Asemic writing

Asemic writing is a wordless open semantic form of writing. The word asemic means "having no specific semantic content".

Illegible, invented, or primal scripts (cave paintings, doodles, children's drawings, etc.) are all influences upon asemic writing. But instead of being thought of as mimicry of preliterate expression, asemic writing can be considered as a postliterate style of writing that uses all forms of creativity for inspiration.

Some asemic writing has pictograms or ideograms, which suggest a meaning through their shape. Other forms are shapeless and exist as pure conception.

Asemic writing has no verbal sense, though it may have clear textual sense. Through its formatting and structure, asemic writing may suggest a type of document and, thereby, suggest a meaning. The form of art is still writing, often calligraphic in form, and either depends on a reader's sense and knowledge of writing systems for it to make sense, or can be understood through aesthetic intuition.

Asemic writing can also be seen as a relative perception, whereby unknown languages and forgotten scripts provide templates and platforms for new modes of expression.

Asemic writing occurs in avant-garde literature and art with strong roots in the earliest forms of writing.

• Asemic writing from Jean-Christophe Giacottino.
  Asemic writing from Jean-Christophe Giacottino.
• 
  Asemic writing from Marco Giovenale.

References

• Michael Jacobson, The Giant's Fence. Barbarian Interior Books, 2006. ISBN 1-4116-6208-3 [1]
• Tim Gaze, Writing. xPress(ed), 2004. ISBN 951-9198-86-5
• Rosaire Appel, Morpheme Pages. Press Rappel, 2008. ISBN 978-0-557-03591-5

See also

• A Book from the Sky
• Brion Gysin
• Christian Dotremont
• Codex Seraphinianus
• Experimental literature
• Henri Michaux
• Lettrism
• Postliterate society
• Timothy Ely
• Visual poetry

External links

• Asemic magazine
• Adventures in Nonism: Asemic art
• Avance
• The New Post-Literate
• Asemic Scapes
• The Dogmatika interview with Tim Gaze
• Asemic Writing in the Sackner Archives