[-empyre-] Alan Sondheim

[Alan Sondheim]

My current work has been broad-ranging. I talked at Haverford College 
about the 1889 Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania, where 2209 died, and the 
railroad bridge piece I did there a few years ago. But I also talked about 
anthracite mine disasters - I'm from the state - which resulted in tens of 
thousands of deaths, if not more than a hundred thousand, as a result of 
accidents (not including black lung and other issues) - how this happened, 
and why anthracite mining has basically stopped in the area, as the result 
of the Knox Coal Mine disaster in 1959, where the Susquehanna flooded the 
mines and twelve miners died. (The mines are all interconnected under- 
ground.) Azure and I went back to the area before the talk, and revisited 
the Laurel Run mine fire as well, which began in 1915 and is still burning 
underground; we took numerous stills and videos.

I've also been working on a long piece, mainly writing, dealing with the 
idea of failure, inadequacy, and so forth, as fundamental to our condition 
both as human animals and as an ecological-philosophical mainstay. This is 
something I've been thinking about for a long time - the incomplete, the 
ineffable as nothing more than an open set constructed in the aegis of a 
postulated beyond, etc. etc.

The tape Kathy Acker and I together decades ago keeps getting shown, now 
at the London ICA, and I found the second tape we did together which has 
just been remastered. I'm not altogether happy with the attention, but 
it's led to discussion about sexuality and the social, etc., that have 
been interesting to me; some of it's being published by others.

I continue to do music; a new cd, Future Speed Future, just came out from 
Public Eyesore in California - it's based on speed playing (not rock or 
heavy metal etc.) that at this point involves both over-hand and under- 
hand left-hand work. This may sound absurd, but I'm involved in speed as a 
result of having to rethink music for me, from the ground up - how can 
flurries of notes lead to, or break from, structure? I find I'm thinking 
mainly about the guitar in very different ways as a result. A second cd 
will be coming out from ESP, more straightforward improvisation with Henry 
Warwick, and with Azure's songs and singing featured.

Also I've been working on the idea, first published in 2600 a year ago, on 
'splatter semiotics' which stems from my thinking through game- space, 
edgespace, blankspace - this again is based on fast-forward speed, a way 
of running through semiosis where semiosis breaks down as a result of 
information overruns.

Maria Damon and I continue to work on texts which ripple through wild 
thinking, codework, and etymologies.

There are venues coming up in New York and London at the moment, which are 
wonderful; we're playing at Greenwich House as part of Stephen Dydo's 
concerting, this Friday night.

And finally, I continue to battle depression and anxiety, which have 
gripped me ever since we moved to Rhode Island five years ago. We're not 
welcomed in this state, and it makes day-to-day existence difficult. I 
keep going and Azure helps tremendously.

I appreciate this list tremendously; I've participated in it heavily at 
times. At the moment, I'm more or less silent, and the subjects of the 
work I'm doing or dealing with are uncomfortable. Thank you so much for 
empyre!