Unpacking "decompositions" by Jim Leftwich (Part 2)

 "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich 

 "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich 

 "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich 

"decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich 

 "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich 

 "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich 

 "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich 

 "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich 

"Asemic Diagram for 12.21.21" by Alicia Starr Ryan

 

"Asemic Diagram for 12.21.21" by Alicia Starr Ryan 

(Maplewood, New Jersey, USA)

-sSs-

Editor's Note: Alicia Starr Ryan is an Asemic Front 2 contributor. She has been a participant in Cheryl Penn's international collaborative book projects, among other associations.

- DVS

Asemic Conceptualism or Asemiotics ? "poema" by Roberto Ncar + Jack Foley & Ncar Vispo Homage

 

"poema" by Roberto Ncar (San Juan, Puerto Rico)

"poema" by Roberto Ncar 

"poema" by Roberto Ncar 

-sSs-

Vispo asemic homage to Roberto Ncar & Jack Foley by De Villo Sloan

Vispo asemic homage to Roberto Ncar & Jack Foley by De Villo Sloan

Vispo asemic homage to Roberto Ncar & Jack Foley by De Villo Sloan

Vispo asemic homage to Roberto Ncar & Jack Foley by De Villo Sloan

Searching for the Primal Asemic: New Work by Lucinda Sherlock

 

By Lucinda Sherlock (Perth, Australia) (December 18, 2021)

By Lucinda Sherlock (Perth, Australia) 

Lucinda Sherlock is a past AF2 contributor and celebrated figure in the Australian visual poetry world. 

/*Poem*/ : New Asemic Visual Poetry by Dona Mayoora

/*Poem*/ by Dona Mayoora (December 18, 2021)

Dona Mayoora

Editor's Note: Dona Mayoora is an AF2 contributor - perpetually popular with readers - who has been an influential voice in the Asemic Front Project through its various phases. 

I believe this piece relates especially to discussions of asemic and pansemic (anti-) symbols and structures that have occupied the blog recently.

Deepest thanks to Dona Mayoora for sharing this work. We certainly look forward to seeing her work in the future.

- De Villo Sloan

AF2 Lost Classic: Asemic/Pansemic by Todd Burst - An Essay

Asemic writing - visual poetry by Nancy Bell Scott (AF2 Archives)

Asemic/Pansemic?

By Todd Burst

First published July 14, 2018:

https://jburst88j.medium.com/asemic-pansemic-bff57a0dcfc4

Asemic writing is a wordless open semantic form of writing.[1][2][3] The word asemic means “having no specific semantic content,” or “without the smallest unit of meaning.”[4] (from Wikipedia)

In 2015 (Scriptjr.nl), artist Jim Leftwich argued that “there’s no actually perfect ‘asemic’ thing or sign, since everything conveys some meaning, everything may find its way to - at - least an inner ‘emotional’ (scribble of) meaning.”

So, instead of using the term asemic to denote a - rather new - art form, Leftwich proposes that we use “pansemic.” Pansemic means, “that everything emits/ expresses some semantically rich sign, always provided with almost a shadow of meaning; so everything makes sense and a bunch of meaningful directions may always be attached to the invisible arrows uprising from any of the written traces we imagine and conceive and make or find.”

Asemic visual poetry by Kerri Pullo (AF2 Archives)

Unfortunately, I disagree with this. Although I respect and very much enjoy Leftwich’s work, I think his concept of asemic/ pansemic might need more reflection. But before I begin my tirade, I want to make it known that I am a philosopher and a follower of Ludwig Wittgenstein: That is to say, I believe meaning is contextual, social and part of our everyday normal routines of doing things, i.e. language is a behavior, etc.

The problem I have with Leftwich’s comment - “that everything emits/ expresses some semantically rich sign” - borrows from structuralism/ postructuralism and Wittgenstein. The meaning of a word (for a structuralist and/or postructuralist) emerges through its difference with other words.

To say that everything is meaningful negates non-meaningful, which in turn negates meaningful since we can’t determine the difference between a meaningful and non-meaningful “semantically rich sign.” So, to say everything has meaning is to say nothing has meaning, but this does not get us back to asemic writing.

Secondly, meaning - in semantics, language, etc. - is socially understood… socially communicable. So a pansemic work would have to elicit a linguistic response - not a feeling - that we would all understand or could be made to understand via language.

________________________________________________

"Abstract art and asemic writing can convey a feeling or an aesthetic quality that remains unnamable, but that does not mean that it is endowed with meaning. A sensation and meaning are two different things. This does not mean that we will not find a common way of speaking about a common aesthetic it-ness that a certain asemic work elicits. This could happen, but it has not."  - Todd Burst

_________________

Abstract art and asemic writing can convey a feeling or an aesthetic quality that remains unnamable, but that does not mean that it is endowed with meaning. A sensation and meaning are two different things. This does not mean that we will not find a common way of speaking about a common aesthetic it-ness that a certain asemic work elicits. This could happen, but it has not.

I agree with most of Marco Giovenale's response to Leftwich:

"A 'proper' [sic] asemic area can be seen in the zone of the mind opaquely linking our expectations for a known written linguistic message and content to an actually unknown shape of glyph.... a whole text or drawing appears in front of us an asemic 'thing,' indecipherable to the intellect that does not recognize the language; but at the same time it may be meaningful to the taste... perception,,, soliciting empathy... sensations.... or something similar."

I generally agree with Giovenale's writing. In the Present case, I believe he explains how any glyph, symbol, etc. could represent this "sensation[s],"but we do not have "access" to this particular symbol.

I disagree with the definition and application of "pansemic" for reasons stated above. I think "asemic work" is much more suitable for the art both Leftwich and Giovenale create, because it makes a tension between what can be expressed and what cannot.

Meaningless writing is beautiful because it does not weigh us down with tangibility, Asemic writing should stay true to its asemia (?!?) its (non-sense).

                                                                                -sSs-

Asemic visual poetry by Todd Burst (2021)

Editor's Note: Todd Burst aka Toddy Bee lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, and studied at the University of New Orleans. He is an Asemic Front 2 contributor.

Asemic Calligraphy by Kristine Snodgrass

 

By Kristine Snodgrass (Florida, USA) (December 14, 2021)

By Kristine Snodgrass (December 14, 2021) (detail #1)

By Kristine Snodgrass (December 14, 2021) (detail #2)

AF2 Report from Visconsin - Tom Hibbard on Leftwich "decompositions" & Vispo in Waukesha

 

The Waukesha, Wisconsin Memorial (December 2021)

 (Photo courtesy of Tom Hibbard)

By Tom Hibbard

Thank you for the post on “decompositions” (2006) by Jim Leftwich. I think the piece is interesting because it describes the decay of structures rather than their strengths.

https://asemicfront2.blogspot.com/2021/12/lost-classics-unpacking-decompositions.html

I attended the Waukesha memorial parade last weekend - warm and sunny - a place of spontaneity like a “visual poem” - the statue - a sun dial - pushes the visual poem toward expression - this outpouring constitutes a statement - everything here already creates shared emotions and understanding - while the diversity of language brings words into thought.

With the holiday parade tragedy in Waukesha, I search for answers. I find myself looking at our inner problems again: materialist values, unfriendliness and worse, exclusivity, no kindness, no interaction.

-sSs-

The Language Signifier:Visual Writing and Ecologies of Dimensionality 

by Tom Hibbard (Luna Bisonte 2019) (Cover by Cecil Touchan)

From the Editor: Tom Hibbard is an Asemic Front 2 correspondent-at-large living in Wisconsin, USA. 

Among his many accomplishments in writing and the visual arts, he is the author of The Language Signifier: Visual Writing and Ecologies of Dimensionality (Luna Bisonte 2019).

The Language Signifier presents in-depth analysis of visual writing, asemic writing and other postavant genres in the accessible form of reviews. Included is writing about Luc Fierens, Jack Kerouac, Adriana Kobor, Michael Rothenberg, Spencer Selby, Eileen Tabios, among others. Useful examples of vispo and asemics are included.

The book is a resource for those working with vispo and asemic theory. Hibbard's impressive knowledge of critical theory enables him to navigate - ultimately to the reader's benefit - the disputed, blasted terrain of competing forces seeking to colonize new forms.

Thus, I am thrilled Tom Hibbard is an AF2 correspondent. We can look forward to seeing more of his work.

Back cover: Vispo by Andrew Topel & John M. Bennett. 

Book design by C. Mehrl Bennett & Tom Hibbard

Back

Eco-Asemics by Reid Wood

 

By Reid Wood (Oberlin, Ohio, USA) (December 16, 2021)

The Joel Cohen Mail Art Asemic Intermedia Chainsaw Massacre

Mail art currently being circulated by Joel Cohen (New York City, USA)

I have written effusively praising the international mail art network (Eternal Network) for its longstanding support of visual poetry and, generally, avant and postavant genres. 

Because I want the network to be there for future generations of poets and artists as it was for us, I note this item currently being circulated by Joel Cohen. I find this a terrible insult - it is not funny - to the literary wing of the network. 

I can only conclude Cohen's "miserable miracle" (thx Henry Michaux) is the result of a lack of knowledge I find astonishing for a person with his involvement in the network. Maybe some texts cannot be reduced to a colorful water bottle sticker.

I do not know Joel Cohen nor his work very well. My understanding is he focuses on stamps - thus "Sticker Dude" - and is a one-man-band. A recent creation of his is this radically pruned version of the much-admired intermedia chart created by Dick Higgins in the 1990s. The original:

Granted, many permutations of the chart have passed through the network with alterations. I have always found them thoughtful and/or insightful humor. In comparison, Cohen is engaged in rampant deforestation aka "slash and burn." What I fear is that someone might actually believe it.

_____________________________________________

"Under Cohen's steady hand, entire poetry movements of the 20th & 21st century are 'disappeared.' Visual poetry & its intersection with concrete poetry are all that remain..."

_______________

Under Cohen's steady hand, entire poetry movements of the 20th and 21st century are "disappeared." Visual poetry and its intersection with concrete poetry are all that remain of decades of work by countless people here in December 2021. They appear to be - like balloons - drifting away from mail art.

Both visual poetry and mail art are experiencing transformations, both turbulent - but I believe - ultimately positive. I hope the visual poets and mail artists can move forward with mutual support and understanding.

- De Villo Sloan

AF2 Lost Classic: Unpacking "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich

 

"decompositions" by Jim Leftwich (courtesy of Asemic Front Archives)

Among many treasures in the Asemic Front Project's "The Jim Leftwich File" is this complete and unpublished visual poetry collection - "decompositions" - made by Leftwich in 2006. I believe it can be fairly considered a single long piece. 

A decaying alphabet, a post-Lettrist impulse in vispo and post-literature on the horizon are issues of great relevance in the vispo community today. This manuscript should be made accessible. Additionally, "Deconstructive Asemics" has become a part of the AF2 "brand." This manuscript offers vital and highly original conceptual and material language deconstructions.

The "decompositions" manuscript is approximately 100 (awaiting final official count) index cards as shown in this post. I am currently organizing the work and will gather further documentation from Leftwich himself. I am very interested in the collection's structure at this point. 

Follow this project here at AF2!

- De Villo Sloan

From "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich

From "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich

From "decompositions" (2006) by Jim Leftwich