CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 12/1/2018

The Brother In Elysium Books celebrates Dick Higgins' Selected Writings and 10 Years of Siglio Press

Saturday, December 15 from 5–8 PM, The Brother In Elysium Books celebrates the release of Intermedia, Fluxus and the Something Else Press: Selected Writings by Dick Higgins and 10 years of Siglio Press! Join us for the festivities in Tivoli, NY!

There are few art-world figures as influential—and as little known—as Dick Higgins (1938–98), cofounder of Fluxus, "polyartist," poet, scholar, theorist, composer, performer and, not least, the publisher of the legendary Something Else Press. In 1965 he restored the term "intermedia" to the English language, giving it new dimension to recognize the dissolution of boundaries between traditional modes of art-making and the open field for new forms that cannot be compartmentalized. His own contributions to intermedia are many—as a participant and instigator of happenings, as writer and composer straddling traditional and vanguard forms, among others—but it was Something Else Press (1963–74) that redefined how "the book" could inhabit that energized, in-between space.

Something Else Press was as much a critical statement and radical experiment as it was a collection of books by some of the most luminary artists and writers of the 20th century: Gertrude Stein, John Cage, Ray Johnson, Dieter Roth, Bern Porter, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Emmett Williams, Robert Filliou, and George Brecht, among many others. Along with his Great Bear Pamphlet series and the Something Else newsletter, Higgins exploited and subverted conventional book production and marketing strategies to get unconventional and avant-garde works into the hands of new and often unsuspecting readers.

Edited by Granary Books publisher Steve Clay and Fluxus artist Ken Friedman, this judiciously curated and indispensable compendium of essays, theoretical writings and narrative prose dives deep into the ever-influential ideas that Higgins explored in theory and practice. Clay and Friedman have chosen works that illuminate Higgins' voracious intellectual appetite, encyclopedic body of knowledge and playful yet rigorous experimentation in a selection that includes many writings long out of print or difficult to find.

Located in the center of New York’s Hudson Valley, The Brother In Elysium Books is a bookstore with a focus in poetry, literature, art, design, photography and film. They specialize in used and out of print books, and also carry a tight selection of new books. The space is also home to The Brother In Elysium publishing imprint and letterpress studio, and hosts film screenings, poetry readings, and art events.

Intermedia, Fluxus and the Something Else Press: Selected Writings by Dick Higgins and a selection of other Siglio titles will be available at the party.

RSVP appreciated, but not required: lisa (at) sigliopress (dot) com.

The Brother In Elysium Books
48 Broadway
Tivoli, NY 12583
Phone: 845-757-1155