Now reading...

[jlhoots]

Curtis Sittenfeld: Prep

[Noj]

Who names their daughter "Curtis?"

[jlhoots]

Who names their daughter "Curtis?"

Beats me, but she can write (IMHO).

[rostasi]

Tzara was not a poet. He was a clever businessman and a thief. Go read Walter Serner if you're in for the original! Tzara translated full paragraphs and sentences into French for his Dada-manifestos that Serner wrote in German. But then Tzara was the quizzical darling of everybody... and Serner the most obscure of them all.

Ahhhh - a fiesty flutterer of fluvial frivolity you are!

I had the same reaction from an audience member after I gave

a performance of "The First Celestial Adventure of Mr. Antipyrine, Fire Extinguisher."

Yes, Tzara had "unoriginal," attributed to him, but this,

I think, has always been a hysterical result of what

could be called "head-guy combativeness"

One person gets much more attention for his antics

(one's own best press agent) and is then chastised by

a few lesser well-knowns. It happened frequently inside

major creative movements - "Maciunas stole his ideas from me!" (Fluxus),

"Debord was not the real leader!" (Internationale Situationniste),

"Queneau was a third-world!" (Oulipo N+7)

"Duchamp had no original ideas!" (Modern Plumbing)

So, I read and enjoy the antics that clearly went on without our presence

with a wide grin oozing with the oatmeals of all of our current and future breakfasts.

---

Now playing: Tony Allen & The Afro Messengers - Ariya

Edited April 20, 2005 by rostasi

[king ubu]

Rod, I know what you mean, and believe me, I love some of Tzara's stuff! (Obviously, with my nick, I gotta be a big dada nut...)

My point is not this usual process you describe (someone comes out big, others jump in to say they'd been there before but no one noticed back then...), but rather I'd like to urge you to check out Serner!

He was definitely one of the most creative minds with words, ever, and he surpasses Tzara by far, no matter how big they came out! I have no idea if anything of Serner's is available in English translation, probably his enjoyable but mostly pretty straight novel, "Die Tigerin", but I'm not talking about this or his criminal novels here, but the rest of his oeuvre. Maybe you read german? There are a few nice dada anthologies around, from Reclam and other publishers, but Serner is most often, even in these anthologies, but a minor character.

Also, with Tzara, I think, his getting into the surrealist circles (much much less interesting and much more predictable, is my generalizing verdict, as opposed to the dada movement) did help a lot for him staying everybody's darling.

Serner, on the other hand, vanished. There is no certainty about his life after a certain date. The last thing known, I think, is that he taught languages in some Eastern European country, thus maybe the Nazis got him, maybe he started a new with a new identity and no one knew... certainly a mysterious character!

***************

Now, just started reading this one (although in a totally different, pinksh, colour):

Pretty intriguing, I must say. I'm not sure his argumentation holds up, in the end (from some pretty deep reviews, that is), but the historical part he starts with is very very interesting, and yet another proof that Carl Schmitt's thoughts remain very relevant, no matter how much of a Nazi he was or not.

(english title: "State of Exception", available for 12 bucks at Amazon)

[king ubu]

Oh, and I never had any interest in fluxus, don't ask me why, but I always found their stuff extremely boring and lacking any originality.

Duchamp, on the other hand... he was a giant, in my opinion.

[Chrome]

Right now I'm reading Nothing ...

by Henry Green

Green's a fantastic English author who died in the 1970s ... he's kind of got a slightly Joe Henderson-ish thing going on ... very lyrical "straight-ahead" kind of fiction, but with the ability to go "outside" to great effect on occasion.

[ghost of miles]

and re-reading Erenberg's SWINGIN' THE DREAM: BIG BAND JAZZ AND THE RE-BIRTH OF AMERICAN CULTURE.

[7/4]

low brow dave...

[jazzbo]

low brow dave...

[rostasi]

Rod, I know what you mean, and believe me, I love some of Tzara's stuff! (Obviously, with my nick, I gotta be a big dada nut...)

Yes, I completely know what you mean about Serner and his work

and, yes, it's a bit difficult to find stuff in English.

"Blago Bung Blago Bung Bosso Fataka!"

being one of the books that features something to dive into.

Plus, the "Last Loosening" controversy, etc...

All I was saying before is that I think there's room for it all,

so, yes I'd love to find more in English - my German isn't all that developed.

Fluxus, for me, is quite the opposite of your position.

It is everything but boring to me.

Fluxus is glorious in it's humor and art/life inventiveness

without ever taking itself too seriously.

Boredom only sets in when seriousness abounds.

Yes, there are some of the original Fluxus folks left -

some of whom take themselves

quite seriously, but there are still some nice folks like Ben Patterson,

Ken Friedman, Alison Knowles, Nam June Paik, etc...

Dick Higgins was also a wonderful fellow with an incredibly sharp mind.

I've worked in Fluxus-based projects for many years now

(beginning with Paik and Charlotte Moorman)

and as well as mail-art events with a kind of Fluxus twist

and the work is always a challenge in it's simplicity - no grand

pronouncements - unless, of course, they're tongue-in-cheek.

I've been a member of the online "Fluxlist" for, I think, about 8 years now.

It's one of the few things that keeps me laughing in these dour times.

In all creative endeavorers, there are some folks that are more or less original than

others in their "field." Where does one place Jackson Mac Low?

Was he just another Cage?

If I'm forced to make a judgement, then

I try to look at the overall mindset to see/hear what's going on

and use that as the springboard for inner discussion. If boredom exists,

then I find a way of using that boredom to create a glorious outcome.

Now, if only I could find an English speaking forum for the Oulipo!

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look for some more English texts on Serner.

Edited April 22, 2005 by rostasi

[king ubu]

Rod, thanks for your post! Maybe I'm just too young to get the fluxus movement, maybe I'm too... categorical? I don't know. I'll keep trying, though. (Just please spare me any more Yoko Ono videos and similar crap!)

Of course I don't know the names you mention (ok, Paik yes, but none else), but maybe I should give another try, soon. Any suggestions for books? (I suppose it's not something to put into books, but then, what other possibility does one have with things - at least partially - past?)

[rostasi]

Rod, thanks for your post! Maybe I'm just too young to get the fluxus movement, maybe I'm too... categorical? I don't know. I'll keep trying, though. (Just please spare me any more Yoko Ono videos and similar crap!)

Of course I don't know the names you mention (ok, Paik yes, but none else), but maybe I should give another try, soon. Any suggestions for books? (I suppose it's not something to put into books, but then, what other possibility does one have with things - at least partially - past?)

Remember, I'm not trying to convert you

It's just what I find enjoyable.

Yes, there's quite a few books written about it,

but I think that you've already made up yer mind.

---

Now playing: Merzbow - Dynamite Don Don: Pt 2

[king ubu]

but I think that you've already made up yer mind.

maybe you're right... if I want to know more, some day, I'll drop you a PM.

[rostasi]

maybe you're right... if I want to know more, some day, I'll drop you a PM.

OK...or just go to a store with a good selection of art books

and sit and browse...

[ghost of miles]

Ex-girlfriend of mine up in Chicago is really into the Fluxus movement.

Now (re)reading Kerouac's THE SUBTERRANEANS in preparation for a Night Lights show... and spent some time this morning reading pieces about the fall of Saigon from the Library of America's REPORTING VIETNAM 1969-1975.

[Jazzmoose]

I picked up Absalom, Absalom yesterday, but chickened out and grabbed Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence instead. Just don't ask me why they were next to each other on the shelf...

[AfricaBrass]

"The Secret Ascension, or Alas Philip K. Dick is Dead," Michael Bishop

I just started this today.

Thanks Lon!!!!

[jazzbo]

You're welcome. Just keep the Breshnev Bears in a clean cage!

[frank m]

Just fiinished the first Henry James novel I've read since college; "The Europeans"

Pfooey

Without the backward running sentences, it just reduces to a slight plot, with rather dull people of another era of a social level I , for one, have no knowledge of.

Double pfooey.

[TheMusicalMarine]

I like Harry James, even if his work is somewhat dull and depressing. Right now I'm reading "Freedom From Fear" by David Kennedy. It's part of the Oxford History of the United States, and covers from the Great Depression to the end of World War II. So far so good.

[kinuta]

Henning Mankell - Sidetracked

[jlhoots]

Just finished Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

Just started The Best Of Montana's Short Fiction.

[paul secor]

Michael Dirda's memoir of his early years - 'An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland'

[chris]

The Torturer's Apprentice - John Biguenet

The Garden State - Gary Krist

Fats Waller - Maurice Waller/Anthony Calabrese

JLHoots-- is that the best of Montana as in the state? Who's in there? I'd guess Pete Fromm and Richard Ford, at least. I lke Ford's longer works. Night Swimming by Pete Fromm is on my "coming soon" list, recommended by Chris Offutt, a favorite author of mine from Kentucky.