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Letting Go
I had never taken my hands off the wheel before, not completely.
The Disruption Generator is the first time I’ve left the entire contents of a project entirely to chance. I’ve flirted with it before, utilizing cut-up methods and shuffling to create chaotic editing, but this was my maiden voyage into the complete unknown. I’ve read and watched William S. Burroughs experimental films and movies. Dadaist poetry was essentially word salad. The lyrics of David Bowie, Michael Stipe of R.E.M, and Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedys were mostly experiments in cut-up randomization. The list goes on and on.
The idea of letting go of all creative control is terrifying. It takes a lot of trial and error. You have to learn to be willing to let the project do what it’s going to do. It isn’t easy. It usually isn’t pretty, either.
These are the projects that led me to The Disruption Generator. There are little artifacts in the creation of each of these books that became some of my favorite tools. Some ideas were tossed away after the project was done, becoming the mistake I learned to avoid later.
Can She Atone?
My first experiment was called Can She Atone?, where I took a book of traditional clip art illustration and mixed it with a century old novel I had cut to shreds.
Its first iteration was that of a small zine I put together for the Portland Zine Symposium that year. After I collated each set of pages, I would shuffle them like a deck of cards and bind the results.
I later released it has a graphic novel of sorts. The pages were given one last shuffle and now live on in a much more permanent and colorful way.
The idea of letting go of all creative control is terrifying. It takes a lot of trial and error. You have to learn to be willing to let the project do what it’s going to do. It isn’t easy. It usually isn’t pretty, either.
and static, like blood put into the sky
and static, like blood put into the sky was an attempt at mixing automatic writing with the same cut-up editing methods I had used in Can She Atone?. The result is a beautiful mess that is nearly unreadable.
The rough draft of the book was written in a pocket notebook, scribbled in tiny bursts while trying to avoid the attention of my bosses at work. Somehow this had created an incredibly broken sentence structure.
The second draft was typed up, printed out, and chopped into tiny pieces. These pieces were shuffled together, taped into a long scroll of text, and retyped in the new order. That became the book.
and static, like blood put into the sky is still one of my favorites but not because of the quality of writing. It symbolizes another step in my creative evolution. I re-released it under a new title a couple years ago and now its known as STUTTERER.
Hand of Law
Hand of Law was the first time I started an art project with no intention or conclusions in mind.
It had been years since I had a daily art practice. As a teenager I would never allow a day to go by without putting pen to paper. The combination of a repetitive stress injury forcing me to relearn how to draw and the fallout from a terrible relationship in the past that had destroyed my self-confidence had made art feel like a dirty little secret. I would doodle every once in a while but it was nothing of any significance.
I literally tripped over my opportunity to change.
It was a brick. The hardcover law textbook was just over a thousand pages and probably weighed about seven pounds. Yellow highlighter and ballpoint pen covered half of its pages.
What led to the book ending up on the street?
How did I end up tripping over it while walking around my neighborhood?
Why did it inspire me to start drawing in its pages?
I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that this book is responsible for my creative spark being rekindled. Every night I would sit down with that textbook and draw, without intention or direction, whatever popped out of my head. I let the pen do all the thinking.
I haven’t been without an art project since.
These are the projects that led me to The Disruption Generator. There are little artifacts in the creation of each of these books that became some of my favorite tools. Some ideas were tossed away after the project was done, becoming the mistake I learned to avoid later.
The Road to Disruption
I would be lying if I said that these three projects were the only ones to have an impact on how I created The Disruption Generator. Nearly every book I’ve made has given me some of the pieces that made it possible to undertake this project.
Coyote, Dreaming made me feel like I could handle the esoteric concepts that always occupied my mind.
The Operators Code opened the door for me to express my own mythologies and legends.
I could go on and on and on, filling page after page of different projects that led me here but I’m not here to sell you on my previous books, not really. I would give these things away if I could afford it.
What I’m trying to do is explain what led to The Disruption Generator.
What I’m trying to do is explain what The Disruption Generator IS.
Next week, I’d like you to ask me what you want to know.
Do you have any questions about The Disruption Generator?
About the system?
About the books?
Ask me anything.
You can comment here or at our various social media sites. We want to hear from you!
Pre-order the deluxe hardcover edition of The Disruption Generator here!
The smaller, cheaper paperback Portable Disruption Generator available here!
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