Over the years two dozen items about or related to Clayton Patterson have appeared on this blog. It’s an indication of the staff’s interest in his cultural significance. Patterson’s importance in general, but especially on the Lower East Side of New York City, comes from his commitment to social and political values for the good of his community. He has put his life on the line to document and preserve it in a way that few are brave enough to do. Now his role as both activist and outsider artist in his own right is the subject of a new book, titled simply Clayton.—yes, with a period—full stop. For those who know him, or of him, his name alone is sufficient to tell the story. For those who don’t, Permuted Press has gathered a group of remarkable graphic artists to tell it.
Jürgen Ploog, R.I.P.
He died at home in Frankfurt, peacefully, surrounded by family. Jürgen Ploog was 85. “Jay,” the name he went by among close friends, was widely regarded as one of Germany’s premiere second-generation Beat writers. But his narrative fiction—like that of William S. Burroughs, a mentor with whom he was associated—was more experimental and closer to Brion Gysin’s or J.G. Ballard’s than to Jack Kerouac’s or Allen Ginsberg’s.
Jay called his style “cut prose,” an adventurous collage technique developed from the cut-up methods formulated by Burroughs and Gysin back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was a gifted visual collagist as well, producing hybrid works in recent years such as Flesh Film, a fever dream of a novella originally published in a digital prose-only edition by realitystudio.org, and subsequently perfected in print by Moloko+.
GC CUNY Keeps the Conversation Going:
Six Fast-Paced Doctoral Presentations on Diverse Topics from Solar Energy to Anti-Corruption Laws
Tune in today—Tuesday @ 7:30 p.m.—for a 30-minute online showcase in TED-style talks.
Bill Murray Takes a Cue from Nancy
He masks up in his bathtub too.
Famous Last Words
“We are in this together. We are stronger together.”
It’s Covid Time in Times Square and in the not united U.S. of A.
On the Other Side of the Pond, Locking Boris Down
David Eros responds to the U.K. prime minister’s lockdown speech.
Music for All Seasons: Little Richard Meets Vivaldi
Wouldn’t it be grand?
Michael McClure, R.I.P.
Dead at 87, he was foremost a poet, but also a playwright, essayist, and novelist.
‘A Daughter’s Take on the Legend of Nicholas Ray’
Three Rooms Press has just published RAY BY RAY, a combination memoir-biography by Nicca Ray, daughter of the maverick Hollywood director Nicholas Ray, with an introduction by Samantha Fuller, daughter of another Hollywood maverick, the screenwriter/director Sam Fuller. The publisher will present a livestream book launch Saturday afternoon—May 9 @ 2pm-4pm EST — featuring the […]
Nancy Masks Up in Her Bathtub
She’s taking no chances. Gary Lee-Nova has been exploring Bushmiller’s work for many years. This particular effort originated in an email exchange with Denis Kitchen who founded Kitchen Sink Press. Kitchen Sink published five volumes of Bushmiller’s work during the 1980s and ’90s. “We’ve been internet pals for several years,” Lee-Nova says. During the early […]
Inside the CUNY Graduate Center: A Dissertation Showcase
On Tuesday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m., six doctoral students from diverse disciplines will make short video presentations, describing their research in three minutes each. Topics include increasing the efficiency of solar energy, the Black Panthers’ contributions to education, the effectiveness of anti-corruption laws in the U.K. and the U.S., the figure of the “surrogate mother” in American theater and film, how philosophy can improve policing, and the importance of seeds in evolution. See how, even while students can’t physically come to campus, the intellectual life of The Graduate Center continues to thrive.
GC CUNY Keeps the Conversation Going:
‘The Future of Health Care’ featuring Margot Sanger-Katz, Jonathan Gruber, Avik Roy, and Dana Singiser; also the Eminent Author Anne Carson on Greek Tragedy
While events are postponed at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York in the heart of Manhattan, videos of recent public programs from its archive will be featured here for your enjoyment. The videos offer illuminating discussions in two main categories: insights into current events and conversations with leading writers and artists.
Carl Weissner at the Top of His Game
He was the great German translator and agent of the U.S. underground. Now his collected journalism is being published.
GC CUNY Keeps the Conversation Going:
Andrew Yang, Leslie McCall, and Richard Reeves
on Capitalism and Democracy; also,
Authors Julia Alvarez and Elizabeth Acevedo
on Craft, Legacy, and Literature
While events are postponed at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York in the heart of Manhattan, videos of recent public programs from its archive will be featured here for your enjoyment. The videos offer illuminating discussions in two main categories: insights into current events and conversations with leading writers and artists.
Postscript to ‘The Art of Drawing’
By a blindfolded painter in his Chekhovian hat who chooses to remain nameless.
The Art of Drawing
For David Hockney “drawing by other means” included the use of lenses and other optical devices as long ago as the Renaissance, and now more recent innovations like photography and digital collage. But drawing by hand still has infinite charms.
Two Peas in a Pod
Even before President Twitter Fingers declared himself “a very stable genius,” the Idi Amin comparison was irresistible. So it’s been around for years, but it’s worth renewing.