Reveiling the Tradition

What’s it take to get people motivated for change? William S. Burroughs once mentioned that he was working on creating a mythology for the space-age.  His works were allegorical tales to help guide intreprid travellers into the new age of inner & outer space.

So what about today? Who will be the tale bearers for our struggle to maintain a viable ecology, sustainable social structures and more intelligent and ethical business models? Burroughs and his visions of Nova are wonderful for tearing down old infrastructures, but a time comes when we’ve got to start building again.

Now is a time to rediscover what we’ve left behind, to reintroduce ourselves to the truths that remain unchanging and to drop the pretense of innovation and realize the words of the Kohelet:

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

– Ecclesiastes 1:9

“If you don’t have the Master’s presence within,
You will not attain acceptance in God’s court,
Useless is all prayer, futile is all chanting.
You can fast, you can pray the whole night through,
To supplement your daily prayer;
You can also perform numerous acts of charity;
But if your heart is not purified, You will not feel God’s presence within.
If you have not died before your death,
chanting in group prayers will avail you nothing.”

– Kalam Hazrat Sultan Bahu

 

Ambassadors

Reclaim Lost Days

Stuck on a bad office trip? Didn’t expect it would be such a trap when you took that job out of college did ya?

“Oh, I have no time anymore…I used to…but now….”

Well, there’s always a few spare moments while you’re diddling your life away with a plastic smile.

For those who aren’t yet broken by the world’s whip here’s a place to share the creations you squeeze into the margins of your work’a’day world.

Reclaim Lost Days –

Tumblr: http://reclaimlostdays.tumblr.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ReclaimLostDays

the industry doesn’t want people to know about their techniques (Television Cut-Ups – Z.O.)

awards for manipulating children for profit
police are determining how much was filmed
and how long the camera was in place
seized a hidden unit; obtained the computer
immediate relief that lasts
30 minutes

the signal fades into static
A Gateway to the Sun

domestic transform
revolution
at home professional
pay up
contours shade away
no mess

“come in!”

I should but I’m too lazy

Zac Odinn, 2010

Instructions (Television Cut-Ups – Z.O.)

tastes, trends, likes, dislikes
what each of you has to say
selling themselves to the corporate world
more richly and deeply
analyze the tapes for clues and triggers

“come here!”
This is valuable information for corporations
for targeting
appropriate language
call now!
Purchase decisions
boost sales in almost every category
billions of dollars for corporate Amerika
fuelling the carnival
doubling
the US alone

we don’t really like it
choices based on what her kids have heard about
couldn’t find file path
oh hell
we’ll do that a lot

Zac Odinn, 2010

Save Big (Television Cut-Ups – Z.O.)

the room at the top of the stairs
ghosts cobwebs
blue emptiness ever strong
my dry eyes
I’m desparate
moisture

go to the sales clerk
its no longer only about you
red brick shudders
“have we got a car!”
Unleashed a better understanding
could be summer camps
at the park
shopping
exhibit unnatural behaviour

“well come on in!”
pioneering work, General Mills
is it something that you do
just out of habit?
What door?
Why is it that you eat the same cereal everyday?
Do you ever sneak things?
We will not turn on them in any way
the reasons why they feel that way
everything similar
why do you want to fit in?

I’m kind of shy
personal relevance
why a product fine tunes a message
shopping
what kind of burger?
dissecting
unprecedented obtrusiveness
a school setting
school bells wring

Zac Odinn, 2010

This program is called ‘Look at Me’ (Television Cut-Ups – Z.O.)

everything is fast forwarding
accelerating and building on that
1977
explosive advance
light years
go before
phenomenon
gamble that merchandise
paid off
earning double
and your children

create a property
the power by the 1980s
created television shows
sunny all the way
and they worked
willing to indulge
trading things for our time
convenience crazed

a riot
a craze of 1984
cut out pieces
working moms
penthouse gloss
escalation sun ascension
the moment had arrived
time to send out the spies
scrutinize every nook and cranny
non verbal signals
outside on the back deck
Mary Waits in Silence

you have to make up for lost time
along the driveway
slash comfort
Light
The Temple of the 13th Tribe
– Zac Odinn,  2010

Television Cut-Ups by Zac Odinn

We’re constantly assaulted by information. Folks like Tristan Tzara, Brion Gysin, William S. Burroughs, Kathy Acker, and other creatives, have worked with cut-ups as a way to break into the patterns of information that emerge when the conscious sequence of data is distorted.

The poet Zac Odinn has taken this approach with auditory information, creating texts from overheard phrases and words. Realize that this process is not some trick of technique, but a method of exploration that allows you to discover hidden currents within the stream of info-noise that surrounds us.

The Television Cut-Ups:

1. This program is called ‘Look at Me’

2. Save Big

3. Instructions

4. The Industry Doesn’t Want People to Know About Their Techniques

Go For It

An Unsuccessful Week