The Invisible Generation WILLIAM S, BURROUGHS Viliam S, Burroughs (1914-1997) was the greatest American Ierary ‘xperimentait of fhe late 20" century. He was he fothe fortune generated by his grandfather, ventor of te adding rachine, pracursr to the som ‘hnputes. Yet daspite hs prvleged upbringing, Durroughs was a sel Sesoribed "june" and "queer (o che the tiles of his st two books) whose ‘earger was spant h solimposed axie from mainstream American society ‘nd cultura. Ater graduating from Harvard in 1895, ho landed in Now York, ‘nbere he betransed Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouar and bocame assoc ated with the "Beat Genoratin.” Following the publication of his most famous novel, Natad {unch (1959), Burrughs wreta a tlagy cf nevale ing “the cutup method" Emulating the techricues of collage in panting {and montage Fm, Buroughs tooc a scissors olf and new partons of his wing, and then spliced togather the pisces et random to generate new ideas and comectons. Tne tecrnique was not ony a tool of terary ven ton; as also a response to Buroughs’ view that language s @1 arony- ‘mous feroe of sexial cortol, a mind- ane action-centoling virus spread through everyday speach and wring, and most glaringly manifested nthe ‘ass mocia. The cutup method, hen, was a mears of subvering, 9 at least resisting, language's normalizing power. Throughout hs later We, Buroughs was a cut Rgure wih a perctarly ‘rong standing anong musicare. Tho bands Sicely Dan and Soft Machine took their names tom Burroughs’ novels. Burrosghs himself collaborated ‘wn nan Jones (cline Hoang stones), Unete Coteman, Laurie Anaerson, Feychie TV, the Disposable Herees of Hishoprisy, arog other. The flow ing tex (the epilogue fo his cutup novel The Tckat hat Exploded (1962), reveals Buroughs as both a founder of "sound post” and a presu'sr 10 1 Cuture, Incutup form, t describes Burroughs eLt-up expermants with tape recorders ad eflacts upor the profound ofects of sound and record- 284 + muco cuture iat we see is determined to a large extentby what we heat you can very this pecpostion by asimple expenmert tun off iy sour tach your BIoKSIOn sel and substitute an arbitrary sound teck prerecoraac on yout lape recorlor ‘te0t sounds music conorsation recorangs of alher television programs "you wil fin that te arirary soundtrack sees tobe appropvateandis i fact deter- mining your iterpetaten of th fm rack on sereen geape running fora bus in Piccadly with @ soune tack of machine-gun fire loks like 1817 petrogad you {an extend the experiment by using resordod material nove or less appraprce to the fir tack or example take a pole speach on television shut of sound rack and substitute another speech you have prerecstded hardly tel the ciferance isnt mach record soundtrack of one danger man trom uncle py program eontaine ‘Setgen Bis of brmation. Sa. | block one oe 3x0 Bits, information stil] Chistian marclay & yasunas tone + 341