Erased Text/Print: Nothing Else Matters / Hi-fi idiot / Rip Rig & Panic's Attitude.

RTomens, 2026

When a storm hits you batten down the hatches, don't you? Not that often get fierce stormy weather in London, being in the privileged South-East, in particular, England's capital city which, as you know, is such an emblem of success that the whole world wants to live here...and it looks as if they actually do!

So the wind whips the little tree in our front garden and the all-day rain continues; it's a good day to stay in and do useful things like tidy up my stuff. That's papers, magazines, printed matter, artwork, books etc. Also, music, specifically the CDs I've burnt albums onto. Today I started whizzing through them, playing parts, giving them a test drive to see if they passed after years of not listening. Some did, probably half didn't, so they're in the bin. Blame Spotify. Things sound better on the hi-fi, of course, but I do listen to streamed sounds more than vinyl or disc, especially over the last few months when the amplifier broke down. No bass or treble alteration possible. So I thought. No hi-fi made me feel a little sad and contemplating where to get a new amp. I called in Lady Practical (she's so much better at fixing things). She pushed a few buttons, which included the one marked Source Direct, which was 'on'. Guess what. It fixed the problem! ha-ha - I'm such an idiot, I know. 

Sorting through the discs I came across Rip Rig & Panic's Attitude (1983). Try it out. What an album! It hasn't aged a bit to these ears, probably because it sounded like nothing else at the time so, despite being of its time in my life, musically it's fresh. Ah, Rip Rig & Panic, how we loved you! Avant-Pop-Jazz whatever, words can't really convey the total sum of the multitudinous influences on display, weaved into the sound. Yes, dear reader, I did feel a hint of melancholy for my younger self who went out into the Soho night on a regular basis to sample some Jazz in a dive bar, or at The Wag. Even the night run by RR&P called The Hot Sty. An eclectic treat, of course. 

That's all for now. Be seeing you.

Erasure poetry: Eliminate The Traces & Imitating A Robot / Book: Erasurism - Louis Armand and Michel Delville

 

I'm in an elimination phase...or...'erasure poetry' phase, if there is such a thing. Erasure poetry, I mean, not erasure poetry phase. I don't know why it developed. I don't know what came over me. I've done 'erasure' work before, just not for a while and not exactly like this. 

I can see why the finished product would not be to everyone's liking. It is, after all, a picture of removal, of...covering up, rather than revealing. It is not destructive, but a form of construction. By erasing, what remains is the image of erasure in this instance. Another form would be the total blanking out of what was there. That too, is interesting, potentially. I may explore that later. Perhaps the logical steps are towards total erasure. Total blacking out may also be interesting if the paragraphs blocks are followed. 

Eliminate The Traces begs to be the title of the book of erasures which I had no intention of making until using the phrase. Now it cries out to be used. 

What remains is not nothing, of course, no matter the technique or approach used. I like the combination of black lines and typed over printed texts. I toyed with using ruled lines as I have done before but currently favour the freely drawn. I like the ragged finish; the imposition of the roughly drawn upon the precisely printed. Typed capital letters add another element, the third way between hand drawn and machine printed, the in-between. Type is mechanical but as any typewriter user knows, far from perfect due to inconsistency of weight applied hitting the keys and remaining ink in the ribbon. Ah, the joy of typing.

By sheer coincidence, Erasurism by Louis Armand and Michel Delville has just been published. I have only skimmed the contents but it covers a broad spectrum of literary and artistic examples whilst also examining the work of Samuel Beckett and of course, Tom Philips amongst others. Intellectually, I fear a lot of it is beyond my reach but that is my problem. You can read the whole book online here.

I leave you with another piece I made a few days ago. Title: Imitating A Robot

Be seeing you.