"FUCK HATE" - Kurt's Testimony at the "Earth Rose" Obscenity Trial, 1968

From today's perspective, this court transcript from 1968 seems rather quaint, but it represents a transitional moment in American culture. The publication Earth Rose, created by poet Steve Richmond, was declared obscene in Los Angeles County, California; he was charged and a trial on a misdemeanor charge was held. Here's background on the case. In addition to a written statement, Kurt testified in person on behalf of the defendant. In doing so, he had the opportunity educate the judge about literary criticism and the history of poetic styles. Ironically, the word "Fuck"--its use still illegal in some settings--is liberally spoken and its meaning explored during the trial. From the transcript:

          THE COURT: Well, what works, if any, would you consider to be obscene?
          THE WITNESS: Okay. Let me talk about this publication for example. I would say if you had your choice between two words and one of them were obscene, it would be "Hate" that is obscene.
          THE COURT: "Hate" is obscene?
          THE WITNESS: And not "Fuck." I think there is a lot of hate and I am speaking very personally here. I am not for a minute suggesting that this was the intent of the poet, but if something morally offends me, it is to see human suffering that is permitted to continue knowingly, and I think that is working definition of hate.
          I think that does happen in the world today. It is no new revelation. All of us know it. I think that some scenes of people dying in our living rooms on television in the war in Vietnam rightly or wrongly, I am not suggesting that, I am speaking as a veteran. I have served my time. I have no problem about that.
          THE COURT: No.
          THE WITNESS: I am saying that here our problem is when women and children are shown dying and somebody opens another can of beer, that gets much closer to the sense of what is obscene in the world.

Illustrations and hyperlinks have been added to this transcript that further illuminate the references made in the hearing.

Getty Funded Guest Lectures in Aesthetics & Criticism

In 1988, Kurt von Meier was one of the beneficiaries of a grant provided by The Getty Center for Education in the Arts, which specifically enabled him to invite a series of guest lecturers to his Aesthetics & Criticism class at Sacramento State University. The lectures were video-taped, later transcribed, and copies of those transcriptions were found in Kurt's archives. Drawing upon his academic and cultural relationships, Kurt assembled a remarkable group of speakers, and these transcripts document the thoughts of talented academics and artists, some of whom have since died. The transcripts can be accessed from the links below.

Dr. Raphael Monteñez (Ralph) Ortiz - Artist and Professor
In this powerful lecture, Ralph Ortiz discusses art that enchants and art that dis-enchants, artistic creativity, the cultural framework of what's called "art" and nature of experiencing art.

Dr. Daniel Herwitz - Professor of Aesthetics and Philosophy
In his presentation, Daniel Herwitz reviews the history of aesthetics as a discipline which arose in the 18th century, how those roots continue to affect our present view and appreciation of art, and the difficulty twentieth century art presents in aesthetic analysis.

Dr. Keith Gunderson - Professor of Aesthetics
Keith Gunderson tackles the difficult problem of defining what is and what is not art by recounting the struggles attempting to do that have engendered.

James Hanlon - Artist
Commercial artist James Hanlon discusses artistic creativity, satisfying oneself as an artist while satisfying a client, and the practical nature of the creative process.

Morrie Turner - Cartoonist
As a black cartoonist, Morrie Turner confronted some unique challenges, and met them with humor and creativity. In his presentation, he discusses this through the examples of the multi-cultural cartoon characters he created for his syndicated comic strip "Wee Pals."
 

Oops! The SDI Shield is Upside Down!

Ever observant, Kurt wrote to TIME magazine about their photo of the Strategic Defense Initiative's "Star Wars Logo" shown behind Lt. General James Abramson in their June 23, 1986 edition: The Shield (modeled after the shield of Ajax) is depicted (shown above) upside down! Read more to see a copy of Kurt's letter.

Sur Collages by Jimi Suzuki

In 1991, Kurt's friend and fellow professor at Sacramento State University artist Jimi Suzuki exhibited his collages at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, California. Kurt wrote an essay to accompany the exhibition, and though he had long since stopped writing art criticism articles for publication, he clearly enjoyed returning to form to honor his friend and his work. It is a typically engaging and surprising essay, and well worth reading. (We are attempting to secure copies of the images discussed in the article. The one above is representative of Jimi's collage work).

Judging Sculptor Bruce Naumann's "Dark"

Kurt was chosen to judge a commission competition at Southwestern College in the early 1960s, and selected Bruce Nauman, then at the beginning of his career,  for the award. "The outstanding piece of sculpture in the current competitive exhibition at Southwestern College is the project by Bruce Nauman titled 'Dark.' It it outstanding, first of all, in terms of its INTRINSIC QUALITY."
     The decision was controversial, and Kurt penned a defense of his decision for the college newspaper. The controversy continues; a link from an article in that same newspaper in 2015 can be found at the conclusion of Kurt's comments. 

A Ball of Twine: Marcel Duchamp’s “With Hidden Noise"

Kurt spent several years working on an analysis of western art through an exploration of a ready-made sculpture created by Marcel Duchamp in 1916 called "with hidden noise" (shown below). The "hidden noise" emanates from an object placed within the open core of the ball of twine when it's turned upside down. Speculating on what the object is, Kurt's 350,000-word opus (edited by his close friend Clifford Barney) is the culmination of a lifetime of scholarship and learning, knitting together art, history, culture and society into a well-woven fabric. 

You can read Kurt's "Pretext" here or...
The entire work resides on a server at Sacramento State University; here's the link.