Ecstatic Alphabets/Heaps of Language

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La Crevette Amoureuse

Henri Chopin. La Crevette Amoureuse. 1967–73

Henri Chopin (French, 1922–2008). La Crevette Amoureuse. 1967–73. Typescript on paper, page from an unbound manuscript, 8 1/16 x 10" (20.5 x 25.4 cm). Courtesy Supportico Lopez, Berlin and Fondazione Morra, Naples

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Throughout his career, Chopin experimented with typewritten text poems called dactylopoèmes (literally, typewriter poems) and with sound poetry (poésie sonore). Using cutting-edge portable recording equipment to make his sound work, Chopin was fascinated with noises of the body, including breathing, cries, and the almost imper­ceptible rustle of a single hair; at one point he went so far as to swallow a microphone, hoping to pick up the most intimate rumblings of his body’s interior. From 1963 to 1974 the artist published the influential magazine Revue OU, which incorpo­rated innovative typography and sound in the form of 45 r.p.m. records and published an international array of poets and artists, including Bernard Heidsieck, François Dufrêne, Brion Gysin, Robert Filliou, and Emmett Williams, among others.