an evening with gordon ball (usa)

gordon ball: reading / films / talk

moviemaker, photographer, poet, storyteller, farmer, professor, best visual chronologist of the beat generation

& with josef schützenhöfer and fritz ostermayer

event held in english

premiere! we’ve never had a real “colonel” of the “virginia militia (unorganized)” as a guest in our (not quite so pacifist) hall. we never even dreamed of this until recently. thanks to josef schützenhöfer and walter famler! due to their mediation an encounter with more recent american literary history will take place; an encounter which sfd-founder christian ide hintze could not have imagined any more perfectly.

we are anticipating a few questions: gordon who? let’s put it slightly blasphemously: if allen ginsberg is a sort of semi-religious jesus-figure for many beatniks, then gordon ball would be the younger peter in this biblical ensemble. apostle gordon has documented life at ginsbergs cherry valley farm in upstate new york since 1968, where he was also the farm manager until 1971. as the grandchild of a portrait photographer, ball was less interested in the “artistic” aspect of photography at first, he rather thought of himself as documentarian of the beat-scene around ginsberg.

 
allen ginsbergs committee on poetry, inc. farm, cherry valley, new york, october 1969. from left, standing: julius orlovsky, lawrence ferlinghetti, gordon ball, allen ginsberg, robert creeley. front, seated: gregory corso, peter orlovsky.

he was born in new jersey and grew up in tokyo. being an artist interested in multimedia, ball soon found his way to the movies by way of his friend, the famous moviemaker jonas mekas. his award-winning independent movies have since been shown at not so unknown institutions such as the museum of modern art or the guggenheim museum. we are pleased that mr. ball will also present some samples of his cinematographic work at our school!

allen ginsberg, philip whalen, novelist william s. burroughs, swimming pool area, varsity apartments, boulder, colorado, july 1976.
photo © gordon ball, 2006

yes: as pulitzer prize nominated editor of a book about ginsberg’s lectures, ball will, of course, also read from his works, above all “east hill farm – seasons with allen ginsberg”. the beatnik oriented audience can experience a blissful drug-fuelled chill, and the spiritual side of allen is something else!

if you go to the website of the virginia military institute, you will find among the faculty a “professor gordon v. ball phd” in full military uniform. at first, a european literature geek can hardly believe it, but “colonel ball” who teaches “english, rhetoric & humanistic studies” at lexington, virginia, is the same person who once wanted to make the world a better place through poetry with the help of ginsberg & co. he never gave up this plan, as demonstrated in this unbelievable photo – it looks like it could have been photoshopped! but holy shit: the photo is real! professor ball’s cadet-classroom is actually reading one of the greatest and most scandalous poems of the 20th century:

cadets read howl, february 19, 1991, virginia military institute, lexington, virginia. photo copyright © gordon ball, 2006.

when you look at this more than weird photo you have to admit that bob dylan was right: “the times they are a-changin’ ”. oh, yeah: dylan’s farm wasn’t far from ginsberg’s beatnik homestead and there was a friendly exchange between them. something our contemporary witness for sure has much to tell about. because: during this “evening with gordon ball” an interaction with the audience is definitely desired. to this effect: aural history rules, folks!

we are really excited: about gordon ball and your presence!

fritz ostermayer for the vienna poetry school.

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>> gordon ball

josef schützenhöfer

born 1954 in vorau in eastern styria. when he was 19 he emigrated to the us where he studied painting and enlisted in the navy. there, he also completed training as a dental technician. from 1975: cleveland istitute of art, usn school of dental science san diego, old dominion university norfok/virginia, maryland institute college of art baltimore, university for applied art vienna, nostrification, master of arts.

since 1997 schützenhöfer lives again in austria, in pöllau in styria. numerous exhibitions. initiator of the projet “liberation in progress” which he leads together with klaus zeyringer.

josef schützenhöfer:

“why am i doing art?...

…a society sets limits and the austrians way too many. that these limits don’t become laced too tightly, art is necessary. some kind of guarantor that repeatedly crosses over these regions and enters into illegality. naturally, i like to be a part of this.”

“thomas bernhard or allen ginsberg…

…this is a difficult thing, i value both very much, only with allen ginsberg there is the bonus that he spent a week as a visiting artist at the maryland institute for a week, and recited his songs and poetry personally - therefore, allen ginsberg with a standing ovation.”

“personality…

…pronounced sense of justice, hysterical allergy to church and police.”

fritz ostermayer

born 1956, musician, dj, performer, book author, festival organizer. long-standing music and culture editor of various magazines and newspapers. currently radio moderator (fm4 with thomas edlinger). since 2012, artistic director of the vienna poetry school.