Son[i]a #250
Kenneth Goldsmith
Kenneth Goldsmith is a multidisciplinary author, artist, editor, poet and all round agent provocateur. He once claimed to have appropriated and conveniently reshaped Douglas Huebler’s infamous line: ‘The world is full of objects, more or less interesting; I do not wish to add any more.’ Goldsmith’s version, ‘The world is full of texts, more or less interesting; I do not wish to add any more’, seems to be only half true, though.
Both his writing and his archival practice as the founder of UbuWeb, draw heavily on collage, appropriation and the power of the copy as the ultimate creative gesture. But this has, contrary to the claim, yielded a vast opus of critically acclaimed texts, novels, essays and experimental literary objects built through accumulation and sedimentation.
In this conversation, Kenneth discusses some of his own phases as an artist, and establishes a rather unexpected connection between early 20th century avant-garde movements and the digital age. Despite the time gap between the two, Goldsmith traces an invisible line that invites us to view modernism under a different light, not so much as a failed revolution, but as a slow process of sedimentation, whose droplets sank and filtered throughout decades, only to resurface now in the wild stream of our own digital culture.
SON[I]A talks to Kenneth Goldsmith about challenging and unchallenging literature, the DNA of the internet and what he calls his “third act”.
Deleted scenes
We dig up some unreleased fragments of our conversation with artist Andrea Francke. We take Andrea’s life experience as a springboard to talk about diversity and difference, while problematising soft, hard, and universalising theories. We also consider possible spaces for learning based on curiosity, care, and vulnerability. Changing the subject, we naturally took the opportunity to delve into The Piracy Project, in collaboration with Eva Weinmayr—and while we were at it, to defend copying and appropriationism as a political and creative space.
Kenneth Goldsmith. Part II
A hyperconcentrated collection of bumpers and crazy rants from Kenneth Goldsmith's (aka Kenny G) legendary WFMU radio show, guaranteed to make you turn down the volume and run out of the house.
Kenneth Goldsmith. Teaser
As a teaser for his lecture, Kenneth Goldsmith compiles fifteen gems from his very own sound collection.
The Beauty in Breathing
The mix presented here investigates the artistic use of breath.
Rick Prelinger
Interview with Rick Prelinger, an archivist, writer, filmmaker, outsider librarian and founder of the Prelinger Archives.
Kenneth Goldsmith
Interview with Kenneth Goldsmith, founder and main editor of Ubuweb, the Internet's largest archive of artistic avant-garde material.