LITTLE MAGAZINE AS INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLAGE
A frequent observation within the realm of visual and concrete poetry concerns the nearly spontaneous and rather miraculous development of similar manifestos across disparate geographical spaces. Countries including Brazil, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, the United States, Italy, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Japan, and more were strongholds of influence for experimental work. As a result, “Mail Art” and assemblage became popular techniques to circulate material directly between artists, in contrast to the hierarchical or curatorial systems of galleries, publishers, and other organizations. Many international little magazines became assemblages themselves, featuring original works that artists sent in multiple copies.
Maurizio Spatola, ed.
Geiger, no. 3.
Edizioni Geiger, 1969.
The magazine was sometimes subtitled “Antologie Ipersperimentale” (or “hyper-experimental anthology”) and drew on its sibling-editors’ interests in the combined worlds of language and performance. Adriano Spatola elaborated a theory of “Total Poetry” akin to Dick Higgins’ concept of “intermedia,” or a fusing of art forms including performance, music, painting, and poetry. Many of the individual artists’ contributions are signed. Contributors include Julien Blaine, Jiri Voloch Maurizio Nannucci, and Franco Vaccari, among many others.
Adriano Spatola and Maurizio Spatola, eds.
Geiger, no. 8.
Edizioni Geiger, 1979.
Displayed is work by Ulises Carrión.
Founded by Adriano Spatola and edited in collaboration with his brother Maurizio Spatola, issues of Geiger took form by having its contributors submit 300 original and signed works which were often quite elaborate and detailed. Some works here are by unidentified contributors. Listed contributors include Vittore Baroni, Julien Blaine, Irma Blank, Ulises Carrión, Elisabetta Gut, Lucia Marcucci, and Paul Vangelisti, among many others.
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Edgardo Antonio Vigo, ed.
Diagonal Cero, no. 21.
March 1967.
Displayed is work by Jorge de Luxan Gutierrez and Luis Pazos.
The title of the magazine, edited by Vigo, references the diagonal streets of his hometown in Argentina, La Plata, and a fictional location that can be translated as “Avenue Zero” (or “ground zero,” colloquially). Contributors to this issue include Julien Blaine, Jean-François Bory, Jorge de Luxan Gutierrez, Luis Pazos, and Edgardo Antonio Vigo.
Edgardo Antonio Vigo, ed.
Diagonal Cero, no. 24.
1967.
Vigo’s work was often political, informed in no small part by the military junta that ruled Argentina and kidnapped his son in 1976. He was active in many mail art networks, and Novísima Poesía—his term for a blend of visual, sound, concrete, and symbol-oriented poetics. Contributors include Henri Chopin, Hans Clavin, Theo van Doesburg, Carlos Ginzburg, Piet Mondrian, Luis Pazos, and many others.
Guillermo Deisler, ed.
UNI/vers(;), no. 30.
1994.
An “assembled international portfolio for visual & experimental poetry,” this issue is a tribute to Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro, with each page containing a work by a different poet. Many pages are signed and/or numbered. Contributors include Nel Amaro, Antonio Gomez, Pascal Lenoir, Guido Lusetti, Ralf Langer, Jürgen O. Olbrich, Karl Riha, Karla Sachse, Pere Sousa, and Giovanni Strada, among others.
Guillermo Deisler, ed.
UNI/vers(;), no. 31.
1994.
Displayed is work by Antonio Gomez, Emilio Morandi, (Mannigan) J. Lehmus, Carmen Cavaller, Pascal Lenoir, and Alain Valet.
This little magazine was first published in 1987 by Chilean poet and mail artist Guillermo Deisler, who, following Pinochet’s 1973 coup in Chile, lived in exile in France, Germany, and Bulgaria.
Jeremy Adler, ed.
A: An Envelope Magazine of Visual Poetry, no. 1.
1971/1972.
Displayed is work by Bob Cobbing, All An Harrison, Des and Liz Pawson, and Stuart Pound, along with an envelope addressed to Tom Phillips.
This publication arose from the Visual Poetry Workshop that was held the first Tuesday of every month at The National Poetry Society in London. Four issues were published—A, Ab, Abc, and Abcd—from 1971/1972—1977. Each contributor supplied 200 copies of their work, and this issue included techniques such as Letraset, Gestetner, typewriter, calligraphy, rubber-stamp, stencils, collage, silkscreen, and photostat.
Henry Korn and Richard Kostelanetz, compilers.
Assembling: A Collection of Otherwise Unpublishable Manuscripts.
Gnilbmessa Inc., 1970.
The first issue of Korn and Kostelanetz’s “cooperative annual” magazine. Per the introduction, “Contributors were invited to submit 1000 copies of up to four 8.5 x 11 in. pages of anything they wanted to include, printed at their own expense on any paper by any means.” Contributors include Vito Acconci, Regina Cohen, Raymond Federman, Rosalie Frank, Paul Friedman, Madeline Gins, Dan Graham, Aime Rene Groulx, Jan Jacob Herman, Bernadette Mayer, Richard Meltzer, Hannah Weiner, and dozens of others.
Richard Kostelanetz, Henry Korn, and Mike Metz, compilers.
Fourth Assembling.
1973.
Kostelanetz calls this experimental magazine a “Collection of Otherwise Unpublishable Manuscripts.” It also contains an extensive collection of biographical notes for its contributors. A preface, titled “Why Fourth Assembling,” notes that “several editorial powerhouses have reportedly objected to our ‘lack of editorial principle,’ but they fail to discern the intelligence implicit in the abdication of authority.”