John M. Bennett
Encyclopedia
John M. Bennett is an American experimental text, sound, and visual poet
.
, SUNY Buffalo, The Ohio State University and The Museum of Modern Art.
Bennett has won the attention of critic Richard Kostelanetz
and other commentators on the avant-garde
.
Bennett himself is the curator of the "Avant Writing Collection", "The William S. Burroughs
Collection", and "The Cervantes
Collection" at the Ohio State University
Libraries. More information about Bennett's career, publishing activities and artistic endeavors can be found at his website.
began in the late 1970s.
Bennett has performed solo and worked together with numerous musicians (for instance Jorge Luiz Antonio, Jim Leftwich, Andrew Topel, Scott Helmes, Kommissar Hjuler
und Frau (both members of Boris Lurie
's NO!Art
Movement), Martín Gubbins, Ivan Arguelles, Tom Cassidy
, F. A. Nettelbeck and other poets, often with the collaborative sound poetry group THE BE BLANK CONSORT, which has released a recording titled SOUND MESS. This group was founded as a result of a symposium organized by Richard Kostelanetz
at the Atlantic Center for the Arts
in 1999. The members of THE BE BLANK CONSORT include Scott Helmes, Carlos Luis, and Kathy Ernst, among others.
Visual poetry
Visual poetry is poetry or art in which the visual arrangement of text, images and symbols is important in conveying the intended effect of the work. It is sometimes referred to as concrete poetry, a term that predates visual poetry, and at one time was synonymous with it.Visual poetry was heavily...
.
Writing and publishing
As well as steadily producing and distributing his own work, Bennett, through "Luna Bisonte Prods", a small press founded in 1974, has published thousands of limited edition items by writers who compose visual poetry, word art, and other experimental fiction/art/poetry. Bennett's papers, and published works, as well as the results of his own publishing activities (including 30 years of "Lost & Found Times" magazine), are collected in several major institutions, including Washington University in St. LouisWashington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
, SUNY Buffalo, The Ohio State University and The Museum of Modern Art.
Bennett has won the attention of critic Richard Kostelanetz
Richard Kostelanetz
Richard Kostelanetz is an American artist, author and critic.He was born to Boris Kostelanetz and Ethel Cory and is the nephew of the composer Andre Kostelanetz....
and other commentators on the avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
.
Bennett himself is the curator of the "Avant Writing Collection", "The 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...
Collection", and "The Cervantes
Cervantes
-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...
Collection" at the Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
Libraries. More information about Bennett's career, publishing activities and artistic endeavors can be found at his website.
Performances and sound works
Bennett's collaborations with sound poet/performance artist Rod SummersRod Summers
Rod Summers , born in Dorset, England, is a sound, visual, conceptual artist, performance poet, dramatist, mail artist and book artist, publisher, archivist, and lecturer on intermedia...
began in the late 1970s.
Bennett has performed solo and worked together with numerous musicians (for instance Jorge Luiz Antonio, Jim Leftwich, Andrew Topel, Scott Helmes, Kommissar Hjuler
Kommissar Hjuler
Kommissar Hjuler works as a sound recordist in the field of Noise and Post-industrial music, visual artist and film maker at Flensburg, a town on the German border with Denmark. He often works together with his wife Mama Baer as Kommissar Hjuler und Frau. As self-taught artist he began making...
und Frau (both members of Boris Lurie
Boris Lurie
Boris Lurie was an American artist and writer. He co-founded the NO!Art movement which calls for art leading to social action...
's NO!Art
NO!Art
NO!art is a radical avant-garde anti-art movement started in New York in 1959. Its founders sought to deliver a shock to the complacent consumerist society around them....
Movement), Martín Gubbins, Ivan Arguelles, Tom Cassidy
Tom Cassidy
Tom Cassidy is a retired professional ice hockey centre who briefly played in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins.-Playing career:-External links:...
, F. A. Nettelbeck and other poets, often with the collaborative sound poetry group THE BE BLANK CONSORT, which has released a recording titled SOUND MESS. This group was founded as a result of a symposium organized by Richard Kostelanetz
Richard Kostelanetz
Richard Kostelanetz is an American artist, author and critic.He was born to Boris Kostelanetz and Ethel Cory and is the nephew of the composer Andre Kostelanetz....
at the Atlantic Center for the Arts
Atlantic Center for the Arts
Atlantic Center for the Arts is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary artists’ community and arts education facility dedicated to promoting artistic excellence by providing talented artists an opportunity to work and collaborate with some of the world’s most distinguished contemporary artists in the...
in 1999. The members of THE BE BLANK CONSORT include Scott Helmes, Carlos Luis, and Kathy Ernst, among others.
Recent publications
- THE PEEL (Anabasis,2004)
- rOlling COMBers (Potes & Poets Press)
- CHAC PROSTIBULARIO (with Ivan Arguelles) (Pavement Saw Press, 2001)
- MAILER LEAVES HAM (Pantograph Press, 1999)
- LOOSE WATCH (Invisible Books, 1998)
- GLUE (xPress(ed), 2005)
- INSTRUCTION BOOK (Luna Bisonte Prods, 2006)
- CANTAR DEL HUFF (Luna Bisonte Prods, 2006)
- LA M AL (Blue Lion Books, 2006)
- SOUND DIRT (with Jim Leftwich) (Luna Bisonte Prods, 2006)