Giorno Poetry Systems
Encyclopedia
Founded in 1965, Giorno Poetry Systems was an American
artist collective, record label
, and non-profit organisation founded by poet and performance artist John Giorno
with the direct aim to connect poetry and related art forms to a larger audience using innovative ideas, such as communication technology, audiovisual materials and techniques.
-born poet John Giorno became acquainted with artists who were at the threshold of their successful careers, most notably Andy Warhol
, Roy Lichtenstein
, Merce Cunningham
and John Cage
. Warhol would have an important impact on Giorno, as the latter became the protagonist of Warhol's film Sleep
(1963), which depicts Giorno sleeping for five hours, and the unreleased Handjob, following Giorno's face while masturbating.
Giorno believed that, at this level, poetry was running behind. Evidently, these artists in music and painting etc., would act whenever an idea arose in their minds, while the availability and progression of poetry was limited to books and magazines, let alone multimedia or performance.
Analogue to then active Pop-Art ideas, Giorno wanted to change poetry's situation by communicating to his audiences through everyday means such as telephone, television, records and so on. After all, phonographs and radio were a perfect terrain for people to listen, as Giorno called it poetry’s venue. Furthermore, these ways would offer Giorno's ideas a wide open space to explore, to reach a broad audience not limited anymore to that of the poetry magazines.
From 1965 on, Giorno would explore tape and phonograph recording, along with colleagues William S. Burroughs
and Brion Gysin
, using a variety of tape experiments such as loops
and cut techniques
Giorno was introduced to Bob Moog, who was working on his Moog synthesizer, on the verge of its fame.
The GPS label released albums regularly until the late 1980s. Many of these albums included early recordings by later-prominent performers such as Laurie Anderson
and Philip Glass
as well as unique performances by Frank Zappa
, Diamanda Galás
, Allen Ginsberg
, John Cage
, and Brion Gysin
, as well as Giorno and Burroughs. In the 1990s, Giorno Poetry Systems released a box set collecting its recordings of William S. Burroughs.
, which would create appeal as well as shock from the reactive community.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist collective, record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, and non-profit organisation founded by poet and performance artist John Giorno
John Giorno
John Giorno is an American poet and performance artist. He founded the not-for-profit production company Giorno Poetry Systems and organized a number of early multimedia poetry experiments and events, including Dial-A-Poem. He became prominent as the subject of Andy Warhol's film Sleep...
with the direct aim to connect poetry and related art forms to a larger audience using innovative ideas, such as communication technology, audiovisual materials and techniques.
History
In the early 1960s, young New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
-born poet John Giorno became acquainted with artists who were at the threshold of their successful careers, most notably Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement...
, Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham
Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
and John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
. Warhol would have an important impact on Giorno, as the latter became the protagonist of Warhol's film Sleep
Sleep (film)
Sleep is a film by Andy Warhol which consists of long take footage of John Giorno, his close friend at the time, sleeping for five hours and 20 minutes. The film was one of Warhol's first experiments with filmmaking, and was created as an "anti-film". Warhol would later extend this technique to...
(1963), which depicts Giorno sleeping for five hours, and the unreleased Handjob, following Giorno's face while masturbating.
Giorno believed that, at this level, poetry was running behind. Evidently, these artists in music and painting etc., would act whenever an idea arose in their minds, while the availability and progression of poetry was limited to books and magazines, let alone multimedia or performance.
Analogue to then active Pop-Art ideas, Giorno wanted to change poetry's situation by communicating to his audiences through everyday means such as telephone, television, records and so on. After all, phonographs and radio were a perfect terrain for people to listen, as Giorno called it poetry’s venue. Furthermore, these ways would offer Giorno's ideas a wide open space to explore, to reach a broad audience not limited anymore to that of the poetry magazines.
From 1965 on, Giorno would explore tape and phonograph recording, along with colleagues William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
and Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique, used by his friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs...
, using a variety of tape experiments such as loops
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
and cut techniques
Cut-up technique
The cut-up technique is an aleatory literary technique in which a text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. Most commonly, cut-ups are used to offer a non-linear alternative to traditional reading and writing....
Giorno was introduced to Bob Moog, who was working on his Moog synthesizer, on the verge of its fame.
The GPS label released albums regularly until the late 1980s. Many of these albums included early recordings by later-prominent performers such as Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
and Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
as well as unique performances by Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Diamanda Galás
Diamanda Galás
Diamanda Galás is an American avant-garde composer, vocalist, pianist, organist, performance artist and painter.Galás has been described as "capable of the most unnerving vocal terror", with her three and a half octave vocal range. She often screams, hisses and growls...
, Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, and Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique, used by his friend, the novelist William S. Burroughs...
, as well as Giorno and Burroughs. In the 1990s, Giorno Poetry Systems released a box set collecting its recordings of William S. Burroughs.
Dial-A-Poem
After having a conversation on the phone with Burroughs in 1968, Giorno initiated the Dial-A-Poem Poets concept, which he claimed would later influence the creation of information services creation over the telephone, such as sports and stock market. Fifteen phone lines were connected with individual answering machines: people would call GPS and listen to a poem they were offered from fragments of various live recordings. Dial-A-Poem, from 1969 on, was very successful, with 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. peaks. GPS used a variety of social issues at the time, what with the sexual revolution and the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, which would create appeal as well as shock from the reactive community.
Albums
- The Dial-A-Poem Poets, GPS 001-002, 1972
- Disconnected, GPS 003-004, 1974
- Biting Off The Tongue Of A Corpse, GPS 005, 1975
- William S. BurroughsWilliam S. BurroughsWilliam Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
/John GiornoJohn GiornoJohn Giorno is an American poet and performance artist. He founded the not-for-profit production company Giorno Poetry Systems and organized a number of early multimedia poetry experiments and events, including Dial-A-Poem. He became prominent as the subject of Andy Warhol's film Sleep...
, GPS 006-007, 1975 - The Dial-A-Poem Poets: Totally Corrupt, GPS 008-009, 1976
- John Giorno & Anne WaldmanAnne WaldmanAnne Waldman is an American poet.Since the 1960s, Waldman has been an active member of the “Outrider” experimental poetry community as a writer, performer, collaborator, professor, editor, scholar, and cultural/political activist....
: a KulchurSelection, GPS 010-011, 1977 - Big Ego, GPS 012-013, 1978
- The Nova Convention, GPS 014-015, 1979, with a once-only Frank ZappaFrank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
performance - The Dial-A-Poem Poets: Sugar, Alcohol & Meat, GPS 016-017, 1980
- John Giorno, William S. Burroughs, Laurie AndersonLaurie AndersonLaura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
: You’re The Guy I Want To Share My Money With (with multigrooved track), GPS020-021, 022-023, 042, 1981 - Polyphonix 1, GPS 024, 1981
- John Giorno & Glenn BrancaGlenn BrancaGlenn Branca is an American avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series. In 2008 he was awarded an unrestricted grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.-Beginnings: 1960s and early 1970s:Branca...
: Who You Staring At?, GPS 025, 1982 - The Dial-A-Poem Poets: Life is a Killer, GPS 027, 1982
- One World Poetry, GPS 028-029
- Lenny Kaye ConnectionLenny KayeLenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group.- Early life :...
: I've Got A Right, GPS 032, 1984 - The Dial-A-Poem Poets: Better An Old Demon Than A New God, GPS 033, 1984
- Smack My CrackSmack My CrackSmack My Crack is a compilation of various artists including Tom Waits, Nick Cave, William S. Burroughs and The Butthole Surfers. Released by Giorno Poetry Systems in 1987...
, GPS 038, 1987 - Like A Girl, I Want You To Keep Coming, GPS 040, 1989
Compilations
- You're a Hook: the 15-year Anniversy of Dial-A-Poem (1968-1983), GPS 030, 1984
- A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a CorpseA Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a CorpseA Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse is a 1985 compilation released on the Giorno Poetry Systems label.-Track listing:...
, GPS 035, 1985 - Cash Cow: The Best Of Giorno Poetry Systems, GPS 044, 1993
- Selections from The Best Of William Burroughs, 1998
- The Best of William S. Burroughs from Giorno Poetry Systems, 1998
- Smack My CrackSmack My CrackSmack My Crack is a compilation of various artists including Tom Waits, Nick Cave, William S. Burroughs and The Butthole Surfers. Released by Giorno Poetry Systems in 1987...
, 1987
Video Materials
- Giorno Video Pak 1, GVP 1/GPS 031, with Lenny KayeLenny KayeLenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group.- Early life :...
, William S. Burroughs and John Giorno. - Burroughs, GVP 2/GPS 034, directed by Howard BrooknerHoward BrooknerHoward Brookner was an American film director. He produced and directed the documentary Burroughs about William S. Burroughs , and directed, co-produced and co-wrote Bloodhounds of Broadway ....
- Poetry in MotionPoetry in Motion (film)Poetry in Motion is a 1982 documentary directed by Ron Mann featuring contemporary North American poetry and music. Featured are some of the Black Mountain poets, Beats, minimalist poets, and avante-garde poets.-Featured artists:*Helen Adam...
, GPS 036, a film by Ron MannRon MannRonald "Ron" Mann is a Canadian documentary film director focusing primarily on aspects of Canadian and American popular culture. He does most of his work through his company Sphinx Productions, while also running a film distribution company on the side called 'FilmsWeLike'. Mann has also put... - It's Clean, It Just Looks Dirty, GVP 3/GPS 037
- Gang of Souls, GVP 4/GPS 039
- Old Habits Die Hard, GVP 5/GPS 041
External links
- Giorno Poetry Systems at UbuWeb.com - 12 albums available for download in MP3 format.