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Hotel
12 pages, Chapbook
First published January 1, 1986
4 people want to read
About the author
Franz Kamin
10 books2 followersTaken from Wikipedia:
Franz Kamin (May 25, 1941 – April 11, 2010) was a prolific American author, composer, and pianist whose works were modelled on topology, general systems theory, meditational processes, and chance operations.[1]
Born in Milwaukee, Kamin studied composition at the University of Oklahoma with Spencer Norton, and at Indiana University with Roque Cordero, where he also studied piano with Alfonso Montecino. While at IU, Kamin, together with fellow composer James Brody organized FIASCO, an experimental collective which meet weekly in Bloomington from 1966 to 1972. Among his compositions from this period was "The Concert of Doors", a synaesthetic work in which a number of doors, each of vastly differing design, some found, some constructed, ranging from comical to mysterious, were set on a path through a woods to be traversed by the audience-participants.[2] Kamin moved to New York in the 1970s and collaborated with cellist Charlotte Moorman, a fixture in the downtown avant-garde scene at that time. He eventually settled in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he remained for the rest of his life.[3]
Kamin is published in two books (1980's Ann Margaret Loves You & other psychotopological diversions and 1986's Scribble Death) by Station Hill Press. Several of his shorter works, musical scores and an LP recording of Behavioral Drift II and Rugugmool have also been published.[4]
He was killed in a car crash in Roseville, Minnesota when a car driven by James Brody, who also died, left the road, jumped a curb, and hit a tree. The two composers were returning from a SEAMUS festival in St. Cloud, Minnesota.[5][3] Their names were released on April 12, 2010, by the Ramsey County medical examiner's office.
Franz Kamin (May 25, 1941 – April 11, 2010) was a prolific American author, composer, and pianist whose works were modelled on topology, general systems theory, meditational processes, and chance operations.[1]
Born in Milwaukee, Kamin studied composition at the University of Oklahoma with Spencer Norton, and at Indiana University with Roque Cordero, where he also studied piano with Alfonso Montecino. While at IU, Kamin, together with fellow composer James Brody organized FIASCO, an experimental collective which meet weekly in Bloomington from 1966 to 1972. Among his compositions from this period was "The Concert of Doors", a synaesthetic work in which a number of doors, each of vastly differing design, some found, some constructed, ranging from comical to mysterious, were set on a path through a woods to be traversed by the audience-participants.[2] Kamin moved to New York in the 1970s and collaborated with cellist Charlotte Moorman, a fixture in the downtown avant-garde scene at that time. He eventually settled in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he remained for the rest of his life.[3]
Kamin is published in two books (1980's Ann Margaret Loves You & other psychotopological diversions and 1986's Scribble Death) by Station Hill Press. Several of his shorter works, musical scores and an LP recording of Behavioral Drift II and Rugugmool have also been published.[4]
He was killed in a car crash in Roseville, Minnesota when a car driven by James Brody, who also died, left the road, jumped a curb, and hit a tree. The two composers were returning from a SEAMUS festival in St. Cloud, Minnesota.[5][3] Their names were released on April 12, 2010, by the Ramsey County medical examiner's office.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 6, 2011
Franz was an old friend of mine who died in a car crash along w/ another friend of mine, Sarmad Brody, on April 11, 2010. I've been making a documentary about him. While I was in NYC in Dec '10 I had the good fortune to interview Mitch Highfill & Mitch gave me a copy of "Hotel" - wch, if I understand correctly, Mitch himself published.
Now, I'm an unabashed enthusiast for Franz's work: his writing, his composing, & his performances. SO, to read a work that I hadn't previously run across was a treat. I'm usually enamored of work that manages to have something to say by people who have a wealth of ways of saying these things & "Hotel" reinforces this nicely. Each page has the text broken into equal quadrants as if each block is a window pane in THE HOTEL - ie: the bk itself. When each text ends on the page it isn't continued on the next - it's as if that's all the view thru the panes that they allow. As the 1st page asks the reader: "Is this a description of some hotel someplace? Or is the hotel only in my mind?"
I know Franz respected the writings of Maurice Blanchot & I find a small trace of Blanchot here - albeit a bit more experimental. This is a very slim volume but Franz manages to put enuf into it to probably satisfy most readers of his work. Take the following page example (hopefully not reformatted here):
SOMEWHERE IN THE V AST COMPLEX OF COR
RIDORS OF THE SUBB ASEMENT IS THE ALT
ERATIONS ROOM. OPE RATED SOLELY BY A
SQUAT HEAVYSET WOM AN, VERY OLD, BROW
NISH SKIN, SITS AT A LITTERED TABLE
AMIDST RACKS OF TO OLS, SURGICAL IMPL
EMENTS, BOXES OF P ARTS, CHEMICALS, G
LASSWARE, COILS OF WIRE, MACHINERY O
F EVERY DESCRIPTIO N. CLUTTERED. THE
PURPORTED REASON F OR THE EXISTANCE O
F THIS ROOM IS THA T IT IS A REPAIR S
HOP: RADIOS, VACUU M CLEANERS, WATCHE
S, DOG LEASHES; SH E EVEN DOES VET WO
RK ON THE DOGS THE MSELVES. IT IS RUM
ORED THAT SHE ALSO MODIFIES THINGS:
CHANGES OBJECTS OF ONE FUNCTION INTO
OBJECTS OF ANOTHE R; HAS BEEN KNOWN
TO WORK ON PEOPLE, TO CHANGE THEIR A
TTITUDES, MOODS, M ODES OF FUNCTION.
HOW IS THAT DONE? SHE HAS QUITE AN U
NDERGROUND REPUTAT ION. THE TROUBLE I
S, I HAVE NEVER BE EN ABLE TO FIND TH
E ROOM WHEN I NEED ANYTHING CHANGED.
To me, this has traces of the humor of William Burroughs & the structure of George Perec's "Life, A User's Manual" - a nice combination indeed. &, of course, Kamin is his own man.
Now, I'm an unabashed enthusiast for Franz's work: his writing, his composing, & his performances. SO, to read a work that I hadn't previously run across was a treat. I'm usually enamored of work that manages to have something to say by people who have a wealth of ways of saying these things & "Hotel" reinforces this nicely. Each page has the text broken into equal quadrants as if each block is a window pane in THE HOTEL - ie: the bk itself. When each text ends on the page it isn't continued on the next - it's as if that's all the view thru the panes that they allow. As the 1st page asks the reader: "Is this a description of some hotel someplace? Or is the hotel only in my mind?"
I know Franz respected the writings of Maurice Blanchot & I find a small trace of Blanchot here - albeit a bit more experimental. This is a very slim volume but Franz manages to put enuf into it to probably satisfy most readers of his work. Take the following page example (hopefully not reformatted here):
SOMEWHERE IN THE V AST COMPLEX OF COR
RIDORS OF THE SUBB ASEMENT IS THE ALT
ERATIONS ROOM. OPE RATED SOLELY BY A
SQUAT HEAVYSET WOM AN, VERY OLD, BROW
NISH SKIN, SITS AT A LITTERED TABLE
AMIDST RACKS OF TO OLS, SURGICAL IMPL
EMENTS, BOXES OF P ARTS, CHEMICALS, G
LASSWARE, COILS OF WIRE, MACHINERY O
F EVERY DESCRIPTIO N. CLUTTERED. THE
PURPORTED REASON F OR THE EXISTANCE O
F THIS ROOM IS THA T IT IS A REPAIR S
HOP: RADIOS, VACUU M CLEANERS, WATCHE
S, DOG LEASHES; SH E EVEN DOES VET WO
RK ON THE DOGS THE MSELVES. IT IS RUM
ORED THAT SHE ALSO MODIFIES THINGS:
CHANGES OBJECTS OF ONE FUNCTION INTO
OBJECTS OF ANOTHE R; HAS BEEN KNOWN
TO WORK ON PEOPLE, TO CHANGE THEIR A
TTITUDES, MOODS, M ODES OF FUNCTION.
HOW IS THAT DONE? SHE HAS QUITE AN U
NDERGROUND REPUTAT ION. THE TROUBLE I
S, I HAVE NEVER BE EN ABLE TO FIND TH
E ROOM WHEN I NEED ANYTHING CHANGED.
To me, this has traces of the humor of William Burroughs & the structure of George Perec's "Life, A User's Manual" - a nice combination indeed. &, of course, Kamin is his own man.
Displaying 1 of 1 review