I always admired the writing of William S. Burroughs. I thought he was creepy but I liked that about him. He had an INTENSE,other worldly quality to him and I liked his formatting and use of words.

Once I got into an argument at a coffee shop with some guy about Burroughs. He didn't care for Burrough's private life and therefore, did not appreciate any aspect of his work. Fine, think what you will. It seems like many people expect the private life of an artist to be palatable. Otherwise it's a bad mark against the work--or if the stuff isn't too disagreeable, perhaps a good one.

THE CUT-UP METHOD OF BRION GYSINis an interesting piece. In one sense, it's just its own art form. A different method of approaching the thing. This could spark an argument about intention. Things that are cut up lose the artist's intention. Yes, new things are definitely made; sometimes they make sense or might even say more than the original...It's an excercise in randomosity.

good quotes from burroughs...

" Cutting and rearranging a

page of written words introduces a new dimension into writing

enabling the writer to turn images in cinematic variation".

Cinematic points to the visual. Cutting things up produces a literal incoherence that may translate more effectively in the visual format. Not all the time, but probably a lot of the time.

"The words have lost meaning and life through years of repetition."

Well, I don't know about this. I read something the other day that was quite original and meaningful. Burroughs may have been feeling a little cynical towards language.

" Fill a page with excerpts. Now cut the

page. You have a new poem. As many poems as you like."

Yes, muchos poems; but, they are not exactly selected specimens placed with intention. Of course, words arranged in a new way can be meaningful--sure why not. I guess everything is meaningful. Maybe the experimentation itself and the physical reconfiguration of things is the whole point.

Anyway, I like this excercise, but no extremes for me, please. Burroughs fills a special slot; his experimental, non-linear approach to language is unique and provides for another perspective.

William Gibson provides considerable insight into the whole copy and paste social migration in his article, God's Little Toys . Gibson has an exceptional and progressive outlook on art, music and the culturally share-a-rific social climate at large.

These are some great snippets from the article...

"Our culture no longer bothers to use words like appropriation or borrowing to describe those very activities. Today's audience isn't listening at all - it's participating."

"Who owns the words?" asked a disembodied but very persistent voice throughout much of Burroughs' work. Who does own them now? Who owns the music and the rest of our culture? We do. All of us.

Though not all of us know it - yet."