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Vice Blog

COME TO THIS POETRY MARATHON I'M PUTTING ON

The Dreamachine

Brion Gysin was one of those restless types who could make or do anything, careening back and forth from painting to writing to inventing to performing on an unpredictable basis. He began his life as a card-carrying Surrealist, only to be kicked out by André Breton at the age of 19. At the end of his life, Gysin could be seen kicking around London with Throbbing Gristle, and making records with Don Cherry and Lizzy Mercier Descloux.

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Along the way, he pioneered countless creative tactics such as the Permutation and the Cut-up, later used by William S. Burroughs for his Nova Trilogy and David Bowie for "Diamond Dogs." Gysin invented the Dreamachine, a light-based system for engaging the brain's alpha waves used regularly by Nick Zinner, Allen Ginsberg, and Laurie Anderson, and which Courtney Love blamed for Kurt Cobain's suicide. He introduced the Rolling Stones to the music of Morocco, published the first recipe for marijuana brownies, and was described by Burroughs as "the only man I've ever respected."

But the most important single gesture made by Gysin was his 1959 statement that "writing is fifty years behind painting." Gysin's Cut-ups, Permutations, collages, and collaborations were all intent on pushing writing forward, a focus that not only inspired his peers, but continues to inspire writers 25 years after his death.

Anne Waldman

A sort of finale for the exhibition, "Brion Gysin: Dream Machine" at the New Museum, "Gysin's Ghosts" is a poetry marathon gathering together three generations of poets who have been affected by this declaration. Participants include John Giorno and Anne Waldman, lifelong friends of Gysin who have both pushed the limits of poetry—Giorno through appropriation, Waldman through ritualized performance of her poems. The second generation of poets is represented by Kenneth Goldsmith, founder of UbuWeb, and Christian Bök, who read the dictionary five times in order to complete his masterpiece, Eunoia (2002). The youngest participants are Mónica de la Torre, senior editor of Bomb magazine and recontextualizer of sales presentations and emails as poetry, and founding member of Wolf Eyes, Aaron Dilloway, who has prepared a Henri Chopin-inspired microphone swallowing performance.

ETHAN SWAN

"Gysin's Ghosts" takes place at the New Museum (235 Bowery, New York) on Saturday, September 25th from 1pm – 4pm. The event is free with museum admission, giving visitors an opportunity to view the exhibition before and after the marathon.