Studies in Linearity by Kristine Snodgrass (Florida, USA)

 

"Study in Linearity" by Kristine Snodgrass (Tallahassee, Florida, USA)

"Study in Linearity" by Kristine Snodgrass

By Kristine Snodgrass

By Kristine Snodgrass

By Kristine Snodgrass

By Kristine Snodgrass

AI - semic glitched vispo collabs by Kristine Snodgrass (USA) & Kristijonas Lapinskas (France)

 

Collab by Kristine Snodgrass (Florida, USA) 

& Kristijonas Lapinskas (Lyon, France)

Collab by Kristine Snodgrass 

& Kristijonas Lapinskas

By Kristine Snodgrass & Kristijonas Lapinskas

Collab by Kristine Snodgrass & Kristijonas Lapinskas

By Kristine Snodgrass & Kristijonas Lapinskas

By Kristine Snodgrass & Kristijonas Lapinskas

Collab by Kristine Snodgrass & Kristijonas Lapinskas

By Kristine Snodgrass & Kristijonas Lapinskas

By Kristine Snodgrass & Kristijonas Lapinskas

Asemic Front 2 Review: TYPO#1: Journal of Lettrism, Surrealist Semantics, & Constrained Design

TYPO#1: Journal of Lettrism, Surrealist Semantics, & Constrained Design

Norman Conquest & farewell debut, Editors

Black Scat Books (2023)

148 pages paperback

6 X 9 inches

Color cover; b&w inside

Irregular

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN2CZGP5?fbclid=IwAR2j6mTiISVwNLRpQuIFBZMuEgGhmfSf1V6bPrpcyG7mX1aue-qjO-eKVxA

Review by De Villo Sloan

The first issue of TYPO published by Derek Pell’s Black Scat Books has arrived at an ideal moment in the evolution of avant garde and experimental art and writing. The monuments of the 20th century avant garde such as DaDa, Surrealism, Lettrism and Oulipo are enjoying healthy interest in the digital age, inspiring the creation of new genres. TYPO provides fresh insights and perspectives on these movements.

TYPO is not another contribution to the wax museum of official culture. The editors interweave selections from what poet Ron Silliman calls the post-avant with the historic avant garde and esoteric visual-verbal examples from earlier centuries. Included are new iterations and genres in the continuum such as asemics, digital collage, neo-concrete and visual poetry as well as typographical innovations rooted in Lettrism. Accessible and highly enjoyable prose complements the flow of images.

Contributors active in the current post-avant include Michael Betancourt, Luc Fierens, Amy Kurman, Karen Shaw, Doug Skinner and Cal Wenby. Their work melds seamlessly with pieces by/about avant garde heroes such as Isidore Isou, Raymond Queneau and Tristan Tzara. A strong Francophone vibe is readily apparent and, I believe, entirely appropriate. A tendency toward outsider art helps establish an eclectic spirit that defies rote categorization.

At the beginning of the issue, Norman Conquest (Derek Pell) writes, “Perhaps you were expecting a pretentious ‘mission statement,’ laced with lofty ideals and principled pronouncements like a sermon on the mount. That’s not for us. Instead, TYPO aims to be unpredictable, with each issue designed to surprise, amuse, titillate, and provoke.” This inaugural issue more than delivers on this promise.

One characteristic of the current post-avant that I notice – this is especially prevalent in European publications – is emotional flatness, a washed-out minimalism, a transformation of Roland Barthes’ “writing degree zero” into writing less than zero. Utterances and images lack both humor and irony mirroring empty circuits of algorithms rather than living. spontaneous, human interactions. TYPO is refreshing for its humanity alone.

The journal contains a healthy dose of humor, eroticism and cryptic ambiguity that makes it enjoyable to peruse many times. However, this interjection of humanity might confound the post-avant readers who can benefit from TYPO.

Discovering the humor and other complex emotional nuances found in DaDa, Surrealism and Lettrism, gives new life and meaning to these movements that had such a tremendous impact on the cultures of the 20th century.

One of my favorite contributions to TYPO is “Mnemonic Alphabets” by Doug Skinner that includes a series of circa 16th century image-text constructs that have an affinity to vispo and asemic glyph compositions of the present. The section “Asemic libertine” exhibits pages by Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne (1734-1806) whose prolific, eccentric publications reveal him to be a forerunner to the avant garde.

As a reviewer, I feel obligated to disclose I first discovered Derek Pell’s writing in underground literary magazines of the 1970s. These publications birthed and nurtured a truly alternative culture in the West. They flourished only briefly, silenced by the heavy-handed, willfully crude, Punk-inspired anti-art aesthetics of the 1980s zine explosion and the rise of the internet. Difficult to find today, the 1970s zines are treasures to explore. TYPO unfolds with the associative fluidity of the earlier underground texts. With its close attention to typography and space, TYPO is brilliantly designed, although unconventional to the core.

What gives the journal its singularity is that, in addition to being an authentic witness to the avant garde, Derek Pell is also a classic “Man of Letters” (Person of Letters). He enjoys wordplay, parody, satire and narrative, which are abundant in TYPO. In the Post-literate era, these elements can produce something akin to Brechtian alienation in some readers. Yet Pell’s approach contributes to a much-needed renewal of language, and we are invited to engage in the serious and joyful task of re-learning the pleasures of reading.

The avant garde that rose in the 19th century and became a vital force in the 20th century has now become a tradition with its own tropes and constraints. TYPO represents exactly what I believe is needed at this time: a bridge uniting the avant garde and the post-avant. I hope we can look forward to many more issues of TYPO.

"Clamber" : Glitched Asemic, Neo-Concrete collabs by Cheryl Penn (South Africa) & De Villo Sloan (USA)

 

"Clamber": Glitched Asemic, Neo-Concrete Vispo collabs

by Cheryl Penn (South Africa) & De Villo Sloan (USA)

Collab by Cheryl Penn (South Africa) & De Villo Sloan (USA)

Collab by Cheryl Penn (South Africa) & De Villo Sloan (USA)

Solo piece by Cheryl Penn used as the foundation for these collabs.

Eco-Asemic Composition by Cheryl Penn (South Africa)

 Eco-Asemic composition by Cheryl Penn (Durban, South Africa)

Anhinga Press Launches Visual Poetry Book Series Featuring Asemics, Neo-Concrete & Other Postavant Genres

 

AI-semic Writing by Alicia Starr Ryan (New Jersey, USA)

 

Asemic writing experiment using the MidJourney app 

by Alicia Starr Ryan (Maplewood, New Jersey, USA)

AI art apps & asemics

Asemic writing is a 21st century genre, even when rooted in calligraphy, that is shared globally at a feverish pace & that evolves rapidly contingent upon its internet presence; its distribution is not dependent upon institutions nor official validation & gatekeepers. 

Asemic writing is post-literate in many ways, including the fact that - unlike traditional fiction, poetry & rhetoric - its present existence is not burdened by centuries of printing & material technologies (including paper) & institutional manipulations & prescriptions. 

This breathtaking freedom, however, is tempered to the extent that asemics as well as vispo & neo-concrete forms (central to AF2) are susceptible to web fads, trends & generally novelties & cheap tricks that are lionized for a brief time but then discarded. Of course, these rapid advances in technology often aid in helping the new genres blossom. The embrace of glitch apps here at AF2 is a prime example of something I see as tech-positive (although critics abound who insist on the contrary).

The asemic fad of the moment (or the greatest postavant-tech discovery of all time that will change everything if that's how you see it) is the use of AI (artificial intelligence) art apps springing up like weed stores to generate asemic texts. (The impact of AI art apps upon vispo is even more pronounced). Yesterday I noted that Michael Jacobson had posted AI-semics at his influential new postliterates blog. 

In a flash of synchronicity that seemed particularly meaningful, my longtime mail art friend & noted visual poet & collage artist Alicia Starr Ryan expressed her interest in AI-semics. Within a few hours I had obtained the piece that opens this post: Alicia Starr Ryan's first asemic text using an AI app. She writes, "This is from the app/program MidJourney." Her son, Silas, also a talented artist, collabed with her in the process.

I find the result fascinating. I adore the piece. I have worked on a number of mail art (material culture) projects with Alicia & have followed her work for a decade. Seeing a respected visual poet & asemic writer grounded in material culture transition to a new technological mode is an ideal situation for me to assess - at least for myself - the potential of AI-semics. 

I believe when the smoke of frenzied AI-semics clears & the lonely crowd moves on to some other digital fixation, AI art tools will become a mainstay for asemic writers. A very few asemic writers will doubtless rise as innovators & masters of this amazing tool. Deepest thanks to Alicia Starr Ryan for bringing Asemic Front 2 into the brave new world of AI apps.

- De Villo Sloan

Special to Asemic Front 2: New Asemic Visual Poetry by Luc Fierens (Belgium)

Asemic visual poetry by Luc Fierens (Mechelen, Belgium)

"Fantaisie" by Luc Fierens 

Asemic Front 2 Collabs by John Richard McConnochie (Australia) & De Villo Sloan (USA)

 Asemic-concrete collab by John Richard McConnochie (Queensland, Australia) 

& De Villo Sloan (New York, USA) 

 Collab foundation by John Richard McConnochie (July 17, 2022)

Collab by John Richard McConnochie & De Villo Sloan

Collab by John Richard McConnochie & De Villo Sloan

Asemic Front 2 Review: Asemic Migration by Nico Vassilakis (Sigilist Press 2022)

Asemic Front 2 Review: Asemic Migration by Nico Vassilakis  (Afterward by Marton Koppany). Sigilist Press. 2022. 16 pages; eight plates

https://sigilistpress.com/

Review by De Villo Sloan

Andrew Brenza, a star of the New Concrete poetry, is sharing his creative time and energy with us further through his new publishing venture: Sigilist Press. The first release, Asemic Migration, is an exploration of asemics by Nico Vassilakis with an essential afterward by Hungarian vispo luminary Marton Koppany.  

As asemic theory develops coherence and recognizable sub-genres emerge, Vassilakis applies his ever-powerful perceptions to an area known as "found asemics" or (as I prefer) "eco-asemics." The book is a slim gathering of eight black and white photos showing cloudy skies with (sometimes linear) ranks of migrating birds, a contribution of note to eco-asemics.

Most of us reading Asemic Migration are surely drawn to the organic structures of flying birds inscribed upon the sky. Thus the collection is immediately accessible to a wide audience. 

In 2022 the "Asemic Wars" (as mail artist Moan Lisa named them) seem to be declining in vitriol; however, the concept of found asemics and eco-asemics has been questioned and rejected by various factions and individuals in vispo communities. Some might be more comfortable calling the image-text in the book simply "asemic suggestive." Whatever your point of view, Asemic Migration is a text meant to be "read." 

The black and white images (mixing to an Existential gray) are a decisive thematic and tonal choice extending, I think, beyond financial considerations at Sigilist Press. Asemic Migration might have been a series of blue skyscapes and billowing clouds on a summer day. Instead, Vassilakis has chosen well-tested avant garde tropes to cause audience dissociation (or Brechtian "alienation"). Many readers I suspect, based on my own experience, will not at first recognize the lines of birds in the images.

Thus, Vassilakis has made a contribution to the current gothic and "death metal" tones in asemics being explored by Kristine Snodgrass and others. I believe this trend is inspired by the circulation of writing about asemic theory by Jim Leftwich. Devoid of color, Asemic Migration does not gravitate toward the noir as much as it does a Melvillian paleness.

From Asemic Migration by Nico Vassilakis (Sigilist Press 2022)

From Asemic Migration (migratory bird patterns accented)

My own subjective response is to immediately contextualize Vassilakis's eight-image meditation with skyscapes by Fluxus artists Yoko Ono and Geoffrey Hendricks. Of course skyscape-themed artists are not limited to Fluxus; they are part of a venerable tradition. Vassilakis has made a vital image-text contribution.

Marton Koppany is much-admired for his vispo theory. The inclusion of his afterward is another excellent choice for Asemic Migration. Hopefully, we are all becoming better asemic readers. For this reason, I encourage asemic writers to include statements, theory and explication in their books.

In the afterward, Koppany compares Asemic Migration to bookworks by Ed Rusha [Ruscha], such as Twentysix Gasoline Stations or Thirtyfour Parking Lots as a context for Asemic Migration. 

Koppany offers other key insights as well. He writes, "Were the birds larger (or the sky smaller), we could see each and every one of them, they would not disappear behind the indecipherable letters, words and phrases created by their flight in flocks, in place. If asemic writing looks like writing but cannot be read in a strict sense, Asemic Migration describes an escape that gets you nowhere."

Vassilakis connects us to the near-universal human experiences of wonder via changings seasons and recognition of temporality. More specifically, however, he offers a relentless meditation on the primal roots of language in nature. I find the collection becomes more and more engaging with each fresh reading.

-sSs-

Femsemics: Asemic Body Art Collab by Kristine Snodgrass & Karla Van Vliet

 Asemic body art collab by Kristine Snodgrass & Karla Van Vliet (May 2022)

Many AF2 readers are aware visual poet Kristine Snodgrass is currently working with asemic tattoos and body art, generating fascinating documentation that can be found at a number of online venues. Snodgrass discussed this art extensively (along with her femsemic theory) in her recent AF2 interview. If you somehow missed it, I strongly recommend you take a look:

https://asemicfront2.blogspot.com/2022/04/asemic-front-2-interview-kristine.html

Snodgrass has recently completed asemic body art collabs with Colin J. Rae & Jay Snodgrass, among others.

As a continuation of the tatasemic narrative, I am thrilled to have obtained permission to share these collabs where Kristine Snodgrass is the foundation for the distinctive calligraphic style of New England visual poet Karla Van Vliet. 

Van Vliet is also no stranger to AF2. Among other material, I was thrilled to be able to report on the success of her book She Speaks Tongues (Anhinga 2021)

https://asemicfront2.blogspot.com/2021/12/af2-meta-review-karla-van-vliet-she.html

Deepest thanks to Karla Van Vliet and Kristine Snodgrass.

- De Villo Sloan

Asemic body art collab by Kristine Snodgrass & Karla Van Vliet (May 2022)

Asemic body art collab by Kristine Snodgrass & Karla Van Vliet (May 2022)

ASEMIOTICS 23 by De Villo Sloan (w/Kristine Snodgrass)

 

                                          23

ASEMIOTICS

 

By De Villo Sloan

(with Kristine Snodgrass)

 

 

Draft May 18, 2022