“I am interested only in "nonsense"; only in that which makes no practical sense. I am interested in life only in its absurd manifestations.” ― Daniil Kharms
Ted Milton, Poet, Puppeteer, Saxophonist
Sam Britton, artist, musician
£6 full // £4.50 concessions
Doors 7:00PM
Performance 7:30PM
IN KHARMS WAY with the ZUZUSHII ART LABORATORY.
An exploration into the life and works of Russian, absurdist writer Daniil Kharms (1905-1942). Interpretations through sounds, words and visual art.
Angry, frustrated, analytical and satirical, but always in awe of the absurd manifestation we call human society, the works of Daniil Kharms (1905-1942, Russia) bring to the front of our collective consciousness a final, desperate image of the human condition: a well-oiled machine driving insatiably towards the edge of oblivion. Daniil Kharm’s reality is filled with the intricate observations of men and women struggling to grasp the logic of their predicaments. Failed by the tools of reason and the grace of government they find salvation in the absurd. With it’s incisive irony and bitter-sweet satire the absurd has the power to make sense of the last vestiges of humanity, where everything else has failed.
Interestingly enough, it is a way of seeing the world that is at least as relevant today as it was in Soviet-era Russia. In a society obsessed with its own self-importance, Daniil Kharms’s words resonate with ever more insight as we struggle to come to terms with our own delusional predicament. In Kharms Way presents a snapshot of this reality, animated and shot into the present via the eager, intense vocalisation, saxophone playing and puppetry of Ted Milton and Sam Britton’s deconstructed, rewired laptop computer.
ZUZUSHII ART LABORATORY, the long time creative workshop of Fumico Azuma and Tim Can. Found objects and a conscience feed two and three dimensional constructions, illustrations from the box of humanity. Utilitarian, provoking and open to interpretation. Poignant and darkly comical. Various works will be available to view in the main bar and back room gallery space.
Bookbinder apprentice and aspiring beat-poet, Ted Milton took part in the jazz-meets-poetry-slams of the early sixties. An early review by Charles Fox in Jazz Monthly of February 1962 reads: 'Ted Milton - very young rather ingenuous - could easily develop into quite a fair poet (I rather dug his line about "the sixth finger which the other ten obey") In 1963 his first book, 'Mungo', was published by Jovane Bros. in Salerno, Italy, in an edition of 500. Out of this book the poem "Sun, Your Grief Is My Grief" was selected for publication in "The Paris Review". In 1968 he published in Brian Patten's "Underdog" magazine.
1969 saw some of his poems selected for the anthology 'Children of Albion: Poetry of the Underground in Britain', edited by Michael Horovitz and published by Penguin Books. Poet Pete Brown invited him to include some poems in "The Old Pal's Act", published by Allison & Busby in 1972. In 1977 he self-published "He Also Serves Who Only Incubates" a selection of poems and letters to the editor of the Stroud News & Journal. The poem "Force One-Twenty-One" later appears on the Blurt album "Bullets For You" as "The Prayer "Love Is A Like Violence" was Ted Milton's first solo recording. A 12" single releases on Embryo Records and produced by Steve Beresford in 1984. The year after saw another 12" record released: "Ode,To Be Seen Trough Your Eyes", this time with Herman Martin programming the music and released on Ted's own Toeblock label.