Headnote from Editor-in-Chief

I first encountered asemic writing through the work of Christopher Patton, which I’ve seen both sprawling across his wooden dining table and in museum shows. Asemic writing carefully curates its materials, and I am honored to have had my junk mail reborn in one of Chris’s works. The piece was titled “Siri Falls Among the Things of the World” and a chunk of my Bank of America envelop—torqued and challenged—relived as a goddess’s head.

When my editors and I realized that Covid would put a print issue out of the question this year, we decided our necessity would be a virtue, a chance to showcase work that’s vibrant, visual, and provocative—work that fully owns every inch of its pixeled space. I thought of Chris, not just talented in this genre but connected across the literary world of asemic writing.

The result is “To Those Whose Eyes Wander,” an array of asemic work that shares obsessions with the semantic and the material, but in which each piece does different and compelling work.

Chris has his own headnote to talk about the asemic and what it does. I will just close here with huge thanks to Chris for his editorial guidance and willingness to reach out to other artists as well as gift us with his own work. I requested a piece from him and he graciously gave us this video.. I also want to thank my managing editor Stephen Haines for his keen eye and tireless work getting this section present for you all in a way that is artist-respectful and view-friendly.

-Susanne Paola Antonetta