Letter from Brion Gysin to Roger Knoebber, 29 November, 1962



Paris, France: Brion Gysin (letter), 1962.
10.5" x 8.25", two pages, single-sided.
No envelope present.
RK19621129_LBG1_1

A letter from Brion Gysin at the Beat Hotel, 9 rue Gît-le-Cœur, Paris, to Roger Knoebber (likely in San Francisco, California).

This reads:

9 rue Git le Coeur
Paris 6
November 29, 1962

Dear Roger,

What a gas! I was wondering where you had gotten to & what you were up to. I’m still doing much of the same as are we all. Last night I gave a new sort of projected & recorded poetry evening at a bookshop & gallery at the Avenue de l’Opera. I was invited by a group of French poets and had a big success in front of a mainly French audience. A unique case in the annals of Paris as far as I know.

The next thing is to get some money out of Philips. They have publicly written Philips-Gysin-Dreamachine-Future-Philips but no cash as usual. I went to Cairo for two weeks in June for them as an “Arab expert” on Sound & Light spectacle for Nasser.

Back to Paris & then down to Venice where I sold my makemono with the drawing a mile long called “From Here to There” Do you remember it? Right now it is on view in the New Acquisitions Show at the Museum of Modern Art in NY.

After Venice I spent 6 weeks near Grasse painting 6 big pictures. Our Irina loaned me a studio here but it lasted just one day. I played I Am That I Am & she flipped.

The Dreamachine has great success. Publicity everywhere & two big beauties are whirling away at an exhibition in the Musée des Arts Decoratifs – a wing of the Louvre no less. Have you got the #2 of Girodias’ Olympia with Ian & me on the cover, two articles & your very own cut-out machine inside?

An exhibition with Iris Clert fell through & so just did one with Gimpel [Fils] in London. I had a show in Feb. in Rome & was down there for it. Sold pictures, too, but the money went straight into more machines. Things are working out goddamed slowly for a man with such a fine horoscope.

Maybe across the street in that Lib. of Congress you can get hold of the recordings that Paul Bowles made in Morocco. Hope the restaurant is not too seedy to be making some loot for its waiter. I wish I could drop in for some spaghettis tonight & hang around until closing time. Had a lousy lunch the other day at the Mediterranée & thought of us there on your credit card. Wow!

It was a real gas to get your letter this morning. Do let’s hear again.

Love, Brion

Notes:

"group of French poets": This group was known as Domaine Poétique, which included people such as François Dufrêne, Robert Filliou, Bernard Heidsieck, and others

"get some money out of Philips": The corporation, which Brion hoped to license the Dreamachine to.

"Sound & Light spectacle for Nasser": Gamal Abdel Nasser, the president of Egypt.

"it is on view in the New Acquisitions Show at the Museum of Modern Art in NY": This is an artwork of 48 joined sheets, each 11.375” x 8.875”. This is still at MoMA (NYC).

"I played I Am That I Am & she flipped": “I Am That I Am” is a permutation poem by Brion Gysin, often performed.

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