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.