tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195936130112708158.post2005427409107480895..comments2024-01-17T13:51:18.882-05:00Comments on The Inquestia Times. L'Inquestia: William S. Burroughs and Cut-Up WritingPaul D. LeBlanchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13049048211796685846noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195936130112708158.post-42103693870633373822019-08-06T17:27:32.959-04:002019-08-06T17:27:32.959-04:00The point of the original Dada cut up poems was to...The point of the original Dada cut up poems was to mock people. The quote from the manifesto is very explicit. That's why Marcel Duchamp's The Fountain was acclaimed as a great piece of art when it's nothing more than a damn urinal!<br /><br />Now, I'm not saying Burroughs work lack value or meaning, I'm just saying that cut up poems done with the technique or the machine, produce the same result: garbage to fool the unsuspecting and make fun of the elites.<br /><br />The aesthetic value of these poems is not the poem, it's the idiocy of people becoming evident. And that's why I love Dada. And I love WSB as well. But, please, don't call him a beatnick, he was not. He was older, he was not a weed smoking hippy/hipster. Uncle Bill wiz the real thing.Jorge Jaramillo Villarruelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09173856214194315781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195936130112708158.post-52551405357271985402013-05-21T22:51:52.037-04:002013-05-21T22:51:52.037-04:00Yes, I agree with what you are saying, but there i...Yes, I agree with what you are saying, but there is a fair level of intentionality left to the operator of the cut-up machine. It certainly does not create - as far as I am concerned - any usable "literature" just by pasting random text into the machine. The operator has to use a high level of subjectivity it seems in order to evaluate the generated results insofar as either deciding to use or discard the results. For instance, if I do a little experiment and using one of you sentences in your comment - let's use "Or, to be more to the point, the individual whose consciousness created the machine would indirectly intervene in the composition of my poem, through the instrument he or she built." When I past this into the Vajra's cut-machine here are the results I get - No 1 click on Cut It Up button gives me "instrument the indirectly poem, the poem, the of the the to the the instrument in the would poem, the or instrument would whose consciousness composition whose machine machine intervene point," <br />Not much use to me so I click on Cut It Up More and, No 2 generated results are "the the the machine point, individual or instrument she my created the to or the to be the machine point, through my created instrument consciousness be to whose through through"<br />Now it's futile to go on, but it does give me ideas as an artist on the combination of possible words, most I dislike but some I could perhaps utilize. I can take from No. 1 results the string that reads "instrument [...] whose consciousness composition whose machine [...] intervene point". Then I believe in No.2 I'll take "through my created instrument consciousness". I can thereby add the two strings I like together and make some whacky Burroughsy-sounding sentence like "The instrument whose consciousness composition whose machine intervenes points through my created instrument consciousness". I daresay not too bad sounding, but the cut-up machine is certainly not the true author of this piece of cut-up lit., although I see your point that ultimately the programmer must have had a hand in it somehow to lay these cards out on the table for me to pick... Nevertheless, I like to think the aesthetics of the artist - meaning the user of the cut-up machine - override the builder of the programwordtoolkit - Es ist ein gut Deutsch wort, oder schlecht? :) Paul D. LeBlanchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13049048211796685846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195936130112708158.post-64002434965572698572013-05-21T06:04:24.303-04:002013-05-21T06:04:24.303-04:00Or, to be more to the point, the individual whose ...Or, to be more to the point, the individual whose consciousness created the machine would indirectly intervene in the composition of my poem, through the instrument he or she built. And, because that instrument is selecting the words, it would be more influential than me. Humph. :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5195936130112708158.post-28610110638913707942013-05-21T06:01:57.672-04:002013-05-21T06:01:57.672-04:00Hm. Why do I imagine that a poem composed with th...Hm. Why do I imagine that a poem composed with the help of Lake Rain Vajra's 'cut-up machine' will look more like Lake Rain Vajra than me? I suspect the individual whose consciousness selects the words (consciously or blindly) is influential in the composition, but a machine would intervene and diminish the influence.<br /><br />This is an interesting article. Thank you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com