I am proud to announce a great book of primal asemic writing from Tim Gaze, who founded Asemic Magazine over 20 years ago. The book is titled Glyphs of Uncertain Meaning. It will be the next title to be released by PAP in May of 2021. This book gets right down to the basics and origins of asemic writing; it is a collection of simple black and white designs created by Tim over a period of many years. But the asemic writing is difficult to describe with words so here are a few sample pages and a few blurbs.
Here is from the author's preface:
"There is
an art of writing which starts with letters rather than words, and explores
ways they can be broken down, distorted and recombined. The letters, symbols
and marks I use in my writing are best described as “glyphs”. Between 1998 and
approximately 2008, I created many pages of improvised combinations of glyphs,
some of them familiar and easily recognizable, and some not. A variety of
writing tools were used: pens, pencils, marker pens, Chinese brush with bottled
ink, and atomiser spray bottle with ink. Almost always, they were made on
ordinary white A4 sized office paper.
The
process of reading these glyphs is up to the reader. Regular reading of pages
full of words is like walking on a level path with no obstacles, so that most
readers travel at full steam ahead to get to the end of each page. In this
collection, the idea isn't to read each page quickly and then turn the page.
You are invited to ponder, even to find partial meanings or no meaning at all,
at whatever speed works for you."
— Tim Gaze
"By inviting us to read and ponder these pages, Tim Gaze is opening the box of a game without rules –a game of communication that uses gestural marks he calls glyphs. Deliberate reading and pondering enables one to contemplate some of our most delicate linguistic issues — without being encumbered by words."
— Rosaire Appel, Author of Zinc Zanc Zunc: An Asemic Conjugation
"Tim Gaze’s glyphs present the material remains of gestural improvisation. To ponder them is to look into the heart of raw creativity, the remains of the moment when brush or pen hit paper and moved according to the exigencies of the moment. The “meaning” of these glyphs is, of course, uncertain, but their source is not. Their source is in the same place where we realize possibilities in our own lives, moment by moment. These glyphs seize the moment in delicious ways."
— Jefferson Hansen, Author of 100 Hybrids
"With this thoughtful, humorous, sensitive and fascinating book, Tim Gaze illuminates all the ways writing can be nonverbal, yet powerfully communicative. Single characters, massed textures, even quasi-pictorial elements all make an appearance here. A delightful encounter, indeed."
— Steven Skaggs, University of Louisville, Author of FireSigns
Since the late '90s, Tim Gaze has been active as a poet,
writer, publisher and performer. In particular, he has been very involved in
the field of asemic writing, publishing Asemic magazine and setting up the
first website, www.asemic.net. His books include the graphic novel
100
Scenes, glitch poetry collection
noology and numerous shorter works.
His asemic writing has been exhibited in a number of places. Most recently, he
is completing a degree in linguistics, and preparing an album of sound poetry.
Dance music such as batida by the Principe Discos artists gets him going. The
Adelaide Hills of Australia, among trees, is his home.
