Imagine a poem created by randomly rearranging lines from a newspaper article. This is the essence of the cut-up technique, a method that has challenged conventional writing for decades. Originating with the Dadaists in the 1920s, who sought to reject logic and reason in the wake of World War I, the technique embodies their embrace of chance and absurdity. William S. Burroughs, along with artist Brion Gysin, further developed the technique, believing it could reveal hidden connections and premonitions within language. They would cut up texts, rearrange the fragments, and then read the resulting new text, looking for unexpected meanings.
The cut-up technique has found a home in various artistic fields, particularly music. The satirical comedy group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for example, derived their name from a cut-up experiment. David Bowie, inspired by Burroughs, incorporated cut-ups into his songwriting process, even developing a program to automate the process. Similarly, Thom Yorke of Radiohead used a similar method for the Kid A album, drawing randomly selected lines from a hat during rehearsals.
Stephen Mallinder of Cabaret Voltaire, Al Jourgensen of Ministry, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop and Kurt Cobain have also cited Burroughs and Gysin as influences on their experimental approach to sound. Many Elephant 6 Recording Company bands also used the technique, as seen in Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Pree-Sisters Swallowing A Donkey’s Eye.”
While seemingly random, the cut-up technique offers a powerful tool for artistic exploration. By disrupting conventional narratives, it allows artists to break free from established patterns and discover new meanings within language and sound.
Read more about William S. Burroughs and the cut-up technique here.
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