Asemic Front 2

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Beat Asemics or the Asemic Beat? Visual Art by Neeli Cherkovski

Neeli Cherkovski has perfected a West Coast style & poetics that, I believe, is a necessity for all poetry readers today.

He is currently a leading practitioner of the New American Poetry; but Cherkovski's style is likely better appreciated when compared to prose masters Chandler, Steinbeck & London (in addition to the Beats & his contemporaries of course).

Cherkovski's appearance on Asemic Front 2 features his visual art - influenced by abstract expressionism - that has a new relevance to visual poetry in light of the asemic writing-art movement. Increasingly, "writers" are being viewed as culture workers across fields & genres.

Not only abstract painters but figures such as Brion Gysin & William S. Burroughs are proving to be significant contributors to asemics. Beat writers - often visual artists too - are a rich source as we look back in time to make sense of the explosion in asemic writing.

Born in Los Angeles, Neeli Cherkovski joined the San Francisco writing community in 1974, since then emerging as one of its luminaries. He is associated with figures such as Charles Bukowski & Jack Micheline, among others.

Cherkovski is author of numerous - & frequently cited as notable - volumes of poetry, including Elegy For My Beat Generation. You can learn more about his books & bio on his excellent webpage:

https://neelicherkovskipoet.com/

Neeli Cherkovski is also an accomplished biographer & critic. He is author of biographies about Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Charles Bukowski & a book titled Whitman's Wild Children, that includes memoirs of Allen Ginsberg, Michael McClure, Harold Norse & others.

Deepest thanks to Neeli Cherkovski for his kind assistance & permissions.

- De Villo Sloan

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Collabs by John M. Bennett & Matthew Stolte Are "Jems"

From Jem Tabs Dose by John M. Bennett & Matthew Stolte

(eMTeVisPub #12 Madison, Wisconsin, USA. 2015). (AF Archive)

eMTeVisPub has announced the release of a new 80-page edition - Jem Tabs Trace - chronicling vispo collabs by John M. Bennett and Matthew M. Stolte over the past ten years:

https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/john-m-bennett-and-matthew-t-stolte/jem-tabs-trace/hardcover/product-ye4gqk.html?fbclid=IwAR1WR9A17nH3-EQ4zEcQm9f_Y2agX1GQ-K2S_2VvrBqdz2ZjV4NFqMXfDOs&page=1&pageSize=4

Both John M. Bennett (Ohio, USA) & Matthew Stolte (Wisconsin, USA) are longtime contributors to the Asemic Front project. I have seen their collabs at diverse venues & noted energy & progression in their longtime exchanges.

I have also collected some of their work, such as the Jem Tabs Dose chapbook, for the archives & that is providing images for this post. Jem Tabs Dose - also published by eMTeVisPub - is a shorter but visually stunning collab chapbook of 24 pages by John & Matt that was published in 2015. Such are the complexities of tracing vispo publications!

AF2 readers know I have a great interest in the Midwestern USA visual poets who emerged in the 1980s, especially in Ohio & Wisconsin & the gritty late-industrial aesthetic they pioneered & the profound changes in visual poetry they instigated.

John M. Bennett is a central figure in the movement (as much as a "movement" can exist in the individualistic USA heartland) & Matthew Stolte represents at least a second generation of Rust Belt vispo or Rustpo (a real mail art moniker for the school!) or Great Lakes vispo or other names associated with the group. Diane Keys & Chris Wells are among other new generation members & for me I think one of the most interesting aspects is seeing new generations assimilate & contribute to healthy growth.)

Bennett & Stolte, in my estimation, offer impressive "visual writing" in their linear-textual pieces especially but also in much more minimalist lyrics. I contend "deconstructive asemics" are apparent in the collection. These collabs will doubtless be of great interest to the AF2 audience.

- De Villo Sloan

From Jem Tabs Dose by John M. Bennett & Matthew Stolte

(eMTeVisPub #12 Madison, Wisconsin, USA. 2015. (AF Archive)

From Jem Tabs Dose by John M. Bennett & Matthew Stolte

(eMTeVisPub #12 Madison, Wisconsin, USA. 2015. (AF Archive)

Thursday, July 29, 2021

"ORDEN: lunar (variations)" collabs by Jim Leftwich & De Villo Sloan (July 2021)

"ORDEN: lunar" collab by Jim Leftwich (Virginia, USA)

& De Villo Sloan (New York, USA) (July 2021)

"processed lunar panZemic synth " collab by Jim Leftwich (Virginia, USA)

& De Villo Sloan (New York, USA) (July 2021)

"ORDEN: lunar" collab by Jim Leftwich

& De Villo Sloan (July 2021)

"ORDEN: lunar" collab by Jim Leftwich

& De Villo Sloan (New York, USA)

"collab" by Jim Leftwich & De Villo Sloan

Monday, July 26, 2021

Anhinga Press Announces Forthcoming Publication of Major Asemic Collection by Karla Van Vliet

Cover of She Speaks Tongues Poems Asemic Writing by Karla Van Vliet

scheduled for release November 2021 by Anhinga Press

Anhinga Press has announced the publication of a major collection of art, writing and asemics by Vermont USA visual artist and writer Karla Van Vliet. According to the press announcement, She Speaks Tongues will be released in November 2021. Deepest thanks to the press for sharing a proof with Asemic Front 2. Further information about the book is available directly from Anhinga Press:

http://www.anhingapress.org/poetry/j0t418h9cpxue3jri27hup498w2f4j

Karla Van Vliet is a past AF2 contributor. She is gaining an attentive following in the visual poetry and asemic communities. Many of her pieces offer variations on a binary structure she favors: an asemic glyph & then asemics in a calligraphic style. (For the true asemic structuralists, Van Vliet's binary pieces have an affinity to Thierry Tillier's (Belgium) two-part compositions.) This new book, however, departs from asemic formalism and focuses on Van Vliet's expressive power.

The 68 pages of her book (current projection) and its 25 spectacular plates provide the first considered gathering of asemic work by this important artist.

- De Villo Sloan