The debut of the "animated" text: Lesson 2

Lesson 2.  Introduction to Cut-up Art

From http://www.wallpaper.com/art/cut-ups-cut-ins-cut-outs-the-art-of-william-s-burroughs-ljublijana#45926

A. How to Make a 20th Century Piece of Literature:

For this lesson, our goal is to make a project following  a famous "poem" by Tristan Tzara. Here is an online adaptation from Emma DiMaggio:

Perhaps you’ve always wanted to write poetry but haven’t found the right words or ideas with which to express yourself with elegance. There’s no need to worry! Dada poetry requires absolutely no understanding of the English language. Here are the simple steps to creating your own Dada poetry.

STEPS:
1. Grab a newspaper or magazine article.
2. Get your pair of scissors.
3. Cut out a section of writing that’s about as long as you want your poem to be.
4. Cut out each word from the article separately.
5. Put your pile of words into a bag and shake the collection around.
6. Take out a word and put it down in a line. (Don’t look at the word when you take it out!)
7. Repeat #6 until you’ve emptied the bag.
8. Copy the words over onto another piece of paper.
9. Become a Dada poet!

Now that you’ve got your authentic Dada poem, get ready to hit up an open mic night to show off your cryptic creation. Dada art is all about the absurdity of life and culture; this method by Tristan Tzara is sure to achieve the cacophony that makes authentic Dadaist poetry. The side-eye glances and confused head tilts mean that your audience is interpreting the poem flawlessly! Great job!

(From Emma DiMaggio , “The Art of Visual Poetry: Dadaism,” Entity Magazine, ed. Angelica Pronto, https://www.entitymag.com/art-visual-poetry-dadaism, August 4, 2016, Copyright Entity, 2017.)

 
Here is the "original" instruction poem in its English translation:

How to Make a Dadaist Poem (1920)

• Take a newspaper.
• Take a pair of scissors.
• Choose an article as long as you are planning to make your poem.
• Cut out the article.
• Then cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them in a bag.
• Shake it gently.
• Then take out the scraps one after the other in the order in which they left the bag.
• Copy conscientiously.
• The poem will be like you.
• And here are you a writer, infinitely original and endowed with a sensibility that is charming though beyond the understanding of the vulgar.

--Tristan Tzara
(From https://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88v/tzara.html.)


B. What is Cut-up art?

This is the historic text that "began" what is now called the Cut-Up technique in art. Here is Wikipedia definition: 

"The cut-up technique (or découpé in French) is an aleatory literary technique in which a text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. The concept can be traced to at least the Dadaists of the 1920s, but was popularized in the late 1950s and early 1960s by writer William S. Burroughs, and has since been used in a wide variety of contexts." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut-up_technique).

Read up further for your personal enrichment.


C. Guide Questions:

1. Try to look for some definitions of "Dadaism" online. What is aleatory?

2.What is the significance of "scissors" being used here to cut up newspapers? Why "newspapers" specifically?

3. What other things can the "bag" represent?

4. How can the poem "be like you?"

5. Isn't there a contradiction between the (found) materials used and the concept of "originality" of the cut up thus made?

 6. Is this is "poem" or a poem about making poems?

7. What did you think when you were making your own version of a "dadaist" poem?

8. Is this a real method or the absence of method?

9. Why do you think is Tzara's idea of literature? How is it made?

10. What are your your ideas of writing and literature?


D. Next meeting, we will make our very own Cut-up project:

Bring the following materials in class:

– Scissors
– Newspaper or Magazine
– Paper
– Writing Utensil
– A Small Bag