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Brion Gysin

Profile:
Brion Gysin (January 19, 1916 in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, UK - July 13, 1986 in Paris, France) was a writer and painter.He is best known for his rediscovery of Tristan Tzara's cut-up technique while cutting through a newspaper upon which he was trimming some mats. He shared his discovery with his friend William S. Burroughs, who subsequently put the cut-up technique to good use and dramatically changed the landscape of American literature.Educated in England, at Downside College (1932-34), he moved to Paris where he studied at the Sorbonne. Among those he met at this time are renowned members of the Surrealist group, including Max Ernst, Salvador and Gala Dali and Picasso. Gysin’s work was included in the Surrealist Drawings exhibition in Paris in 1935 (Galerie Quatre).He first visited the Algerian Sahara in 1938, a journey that was to have a deep and lasting influence on his life. Equally significant to the form of his later giant landscape paintings were the years he spent in New York working as assistant to Broadway stage designer Irene Sharaff (1940-43). In 1953, having returned to North Africa, Gysin opened the Thousand and One Nights restaurant, where the Master Musicians of Joujouka played an ‘extended residency’.Gysin altered the cut-up technique to produce what he called permutation poems in which a single phrase was repeated several times, with the words rearranged in a different order with each reiteration. Many of these permutations were derived using a random sequence generator in an early computer program written by Ian Sommerville.He also experimented with permutation on recording tape, by splicing together the sounds of a gun firing recorded at different amplitudes in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop thus producing 'Pistol Poem.' The piece was subsequently used as a theme in 1960 for the performance in Paris of Le Domaine Poetique, a showcase for experimental works by people like Gysin, Françoise Dufrêne, Bernard Heidsieck, and Henri Chopin.
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Variations:
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Discography

Releases:
Songs (Album) (3 versions)   hat ART ... 1981
Orgy Boys (12", Album)   hat MUSICS 1982
Kick / Junk (7")   Mosquito (Fr) 1983
Interviews + Readings (Cass, Ltd, C90)   Cold Spring, Cold Spring 1989
Self-Portrait Jumping (CD)   Made To Measure 1993
Recordings 1960-81 (CD, Album)   Perdition Plastics 1995
Poems Of Poems (LP, Ltd)   Alga Marghen 1997
One Night @ The 1001 Vol: 1 (2xCD, Album)   Sub Rosa 1998
The Pool K III (CD, Album)   Alga Marghen 1998
Bruits Du Beaubourg (LP)   Alga Marghen 2001
Live In London 1982 (CD, Album)   Sub Rosa 2007
Recorded Live In France / Untitled (2xCass + Box)   Staalplaat  
Thee Films 1950's ~ 1960's (VHS, NTSC)   Temple Records  
Appears On:
Poème-Partition J / Carrefour De La Chaussée D'Antin (Cass, C90)   Edition S Press 1973
The Way (2xLP) Dreams Hat Hut Records 1980
Life Is A Killer (LP) Junk Giorno Poetry Systems 1982
The Final Academy Documents (2xVHS, PAL + Box)   Ikon 1984
Burroughs - The Movie (VHS, NTSC)   Giorno Poetry Systems 1985
The Way (2xVinyl, Album, RE + Box) Dreams Hat Hut Records 1985
Ecoute... (LP) Ecoute Madrigal, Cryonic Inc. 1986
Momentum (Album) (2 versions) The Song Novus 1987
Futura, Poesia Sonora (5xCD, Album, RE, Comp + Box)   Cramps Records 1989
Towers Open Fire (VHS, NTSC)   Mystic Fire Video 1989
I Told Them My Dreams... (LP, Album) Identic Disc Aural Exciter Records 1991
Presents Ultrahouse - The L.A. Connection (Comp) (2 versions) Luvzya Wax Trax! Records ... 1991
The Worst Of Monte Cazazza (CD) Kick The Habit Man The Grey Area 1992
Souldier (CD, Album)   Strange Ways Records 1994
The Majoon Traveler (CD) Allah Moulana Jilala Sub Rosa 1994
Electric Newspaper Issue Three (CD) Issue Three (Gysin int... Dossier 1995
Sturm Und Twang! - A Private Collection Of German Underground Pop (Comp) (2 versions) Souldier (Exclusive Re... Big Cat UK Records 1995
Right Here Where You Are Sitting Now (7", Ltd)   Povertech Industries 1996
Kraut 2000 - In Search Of A New Planet (2xCD, Comp) Radio Active (Page 62 ... Polymedia Marketing Group GmbH 1997
The Best Of William Burroughs From Giorno Poetry Systems (4xCD + Box) Creepy Letter, Cut-Up ... Mercury 1998
Music For Dreamachine (CD + CD, Enh) Shocs Optical Sound 2000
Last Words: Qui Vivre Verra (CD, Album)   Sans Soleil 2001
Godstar: Thee Director's Cut (2xCD) Brian Jones' Visit To ... Temple Records 2004
Mes Plus Grands Succès (CD) Shazaam maat 2006
The Cat Inside (CD, Album)   Maat 2007
Tracks Appear On:
10+2: 12 American Text Sound Pieces (Comp, Album) (2 versions) Come To Free The Words 1750 Arch Records ... 1975
Poesia Sonora (Comp) (2 versions) I Am CBS ... 1975
Futura: Poesia Sonora (Comp, Album) (2 versions) Pistol Poem, No, Poets... Cramps Records 1978
Poesie Sonore Internationale (2xCass, Comp, C60) Junk Is No Good Baby Éditions Jean-Michel Place 1979
Life Is A Killer (LP) Junk Giorno Poetry Systems 1982
Polyphonix 1 (Première Anthologie Sonore) (2 versions) Poets Stink Multhipla Records ... 1982
Break Through In Grey Room (LP) Recalling All Active A... Sub Rosa 1986
10% File Under Burroughs (2 versions) Cut Up, From Here To Go Sub Rosa ... 1996
Modulations: Cinema For The Ear (3 versions) Recalling All Active A... IMC Vision ... 1998
Lunapark 0,10 (CD, Comp, Dig) Pistol Poem, No Poets,... Sub Rosa 1999
Revue OU (4xCD + Box) I Am, Pistol-Poem, 3 P... Alga Marghen 2002
Revue OU (6xLP, Pic, Ltd + Box) I Am, Pistol-Poem, 3 P... Alga Marghen 2002
Rhythm Science: Excerpts And Allegories From The Sub Rosa Archives (2 versions) One Night @ The 1001, ... Sub Rosa ... 2004
Archive I (CD, Comp) Archive 90% Wasser 2005
Unofficial Releases:
"Origin Of The Species" Volume III The Final Supply Of Two Tablets Of Acid (CD, Comp)   Underground, Inc., Invisible 2002
Can You Pass The Oof Acid Test? (CD, Mixed, Unofficial, Ltd) Wisdom Words Outro The... Not On Label (DJ Oof) 2004
Poem Of Poems (Cass, Ltd)   Chronozon's Area  
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