untitled (Another Goal!--for The Third Mind)

William S. Burroughs, artist

1914–1997

Brion Gysin, artist

1916–1986

untitled (Another Goal!--for The Third Mind), circa 1965

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: from photographic transparency of collage; Photostat process

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 313 x 240 mm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 12 5/16 x 9 7/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: Gift from the Estate of William S. Burroughs

Accession number: 1999.0340

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Brion Gysin: A Selection of Books and Works on Paper," Feb-2005, Steve Goddard and Joanna Sternberg
In 1964, Gysin traveled to New York, where William S. Burroughs joined him. Together, Burroughs and Gysin began work on their penultimate cut-up project, The Third Mind, whose title invokes the notion that when two minds work together, a third mind is created. Gysin discovered the cut-up technique, which became central to his collaborations with Burroughs, in 1959. As summarized by John Geiger, “while cutting a mount for a drawing [Gysin] sliced through the pile of old newspapers below with his Stanley blade. He picked up the newspaper fragments and began to piece together texts at random…” The Third Mind project appeared in the form of a book in 1976 (the 1978 edition is exhibited here), but with only a fraction of the pictorial elements.