WEISSER, STEFAN - Wordworks (1975-1982)

The Milan based imprint Blume present an incredible seven cassette box set comprised of archival recordings made by Stefan Weisser (ZEV) during one his most fruitful periods, stretching between the mid-1970s to the early 80s. A marvel in sonic creativity, these works offer a long overdue insight into the foundations of late 20th century sound-art, poetics, punk, industrial music, and noise. Wordworks is the first survey of Weissers output from the 70s and early 80s to appear on an analog format. The set begins with Book Of Love Being Written As They Touched" (1975), an hour-long work recorded in 1975 for eight female voices, built from the 40,320 spoken permutations of its title. A definitive work of conceptual art, it premiered as part of the Second Generation Show at the Museum of Conceptual Art in San Francisco. Recorded two months later, the second cassette presents "Dark Pastimes Duet" (1975), a recording made with Roberta Friedman on tape accompaniment, at University Of California, Santa Barbara. Brilliant on every count, it is a reimagining of the decaying potentials of conversation, at a moment witnessing the utopian ideals of modernism coming to an end. The third work "Instill" (1976), is an effort for four voices and tape replay, and encounters this sense of loss further progressed. Its contributors utterances are reduced to inaudible mumbling, whispers, and hiss, pushing toward abstraction and slippery rhythmic pulse. "So Called" and "As Is As", both from 1976, push these tactile themes even further, while "Spatial Poetics", a live mix for taped voices presented at The First West Coast International Festival of Sound Poetry in San Francisco during 1977, increasingly reveals direct intervention and the folding of environmental sound. "Oomoonoon: Dancing On The Brink Of The Word" (1978) started its life as a three-hour tape installation. It begins with three three-minute loops of three voices -- their ambience recorded, looped, and then replaced every 45 minutes, collectively rising to a total progressive accumulation of nine, to 15, to 27, and then 51 voices. Profoundly ambitious in assembly and content, the set present some of the 20th centurys most radical heights in sound poetry and art. A crucial look at a largely unrecognized body of work, offering Stefan Weisser/ZEV the attention, appraisal, and place in history he has always deserved. All seven tapes come in wooden box; Includes several zines and a poster; Edition of 80 (no repress)." - Blume.