FOREWORD
Back in the 60’s and 70’s while living in New York, two
books came to my attention: Bern Porter’s “Found Poems” and
the “Anthology of Concrete Poetry” edited by Emmett Williams,
both published by “Something Else Press.” I tried my
hand at what it represented, for me a new form of expression, without
much success. I was still under the influence of the powerful baroque
imagery of Jose Lezama Lima and my inclination towards the complex imagery
of Surrealism.
Years passed and it was here in Miami, where I moved
with my family in 1978, that again I became familiar with the Concrete,
Visual, and Sound Texts, thanks this time to the anthology edited by
Richard Kostelanetz in 1980. It was through my visit to the magnificent collection
of Ruth and Marvin Sackner that my eyes were opened once more to this
kind of poetry and its numerous ramifications. Even so, I remained
mute as far as trying to express myself along those lines.
Late 80’s and early 90’s: Aix-en-Provence and the discovery
of the computer. Aix was where finally it all fell into place. First
and foremost the coincidence between my readings of Beckett, Joyce, and
Gertrude Stein with the music of composers such as Cage, Feldman, Webern,
Scelsi, Xenakis, Braxton, Uri Caine, Keith Jarrett, (and Bach always),
among others. Added to the list: the paintings of Wols, Tobey,
and my friend Baruj Salinas, all of which opened the way to my better
understanding and practice of experimental poetry. Then came the
computer and with it the Internet where I discovered once more, the many
facets of Visual Poetry through the websites of Bob Grumman, John M.
Bennett, and Scott Helmes. This started my correspondence with
them, which added many new friends to my list: Irving Weiss, mIEKAL aND,
Kathy Ernst, Geof Huth, Thomas Lowe Taylor, Jim Leftwich, Derek White,
Michael Basinski, David Daniels, Guy Beining, Wendy Sorin, Karl Young,
Steve Dalachinsky, Vernon Frazer, John Byrum, Chris Fritton, etc. With
them and so many others I became a practitioner of Vispo using the Paint program
provided by my computer. All of the above-mentioned poets encouraged
me to continue and invited me to participate in several exhibitions and
publications. It is to them that I owe the drastic turn that took
my poetry in a direction that I consider full of possibilities yet to
be explored.
But all of that is history. Now after 10 years of working side
by side with those wonderful creative minds, I have tried to promote
them to a more wide audience. The publication of the first volume
of “Writing to Be Seen” by Bob Grumman and Craig Hill provided
me with the opportunity to prepare an exhibition at the Diana Lowenstein
Gallery in 2003, plus a presentation at Books and Books. This was
our first inclusion in the Miami art world. Now I have attempted
to widen the scope of that exhibition, adding other names and joining
forces with the “Subtropics” festival of experimental music,
led by the young composer Gustavo Matamoros in order to present other
variations of a poetical movement that continues to renew itself through
the years. This, I believe, is the main reason for presenting Visual
Poetry to the Miami public at the Durban Segnini Gallery, which has generously
opened its doors to such an endeavor. Needless to say, behind all
of this Ruth and Marvin Sackner’s dedication to promote Visual
Poetry is the moving force of inspiration. To all of them my admiration
and gratitude.
Carlos M. Luis
March, 2005
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