And then I sent a photo of the Ernest Hemingway plaque in the series ... Which drew this reply ... Serving as further testament to what has been lost, or as the poet noted with his reply, "Pace Hemingway." … [Read more...]

When I sent Heathcote Williams a photo of the Francis Bacon plaque in the Library Walk series ... He replied with an ironic poem, like so ... ... which illustrates a difference between the 16th century and the 21st, doncha think? … [Read more...]

On my way to work I sometimes take a street in midtown Manhattan where an unsung marvel known as "Library Walk" celebrates the world's great books and writers. For the length of two city blocks I'm distracted by bronze reliefs in granite plaques set into the sidewalk. They are beautiful to look at and inspiring to read. This one, for instance, memorializes Dylan Thomas: Although they're unsung, I'm hardly the first to notice the 96 plaques that line 41st Street between Park and Fifth Avenues. See Clyde Haberman's story in The New York … [Read more...]

Following up on the previous blogpost, Gerard Bellaart sent a superimposition of several lines on Beckett's short dramatic monologue "Not I." Bellaart also sent an excerpt from Michael Maier's paper, "GEISTERTRIO: Beethoven's Music in Samuel Beckett's 'Ghost Trio.'" To which, Bellaart says: "The debate as to whether music has the last word is rather like looking for reasons to believe in the absurd." … [Read more...]

'Oh, this is a happy day. This will have been another happy day. After all. So far ..." … [Read more...]

I knew when RealityStudio posted Ian MacFadyen's review of "The Name Is Burroughs: expanded media at the ZKM, Karlsruhe," that it would be a major critique. I had already read his "Codename Burroughs," the pamphlet that accompanied the retrospective, which was excerpted from a more complete text in MacFadyen's book, William S. Burroughs. Cut. With his usual brilliance and lucidity he had made it plain as day what Burroughs was up to, especially in the "third mind" cut-up collaborations with Brion Gysin. Furthermore, when I read the complete … [Read more...]

And now for another kind of poem, as unlike "Death Is a Wind That Will Carry You Off" as day from night. It's part of a large series of stenciled texts by the Dutch artist and writer Gerard Bellaart. At the urging of my staff of thousands, examples from Bellaart's word-based series of artworks have been a continuing feature of recent S/U blogposts. The others so far have been "tric trac du ciel," "Throws Up Words," and "ROT NOT." There will be more to come. … [Read more...]