Notes on writing reading and face to facEBook performance part six

& parts one, two, three, four, five

Bob Cobbing was dismissive when the word 'fun' was used to cajole him into doing a gig. Pre-emptive rejoinders such as "It'll be fun", could guarantee his turning down an invitation to read.

In /new fairy tales/psychopoetic landscapes/old superlatives/ use of word 'beauty' in poetics is examined through Climb A Free Wheeler dictionary of hyperbole. This writers forum chapbook has strapline 'Interrogate the lexicon and sophisticated spin-patter of modern marketing'. Visual barcode one component of cover montage - a completely non-functional poetic that delighted Bob Cobbing when collaborating first Writers Forum colour cover with new kitchen-top printer. (Cobbing's first and last full colour artist's book with our tongue our drils and quadras followed in December, 2001).

At Climb A Free Wheeler performative readings audiences were invited to shout one letter after another from alphabet (at Klinker gigs 'X' and 'Z' were favourites). Superlatives beginning with said letter were shouted back to hearers.

In London performance after Hugh Metcalfe's poetics-avant pub cabaret Klinker - multiple, if heterogeneous, poetry arts bubbles and place venues have sprung up in university rooms; pub-function rooms; free, open public spaces; civic halls and centres; theatres, cinemas; bookshops, galleries, restaurants; commercial, industrial, institutional arts buildings; people's homes; poetry hegemonized places of worship - all proliferate in capital and cities elsewhere.

There are (post)modern examples of poetry and poets selling and being sold with superlatives 'amazing', 'beautiful', 'collectable', 'fun', 'gorgeous', 'genius', 'magical', 'talented', 'witchy'. ('quirky' was added in biro to writer's file copy, a ...Wheeler entered category 'Q', 21/5/03).

Present writer finds himself internalizing and newly re-encoding same words he once deconstructed as hyperbolic superlatives. 'Gorgeous' and 'sparkling' just two new ones. In modernist '50ies 'Mad Men' era of 'hidden persuaders' and through '60ies, '70ies, '80ies, - 20th century hyperbole was decoded for Climb A Free Wheeler in random combination. Intention being to deconstruct overused superlatives through sound. To decode words used and encoded for selling news items, popular fiction, advertising, arts' celebrities and their products.

...Wheeler was published and first performed before poets and artists began using MySpace, before Facebook, before use of vid-embedded blogspot bubbles like this one of present writer, egnep (EGNEP). Before the ltle bk of txt msgs (Michael O'Mara Books, 2000) found online currency @Twitter in Web 2.0's visual web association#.

Facebook Mick takes his social media 'friends' and 'followers' seriously. Michael (socialized 'Mike') Weller even encourages reconstruction of superlatives - subverting his own deconstructions as if they are passé shadow readings beyond decent retrofitting.

'Find funny', 'Funny furious'
(two 'F' category entries in Climb a Free Wheeler, Writers Forum, 2001)

(hand-written back cover statement 'I claim my free Weller!' collaged by Bob Cobbing, June 2001)















Finished notes planned for inclusion in Songs Our Teachers Learn Us, or, Lessons To Be Taught sequence.