Return to Mark/Space
hbk: none
ISBN none
pbk: King's-X Communication Company, (San Francisco, California) US, 1969
First privately-published collection of poetry. Limited edition of 100 copies -- 7 copies lettered A through G (each of which included one of the original collages) and 93 copies numbered 8 through 100.
"Remote Control" by Henry W.Targowski
(title page... reproduction process: rubber stamp),
"Genesis: A Page of Passing Concern" by Henry W.Targowski
(typed text... reproduction process: Xerox-2400),
"Pome 777" by Henry W.Targowski
(text collage... reproduction process: Savin 220),
"Pome ril 1*" by Henry W.Targowski
(text collage... reproduction process: Savin 220),
"Pome Ark 69" by Henry W.Targowski
(text collage... reproduction process: Itek photo-direct),
"Pome Bile 5" by Henry W.Targowski
(text collage... reproduction process: Itek photo-direct),
"Pome 2+2" by Henry W.Targowski
(text collage... reproduction process: SCM Coronastat 55),
"Electric/Nuclear" by Henry W.Targowski
(text collage... reproduction process: Savin 220),
"Nova Sentence Structure" by Henry W.Targowski
(image collage... reproduction process: Vico-Matic),
"Annual Report" by Henry W.Targowski
(image collage... reproduction process: Vico-Matic),
"Remote Control" by Henry W.Targowski
(image collage... reproduction process: photo-offset...
"this poem marked the beginning of a new phase in my visual poetry, and also incorporated a piece of the then-new space-age material 'mylar'." --Henry W.Targowski).
"Ransome note leftovers formed into patterns of info based on 'chance' and 'remote control'.
"Cut-ups with a hidden agenda." [blurb]
"Until 1967 I had been writing poetry in the normal text form of verse. Remote Control marked a transition from text-oriented to visually-oriented verse. I began exploring the idea of iconic associations, a use of images in a poetic context. At the same time I was experimenting with new technologies of replication, namely photocopying processes."The individual pages of this book -- quite ephemeral in the original (words formed with letters cut from newspaper pasted onto brown paper from shopping bags) -- were reproduced on different types of copying machines. These were the early days of modern reproduction and I was both intrigued and curious. Here was a challenge. The originals would perish in a relatively short period of time... newsprint turning yellow, brown and brittle... brown paper disentegrating even quicker. Could new reproduction methods prolong their lifetime? And for how long? I thought it would be fun to find out.
"These processes had no track record. In fact, they were still entirely experimental and uncertain of surviving birth. It seemed appropriate to record them. A temporal study.
"The actual contents page lists the poems together with the machines or processes used to reproduce them. Included were rubber stamp and photo-offset, but the emphasis was on new methods. At the time there were a number of processes being marketed by various companies. For instance, the copying machine at the San Francisco public library used a 'photostat' process ('Vico-Matic')... the copy would come out of the machine as a wet negative image (this necessitated that I lay each copy out separately on a nearby table to dry).
"In a sense, Remote Control has become an ephemeral record of abandoned reproduction technology...as most of these methods/processes have long since disappeared. Now the actual copies made are undergoing degradation (including some very interesting photo-chemical effects). As I don't have the collage originals, or know if they even still exist, these poems will disappear. And the memory is gradually fading..." --Henry W.Targowski.
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