[-empyre-] third texts, third bodies, third minds

["geert lovink" <geert@xs4all.nl>]

Hi,

I wonder who's got experience with third texts or third bodies, that people
'create' when they collaborate. Some also call it a third mind (William
Burroughs). When two people collaborate on any given project, a third mind
is formed out of the merged focus of the two minds. Take this googled
example:

http://mcclure-manzarek.com/thirdmind.html

"... William Tyler Smith's The Third Mind, an incisive and engaging
exploration of McClure and Manzarek's collaboration. Smith has struck a deft
balance between the concert film and the documentary in which we can both
enjoy McClure and Manzarek in performance and get to know how they feel
about their collaboration. There are plenty of insights from other Beat era
figures, including the late Allen Ginsberg, who sees their working together
as "ripening of good karma."

Diane Di Prima, quoting William Burroughs, remarks that a good collaboration
results in a "third mind." Lawrence Ferlinghetti describes McClure's poetry
as "a beautiful cry of the beast," and McClure's soaring poems celebrate the
human spirit and express a fervent concern for the preservation of the
environment. Of his widely varied accompaniment, Manzarek says that he
combines "a little collision" -- i.e., occasional counterpoint -- with
"making love to the words." The Third Mind has lots of energy and style,
with its many participants sharp in their commentaries, and it is an
altogether stimulating work. Ferlinghetti salutes McClure's sense of
commitment, observing that "We can no longer afford art for art's sake.""

What I like is the transformative aspect of the these 'third' terms,
creating something something else. Quite different from the drugs
experience. One can only guess the problematic part of such dreamy terms,
but at least they open up spaces of imagination and show pretty exactly what
happens if you passionately create something together.

Geert