2 January 2006: Okay, now some p.r. for Writing To Be Seen, starting with a review from Campusi, apparently a bookchain, that I got off the Internet (and added a few facts to, like size of pages, that it had blank:
Writing to Be Seen: An Anthology of Later 20th Century Visio-Textual Art
Author: Bob Grumman Craig Hill Crag Hill
ISBN: 0879240830
Publisher: Light and Dust
Date published: 2001-09
Edition: 1
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 320
Size: 8.5" X 11"
----------------------------------------------------
Synopsis:
This anthology introduces the genre of "visio-textual art" to a wider
audience, offering examples of this art form, which intermingles poetry and
visual art, by 12 practitioners including Joel Lipman, Bill Keith, Karl
Kempton, and others.
----------------------------------------------------
Book Review:
Bob Grumman and Crag Hill edit this anthology of "visio-textual art,"
sometimes known as visual poetry. Generous selections from twelve major
practicioners of the form will instantly make this one of the key anthologies
of this lesser-known branch of writing and art--and this is only the first
volume. During a century when painters around the world began to incorporate
text into their pieces, Grumman and Hill document the same phenomenon from the
other side--poets and writers who found the visual structures of standard
typography to be too restricting for their visions. The writer-artist in each
section is allowed to discuss their own motivations for becoming a visio-
textual artist, and the reasons are diverse and compelling. Work by Carol
Stetser, Scott Helmes, Bill Keith, Joel Lipman, Guy R. Beining, Marilyn R.
Rosenberg, David Cole, Kathy Ernst, Karl Young, Harry Polkinhorn, Bill Fox
and Karl Kempton.
Printed Matter in NYC had an event for us. Here's its press release:
Writing to Be Seen
A Book Launch for a New Anthology of Visual Poetry
To be Held at Printed Matter, Inc.
Saturday, May 4, 2002 from 5 to 7 PM
Printed Matter, Inc. is very pleased to host a book launch for the new
anthology, Writing to Be Seen. The launch will take place on Saturday, May 4th
from 5 to 7 PM at Printed Matter, Inc. located at 535 West 22nd Street.
Writing to Be Seen, edited by Bob Grumman and Crag Hill is the first major
anthology of visual and experimental poetry in thirty years. The anthology
encompasses work from among the very best visual poets across the United
States: Guy R. Beining, David Cole, K.S. (Kathy) Ernst, William L. Fox, Scott
Helmes, Bill Keith, Karl Kempton, Joel Lipman, Harry Polkinhorn, Marilyn R.
Rosenberg, Carol Stetser, Karl Young.
A synthesis of the visual and verbal, this visual poetry jumps off the page -
sometimes literally! - and demands your attention. Shape, placement, and in
many cases color of letters / words / symbols form an integral part in shaping
the meaning of the visual poem. Here, words and phrases are often replaced by
icons or other symbols, even photographs.
"I make a bold prediction: this anthology is going to tear open the cranium of
many an open-minded reader," says Bob Grumman, editor.
Reviews of Writing to Be Seen:
"It is a tribute to the ongoing production of visual poetry by artists who
continue to work and yet have only occasional 'citing'.... This long gap has
made us long for an anthology such as this, and here it is! ... A necessary
addition to any visual and verbal library." — Judith Hoffberg, Umbrella
"Just published December 1st, this generous helping of what the editors
call 'visio-textual art' is, in fact, concrete poetry in the digital
\age....This stubborn work shades beauty and is a solid landing on the other
side of the moon of your mind." — Bob Holman, About Poetry: contemporary
Visual Poets expected to attend the book launch are Guy R. Beining, K.S.
(Kathy) Ernst, Scott Helmes, Bill Keith, and Marilyn R. Rosenberg.
For additional information about the book launch, please call Max Schumann,
Manager, at Printed Matter at (212) 925-0325. For information about Writing to
Be Seen please contact Scott Helmes at (612) 339-9260.
Printed Matter has received support, in part, through grants from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York
City Department of Cultural Affairs, The Roy and Niuta Titus Foundation,
Hayday Foundation, The Kettering Family Foundation, CHS Foundation, Charles
Stuart Mott Foundation, The Cowles Charitable Trust, Milton & Sally Avery Arts
Foundation, and private foundations and individuals worldwide.
Printed Matter, Inc. is not affiliated with, nor a division of, the Dia Center
for the Arts.
Note, I'm pretty sure it was Crag Hill who said what I'm quoted as saying--unless Scott or Kathy or whoever was responsible for the press release made it up and asked me if it was okay to use it, and I said yes, as I would
have.
Printed Matter has this to say about the anthology in its catalog (where, I see, the full quotation I just mentioned is given; technically, it's by both Crag and me, but they were his words, not that I have any problem with getting credit for them!):
Carol Stetser, Scott Helmes, Bill Keith, Joel Lipman, Guy R. Beining, Marilyn
R. Rosenberg, David Cole, Kathy Ernst, Karl Young, Harry Polkinhorn, Bill Fox,
Karl Kempton
Writing to Be Seen : An Anthology of Later 20th Century Visio-Textual Art.
Vol. 1
Port Charlotte, FL: Light & Dust for the Runaway Spoon Press & Score
Publications. 2001
Synopsis: Edited by Bob Grumman and Crag Hill, Writing to Be Seen contains a
sampling of concrete poetry from "the best American participants in the field
known and available" to the editors. Arranged in sections by artist, this book
is lush with visual poems, collage, and numeric pieces, and accompanied
by several artist's statements and reviews.
In the introduction, Grumman and Hill promise the reader quite a thrill: "For
those of you who have not yet experienced this work, I make a bold
prediction: 200 pages of this anthology, individual works + synergy from all
works combined, is going to tear open the cranium of many an open-minded
reader... Hold on to your skull cap. What you take in through your eyes iscoming through."
Category: Source Book
Pages: [unpaginated]
Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 21.5 x 28 cm.Cover: Paperback
Binding: sewn bound
Process: offset-printed
Color: black-and-white
Edition 500
Signed: Unsigned and Unnumbered
ISBN: 0879240830
Included with the above text is a nice picture of the anthology cover.
Jeff Hansen wrote a complimentary review of the anthology for Rain Taxi, the only publication even semi-prominent that deigned to notice it. Alas, I can't find my copy of the stupit thing, so can't quote his review here. I did find an e.mail from him with two paragraphs his review in it, though:
Writing To Be Seen: An Anthology Of Later 20th Century Visio-Textual Art
edited by Bob Grumman & Crag Hill
Runaway Spoon Press, Score Publications, Light and Dust Books ($24)
by Jeff Hansen
The publication of this anthology marks a major literary event. For
decades the works of these singular, innovative and sometimes quirky
artists have circulated almost solely among the artists themselves. Now
they are available for all to see, and there truly is something to be
seen.
....
I could go on discussing the wonderful work in this book; the pieces are
consistently playful, improvisational, and deeply experimental, with
little of the "heaviness" associated with the stereotypical alienated
artist. The overwhelming sense is one of people deeply engaged with
materials-ink, stencils, photocopiers, alphabets, words, letters, and so
on-and their possibilities.
--
Rain Taxi Review of Books
PO Box 3840
Minneapolis, MN 55403
http://www.raintaxi.com
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