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Lettrism is a French
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
movement, established in Paris in the mid-1940s by
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n immigrant
Isidore Isou Isidore Isou (; 29 January 1925 – 28 July 2007), born Isidor Goldstein, was a Romanian-born French poet, dramaturge, novelist, film director, economist, and visual artist who lived in the 20th century. He was the founder of Lettrism, an art ...
. In a body of work totaling hundreds of volumes, Isou and the Lettrists have applied their theories to all areas of art and culture, most notably in poetry, film, painting and political theory. The movement has its theoretical roots in
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...
and
Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
. Isou viewed his fellow countryman
Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...
as the greatest creator and rightful leader of the Dada movement, and dismissed most of the others as plagiarists and falsifiers. Among the Surrealists,
André Breton André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first '' Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...
was a significant influence, but Isou was dissatisfied by what he saw as the stagnation and theoretical bankruptcy of the movement as it stood in the 1940s. In French, the movement is called ''Lettrisme'', from the French word for ''letter'', arising from the fact that many of their early works centred on letters and other visual or spoken symbols. The ''Lettristes'' themselves prefer the spelling 'Letterism' for the Anglicised term, and this is the form that is used on those rare occasions when they produce or supervise English translations of their writings: however, 'Lettrism' is at least as common in English usage. The term, having been the original name that was first given to the group, has lingered as a blanket term to cover all of their activities, even as many of these have moved away from any connection to letters. But other names have also been introduced, either for the group as a whole or for its activities in specific domains, such as 'the Isouian movement', 'youth uprising', '
hypergraphics Hypergraphy, also called hypergraphics or metagraphics, is an experimental form of visual communication developed by the Lettrist movement. Hypergraphy abandons the phonetic values communicated by most conventional written languages in favor of ...
', 'creatics', 'infinitesimal art' and 'excoördism'.


History

1925. Isidore Goldstein is born at
Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the na ...
,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, on January 31, to an
Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
Jewish family. During the early 1950s, Goldstein would be signing himself 'Jean-Isidore Isou'; otherwise, it has always been '
Isidore Isou Isidore Isou (; 29 January 1925 – 28 July 2007), born Isidor Goldstein, was a Romanian-born French poet, dramaturge, novelist, film director, economist, and visual artist who lived in the 20th century. He was the founder of Lettrism, an art ...
'. 'Isou' is standardly taken to be a pseudonym, but Isou/Goldstein himself resists this interpretation.
My name is Isou. My mother called me Isou, only it's written differently in Romanian. And Goldstein: I'm not ashamed of my name. At Gallimard, I was known as Isidore Isou Goldstein. Isou, it's my name! Only in Romanian it's written Izu, but in French it's Isou.


1940s

*1942–1944. Isou develops the principles of Lettrism, and begins writing the books that he would subsequently publish after his relocation to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
. *1945. Aged twenty, Isou arrives in Paris on August 23 after six weeks of clandestine travel. In November, he founds the Letterist movement with Gabriel Pomerand. *1946. Isou and Pomerand disrupt a performance of Tzara's ''La Fuite'' at the Vieux-Colombier. Publication of ''La Dictature Lettriste: cahiers d'un nouveau régime artistique'' (''The Letterist Dictatorship: notebooks of a new artistic regime''). Although announced as the first in a series, only one such notebook would appear. A subtitle proudly boasts of Letterism that it is 'the only contemporary movement of the artistic avant-garde'. *1947. Isou's first two books are published by Gallimard: ''Introduction à une nouvelle poésie et à une nouvelle musique'' (''Introduction to a New Poetry and a New Music'') and ''L'Agrégation d'un nom et d'un messie'' (''Aggregation of a Name and a Messiah''). The former sets out Isou's theory of the 'amplic' and 'chiselling' phases, and, within this framework, presents his views on both the past history and the future direction of poetry and music. The latter is more biographical, discussing the genesis of Isou's ideas, as well as exploring
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
. Isou and Pomerand are joined by François Dufrêne. *1949. Isou publishes ''Isou, ou la mécanique des femmes'' (''Isou, or the mechanics of women''), the first of several works of erotology, wherein he claims to have bedded 375 women in the preceding four years, and offers to explain how (p. 9). The book is banned and Isou is briefly imprisoned. Also published, the first of several works on political theory, Isou's ''Traité d'économie nucléaire: Le soulèvement de la jeunesse'' (''Treatise of Nuclear Economics: Youth Uprising'').


1950s

*1950. Maurice Lemaître, Jean-Louis Brau, Gil J. Wolman and Serge Berna join the group. Isou publishes first metagraphic novel, ''Les journaux des dieux'' (''The Gods' Diaries''), followed soon afterwards by Pomerand's ''Saint Ghetto des Prêts'' (''Saint Ghetto of the Loans'') and Lemaître's ''Canailles'' (''Scoundrels''). Also, the first manifestos of Letterist painting. Some of the younger Letterists invade Nôtre Dame cathedral at Easter mass, aired live on national TV, to announce to the congregation that God is dead. In a Letterist FAQ published in the first issue of Lemaître's journal, ''Ur'', CP-Matricon explains: 'The letterists do not create scandals: they break the conspiracy of silence set up by pusillanimous show-offs (journalists) and smash the faces of those who don't please them.' (p. 8). *1951. Isou completes his first film, '' Traité de bave et d'éternité'' (''Treatise on Slime and Eternity''), which will soon be followed by Lemaître's ''Le film est déjà commencé?'' (''Has the film already started?''), Wolman's ''L'Anticoncept'' (''The Anticoncept''), Dufrêne's ''Tambours du jugement premier'' (''Drums of the First Judgment'') and
Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situation ...
's '' Hurlements en faveur de Sade'' (''Howls for de Sade''). Debord joins the group in April when they travel down to
Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...
(where he was then living) to show ''Traité de bave et d'éternité'' at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
. Under the auspices of
Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...
, a prize for 'best avant-garde' is specially created and awarded to Isou's film. *1952. Publication of the first (and only) issue of ''Ion'', devoted to Letterist film. This is significant for including Debord's first appearance in print, alongside work from Wolman and Berna who, following an intervention at a
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...
press conference at the Hotel Ritz in October, would join him in splitting from Isou's group to form the Letterist International. *1953. Isou moves into photography with ''Amos, ou Introduction à la métagraphologie'' (''Amos, or Introduction to Metagraphology''), theatre with ''Fondements pour la transformation intégrale du théâtre'' (''The Foundations of the Integrated Transformation of the Theatre''), painting with ''Les nombres'' (''The Numbers''), and dance with ''Manifeste pour une danse ciselante'' (''Manifesto for Chiselling Dance''). *1955. Dufrêne develops his first ''Crirhythmes''. *1956. Isou introduces the concept of infinitesimal art in ''Introduction à une esthétique imaginaire'' (''Introduction to Imaginary Aesthetics''). *1958.
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...
release the first audio recordings of Letterist poetry, ''Maurice Lemaître presente le lettrisme''.


1960s

*1960. Isou introduces the concept of supertemporal art in ''L'Art supertemporel''.
Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest c ...
publishes a critique of Letterism,
Originality and Magnitude (on the system of Isou)
' in issue 4 of ''Internationale Situationniste''. Isou replies at length in ''L'Internationale Situationniste, un degré plus bas que le jarrivisme et l'englobant''. This is only the first of many works that Isou will write against Debord (his former protégé) and the
Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...
, which Isou regards as a neo-Nazi organisation. However, as Andrew Hussey reports, his attitude does eventually mellow: 'Now Isou forgave them and he saw (it was crucial, Isou said, that I should understand this!) that they were all on the same side after all.' *In the sixties, several new members join group, including Jacques Spacagna (1961), Aude Jessemin (1962), Roberto Altmann (1962), Roland Sabatier (1963), Alain Satié (1964), Micheline Hachette (1964), Francois Poyet (1966), Jean-Paul Curtay (1967), Anton Perich (1967), Gérard-Philippe Broutin (1968). *1964. Definitive split with Dufrêne and the Ultraletterists, as well as with Wolman who, despite his participation from 1952 to 1957 with the Letterist International (who were forbidden by internal statute from any involvement in Isouian activities), had retained links with Isou's group. Dufrêne and Wolman with Brau form the Second Letterist International (''Deuxième internationale lettriste''). *1967. Lemaître stands for election to the local Parisian legislature, representing the 'Union of Youth and Externity'. He loses. *1968. First work on architecture, Isou's ''Manifeste pour le bouleversement de l'architecture'' (''Manifesto for the Overhaul of Architecture'').


1970s and 1980s

General continuation of existing currents, together with new research into psychiatry, mathematics, physics, and chemistry. *1972
Mike Rose (painter) Mike Rose (born November 22, 1932 as Klaus Viktor Gottfried Rose in Grünenplan near Delligsen, Lower Saxony, died August 16, 2006 in Bamberg, Bavaria) was a German painter, set designer and writer. His work covers various artistic areas such as ...
, a German painter, set designer, and writer made acquaintance with the Lettrists and became part of them. He participated in their exhibitions until the 1980s. Other members to join the lettrism during the seventies : Woody Roehmer, Anne-Catherine Caron, and during the eighties : Frédérique Devaux, Michel Amarger ...


1990s

Development of excoordism. Uncomfortable with the direction the group is going in, Lemaître—Isou's right-hand man for nearly half a century—begins to distance himself from it. He still continues to pursue traditional Letterist techniques, but now in relative isolation from the main group.


2000s

* 2007 Isou dies an
The End of the Age of Divinity
is published by an anonymous
Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...
member, which claims Isou was the real Mashiach (Messiah).


Key concepts


The Amplic (''amplique'') and the Chiselling (''ciselante'') phases

Isou first invented these phases through an examination of the history of poetry, but the conceptual apparatus he developed could very easily be applied to most other branches of art and culture. In poetry, he felt that the first amplic phase had been initiated by
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
. In effect, Homer set out a blueprint for what a poem ought to be like. Subsequent poets then developed this blueprint, investigating by means of their work all of the different things that could be done within the Homeric parameters. Eventually, however, everything that ''could be'' done within that approach ''had been'' done. In poetry, Isou felt that this point was reached with
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
(and in painting with
Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...
, in music with
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
.). When amplic poetry had been completed, there was simply nothing to be gained by continuing to produce works constructed according to the old model. There would no longer be any genuine creativity or innovation involved, and hence no aesthetic value. This then inaugurated a chiselling phase in the art. Whereas the form had formerly been used as a tool to express things outside its own domain—events, feelings, etc.--it would then turn in on itself and become, perhaps only implicitly, its own subject matter. From
Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fr ...
to
Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...
(as, in painting, from
Manet A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...
to
Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj;  – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...
; or, in music, from
Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...
to Luigi Russolo), subsequent poets would deconstruct the grand edifice of poetry that had been developed over the centuries according to the Homeric model. Finally, when this process of deconstruction had been completed, it would then be time for a new amplic phase to commence. Isou saw himself as the man to show the way. He would take the rubble that remained after the old forms had been shattered, and lay out a new blueprint for reutilising these most basic elements in a radically new way, utterly unlike the poetry of the preceding amplic phase. Isou identified the most basic elements of poetic creation as ''letters''—i.e. uninterpreted visual symbols and acoustic sounds—and he set out the parameters for new ways of recombining these ingredients in the name of new aesthetic goals.


The ''Lettrie''

Isou's idea for the poem of the future was that it should be purely formal, devoid of all semantic content. The Letterist poem, or ''lettrie'', in many ways resembles what certain Italian Futurists (such as
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye d ...
), Russian Futurists (such as Velemir Chlebnikov, Iliazd, or Alexej Kručenych—cf. Zaum), and
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...
poets (such as
Raoul Hausmann Raoul Hausmann (July 12, 1886 – February 1, 1971) was an Austrian artist and writer. One of the key figures in Berlin Dada, his experimental photographic collages, sound poetry, and institutional critiques would have a profound influence on ...
or
Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, paint ...
) had already been doing, and what subsequent
sound poets In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
and concrete poets (such as Bob Cobbing, Eduard Ovčáček or
Henri Chopin Henri Chopin (18 June 1922 – 3 January 2008) was a French avant-garde poet and musician. Life Henri Chopin was born in Paris, 18 June 1922, one of three brothers, and the son of an accountant. Both his siblings died during the war. One was sh ...
) would later be doing. However, the Letterists were always keen to insist on their own radical originality and to distinguish their work from other ostensibly similar currents.


Metagraphics/Hypergraphics

On the visual side, the Letterists first gave the name ' metagraphics' (''metagraphie'') and then '
hypergraphics Hypergraphy, also called hypergraphics or metagraphics, is an experimental form of visual communication developed by the Lettrist movement. Hypergraphy abandons the phonetic values communicated by most conventional written languages in favor of ...
' (''hypergraphie'') to their new synthesis of writing and visual art. Some precedents may be seen in
Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
,
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...
and Futurist (both Italian and Russian)
painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...
and
typographical Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and ...
works, such as Marinetti's Zang Tumb Tuum, or in poems such as Apollinaire's ''Calligrammes'' but none of them were a full system like hypergraphy.


Letterist film

Notwithstanding the considerably more recent origins of film-making, compared to poetry, painting or music, Isou felt in 1950 that its own first amplic phase had already been completed. He therefore set about inaugurating a chiselling phase for the cinema. As he explained in the voiceover to his first film, ''Treatise of Slime and Eternity'':
I believe firstly that the cinema is too rich. It is obese. It has reached its limits, its maximum. With the first movement of widening which it will outline, the cinema will burst! Under the blow of a congestion, this ''greased pig'' will tear into a thousand pieces. I announce the ''destruction of the cinema'', the first apocalyptic sign of disjunction, of rupture, of this corpulent and bloated organization which calls itself film.
The two central innovations of Letterist film were: (i) the carving of the image (''la ciselure d'image''), where the film-maker would deliberately scratch or paint onto the actual film stock itself. Similar techniques are also employed in Letterist still photography. (ii) Discrepant cinema (''le cinéma discrépant''), where the soundtrack and the image-track would be separated, each one telling a different story or pursuing its own more abstract path. The most radical of the Letterist films, Wolman's ''The Anticoncept'' and Debord's ''Howls for Sade'', went even further, and abandoned images altogether. From a visual point of view, the former consisted simply of a fluctuating ball of light, projected onto a large balloon, while the latter alternated a blank white screen (when there was speech in the soundtrack) and a totally black screen (accompanying ever-increasing periods of total silence). In addition, the Letterists utilised material appropriated from other films, a technique which would subsequently be developed (under the title of '
détournement A détournement (), meaning "rerouting, hijacking" in French, is a technique developed in the 1950s by the Letterist International, and later adapted by the Situationist International (SI),''Report on the Construction of Situations'' (1957) that ...
') in Situationist film. They would also often supplement the film with live performance, or, through the 'film-debate', directly involve the audience itself in the total experience.


Supertemporal art (''L'art supertemporel'')

The supertemporal frame was a device for inviting and enabling an audience to participate in the creation of a work of art. In its simplest form, this might involve nothing more than the inclusion of several blank pages in a book, for the reader to add his or her own contributions.


Infinitesimal art (''Art infinitesimal'')

Recalling the
infinitesimals In mathematics, an infinitesimal number is a quantity that is closer to zero than any standard real number, but that is not zero. The word ''infinitesimal'' comes from a 17th-century Modern Latin coinage ''infinitesimus'', which originally refe ...
of
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ...
, quantities which could not actually exist except conceptually, the Letterists developed the notion of a work of art which, by its very nature, could never be created in reality, but which could nevertheless provide aesthetic rewards by being contemplated intellectually. Also called ''Art esthapériste'' ('infinite-aesthetics'). Cf.
Conceptual Art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called ins ...
. Related to this, and arising out of it, is excoördism, the current incarnation of the Isouian movement, defined as the art of the infinitely large and the infinitely small.


Youth uprising (''Le soulèvement de la jeunesse'')

Isou identified the amplic phase of political theory and economics as that of
Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——� ...
and
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
; its chiselling phase was that of
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
and
socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...
. Isou termed these 'atomic economics' and 'molecular economics' respectively: he launched 'nuclear economics' as a corrective to both of them. Both currents, he felt, had simply failed to take into account a large part of the population, namely those young people and other 'externs' who neither produced nor exchanged goods or capital in any significant way. He felt that the creative urge was an integral part of human nature, but that, unless it was properly guided, it could be diverted into crime and anti-social behaviour. The Letterists sought to restructure every aspect of society in such a way as to enable these externs to channel their creativity in more positive ways.


Major developments of Lettrism

* The Letterist International was formed in 1952 by Lettrists
Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situation ...
, Gil J. Wolman, Jean-Louis Brau and Serge Berna. In 1957, it fused with the International Movement for an Imaginist Bauhaus and the London Psychogeographical Association to create the
Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...
. During its five years, the Letterist International continued to practice the Lettrist technique of metagraphics, although they were quite against
hypergraphics Hypergraphy, also called hypergraphics or metagraphics, is an experimental form of visual communication developed by the Lettrist movement. Hypergraphy abandons the phonetic values communicated by most conventional written languages in favor of ...
, instead developing metagraphics into
détournement A détournement (), meaning "rerouting, hijacking" in French, is a technique developed in the 1950s by the Letterist International, and later adapted by the Situationist International (SI),''Report on the Construction of Situations'' (1957) that ...
. * Ultra-Lettrism arose in 1958, its manifesto appearing in the second issue of ''Grammes'' in that year, signed by the Lettrists François Dufrêne, Robert Estivals, and Jacques Villeglé. Its members practiced
hypergraphics Hypergraphy, also called hypergraphics or metagraphics, is an experimental form of visual communication developed by the Lettrist movement. Hypergraphy abandons the phonetic values communicated by most conventional written languages in favor of ...
and, with Dufrêne's crirhythmes and a greater interest in tape-recording, they sought to push Letterist sound-poetry further than Isou's group had done. * The Second Letterist International was an ephemeral group formed in 1964 by Wolman, Dufrêne and Brau. * The New Lettrist International, unknown form the original lettrists themselves, was formed in the late 1990s. Although it has no direct connection with the original Letterist group, it has drawn influences both from them and from the Letterist International, as well as from
Hurufi Hurufism ( ar, حُرُوفِيَّة ''ḥurūfiyyah'', Persian: حُروفیان ''hōrufiyān'') was a Sufi movement based on the mysticism of letters (''ḥurūf''), which originated in Astrabad and spread to areas of western Iran (Persia) ...
sm (Arabic for 'Letterism').


Key members

*
Isidore Isou Isidore Isou (; 29 January 1925 – 28 July 2007), born Isidor Goldstein, was a Romanian-born French poet, dramaturge, novelist, film director, economist, and visual artist who lived in the 20th century. He was the founder of Lettrism, an art ...
(Jan 29, 1925–July 28, 2007). * Gabriel Pomerand (1926–1972), member from 1945. * François Dufrêne (1930–1982), member from 1947 to 1964. Split to form Ultra-letterism and the Second Letterist International. *
Jan Kubíček Jan Kubíček (30 December 1927 – 14 October 2013) was a Czech painter and printmaker, and one of the most radical Central European exponents of constructivist and concrete art. He also spent more than a decade illustrating children's books for ...
(1927–2013), significantly contributing member during the early 1960s. * Maurice Lemaître (1926–2018), member since 1950, and still actively pursuing his own approach to Letterism. * Gil J. Wolman (1929–1995), member from 1950 to 1952. Split to form Letterist International 1952-1957], but then returned to occasional participation with Isouian group from 1961 to 1964, before splitting again to form the Second Letterist International. * Jean-Louis Brau (1930–1985), member from 1950 to 1952. Split to form Letterist International 1952-1957], but then returned to occasional participation with Isouian group from 1961 to 1964, before splitting again to form the Second Letterist International.* *
Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situation ...
(1931–1994), member from 1951 to 1952. Split to form Letterist International. * Anton Perich (1945-), member from 1967 to 1970.


Influences

*
Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...
artist
Ben Vautier Ben Vautier, also known simply as Ben (born 18 July 1935 in Naples, Italy), is a French artist. Vautier lives and works in Nice, where he ran a record shop called ''Magazin'' between 1958 and 1973. Biography Benjamin Vautier was born on 18 ...
has openly avowed his indebtedness to Isou: "Isou, I don't deny it, was very important for me around 1958 when I first theorized about art. It was thanks to Isou that I realized that what was important in art was not the beautiful, but the new, the creation. In 1962, while reading ''L'agrégation d'un nom et d'un messie'', I was fascinated by his ego, his megalomania, his pretences. I said to myself then: there is no art without ego, and this is where my work on the ego is rooted." * The German painter, set designer, and writer, Mike Rose, developed techniques close to Letterism during the 1970s and 1980s, and had some contact with the Parisian group. * The film ''Irma Vep'' (1996) contains a sequence that evokes the Lettrist aesthetic.http://www.arkepix.com/kinok/DVD/ASSAYAS_Olivier/dvd_noise.html (French site) * Michael Jacobson's novella ''The Giant's Fence'

(2006) is a hypergraphic work, apparently inspired by the Letterists.


Sources and further reading


English translations of Letterist works

Although the Letterists have published literally hundreds of books, journals and substantial articles in French, virtually none of these have been translated into English. One recent exception is: * Pomerand, Gabriel.
Saint Ghetto of the Loans
' (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2006). Maurice Lemaître has privately published translations of a few of his own works, though these are not at all easy to find: * ''Conversations about Letterism''. * ''Correspondence. Maurice Lemaitre-Kirk Varnedoe''. * ''Has The Film Already Started?'' * ''The Lettrist Cinema''. * '' Considerations on the Death and Burial of Tristan Tzara'' by Isidore Isou (Translated by Doug Skinner) Absurdist Texts & Documents series #8, Black Scat Books: 2012 (http://www.blackscatbooks.com) * Alain Satié, ''Written In Prose,'' 2010. Asemic Editions


Secondary works in English

* Acquaviva, Frédéric onograph''Gil J Wolman, I am immortal and alive'', MACBA, 140pp (anglais) + texts by Kaira Cabanas and Bartomeu Mari * Acquaviva, Frédéric ''Isidore Isou, Hypergraphic Novels 1950-1984'', Stockholm Romanian Institute, 2012, 138pp (English) * Cabañas, Kaira M and Acquaviva, Frédéric : "Specters of Artaud", Reina Sofia (English), 2012 * Cabañas, Kaira M. ''Off-Screen Cinema: Isidore Isou and the Lettrist Avant-Garde'' (University of Chicago Press, 2014). * Curtay, Jean-Paul. ''Letterism and Hypergraphics: The Unknown Avant-Garde, 1945–1985'' (Franklin Furnace, 1985). * Debord, Guy and Gil J. Wolmanbr>''Why Lettrism?''
* Ferrua, Pietro, ed. ''Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Letterism'' (Portland: Avant-Garde, 1979) * Foster, Stephen C., ed. ''Lettrisme: Into the Present'' (University of Iowa Museum of Art, 1983). * Home, Stewart. ''The Assault on Culture'' (Aporia Press and
Unpopular Books Unpopular Books is a publisher in London's East End, producing leaflets, pamphlets, and books. Published work Leaflets, pamphlets and booklets * Jean Barrot - ''What is Communism'' (1984) * Jean Barrot - ''Fascism/Antifascism'' * Jean Bar ...
, 1988). * Isou/Satié/Gérard Bermond. ''Le peinture lettriste'' (bilingual edition, Jean-Paul Rocher, 2000). * Jolas, Eugene. 'From Jabberwocky to Lettrism', ''Transition 48'', no. 1 (1948). * Jorn, Asger.
Originality and Magnitude (on Isou's System)
, in his ''Open Creation And Its Enemies'' (Unpopular Books, 1994). * Marcus, Greil. Lipstick Traces (Penguin, 1989). * Monsegu, Sylvain. 'Lettrism', in ''Art Tribes'', ed. Achille Bonito Oliva (Skira, 2002). * Seaman, David W. ''Concrete Poetry in France'' (UMI Research, 1981). * Roland Sabatier, ''Persistence of Lettrisme'', in « Complete with missing parts : Interviews with the avant-garde ». Edited by Louis E. Bourgeois, Vox Press, Oxford, 2008 * Fabrice Flahutez, Camille Morando, ''Isidore Isou's Library. A certain look on lettrism'', (English-French), Paris, Artvenir, 2014 ()


General introductions and surveys in French

* Acquaviva, Frédéric "Isidore Isou", Centre International de Poésie de Marseille, Cahier du Refuge n°163, 2007 * Acquaviva, Frédéric "Isou 2.0" in Catalogue Isidore Isou, pour en finir avec la conspiration du silence, ICRF, 2007 * Acquaviva, Frédéric " Lettrisme + bibliophilie : mode d'emploi", Le Magazine de la Bibliophilie n°75, 2008 * Acquaviva, Frédéric "Gil J Wolman", Centre International de Poésie de Marseille, Cahier du Refuge n°173, 2007 * Acquaviva, Frédéric and Bernard Blistène "Bientôt les Lettristes", Passage de Retz, 2012 * Acquaviva, Frédéric "Lemaître, une vie lettriste" Editions de la Différence, Paris, 2014 * Acquaviva, Frédéric "Isidore Isou" Editions du Griffon, Neuchâtel, 2018 (FILAF Awards for 2019 Best Contemporary Arts Book)* Fabrice Flahutez, Julia Drost et Frédéric Alix, ''Le Lettrisme et son temps'', Dijon
Les presses du réel
2018, 280p. . * Bandini, Mirella. ''Pour une histoire du lettrisme'' (Jean-Paul Rocher, 2003). * Curtay, Jean-Paul. ''La poésie lettriste'' (Seghers, 1974). * Devaux, Fréderique. ''Le Cinéma Lettriste (1951–1991)'' (Paris Experimental, 1992). *Fabrice Flahutez, ''Le lettrisme historique était une avant-garde''
Les presses du réel
2011. . * Lemaître, Maurice. ''Qu'est-ce que le lettrisme?'' (Fischbacher, 1954). * Sabatier, Roland. ''Le lettrisme: les créations et les créateurs'' (ZEditions, n.d.
988 Year 988 ( CMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Fall – Emperor Basil II, supported by a contingent of 6,000 Varangia ...
. * Roland Sabatier,'' Isidore Isou : La problématique du dépassement'', revue Mélusine n° XXVIII (Actes du colloque de Cerisy « Le Surréalisme en héritage : les avant-gardes après 1945 », 2-12 août 2006), Editions L'Age d'Homme, Lausanne, 2008.* Satié, Alain. ''Le lettrisme, la creation ininterrompue'' (Jean-Paul Rocher, 2003).


Discography

* ''Maurice Lemaître présente le lettrisme'' (Columbia ESRF1171, 1958). (7" e.p., 45 r.p.m). * Maurice Lemaître, ''Poèmes et musique lettristes'' (''Lettrisme'', nouvelle série, no. 24, 1971). (Three 7" discs, 45 r.p.m.). Augmented reissue of the above. Two extracts are also included in ''Futura poesia sonora'' (Cramps Records CRSCD 091–095, 1978). * Maurice Lemaître
''Oeuvres poètiques et musicales lettristes''
(1993). (Audio cassette) / Rédition 100ex en 2007 avec 2 CDs, préface Frédéric Acquaviva * Isidore Isou, ''Poèmes lettristes 1944-1999'' (Alga Marghen 12vocson033, 1999). (12" l.p., 33 r.p.m., 500 copies). * Isidore Isou, ''Musiques lettristes'' (Al Dante II-AD04, 1999). (Compact disc, realization by Frédéric Acquaviva). * Isidore Isou, ''Juvenal (symphonie 4)'' (Al Dante, 2004). (Compact disc, realization and orchestration by Frédéric Acquaviva). * Gil J. Wolman, ''L'Anticoncept'' (Alga Marghen 11VocSon032, 1999). (12" l.p., 33 r.p.m., 400 copies). * Gil J. Wolman
''La mémoire''
(''Ou'', no. 33, 1967). * ''L'Autonomatopek 1'' (''Opus International'', nos. 40–41, 1973). (7" e.p.) Contains work by Isou, Dufrêne, Wolman, Brau, Spacagna etc. * ''Jacques Spacagna" in Jacques Spacagna, le voyage en Italie '', de Frédéric Acquaviva, Ed Conz, Verona, 2007 (Book + Compact Disc) * ''Jean-Louis Brau" in Jean-Louis Brau, instrumentations verbales'', LP Alga Marghen with liner notes by Frédéric Acquaviva, Milano, 2010


See also

*
Art movements An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defi ...
* Asemic writing *
Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...
* Ultra-Lettrists


Notes

{{Film genres Situationist International