Poetry
An Imperfect Mesostic for Jackson Mac Low
Jackson Mac Low died in December, a central figure in the international art community. He worked tirelessly inventing new forms and procedures and invited others to do likewise, invigorating our culture for his whole long life.
Contributor
Alison KnowlesAlison Knowles is one of the original members of Fluxus. She has worked continually since then as a visual artist, doing sound works for radio, performances and installations. She has authored a number of books and articles. As poet and writer, she continues to expand the spirit of Fluxus in her recent work.
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Jackson Mac Low Lines‑Letters‑Words
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While the beginning of the First World War is perhaps the most politically significant event associated with the year 1914, an intriguing and rather unconventional book of poems called Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein began making a lot of noise around the same time.
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Frederick Douglass, John Brown, and the Virtues of Impracticality
By NOEL IGNATIEVDEC 19-JAN 20 | Field Notes
In a lengthy review in the New Yorker of David W. Blight’s recent book, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom,1 Adam Gopnik calls Douglass “the progenitor of the ‘pragmatic-progressive’ strain in American thought that led to Martin Luther King and Barack Obama.”2 Douglass is an attractive figure, and it is easy to understand why he fills the need of American mainstream thought for a Black political hero now that George Washington Carver (the one Black figure in the textbooks when I went to grade school) no longer serves. But the notion of “pragmatic progressive” suggests an alternative tradition, which we might call “impractical revolutionary.” Nat Turner, John Brown, and Malcolm X come to mind as exemplars.
