Street action at the 6th Neoist Apartment Festival in Montreal, 1983

Neoism refers both to a specific subcultural network of artistic performance and media experimentalists and more generally to a practical underground philosophy. It operates with collectively shared pseudonyms and identities, pranks, paradoxes, plagiarism and fakes, and has created multiple contradicting definitions of itself in order to defy categorization and historization. Street action at the 6th Neoist Apartment Festival, Montréal 1983 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Street action at the 6th Neoist Apartment Festival, Montréal 1983 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ... Cultural identity is the (feeling of) identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as she/he is influenced by her/his belonging to a group or culture. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Robert Boyles self-flowing flask fills itself in this diagram, but perpetual motion machines cannot exist. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Look up fake in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Background

Definitions of Neoism and Neoist activity are currently disputed. The main source of this are splits within the Neoist network which created vastly different, tactically distorted accounts of Neoism and its history. Undisputed, however are the origins of the movement in the mid- to late 1970s Canada, and the coinage of the multiple identity Monty Cantsin through the Mail Artist David Zack (died ca. 1995) (perhaps with the collaboration of performance artist Istvan Kantor). Schisms followed in the mid-1980s when writer Stewart Home sought to separate himself from the rest of the Neoist network, manifesting itself also in Home's books on Neoism as opposed to the various Neoist resources in the Internet). In non-Neoist terms, Neoism could be called an international subculture which in the beginning put itself into simultaneous continuity and discontinuity with, among others, experimental arts (such as Dada, Surrealism, Fluxus and Concept Art), punk, industrial music and electropop, political and religious free-spirit movements, Science Fiction literature, 'pataphysics and speculative science. Neoism also gathered players with backgrounds in graffiti and street performance, language writing (later known as language poetry), experimental film and video, Mail Art, the early Church of the Subgenius and gay and lesbian culture. Neoism then gradually transformed from an active subculture into a self-written urban legend. As a side effect, many other subcultures, artistic and political groups since the late 1980s have - often vaguely - referred to Neoism and thereby perpetuated its myth. Monty Cantsin is a multiple identity that anyone can adopt, but has close ties to Neoism. ... Mail art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. ... Istvan Kantor (aka Monty Cantsin, and Amen!) (born 27 August 1949 in Budapest) is a hungarian born canadian performance and video artist, industrial music and electropop singer, and founder of Neoism. ... Stewart Home (born 1962) is a British fiction writer, subcultural pamphleteer, underground art historian, and activist. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... Stewart Home (born 1962) is a British fiction writer, subcultural pamphleteer, underground art historian, and activist. ... DaDa is an album by Alice Cooper, released in 1983 (see 1983 in music). ... Surrealism[1] is a movement stating that the liberation of our mind, and subsequently the liberation of the individual self and society, can be achieved by exercising the imaginative faculties of the unconscious mind to the attainment of a dream-like state different from, or ultimately ‘truer’ than, everyday reality. ... Fluxus (from to flow) is an art movement noted for the blending of different artistic disciplines, primarily visual art but also music and literature. ... Concept art is a form of illustration where the main goal is to convey a visual representation of a design, idea, and/or mood for use in movies, video games, or comic books before it is put into the final product. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Industrial music is a loose term for a number of different styles of electronic and experimental music. ... Electropop (also called Technopop) is a subgenre of synth pop music which flourished during the early 1980s, although the first recordings were made in the late 1970s. ... This article is about the archetype. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Pataphysics, an absurdist concept coined by the French writer Alfred Jarry, is the idea of a philosophy or science dedicated to studying what lies beyond the realm of metaphysics. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ... Graffiti is the unofficial application of graphics on publicly viewable surfaces. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Mail art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. ... J. R. Bob Dobbs The Church of the SubGenius is a satirical postmodern religion, originally based in Dallas, Texas, which gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s subculture, with a large presence on the Internet. ... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... A lesbian is a female who is exclusively emotionally, sexually, and romantically attracted to other females. ... An urban legend is a kind of modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ...

History

In 1979, Neoism grew out of the mail art network, particularly those parts of mail art that emphasized - rather than the exchange of artwork - alternative lifestyles, pranks, practical jokes, the use of pseudonyms and experimentation with identity. Mail art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. ...

Centered around the idea of the "open pop star" or multiple persona Monty Cantsin in Montreal, Canada and Baltimore, USA, Neoism quickly spread to other places in America, Europe and Australia and involved up to two dozens of Neoists. Until the late 1980s and before the mass availability of the Internet, the mail art network continued to be used as the main communication and propaganda channel for Neoism. Neoists refer to their strategies as "the great confusion" and "radical play". They were acted out in semi-private Apartment Festivals which took place in North America, Europe and Australia between 1980 and 1998 and in publications which sought to embody confusion and radical play rather than just describing it. Consequently, both Neoist festivals and Neoist writing experimented with radical undermining of identity, bodies, media, and notions of ownership and truth. Unlike typical postmodern currents, the experiment was practical and therefore existential. Monty Cantsin, for example, was not simply a collective pseudonym or mythical person, but an identity lived by Neoists in their everyday life. For these purposes, Neoists employed performance, video, small press publications (such as Smile, the international magazine of multiple origins) and computer viruses, but also food (Chapati), flaming steam irons and metal coat hangers (used as telepathic antennas). Borrowing from Thomas Pynchon, Neoism could be more suitably called an "anarchist miracle" of an international network of highly eccentric persons collaborating, often with extremist intensity, under the one shared identity of Monty Cantsin and Neoism. Monty Cantsin is a multiple identity that anyone can adopt, but has close ties to Neoism. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... Mail art is art which uses the postal system as a medium. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century... Monty Cantsin is a multiple identity that anyone can adopt, but has close ties to Neoism. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images which represent scenes in motion. ... SMILE is an international magazine of multiple origins. ... A computer virus is a self-replicating computer program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user. ... Chapati or chapatti (Hindi: चपाती ; IPA: ) is a type of roti or Indian bread eaten in South Asia. ... Thomas Pynchon in 1957, one of the few photographs of him ever to be published Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. ... Anarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. ... Monty Cantsin is a multiple identity that anyone can adopt, but has close ties to Neoism. ...

In the early 1980s, the Neoist Reinhard U. Sevol founded Anti-Neoism, which other Neoists adopted by declaring Neoism a pure fiction created by Anti-Neoists. The Dutch Neoist Arthur Berkoff operated as a one-person-movement "Neoism/Anti-Neoism/Pregroperativism". Similarly, Blaster Al Ackerman declared himself a "Salmineoist" after Sicilian-American actor Sal Mineo, and John Berndt was credited by Ackerman as having given Neoism the name "Spanish Art," circa 1983. In 1994, Stewart Home founded the Neoist Alliance as an occult order with himself as the magus. At the same time, Italian activists of the Luther Blissett project operated under the name "Alleanza Neoista". In 1997, the critic Oliver Marchart organized a "Neoist World Congress" in Vienna which did not involve any Neoists. In 2001, the Professional Association of Visual Artists in the German city of Wiesbaden declared itself Neoist. In 2004, one Monty Cantsin received the order of the Governor General of Canada for outstanding achievement in art and an international "Neoist Department Festival" took place in Berlin. For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... The anti-Neoism movement can be viewed as a part of, or a response to, the Neoism movement in art. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... The anti-Neoism movement can be viewed as a part of, or a response to, the Neoism movement in art. ... Blaster Al Ackerman is the most commonly used name by an American mail artist and writer who has been active since the early 1970s. ... Salvatore Mineo, Jr. ... John Berndt is a musician and organizer based in Baltimore, Maryland who is best known as an experimental saxophonist, electronic musician, and theorist of experimental culture. ... Stewart Home (born 1962) is a British fiction writer, subcultural pamphleteer, underground art historian, and activist. ... Group moniker used by Stewart Home between 1994 and 1999 as a corporate identity for his mock-occult psychogeographical activities. ... Likeness of Luther Blissett produced by Wu Ming Luther Blissett is a multiple identity, a nom de plume that anyone is welcome to use for activist and artistic endeavour. ... Inhabitants according to official census figures: 1800 to 2005 Vienna in 1858 Vienna (German: Wien ) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... Wiesbaden is a city in central Germany. ... Monty Cantsin is a multiple identity that anyone can adopt, but has close ties to Neoism. ... Berlin is the capital city and one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. ...

Influences on other subcultures

Neoist plays like multiple names, plagiarism and pranks were adopted, frequently mistaken for Neoism proper and by mixing in situationist concepts, in other subcultures such as the Plagiarism and Art Strike 1990-1993 campaigns of the late 1980s (triggered largely by Stewart Home after he had left the Neoist network), Plunderphonics music, the refounded London Psychogeographical Association, the Association of Autonomous Astronauts, the Luther Blissett project, the Michael K Project, the German Communication Guerilla, and, since the late 1990s, by some net artists such as 0100101110101101.org. Other artists who explicitly if vaguely credit Neoism are The KLF, Luther Blissett, Alexander Brener/Barbara Schurz, spart and Luke Haines (of The Auteurs and Black Box Recorder). To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The Situationist International (SI), an international political and artistic movement, originated in the Italian village of Cosio dArroscia on 28 July 1957 with the fusion of several extremely small artistic tendencies: the Lettrist International, the International movement for an imaginist Bauhaus, and the London Psychogeographical Association. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Campaign launched in 1986 by Stewart Home which called upon all artists to cease their artistic work between January 1st, 1990 and January 1st, 1993. ... Stewart Home (born 1962) is a British fiction writer, subcultural pamphleteer, underground art historian, and activist. ... Plunderphonics is a term coined by John Oswald in 1985 in an essay entitled Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional Prerogative. ... The London Psychogeographical Association (LPA) is a largely fictitious organisation devoted to psychogeography. ... AAA logo The Association of Autonomous Astronauts is a world-wide network of community based groups dedicated to building their own spaceships. ... Internet art is art or, more precisely, cultural production which uses the Internet as its primary medium and, more importantly, its subject, much like video art uses video as its medium - but is also very much about video, although many artists working with the Net view video as only a... KLF redirects here. ... Likeness of Luther Blissett produced by Wu Ming Luther Blissett is a multiple identity, a nom de plume that anyone is welcome to use for activist and artistic endeavour. ... Green dollar sign spray painted onto Malevichs painting Alexander Brener (b. ... Barbara Schurz is an artist and revolutionary activist from Austria. ... Spart or Spart Action is a political/cultural group/movement born somewhere in 2001. ... Luke Haines, performing at the 2005 Summer Sundae Luke Haines (born October 7, 1967) is an English musician, who has released music under a variety of names, notably The Auteurs and Black Box Recorder. ... The Auteurs were a vehicle for the songwriting talents of Luke Haines (guitar, piano and vocals). ... Black Box Recorder are a British pop/indie group. ...

Relevant quotes

• "Neoism is a prefix and a suffix with no substance in between" - tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE
• "Burn hats, irons, and umbrellas frequently" - Monty Cantsin
• "Neoism strives for the creation of situation in which the definition of neoism would make no sense" - John Berndt
• "We are the Neoists, do not listen to us" - Monty Cantsin
• "Time is not money and we have plenty of it" - Kiki Bonbon
• "If Neoism didn't exist, we would have to not create it" - Artemus Barnoz
• "When one create Neoism, one destroys Neoism. The evolution of Neoism make Neoism obsolete. Each explanation of Neoism makes Neoism retract." - Monty Cantsin
• "The best product of Neoism is anti-Neoism." - Luther Blissett

For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... Monty Cantsin is a multiple identity that anyone can adopt, but has close ties to Neoism. ... Monty Cantsin is a multiple identity that anyone can adopt, but has close ties to Neoism. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... For a general definition of Neoists, see Neoism. ... Monty Cantsin is a multiple identity that anyone can adopt, but has close ties to Neoism. ... Likeness of Luther Blissett produced by Wu Ming Luther Blissett is a multiple identity, a nom de plume that anyone is welcome to use for activist and artistic endeavour. ...

External links

• The Neoist Society
• Neoism site that helps the reader to understand Neoism
• A Mere Outline of a Neoist Thesaurus
• Neoism node in everything2.com
• Anti-Neoism
• Excerpts from Cantsin's Book of Neoism