Category: surrealism

Give Different . . .

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To order, click on a title in the list below.

CAPTAIN CAP: HIS ADVENTURES, HIS IDEAS, HIS DRINKS. Alphonse Allais. Translated by Doug Skinner
SELECTED PLAYS OF ALPHONSE ALLAIS. Alphonse Allais. Translated by Doug Skinner
TINTIN MEETS THE DRAGON QUEEN in THE RETURN OF THE MAYA TO MANHATTAN.
Alain Arias-Misson
WAITING FOR GODEAU.  Honoré de Balzac. Translated by Mark Axelrod
SWEET AND VICIOUS. Suzanne Burns
DON’T WORRY, IT’S NOT ABOUT HATS.  Norman Conquest
THE NEGLECTED WORKS OF NORMAN CONQUEST. Norman Conquest
REAR WINDOWS: AN INSIDE LOOK AT FIFTY FILM NOIR CLASSICS. Norman Conquest
‘S A BIRD. a play by Eckhard Gerdes
THE SUGAR NUMBERS. Judson Hamilton
THE COMPLETE UNABRIDGED LEXICON.  Opal Louis Nations
SURREALIST TEXTS. Gisèle Prassinos
WOMEN THAT DON’T EXIST. Frank Pulaski
AN INCONVENIENT CORPSE. Jason E. Rolfe
FISHSLICES. Paul Rosheim
THE UNKNOWN ADJECTIVE AND OTHER STORIES. Doug Skinner
HOROSCRAPES. Doug Skinner
WALLOOMSAC; A WEEK ON THE RIVER. David R. Slavitt
CROCODILE SMILES. Yuriy Tarnawsky
OULIPO PORNOBONGO 3: ANTHOLOGY OF EROTIC WORDPLAY. Various
THE DERANGEMENT OF JULES TORQUEMAL. Robert Wexelblatt
THE STRAW THAT BROKE. Tom Whalen

BLACK SCAT REVIEW – No. 7 – Lit Noir
BLACK SCAT REVIEW – No. 8 – Seduction
BLACK SCAT REVIEW – No. 9/10 – Double Issue – Utter Nonsense

 

“A Surrealist museum of femmes fatale!”

WOMEN cover

Not since André Breton’s Nadja has there been anything like this. Hallucinatory portraits, collaged, painted, scrawled by a visual poet of Chicago’s mean streets. Ephemeral, fresco’d goddesses drift out of reach, taunt us, haunt us, inspire desire and erotic obsessions. Indifferent brides, savage debutantes, sirens and succubi, erotic dream queens and mythical girls next door.

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The artist’s one-of-kind hand-bound original.

Originally an extraordinary one-of-a-kind, hand-bound artist’s book, WOMEN THAT DON’T EXIST has been lovingly reproduced in sublime full color. 63 pages, perfect-bound in a limited collector’s edition of 100 copies. $16.00  / BLACK SCAT CLASSIC INTERIM EDITION #09

BACK-COVER
Back cover.

Frontis and title page

Frontis and title page

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 Frank Pulaski’s graffiti’d visions seduce the eye and fire the imagination.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Have you had your MUD BATH today?

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“Allan Bealy is a collagist with a profound knowledge of the form’s history, as well as art history—period. With a vision that’s wide-ranging but cohesive, he’s one of those artists who can serve up a banquet of images in seemingly disparate styles, yet you’ll always know who cooked them up. Dig in to this delectable feast for the eyes, but take the time to savor each course.”
—Peter Cherches, author of Lift Your Right Arm

“At last, an album of Bealy’s edgy, layered, elegant collages. Incisive in both senses.”—Michael Kasper

SOLD OUT

 

 

Coming Attractions

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REAR WINDOWS: AN INSIDE LOOK AT FIFTY FILM NOIR CLASSICS
ON SALE NOW!

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MUD BATH by Allan Bealy
ON SALE NOW!

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THE UNKNOWN ADJECTIVE by Doug Skinner
Coming June 11th

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ASTOUNDING

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SELECTED PLAYS OF ALPHONSE ALLAIS
Coming July 9th

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SEX

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OULIPO PORNOBONGO 3: ANTHOLOGY OF EROTIC WORDPLAY
Coming July 30th

PLUS

READING IN TRANSLATION reviews SURREALIST TEXTS

 Falling somewhere between short stories and prose poems in fluid translation by Ellen Nations, Surrealist Texts is an indispensable introduction to this fascinating writer.

—Lucina Schell, READING IN TRANSLATION

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“Nations’s translations admirably resist the urge to clarify or normalize Prassinos’s surrealist prose. Complemented by Bruce Hutchinson’s beautiful watercolors in a limited edition of only 85 copies, Surrealist Texts makes a lovely gift for connoisseurs of surrealism. But the significance of this collection extends beyond its historical value. Like most surrealist literature, the stories are strange and even off-putting on the surface, but plumbing their depths reveals repressed truths, hidden within the subconscious, that are no less painful or true than when they were written.”

Read the complete text of Schell’s glowing review at the link below:

http://readingintranslation.com/2014/02/25/bleak-fairy-tales-gisele-prassinoss-surrealist-texts-translated-by-ellen-nations/

THIS LIMITED EDITION IS OUT-OF-PRINT.

In the wings, some special things (fifth edition)…

 

jt_smlThe Derangement of Jules Torquemal
by Robert Wexelblatt

“The best thing would be for me to go away. Everyone says so: Geneviève, Emmanuelle, Dr. Strouville; no doubt the milkman, the President of the Republic, and the Pope in Rome agree. The Minister might allow me a couple of weeks, but he’s been looking at me strangely of late, furtively but with intensity, as if trying to peer inside my skull and make a proper survey of the bleak thoughts to be found there…”

A daunting philosophical puzzle.

Black Scat Classic Interim Edition – No. 07
Publication:  April  9

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Mud Bath
by Allan Bealy

“At last, an album of Bealy’s edgy, layered, elegant collages. Incisive, in both senses.”
– Michael Kasper

“Allan Bealy is a collagist with a profound knowledge of the form’s history, as well as art history—period. With a vision that’s wide-ranging but cohesive, he’s one of those artists who can serve up a banquet of images in seemingly disparate styles, yet you’ll always know who cooked them up. Dig in to this delectable feast for the eyes, but take the time to savor each course.”
– Peter Cherches, author of Lift Your Right Arm

Black Scat Classic Interim Edition – No. 08
Publication:  May 14

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Selected Plays of Alphonse Allais
Translated from the French by Doug Skinner

Rare theatrical works by the great French humorist.

Absurdist Texts & Documents  –  No. 28
Publication:  July  9

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And more to come.

Surrealism Lives!

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We start the New Year off with a stunning collection of texts by Gisèle Prassinos—one of surrealism’s most gifted voices.

Prassinos was discovered at age 14 by André Breton who included her poetry in his seminal Anthologie de l’humour noir (1940). Breton commented: “The tone of Gisèle Prassinos is unique: all the poets are jealous of it.” Indeed, her haunting, childlike style remains unrivaled and her stories timeless. 

photo by Man Ray

Gisèle Prassinos reading her poems to the Surrealists (1934)
Photo © Man Ray Trust / ADAGP, Paris

Exquisitely translated from the French by Ellen Nations, this limited edition includes 20 transformative texts, plus eight original watercolor paintings by the artist Bruce Hutchinson.spread

That half the works in this collection were written when Prassinos was just fourteen and fifteen is evidence of how rare a prodigy she was. The surrealist’s sense of the word marvelous certainly applies to these strange creations.

Here is a taste of the text “Filial Devotion”…

He now found himself in the middle of a large lake where furniture made of mahogany, spruce and rosewood swam.Young girls in their panties gently fought each other by now and again blowing on their flushed arms.The man believed he recognized one of his daughters. But thinking it was only a hallucination, he retreated by swimming up to the adjoining door.There, he found himself in the presence of a very large and hairy stag.The stag’s eyes slowly became bigger and bigger as they gradually feasted on his whole egg-shaped face.

Only 85 copies are available for purchase.

OUT OF PRINT

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Ellen Nations, translator and photographer, grew up in Norway and has for many years made her home in the San Francisco Bay Area where she lives with her husband Opal Louis Nations. Together they published the experimental literature and art magazine Strange Faeces. In addition to her translations of Gisèle Prassinos, she has  translated works  by Alain Jouffroy, Paul Nougé, Raymond Radiguet, Joyce Mansour and others.

Bruce Hutchinson created the watercolor paintings in Surrealist Texts while in his mid-20s as part of his weekly correspondence with Opal and Ellen Nations. He wrote his letters on small pieces of paper with ink drawings on one side, original watercolors on the other. His artwork has appeared in many small press publications.

In the wings, some special things (fourth edition)…

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2014
 Listen closely and you shall hear…  the melodious sounds of a Scat-filled New Year.

  • Surrealist Texts by Gisèle Prassinos
    Transformative texts by one of Surrealism’s most gifted voices. Translated from the French by Ellen Nations. Includes eight original watercolor paintings by Bruce Hutchinson.
  • The Unknown Adjective & Other Stories by Doug Skinner
    A collection of cryptic comics and picture stories.
  • The Straw That Broke by Tom Whalen
    A  “baffling and wonderfully funny” novel, featuring the legendary     Encyclopedia Mouse.
  • Selected Plays of Alphonse Allais
    Rare theatrical works by the great French humorist, compiled and translated by Doug Skinner.
  • Merde à La Belle Époque
    Scatological texts by period luminaries, including Alphonse Allais, George Auriol, Georges Courteline, Edmond Haraucourt, Vincent Hyspa, Maurice MacNab, & Erik Satie. Compiled and translated by Doug Skinner. “Sparkling sewage!”
  • The Sugar Numbers by Judson Hamilton
    A kaleidoscopic novella in which two servants—Morel and Valentine—attempt to usurp their respective masters.
  • Selected Poems of Edward D. Wood, Jr.
    Lost poems by the enigmatic creator of Plan 9 from Outer Space.
  • Crocodile Smiles by Yuriy Tarnawsy
    Stories by the author of The Placebo Effect Trilogy.
  • Desiring Specimens by Norman Conquest.
    A collection of imaginary book titles hidden in typography specimen sheets.

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drawing at top of post  by Léonce Burret

 

A Foetal Treat is Born!

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embryo-cover

In 2012, Opal Louis Nations gave new meaning to the word “definition” with The Complete Unabridged Lexicon—a classic reference of lexical eccentricity. Today, the distinguished author and artist gives new meaning to the word “personhood” with his masterpiece of speculative collage and text—Embryo World & Others Stripped Bare.

This lavishly illustrated Black Scat Classic Interim Edition (#05) unveils a future ripe with dark foetal visions—at once feral and sublime—fresh from the fertile womb of Opal Nations.

A visit to Embryo World at this moment of conception transports one to unborn umbilical galaxies where amorphodytes commune and drool, where past is both present and future.

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Is it sacrilege or ‘pataphysics? Dada or prenatal hallucination?

Enter Embryo World and discover the naked truth—the flesh & blood & skin & bone of human destiny.

In full foetal color. Limited to 125 copies.  OUT OF PRINT

There’s no government, but at least there’s still Art…

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rich-kids-cover

Pamper them with oils, swaddle them in the spoils of war. Watercolors, pastels, collage, découpage, gouache and the glory of riches. Feed their pointy little heads with the visions of well-heeled contemporary masters. Shower them with glitter from the gods. Smother them in dark museums and galleries. Clobber the slobbering blobs with sculpted urns, lash them with brushes dripping illusions. Give them the gift of fab, fame and fortune! Bestow upon them this Fun and Profitable Activity Book by one of Italy’s greatest living  artists—Peppo Bianchessi.

RICH KIDS

CONTEMPORARY ART FOR RICH KIDS is a full color, illustrated guide to modern rat and the wonders of creation’s maze. Let the kiddies ogle, spit, guffaw and squirm as they learn and play. Remember: rich kids represent the future of the planet. These little amorphodytes are our future landlords & banksters; they are budding mobsters, jihadis, politicians, investors, meth-heads and speculators. They were born to remake the world spin in their own greedy image.

Spoil them now while there’s still time. Give them something to do. Or read it yourself. It’s the breakfast of Duchampions.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER this luxurious little book of dreams.
A Black $cat Scholastic Classic.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST:

PEPPO2Peppo Bianchessi is a multimedia artist from Italy. He is a “mittel-European”, a  funny intellectual strongly influenced by Japanese culture. In Italy, Multimedia Artists have been around since the Renaissance and, before Apple Computers and multi-tasking, they were simply called Renaissance Men. When he was 20, Peppo went to the Venice Art Biennale for the first time. He was surprised to see that some of the so-called “young artists” were over 50. Recently he returned to Venice and discovered some teenagers were considered “young artists.” Peppo is now 45 years old and has never been a young artist. And it’s probably too early to consider him an Old Master, but he’s working on it. That is, to become old, not a Master. On many occasions he has tried to be a contemporary artist, but his timing was always wrong. Thus, he has accepted his real vocation: undermining the education of children (and adults) through funny and provocative books.

Contemporary Art For Rich Kids is his first book to be published in the United States.