In Paris in the late Fifties the Beat Generation writer William Burroughs developed the Cut-Up Method. It involved taking a piece of finished text and cutting it into pieces – then rearranging those pieces to create a new text or work of art. Burroughs wrote that: “When you cut into the present the future leaks out.” His creative partner and pal Brion Gysin prophetically declared that: “All words are taped.”
This anthology comes out on the occasion of Burroughs’ 100th birthday.
The cut-up had a profound effect on all media. Devotees of cut-up include David Bowie, Radiohead, and Kathy Acker. Says CUT UP! co-editor Joe Ambrose: “I guess it’s Bowie that really popularized the cut-up, leading to thousands of 70s and 80s youths taking the scissors to their Dad’s Sunday paper. I tried to reach out to Bowie to contribute to the book, via his guitarist Gerry Leonard who is a friend. Gerry put me right in touch with Bowie’s PA but warned me, correctly, that Bowie rarely responded to such requests these days.”
In addition to bringing together new work by new people who’ve emerged from the social media jungle, CUT UP! salutes some better known 20th Century voices who kept the spirit of Burroughs alive. Contributors include Kenji Siratori, Nina Antonia the New York Dolls and Johnny Thunders biographer, Claude Pelieu, Billy Chainsaw, Cabell McLean who was Burroughs’ partner and collaborator, and Nathan Penlington, star of the contemporary London live poetry scene, and Allen Ginsberg.
Says A.D. Hitchin: “We went looking for mostly new and emergent voices. Kenji Siratori, whom I greatly admire, is probably the leading artist working with cut-up right now. Bowie and Denis Cooper both admire him a great deal… And the book reaches right back to the creation of cut-up in the Paris Beat Hotel via the inclusion of Sinclair Beiles – who was in the first cut-up manifesto – Minutes to Go – along with Burroughs, Gysin, and Gregory Corso.”
A.D. Hitchin is an Editor at Oneiros Books and the author of several books including Messages to Central Control. He is a leading contemporary purveyor of the cut-up. http://adhitchin.tumblr.com/
Joe Ambrose has worked with Anita Pallenberg, William Burroughs, Paul Bowles, and Lydia Lunch. He is the author of 14 books including Chelsea Hotel Manhattan and Moshpit Culture. www.joeambrose.info.
CUT UP! is available from Oneiros Books at: http://www.paraphiliamagazine.com/oneirosbooks/cut-up-2/.
Publication Date: 12 April 2014. Further information, images, Kindle review copies etc. contact: joedigger@hotmail.com
