I insist on the absence of content that does not preclude the existence of the work, I am reiterating the same concept in another form. I do not need to know what a mathematical object represents in order to represent or manipulate it. Whether one likes it or not, this is a fact: that a + a = 2a is independent of whether we’re counting deaths in war or apples on a tree. So: are we grieving for the slaughter or rejoicing for the harvest? This point is—in my view—fundamental for placing emphasis on the metric-relational discourse that seems to me to be at the heart of an asemic page’s raison d’être.

"In science, it is a constant interplay between practice and theory (so, to put it simply: between content and its symbolic form): the point is that the content of an experiment cannot be modified or steered by the experimenter’s emotional expectations, nor by their need for beauty or simplicity.

"The recent developments in artificial intelligence—which, contrary to what is sometimes said, is not just a stochastic parrot—demonstrate precisely how at times 'it is not necessary to know what one is saying in order to say it well' (which, in itself, may seem absurd, but if one considers the previous example, one can count in the abstract and the result holds). Machines do not know what they are saying, and yet they manipulate texts and information in extremely plausible ways, and they are machines built to simulate the human brain. Clearly, this does not, as of today, reduce humans to machines (or vice versa), but it does bring machines closer to humans—and as the complexity of not only the algorithms but also the hardware on which they run increases, I believe we may one day reach a point where human and machine truly touch.

"This morning, unaware of these comments, I was listening to a piece by Archie Shepp and thinking about how magnificent the coherence of all the notes was, even if they were barely distinguishable from one another, nor could one assign a 'content' to them. For this reason, all explorations that bring music together with the asemic world seem to me full of potential for new perspectives and ideas.

"My critique—maybe a direct one—is not aimed at the use of kitsch in itself—far from it! What I wanted to clarify is that the association between scientific notation and kitsch is by no means automatic and, in fact, that there are few footholds for transforming one into the other, unless one is willing to reduce the discourse to extreme simplifications. Joyce’s letters and notes during the drafting of his most complex works are proof of how intricate (and necessary) it is to gain full awareness of certain concepts in order to transpose them into the artistic domain."

Depeest thanks to both Federico Federici and the readers, from around the globe and from different disciplines and cultures, who shared the work and ideas so closely.

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

Asemic Front 2 Review: "Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel" by mIEKAL aND (Wisconsin, USA)

 

Cover of Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND

(West Lima, Wisconsin, USA) (Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) 

(Image courtesy of the Asemic Front 2 Archive)

Review of Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel 

by mIEKAL aND

La Farge Wisconsin, USA: 

Xerox Sutra Editions 2024

8 X 10 inches; 84 black & white plates

Review by De Villo Sloan 

I have just recently obtained a copy of mIEKAL aND’s Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel published in 2024 by Xerox Sutra Editions in La Farge, Wisconsin, USA. I am enjoying perusing this excellent collection and want to register some observations in the official record of my reviews and commentary before at last saying a fond farewell to 2024.

The creation of AI-assisted digital vispo (for which mIEKAL aND is receiving much praise) is opening new literary genres. We are witnessing the birth of patasemics, metasemics, conceptualism, quantum poetry, and numerous other new poetic forms and concepts.

From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND

(West Lima, Wisconsin, USA) (Xerox Sutra Editions 2024)

(Image courtesy of the Asemic Front 2 Archive)

Canadian conceptualist Christian Bok has created his Xenotext, a truly revolutionary bio-poem of the 21^st century. Experimental poets are creating visionary digital epics as well as graphic novels and asemic comics.

Visual poet Shawn McMurtagh (California, USA) and I collaborated on an asemic, glitchtext graphic novel titled, The Many Masks of 'Doc' Mortag (2021). I know firsthand the structural challenges of sustaining an extended vispo piece

From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND

(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the 

Asemic Front 2 Archive)

mIEKAL aND’s Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel is a collection of nearly one hundred visual poems by one of our most significant and inventive visual poets. The series ranges from contemplative asemic calligraphy to sci-fi hyperreal landscapes of deconstructing texts.  

From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND

(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the 

Asemic Front 2 Archive)

Unfortunately, in Interrupted Narrative, I can find no structures or repeating themes that suggest this is meant to be a continuous piece, narrative, or meta-narrative. In that sense, the reader must look elsewhere to find better examples of aND’s ability to create expansive textual structures. The book is extremely ambitious, but its strength is found in the individual works on a single page.

Make no mistake: Interrupted Narrative is a dazzling and diverse showcase of mIEKAL aND’s talents. (I hope the selections from the book shared here in the blog will give you a sense of his talents.) Owning a copy of this book is making an investment in the best visual poetry being made.

 

-       - De Villo Sloan

-        July 21, 2025

-        Elbridge, New York, USA

From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND

(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the 

Asemic Front 2 Archive)

From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND

(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the 

Asemic Front 2 Archive)

From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND

(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the 

Asemic Front 2 Archive)

From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND

(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the 

Asemic Front 2 Archive)

From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND

(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the 

Asemic Front 2 Archive)

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

Asemic Front 2 Review: "The Autobiography of Ampersand X" by mIEKAL aND (Xerox Sutra Editions) (Wisconsin, USA)

 

Cover of The Autobiography of Ampersand X by mIEKAL aND 

(West Lima, Wisconsin, USA: Xerox Sutra Editions 2025)

 (Image courtesy of Asemic Front 2 Archive)

 Review of The Autobiography of Ampersand X

    by mIEKAL aND

    West Lima, Wisconsin, USA:

    Xerox Sutra Editions 2025

    4.5 X 7 inches; 60 color plates

https://xexoxial.org/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLpPIdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFiVjlsRTVWSkdERXpOR04wAR54C9NgepS3p65GUNmzol7Sm9aTqt_Nj00rFPQaCJ6iSU7XVTAtyBwSgejCRg_aem_eW--rX3JJzMSJNNHMRtdnA

    Review by De Villo Sloan

From The Autobiography of Ampersand X by mIEKAL aND

(West Lima, Wisconsin, USA: Xerox Sutra Editions 2025)

 (Image courtesy of Asemic Front 2 Archive)

mIEKAL aND has released a new collection of work, The Autobiography of Ampersand X, published by his Xerox Sutra Editions, a major, historically significant, DIY North American publisher and archive of avant and postavant art, lit, and postlit.

The Autobiography of Ampersand X is a (somewhat) linear narrative series of 60, sometimes surreal, variations on the ampersand symbol (&) that has become the Prince-like name of a Wisconsin poet previously known as Michael Anderson. Thus, the book is mIEKAL aND’s personal, poetic origin tale (for his longtime readers especially) & an exploration of the symbol that has become his Other. Did he chose it or did it choose him?

The Autobiography of Ampersand X is a rollicking postmodern, post-literate roller coaster ride fueled, amazingly, by minimalist concrete poetry.

I recognize immediately – I believe you will too – that I am in the hands of an absolute master who is comfortable with Modernity and the Otherstream. In short, the book is a testimony to the fact mIEKAL aND is one of our most important visual poets working today.

From The Autobiography of Ampersand X by mIEKAL aND 

(West Lima, Wisconsin, USA: Xerox Sutra Editions 2025)

 (Image courtesy of Asemic Front 2 Archive)

In Headline du Jour (Xerox Sutra Editions 2019) – a book dedicated to Bern Porter - mIEKAL aND establishes himself as a creative leader in the (post-)Lettrist impulse shaping contemporary vispo. Intentional or not, aND offers an impressive homage in Headline du Jour to the ideo-aesthetics of The Society of the Spectacle (1967) and its errant children.

aND weaves quotes, riffs, & jokes that invite multiple interpretations and perspectives: His main visual theme is a popular, paperback edition of The Autobiography of Malcom X, a deeply ideo-philosophical narrative that, in turn, explores the erasure of identity in enslaved peoples.

The Autobiography of Ampersand X is a more evolved iteration of the themes established in Headline du Jour: aND conducts a (sometimes punishing) interrogation of the single symbol of the ampersand. In a nod to asemics, symbols deconstruct into incoherence and/or reform into new symbols.

From The Autobiography of Ampersand X by mIEKAL aND 

(West Lima, Wisconsin, USA: Xerox Sutra Editions 2025)

 (Image courtesy of Asemic Front 2 Archive)

In socmed vispo discussions, I find audiences tend to recognize shared art they like by asking, “How did you make that?” Much of mIEKAL aND’s recent work is receiving praise for his groundbreaking use of AI. Readers will want to explore this aspect of the book as well. Here, I would be remiss not to mention aND's text that accompanies the series and gives it extraordinary depth, resonance and narratives.

While this new book is not conventional fiction or verse, aND guides us with acumen through the complexities of meta-narrative, reminding me of excellent postmodern voices such as Fanny Howe and Raymond Federman who are abundantly accessible. The use of the first person point of view is one striking feature of aND's book.

What makes the greatest impression on me when I read The Autobiography of Ampersand X is the ease at which aND weaves avant garde tropes into a truly original and engaging style, requiring dexterity with both word and image.

- De Villo Sloan

July 20, 2025

Elbridge, New York, USA

From The Autobiography of Ampersand X by mIEKAL aND 

(West Lima, Wisconsin, USA: Xerox Sutra Editions 2025)

 (Image courtesy of Asemic Front 2 Archive)

De Villo Sloan is a concrete poet living in Upstate, New York. He frequently writes about postavant culture and serves as director of the Winifred and De Villo Sloan, Jr. Charitable Fund.