This page of notes appear to be from the early 1970s, and makes reference to a number of recurrent themes in Kurt's work and writing. Typically, he uses a diagrammatic approach of analysis, defining and then re-defining the "4 elements." Hopis, freeways, fragmentation (McLuhan), psychedelics, mushrooms, Lenny Bruce, Dionysos, food (Tantric), mythology, John Cage and shit all make an appearance.
Book Review: Tim Leary's "What Does WoMan Want?
Tim Leary, the ex-Harvard professor who chucked that career to advocate for the benefits of LSD--the man who coined the phrase "Tune in, Turn on, Drop out"--wrote a novel in 1976, and Kurt reviewed it. "In the Celtic tradition, which Leary is now invoking, he appears as the boy Gwion (pronounced "Finn"), become all-wise by accidentally sipping the witch Cerridwen's brew, as Leary sipped Albert Hoffman's, who is pursued by her and changes into hare, fish, bird before she finally swallows him as a grain of wheat and then bears him as a son, the half-divine riddling poet Taliesin." Kurt and Tim were both magicians, brothers in the esoteric arts. It's unclear if this review was ever published, but you can read it here.
YELLOW PAPER
How fitting is it that Kurt's essay invoking Easter Sunday is added to this website on Easter Sunday, 2018? Written in the mid-1970s, Kurt begins with commentary on yellow, the color of the paper he was using that day. An element of the magic Kurt employed was accepting all things, even the color of typing paper, as tokens of wisdom or oracles of guidance. For Kurt, joy came through following the thread, the woof connecting each thing to every thing. "Would the form, i.e. the color of the stock, the paper, the material form as a token of the space which is then marked, be preserved in the publishing of this--and by this, these marks in ink on this paper, as tokens of some words, which are themselves not spoken but thought, and which thoughts are only most summarily indicated by the words, etc.?"
Play of Dharma
Sometimes Kurt kept his notes in blue-lined paper notebooks and sometimes he kept his notes by typing them. Accordingly, this typewritten document leaps around--in much the way Kurt's mind moved concentrically rather than in a linear fashion. Is it poetry? Is it prose? Are these random notes of a wandering intellect? Red, white, black...the colors of the Triple Goddess; the thread is there to follow. Kurt sometimes called himself "a priest of Dionysus"...and are those mushrooms growing from the head of the Greek god?
The OMASTERS - The Eisteddfod
Herewith another segment of Kurt's fictional Omasters, this time featuring Aubrey W. Holz, Johnny Walker, Marque Dutchman, and the wise lady Hildegard,
"'What is simple is hard,' said Hildegard, a character played by the Abbess Hilda, whose companions were geese, who was of royal blood, Anglo-Saxon, and whose monastery at Whitby, aka Streonshalh, set above the white chalk cliffs, as at Leucadia where those sea heifers were sacrificed to Poseidon, over the edge, into the Adriatic Temples to Apollo."
Filled with arcane references to esoteric teachings and explicating models of cognitive neuro-psychology, it's classic von Meier in full polymath mode, up to and including the torn corner of a yellow paper napkin.
Chance in Music and the Visual Arts: A UCLA Lecture 1966
Here is another of Kurt's art history 1C lectures at UCLA from 1966. At this point in his career, Kurt was sticking fairly close to a traditional teaching approach in this class, using slides and discussing the work of various artists. However, his focus on the use of chance in art bespeaks his fascination with that topic, which would be life-long. For those of you who wish to gain some background into the who, what and when of art history, it's informative.
De Wain Valentine: Kurt's Unpublished Commentary
In 1969 Kurt published an interview with sculptor De Wain Valentine in Artforum magazine, and prepared a longer article with commentary about Valentine for Art International magazine. That latter article never went to print, but a copy of Kurt's commentary remained in his article files. Kurt, naturally, explores more than Valentine's work; "...with the refinements and sophistication of art historical thinking, particularly within the last half century or so, in some ways we are better able to explain aesthetic ideas and stylistic elements in terms of traditions within the fine arts. At the same time, however, the ground seems to be slipping out from under our feet."
Pages from the Notebooks of von Meier
Kurt's blue-lined notebook was never far from hand. Tucked into a manila folder, it sat by his spot on the couch ready for his pen whenever a thought or event stimulated Kurt's mind or heart (which happened frequently and easily). There are many dozens of these notebooks stretching over a 40-year period.
Here are two pages from 1990; not all of it is immediately understandable, given Kurt's personal "shorthand." But overall, these pages are revealing.
The OMASTERS - Incarnation of Dionysos
Here's another slice of Omasters, the unfinished esoteric novel Kurt developed with the assistance of Cliff Barney. This serving includes reflections by Dr. Jose Goldolphin Que, the alter-ego of Dr. Kurt von Meier, a generous portion of literary and mythological references, and the dubious Sperm Whale shenanigans of Ahab McGaffe, at home in his 'Vegas saloon, The Double Cross.
Audio Lecture: Censorship and Obscenity
During 1969 Kurt was invited to give a guest lecture at San Francisco State University on censorship and obscenity. Having appeared as an expert witness at several obscenity trials, Kurt had become thoroughly familiar with the fine points of law governing obscenity in 1969, as well as the history of methods used by governments around the world to control "morality." Kurt's description of pornography is downright quaint by today's standards, yet his lecture provides valuable insight into a period of social turmoil in America and its changing attitude towards sex and obscenity. The audio runs about one-hour and twenty minutes and takes a minute to load.
Having Shit, Soaked and Shaved
One part biographical, one part fantasy, Kurt's dip into Sheisshumor takes place, naturally, in the bathroom of the Teahouse of Necessity, aka, The Diamond Sufi Ranch, where "on the back of the john door was mystic-taped the yantra of Elimination." In keeping with all things "Kurt" he finds both amusement and profundity in the mundane. Quoting the revered Tibetan Lama Longchempa, he notes, "Since everything is but an apparition, having nothing to do with good or evil, acceptance or rejection, one may as well burst out laughing."
Games and Chance: A Lecture
In this transcript of a lecture given by Kurt at UCLA in 1966, a number of subjects and themes emerge which continued to play a dominant role in the successive years of his teaching and personal life, namely the role of chance in art, the use and meaning of Tarot cards, and the work of Marcel Duchamp. On chance, Kurt notes, "Chance also became material for the artist, but this was not until the 20th century. This area becomes an important confluence of science, mathematics, and art." And on the Tarot: "We are dealing with human experience, and as historians of culture, we must be very careful not to exclude relevant material . We should find an interest in it in order to reach a better understanding of the specific works of art that would be difficult to explain fully or even understand superficially without such knowledge." Kurt was a superb art historian; his students at UCLA were very lucky.
Modern Times
The topic of modernity takes center stage in this short essay penned in 1967 by Kurt, a reflection upon the shift from an industrial notion of modernity, a la Charlie Chaplin, to an electronic one, a la Marshall McLuhan. Our view of history, Kurt notes, also has changed. "The recent past, approximately the last 500 years, has provided us with the conceptual and methodological equipment with which to resuscitate the distant past before it." And as an art historian, Kurt explores modern media and media figures, including comedians. "There are no more Chaplins. Modern times are now too complex, at once too gross and too subtle, to be counted out in the coin of such comedy."
American Sculpture of the Sixties
The grand exhibition of sculpture of the sixties assembled by Maurice Tuchman at the LA County Museum of Art in 1967 earned an equally grand essay by Kurt in the Summer, 1967 edition of Art International magazine. Predictably, Kurt combined admiration for the effort with criticism of the outcome. "Tuchman's sculpture show probably will be the most important project of its kind in the country because of the number and scope of problems it raises." Those problems, Kurt wrote, include "...the pompous inadequacy of the Museum's architecture. The anti-human, neo-authoritarian flavor of the exterior intimidates even the largest of works. Maybe the only way to get even would have been to install a Boeing 727 in place of the silly little fountain out front...."
The Bridgework of Exegesis
This short essay is typical of Kurt's ability to "dash-off" a paper in an effortless manner. It's said he would sometimes ask his students in class to bring up a topic, and he would deliver a lecture about it. "What's on your mind?" he would ask a student--"Nothing she would reply." "Alright," Kurt would respond, "Let's talk about nothing, the void." In this paper, Kurt examines one of his favorite subjects: language and the transmission of teachings.
Michael Morris' Book
Artist Michael Morris (1942-) took up residence in Vancouver, Canada after emigrating from England. Kurt recognized his talent, favorably mentioned his work in his December, 1967 Los Angeles Letter in Art International magazine, and in 1969 Kurt penned this critical essay about Morris' work. Published in Artscanada (August, 1969), it's among the last of Kurt's published art criticism essays. After he left Los Angeles in late 1969 and moved to the Napa Valley, Kurt largely abandoned writing for art magazines. It is an informative and engaging essay about an intriguing artist, and after all these years deserves to once again see the light of day.
The Best Cook in the World
Here's biographical snippet, an excerpt from an early draft of Kurt's history of the Diamond Sutra Restaurant which he did not include in its completed version. Turns out a Carmel High School Home Economics class played a vital part in his culinary preoccupations. "Mrs. Bourne graciously took the boys into her Home Economics classroom and taught them to cook it all, from soup to roast turkey and the trimmings, to baking bread and cakes (with measuring)."
The Measure of Apollo
The purity of mathematics had a special place in Kurt's heart, and its ability to express otherwise inexpressible truth held profound meaning for him. Language, Kurt felt, is by its nature imperfect; "If we are to have the words mean anything in the languages we use, or the symbols to have a conventional utility (upaya)--spoken languages, formal languages---all of them are algebras, or systems of the relationship between constants and variables." For the math lovers out there, enjoy.
Vogue Proposal: The Arts in L.A.
Within the same manila folder in which Kurt's notes and drafts for an article in Vogue magazine about "Hippie Culture" published in November 1967 were located, was found this proposal for an article about the arts in Los Angeles. In the proposal Kurt references the "upcoming Festival of Experimental Arts" planned for April of 1967; accordingly, this proposal was submitted prior to that. This proposed article was never published; it's likely that Vogue's editor re-directed Kurt to write about hippie culture instead of the Los Angeles art scene. The proposal provides a snapshot of Los Angeles in 1967, and Kurt's perspective on what was going on at that time.
Beelzebub Hamiltonian Fly
As in many of Kurt's flights of fancy, this excerpt from an early draft of Omasters begins with a story and ends in a cascading maelstrom of associative ideas and images. Kurt did not think, and therefore did not write, in a strictly linear fashion. His mind packed with references and information, like James Joyce in Finnegans Wake, Kurt seamlessly jumped from one point in space (mind) to another. "BHF deserves a personalized introduction, like St. Puce, the flea under the armpit of Christ as He hung on the Cross: the first communicant. BHF is the first to pass through the Black Hole of the inner man." The excerpt introduces a number of Omaster characters by name.
