ISSUE#3 / "THE WORLD: ACCORDING TO KARL KEMPTON". Editor, karl kempton. Statement and contributor list.

Editor 4, karl kempton

Editorial statement

This selection is a spectrum from around the globe. It juxtaposes visual poetry, minimalist poetry, book art, mail art, word painting, asemic writing, word sculpture, visual text centered collage, visual text centered photography, mathematical poetry and other kindred expressions. It also juxtaposes cultures, particularly works from American experimentalists, with Arabic word painters. 

Among the divisive coinages left over from European hegemony is the term "oriental' for nations east of it. An irony may be found here. “Occidental” alphabets have been reduced to dead material that their visual poets / text artists have to manipulate to resuscitate. Those "oriented" such that their alphabet letters remain alive within their traditions simply maintain this life form, rooted in beauty. 

Although our political leaders set us against each other, perhaps here we can share our poetries and learn new ways of seeing -- see the other in our own selves, see ourselves in others.

I want to thank all participants in this online project for without your work the anthology would not be possible. This anthology blog is a kind of "second volume" of illustrations for my book a history of visual text art (Apple Pie Editions 2018). 

karl kempton

Above: Proposal, by David Arnold; below from THE UNKNOWN MOY MELL OCEANO OCTAVE CODEX OF TWO VOICES: WIND & WATER, by karl kempton

Contributors 

> Tareq Abid <
> Firyal Al-Adhamy <
> Jim Andrews <
> David Arnold <
> Patty Arnold <
> Vittore Barroni <
> Tchello d'Barros <
> John M Bennett <
> Anna Boschi <> Joachim Branco <
> Peter Ciccariello <
> Doris Cross <
> David Cole (collaborations) <
> Betty Danon <
> Klaus Peter Dencker <
> K.S. Ernst <
> William L. Fox <
> Future Farmers <
> Ali Haider <
> Scott Helmes <
> Tasneem F. Inam <
> Jeanete Kohler <
> Marton Koppany <
> Kaz Malanka <
> Hassan Massoudy <
> Dona Mayoora <
> Jose Nogueora <
> Nagai & Topel (collaborations) <
> Hugo Pontes <
> Bern Porter, as essayed by Joel Lipman <
> Ronald Prost <
> Babak Rashvand <
> Samit Ray <
> Aram Chaled Res <
> Marilyn R. Rosenberg <
> Amarilys Quintero Ruiz <
> Salah Shaheen <
> Carol Stetser <
> Andrew Topel <
> Ibrahim Abu Touq <
> Kathup Tsering <
> Nico Vassilakis <
> Dante Velloni <
> Dawn Waldrope <
> Helen White <
> Karl Young <
> Paul Zelevansky <
> Lynn Zinyaw <