Joe Tilson - The software chart questionnaire - The Magazine of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (May/June, 1968)

Took a punt on this seeing as it was reasonably priced online. The best feature is undoubtedly Joe Tilson's 'software chart questionnaire'. It reminds me of the art/text intersection explored by New Worlds magazine from the same period. I looked up the forthcoming 'book' mentioned on the final page but it turned out to be a plush portfolio of prints, therefore way out of my price range should any appear for sale. Never mind. I'm very happy with these pages in the ICA magazine. 

Metafisikal Translations - Eduardo Paolozzi / Paolozzi's artist's books (absence of)

 

I've been watching it for years. 

The price never dropped.

I couldn't afford this, the one artist's book by Paolozzi that I didn't have. 

Three weeks ago I got a tax rebate so I could afford it, in theory, but should I really spend that much on one book? A 48-page, screen printed book from 1962, signed by Paolozzi. Big deal!

'You don't need it.'

'Of course I don't need it. Who actually needs books? What do we 'need' apart from food, housing and enough money to pay the bills?'

'Then again, what's money? There are no pockets in a shroud, are there?'

'No, so you can't even take one book with you when you...go.'

'Don't remind me, please, of either my mortality or the fact that my book collection cannot go with me...and anyway, it'll be nothingness...forever...'

'So before you sleep The Big Sleep, buy what you want if you can afford it!'

Luckily, a London bookseller was offering Metafisikal Translations at the joint lowest price online so I emailed them and cheekily asked if they could drop the price at all. They agreed. It still took me a few days to finally decide to buy it.

Little seems to have been written about Paolozzi's artist's books. They're mentioned in some monographs, usually in passing. The best source has been Eduardo Paolozzi - Writings And Interviews, edited by Robin Spencer, a superb collection and essential for anyone wanting to dive more deeply into Paolozzi's work. That does include this book and The Metallization Of A Dream, but strangely, neither Kex nor Abba Zaba. The Metallization Of A Dream does get two pages to itself in the Whitechapel Gallery's monograph to accompany their major exhibition in 2017 and Judith Collins at least dedicates a page to Paolozzi's use of texts in her monograph, tying in his word collages with Gysin and Burroughs' cut-ups.

Obviously his major works according to most critics will be the sculptures, followed by his prints and collages but as someone who works with words and has had a few books made I naturally find Paolozzi's books fascinating. Anyway, here are a few pictures of my Metafisikal Translations. You can scroll through the whole book here on the Tate gallery page.

Event: Verse Verso: Visual Poetry and Artist Books at The Warburg Institute

 

I'll be talking on Friday at this event. You can read more about it and an interview with the organiser here. 

I've not talked about my work in public before so I'm a bit nervous and fearful of ending up sounding like Andy Warhol, minus the knowing, deliberately evasive aura, being the clever sod that he was. Instead, I'm in danger of sounding like a mumbling idiot. 

My new booklet, Back To Earth (pic above) will get its debut appearance, being hot off the printing press. It would be logical to discuss that...but...I'm not known for demonstrating Spock-like logic. Talking of science fiction, Back To Earth has a sci-fi theme; the texts all being culled from old sci-fi mags. 

It struck me yesterday that I've been writing science fiction for over 50 years, my visual poetry being a continuation of alien themes i.e. 'alien' language and especially the alien nature of visual poetry to the uninitiated. In a sense, I am trying to 'decode' my ideas as they appear 'in space', the space on the page. The creative act is as mysterious as any fantastical fictitious creations. 

I'm sure I'll muddle through.

Meanwhile, here's another page from Back To Earth...

New booklet: Mind Games

Here is the new book. 56 pages featuring faces and figures. Full colour. £12 plus p&p. Posts worldwide. Very limited print run. Please contact me at rtomens@gmail.com if interested.

New book of mine - Bah! from Redfoxpress

 

Yes, Redfoxpress have just printed a new book of mine - a handsome little thing - so nice you'll love holding and feeling it - I promise. See link below.

Buy it here

Eduardo Paolozzi is 100 years old!

 

No, he's not actually 100 years old - he would be. So what better excuse for celebrating Britain's greatest artist...

Is he Britain's greatest artist?

No, he is the Greatest Artist of the 20th Century!

Is he?

Here's how I know: of all the monographs on artists I have, anything about or featuring Paolozzi has been pulled from the shelves more than any other books. What other evidence do you need?

Do you need a book on Paolozzi? Yes. But I can't recommend just one. The Judith Collins one, simply called Eduardo Paolozzi, is very good and full of colour images. The other essential one is Writings And Interviews, edited by Robin Spencer. The link takes you to one available on Amazon at the cheapest I've seen (£92). It seems to be ex-library but I'd snap it up all the same if I was you because it's packed with interviews and texts by Paolozzi unavailable elsewhere.

My most treasured Paolozzi books are those he produced (with help) in the 60s, the 'artist's books', Kex, Abba Zaba and The Metallization Of A Dream. Another, Metafisikal Translations has eluded me so far, being too expensive. You can see my post on Kex here. Abba Zaba is featured here. The Psychological Atlas is here. The brown book with the embossed cover is The Metallization Of A Dream...

Paolozzi was born in Leith, Scotland. To celebrate his 100 anniversary Leith Athletic F.C. have produced shirts and scarves inspired by The Man. Great idea, eh? I'd buy a scarf but they've currently sold out. Wearing it in London would certainly surprise any Scottish tourists.

I'll say no more because, as you'll see if you click on the Paolozzi tab on the side, I've said quite a bit about Him on this and my other blog. Suffice to say he has been and always will be a great inspiration to me through his writings and Art. So here are more pictures...

From Bash, an unpublished novel, late-60s

 

Collage: Slaves of the book / 'A superior commercial thriller' / The Plastic People of the Universe

 

RTomens, 2023

This a page from an altered book that I've just completed. I'm in the process of scanning every page and when that's done I'll be providing the link here on the blog.

*

Unusually, my TBR pile is promising enough to prevent me from being tempted to buy another novel for a while.

That's a lie, the kind us book-lovers tell ourselves. 'I've got enough to be going on with.' - yeah, right.

On the bus this morning, heading for shops containing books that I will not buy, I had the mad idea of reading everything by Agatha Christie. God know where it came from, except possibly the fact that I'm currently reading a crime novel, although that's were the similarity ends. I doubt that one line in Tom Rob Smith's Child 44 is similar to anything written by Christie, but then again, I may be wrong. 

'That's not what you normally read,' said a friend, spotting the book by my bed. True, it isn't. I likened it to him watching a Tom Cruise action film as opposed to his normal 'tasteful' fare of film noir, Westerns, cult classic etc. I fancied a change, you know? Not that I'm a 'highbrow' reader. The last one I finished was Shane by Jack Schaefer and a more plainly written novel you could not find, which does nothing to lessen the effect of the story.

Meanwhile, it was the mid-20th century Russian setting of Child 44 which made me interested, that and the fact that it was in a £2 sale. It's back and inner front pages are packed with positive blurb, although one almost had the opposite effect to the one desired. 'A superior commercial thriller' Telegraph' it reads. 'Commercial'? Me, engaging in 'commercial' culture? Surely not? I shun commerciality! I'm...I'm above anything that smacks of being 'commercial'! 

So, OK. I get to around page 70 and, being underwhelmed, contemplate giving it the elbow. I was wasting my time on a 'commercial' thriller, wasn't I? But then the true nature of an evil regime's idea of 'justice' begins to be explored and described more deeply and Smith does a good job of depicting the terror of being convicted in the name of communism. Suffice to say, I'm hooked.

Coincidentally, last week I discovered, The Plastic People of the Universe, a band operating underground (where else?) in communist Czechoslovakia. As is often the case, severe social constraints conspire to spark wild creations in the name of free expression and The Plastic people were very 'free'. I loosely liken their range of style to Trout Mask-era Beefheart but in case that puts you off, give them a listen anyway. 

For now, ta-ta.

I Won Green Linden Press's Wishing Jewel Prize

 

Yeah. I won! 

Look here for more info.

Apart from patting myself on the back, I also want to congratulate Green Linden Press, not so much for the jury's display of superb taste (ha-ha!) but their willingness to step way beyond the normal boundaries of poetry by awarding me the prize. After all, despite the genre I work in being Visual Poetry most will struggle to tally it with 'poetry' as they know it.  In awarding me the prize, they'll probably baffle and potentially annoy other poets, some of whom will have submitted their work for the competition. 'That's not poetry!'. Never mind.

Once upon a time (around when the 70s became the 80s) I did write 'normal' poetry - well it rhymed anyway. I shared a bill with Linton Kwesi Johnson...but he didn't show up, fearing that he would be upstaged by me, obviously. That appearance aside, I also took to another stage and paid homage to Kerouac with my own haikus (by which I mean his inspired mine, not that he invented them, which as you know, he didn't). Backing me was a drummer and saxophonist, playing 'free', as opposed to bluesy beatnik boho cellar club style. I have it on tape and would only 'release' it by hitting the big red button should I feel under dire threat or simply aggrieved at the way the world treats me.

You Would Say That will be published in June but the cover (above) has been finalised. You can pre-order now on the page to ensure getting a copy. It contains some of my best visual poetry which, in book-form, will be far more satisfying than always seeing it on a screen. Yes, I would say that.

Vispo: Leave It At That / Selling Vispo to unlikely candidates / Reader's Bill of Right

RTomens, 2021

When is a piece of artwork finished? Oh no! Not that old conundrum. Poor Fine Artists do struggle with that question sometimes, so I hear. So I presume. Whilst those of us who live beneath the underdog are so free that we don't care - ha-ha!

Am I lying? Mebbe. I know instinctively when a piece of visual poetry is finished - and no, it's not always about just covering the page, although I have to say that working top to bottom, as I do sometimes in a fit of logic, there comes a natural end point. Guess where? That's right, at the bottom. On the subject of covering a page (and I know how interested you are in that subject), it's not always necessary to fill virtually every space. Obvious, eh? But you'd be surprised how many people think it is - 'Look, there's a space - fill it!' But if overload is the mark of an...amateur (heh-heh), then it's also the mark of an outsider who just goes ahead until there's barely a tiny space left - good luck to them. Good luck to all 'rule' breakers. Not that I know it's a rule.

All of my work runs on instinct. How could it not? I've never been taught, except for the few weeks I spent at an evening class not long after I'd started a Job because I fooled myself I could still progress in the education system but all I recall from the lessons is copying the cover to The Who's Quadrophenia album - not my finest hour, but it wasn't bad. Yes, back then I was still copying...because what was left of my imagination as a youngster had been well and truly obliterated by the everyday drudgery of factory work (at Aylesbury Frozen Foods, where I would sometimes spend a whole day just cracking eggs! Or so it seemed). 

Talking of vispo, the book is still selling well in the shop. Just this morning I sold one to a chap who seemed to be the least likely person to buy one. And what does a likely buyer look like? I dunno... Since selling books I've come to judge people by how they look less quickly. That said, many conform to type - well hey, don't we all in some way? He said he spotted it on the shelf, had a look and loved what he saw. He also loved the A4 print of a vispo piece that I've stuck above the counter. Made my day to reach someone who wouldn't have known what vispo was if someone mentioned it to him. Of that, I am sure.

And talking of things I stick up in the shop. A few weeks ago I copied out Daniel Pennac's Reader's Bill of Rights. It's proved very popular. Someone's always photographing it, so I thought I would too and share it with you.

TTFN!

 

The Return of the Remington Compact Portable!

Yes! The Olympia, which I only bought in October of last year, is kaput. Considering what it cost it's not worth repairing. So I'm glad I kept the much older (1930s) Remington. Besides, the font on the Remington is much better. Now I just have to get used to using it again. On the minus side, the Olympia had a wide carriage, big enough to take A3, whereas the Remington is standard size, which means manipulation of an A4 sheet is limited. No matter. Necessity is the mother of invention, eh? 

I did bid on another model last Sunday but lost out. I do wonder what the winner actually wanted it for. To decorate a room? Probably. Bastard! Us typewriter artists deserve these old machines. We actually use them! Huh! At the last count, there were only three typewriter artists in the whole world...and I'm one of them. That's not true, of course. Some people are probably still creating portraits from typewriters. Clever that, eh? I'm jealous. They get commissions. People look at their work and go "Ooh, look, all done on a typewriter!" They look at my concrete poetry and go "Eh?" Ha-ha-ha-ha!

My last book is still available from here. Help an artist out - I'm struggling here!

Drawing/Print: Art Students'' Anatomy / Art at school when I wasn't skiving / Concrete poetry books

RTomens, 2021

 

Studying anatomy with a view to drawing and painting used to be an important part of Art lessons, as I recall. Not that I do recall much from my Art lessons at school, other than the teacher telling me I had to get a couple of other grades in order to gain entry to college. That put me off. Why couldn't I just dazzle the admissions board with my talent? 

I also remember the porcupine fish on the wall of the classroom. Oh and having one of my drawings put in the display cabinet on the corridor side. It was a tableaux of boys in baggy trousers and probably boots...a gang wearing what we all wore in 1973. Being in a semi-cartoonish style, anatomical correctness wasn't required. I had no choice, not being able to reproduce a realistic likeness of the human form. Ability (or in my case, inability) dictates style. 

No doubt I could have studied anatomy and got quite good at drawing people but I didn't go to school to study! I went because...I had to, otherwise they sent an officer to your house, asking your poor ol' Mum why you hadn't attended school. My Mum was good like that though, or bad, depending on how much you think parents should push their children. She always pretended to believe me when I said I was too sick to go to school. I think she liked the company. That and the fact that she could relate to my educational goal of zero learning, having achieved it herself.

The drawing above was done on a scan of a book I own. It has some great figures in it. 

I've used them a few times, such as here...

RTomens, 2018

Since my school days I amassed quite a body of work. Some of my books are still available. You can buy one here. And another here. 

TTFN

Book: If You Don't Mind (concrete poetry, vispo, typewriter art)