bergvall's reproduction of gysin

• could something purely visual (non-textual) be read aloud?
• should poems only be read aloud by their writer?
• does the meaning change when read by someone else?
• how much does a voice affect meaning?
• how can the visual and verbal coexist?
• how can a poem activate the space of a page visually and at the same time exist verbally and furthermore express its visual nature through the spoken iteration?
• can a poem be more legitimate when read aloud than when written?
• when does reading a piece of text become a writer’s reading or an artist’s performance piece? can it only be defined by the creator? what if that person considers him or herself both a writer and a visual artist?
• explore how space made by a creator defining himself as a “visual artist” relates/differs to a creator who defines himself as a “poet”-- but why put these kinds of boundaries on things? is it necessary?
• technology and writing: http://www.jason-huff.com/projects/autosummarize/
• richard serra’s verb list for himself controls his art making process. he creates visual pieces based on his list of commands for himself. these pre-determined thoughts free him from decision-making while he’s creating. the act of writing this list and performing the actions is like a poet writing a piece and then reading the words, the psychology of creation is gone, the form is completely dictated by something pre-created. a poem could be performed visually rather than read? but it all goes back to what action is most appropriate for best communicating the content.
• Bergvall’s ‘After Gysin’ was preparatory for her piece ‘Ride’-- in ‘After Gysin’ Bergvall performs Gysin’s ‘Come to Free the Words’-- relating back to question of how a piece performed(read) by the creator changes when performed (read) by someone else-- but it isn’t the voice that changes the meaning, it’s the context.
• idea of copying: Bernadette Mayer advises experimenting with plagiarism, Bruce Mau suggests copying in his manifesto for growth
• Gysin ‘Pistol Poem’ splice sounds of gunshots together
• Ideas of Space in Contemporary Poetry- Ian Davidson
• Reading the Written Image- Collins
• Playing with Words- Lane
• Poetry and Displacement- Stan Smith
• Crisis and Contemporary Poetry- Karhio, Crosson, Armstrong

In 2005 Caroline Bergvall recreated Brion Gysin’s sound poem “Come to Free the Words” by recording her voice speaking his words and recording the sounds created by the gesture of writing. This essay will explore the similarities and differences between the original and its reproduction and the idea of ‘copying’ as both an exercise and a form of creating--- how that relates to the idea that Bergvall considers her reproduction as a piece in itself but also a preparatory act for another piece. It will explore the different contexts in which the work is performed, where the emphasis is placed on words, the difference in material/texture of the sounds, the voices, the timing--- everything that relates and differentiates the two recordings.