05.04 | 11.05.2025
giorno poetry systems
Concebida em 1965 e tornando-se uma organização sem fins lucrativos 501(c3) em 1974, a Giorno Poetry Systems (GPS) é uma criação do poeta, artista e activista John Giorno (1936-2019), uma figura seminal na cena nova-iorquina da década de 1960 em diante.
Tendo já experimentado com fitas e gravações fonográficas e, acreditando que a poesia estava a marcar passo em relação às artes plásticas, à dança e à música, Giorno concebeu uma nova forma de chegar ao público utilizando meios do quotidiano, como a televisão, o telefone, a rádio e discos, empurrando assim a poesia para além das páginas impressas tornando-a multimédia. Em 1968 Dial-A-Poem já expandia o espectro da poesia (não sendo todos os poemas exactamente o esperado, indo de Mantras Budistas, a discursos de membros do Black Panther Party ou os 4’33 de John Cage) e o seu alcance (escutados através do telefone após ligar para um determinado número). Em 1972 o primeiro disco de vinil da GPS desenvolveu ainda mais este rumo.
A criação de uma editora permitiu que a GPS contornasse o meio expositivo no qual Dial-A-Poem havia ganho maior notoriedade, após a sua inclusão na importante exposição Information, com curadoria de Kynaston McShine e que teve lugar no MoMA em 1970. Esta nova forma de distribuição através de LPs e, mais tarde, cassetes VHS, permitiu a Giorno e a um vasto número de contribuidores que incluía poetas, músicos, bandas e artistas plásticos, de performance e de spoken word manterem diversas questões sociais e políticas em destaque – os direitos civis, a revolução sexual ou a Guerra do Vietname nas décadas de 1960-70 ou a epidemia da SIDA já nas décadas de 1980-90 – possibilitando, também, que a prática artística de todos eles tivesse uma plataforma ilimitada que se mantém activa até hoje. A funcionar a partir do The Bunker situado no 222 Bowery NYC 10012, a missão de Giorno e da GPS de apoiar e providenciar um espaço onde a colaboração é promovida, mantém-se viva.
Uma colecção completa das edições GPS encontra-se em exposição no consultório e inclui gravações vídeo, livros, posters e 21 LPs. Um gira-discos encontra-se disponível para que todos os discos possam ser tocados e ouvidos.
Created in 1965 and becoming a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in 1974, Giorno Poetry Systems (GPS) is the brainchild of poet, artist and activist John Giorno (1936-2019), a seminal figure of the New York scene from the 1960s onwards.
Having already experimented with tape and phonograph recordings, and believing poetry was lagging behind the visual arts, dance and music, Giorno devised a new way of reaching the public by using everyday means such as the telephone, television, radio and records, while pushing poetry beyond the printed page and turning it into multimedia. By 1968 his Dial-A-Poem had already expanded poetry’s specter (not all poems were exactly what they were expected to be, ranging from Buddhist Mantras to speeches by members of the Black Panther Party or John Cage’s 4’33) and reach (they were delivered via the telephone by calling a certain number). In 1972 GPS’s first vinyl record further elaborated in that direction.
The creation of a record label thus allowed GPS to circumvent the exhibition setting in which Dial-A-Poem gained even greater notoriety, after being included in Information, an influential show curated by Kynaston McShine and held at MoMA in 1970. With this new form of distribution, Giorno and a vast number of contributors that included poets, musicians, bands, as well as spoken word, performance and visual artists, whose recordings and artwork were included in LPs and later in VHS tapes, kept a multitude of social and political issues in the forefront – from the civil rights, the sexual revolution or the Vietnam War in the 1960s-70s, to the AIDS epidemic in 1980s-90s – but also provided everyone’s practice an unbounded platform that still remains active to this day. Operating from The Bunker located at 222 Bowery NYC 10012, Giorno and GPS’s mission of supporting and providing a space where collaboration is fostered lives on.
A complete collection of GPS editions is on display at consultório, including video recordings, books, posters and 21 LPs. A turntable is available at the space and all the vinyl records can be played and listened to.
The John Giorno Band at CBGB's. New York, United States, 1986. Photo by Kate Simon. Courtesy of the Giorno Poetry Systems Archive.
contribuidores | contributors
John Giorno & The John Giorno Band, Kathy Acker, Helen Adam, Miguel Algarin, Charles Amirkhanian, Beth Anderson, Laurie Anderson, Frank M. Arion, John Ashbery, Robert Ashley, Avant Squares, Imamu Amiri Baraka, Barbara Barg, Maria Beatty, Regina Beck, Uli Becker, Franco Beltrametti, Bill Berkson, J. Bernlef, Charles Bernstein, Ted Berrigan, Tom Bessoir, Paul Blackburn, Joe Brainard, Glenn Branca, Marijke Breuers, Jim Brodey, Otis Brown, Michael Brownstein, Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, Butthole Surfers, David Byrne, Cabaret Voltaire, John Cage, Remco Campert, Tom Carey, Jim Carroll, Charlotte Carter, Nick Cave, Chad & Sudan, Tseng Kwong Chi, Henri Chopin, Tom Clark, Kathleen Cleaver, Coil, Clark Coolidge, Gregory Corso, Jayne Cortez, Robert Creeley, Jackie Curtis, Wren D’Antonio, Mona DaVinci, Jimmy De Sana, Elly de Waard, George Delmerico, Edwin Denby, Christopher Dewdney, Diane di Prima, Ed Dorn, Didi Susan Dubeliew, Robert Duncan, Einstürzende Neubauten, Kenward Elmslie, Larry Fagin, Marianne Faithfull, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Karen Finley, Four Horsemen, Robert Frank | Rudy Wurlitzer | Gary Hill, The Fugs, Cliff Fyman, Diamanda Galás, Jerry Garcia & Bob Weir, Michael Gibbs, Allen Ginsberg, Daniela Gioseffi, Michael Gira, Philip Glass, Anthony J. Gnazzo, Peter Gordon, Gary Green, Ted Greenwald, Brion Gysin, Jessica Hagedorn & The Gangster Choir, James Hamilton, Steve Hamilton, Keith Haring, Debbie Harry, Bernard Heidsieck, Richard Hell, David Henderson, Judith Herzberg, Julia Heyward, Dick Higgins, Bob Holman, Lita Hornick, Susan Howe, Erica Huggins, Hüsker Dü, Donna Jackson, David Johansen, Joe Johnson, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Williams S. Burroughs Jr., Lenore Kandel, Lenny Kaye, Ken Kesey, Alan Kikuchi, Bill Knott, Kenneth Koch, Rochelle Kraut, Mitchell Kreigman, Mazisi Kunene, Wiel Kusters, Joanne Kyger, Michael Lally, Timothy Leary, Ton Lebbink, Vincente Zito Lema, Rose Lesniak, Denise Levertov, Les Levine, Frank Lima, Arto Lindsay, Live Skull, Robert Lowell, Lydia Lunch, Jackson Mac Low, Gerard Malanga, Robert Mapplethorpe, Lizzy Sara May, Bernadette Mayer, Steve McCaffery, Michael McClure, Taylor Mead, William Stanley Merwin, Robert Messing, Alfred Miersch, Ted Milton, Meredith Monk, Charlie Morrow, Richard Murphy, David Murray, Eileen Myles, Roberta Neiman, New Order, Frank O’Hara, Claes Oldenburg, Charles Olson, Michael Ondaatje, Joel Oppenheimer, Peter Orlovsky, Maureen Owen, Rochelle Owens, Ron Padgett, Gary Panter, John Perreault, Naomi Petersen, Miguel Pinero, Sylvia Plachy, Sylvia Plath, Hans Plomp, Charles Plymell, Pro Metal Syndrome, Psychic TV, Ishmael Reed, Marcia Resnick, Rene Ricard, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Henry Rollins, Rollins Band, Jerome Rothenberg, Ed Sanders, Aram Saroyan, Frans Schellekens, Harris Schiff, Bobby Seale, Ntozake Shange, Kate Simon, John Sinclair, Patti Smith, Gary Snyder, Sonic Youth, Terry Southern, Jack Spicer, Charles Stein, Chris Stein, Ned Sublette, Swans, Herman Hendrik ter Balkt, Lorenzo Thomas, Tony Towle, Steve & Gloria Tropp, Hans van de Waardbenberg, Leo van der Zalm, Johnny van Doorn, Mignon van Ingen, David van Tieghem, Simon Vinkenoog, Paul Violi, Andreí Vosnesensky, Diane Wakoski, Tom Waits, Anne Waldman, John Waters, Lawrence Watson, Tom Weatherly, Larry Wendt, Philip Whalen, John Wieners, Emmett Williams, Robert Williams, Heathcote Williams, William Carlos Williams, Robert Anton Wilson, Robert Wilson | Christopher Knowles | The Civil Wars, Wendy Jane Workman, Frank Zappa, Ad Zuiderent
publicações | publications
GPS 001-002 The Dial-A-Poem Poets (LP, 1972)
GPS 003-004 The Dial-A-Poem Poets: Disconnected (LP, 1974)
GPS 005 Biting Off The Tongue Of A Corpse (LP, 1975)
GPS 006-007 William S. Burroughs | John Giorno (LP, 1975)
GPS 008-009 The Dial-A-Poem Poets: Totally Corrupt (LP, 1976)
GPS 010-011 John Giorno & Ann Waldman: A Kulchur Selection (LP, 1977)
Lita Hornik: Kulchur Queen (book, 1977)
GPS 012-013 Big Ego (LP, 1978)
GPS 014-015 The Nova Convention (LP, 1979)
GPS 016-017 The Nova Convention (cassette, 1979)
GPS 018-019 The Dial-A-Poem Poets: Sugar, Alcohol, & Meat (LP, 1980)
GPS 020-021 Laurie Anderson, William S. Burroughs, John Giorno: You're The Guy I Want To Share My Money With (LP, 1981)
GPS 022-023 Laurie Anderson, William S. Burroughs, John Giorno: You're The Guy I Want To Share My Money With (cassette, 1981)
GPS 024 Polyphonix 1, co-produced with Cramps Records, Association Polyphonix and Giorno Poetry Systems (LP, 1981)
GPS 025 Glenn Branca & John Giorno: Who You Staring At? (LP, 1982)
GPS 026 Radio Poets, for radio stations, produced by GPS and the ZBS Foundation with partial support from the National Endowment for the Arts (2½ track stereo reel tapes,1982)
GPS 027 The Dial-A-Poem Poets: Life Is A Killer (LP, 1982)
GPS 028-029 One World Poetry Live From Amsterdam (LP, 1981)
GPS 030 You're A Hook: The 15 Year Anniversary Of Dial-A-Poem, 1968-1983 (LP, 1983)
GPS 031 Giorno Video Pak 1: Lenny Kaye, William S. Burroughs, and John Giorno (Beta, 1984)
GPS 032 Lenny Kaye Connection: I’ve Got A Right (LP, 1984)
GPS 033 The Dial-A-Poem Poets: Better An Old Demon Than A New God (LP, 1984)
GPS 034 Giorno Video Pak 2: Burroughs, The Movie, directed by Howard Brookner (VHS, 1983)
GPS 035 A Diamond Hidden In The Mouth Of A Corpse (LP, 1985)
GPS 036 Poetry In Motion by Ron Mann (VHS, 1982)
GPS 037 Giorno Video Pak 3: It’s Clean, It Just Looks Dirty (VHS, 1987)
GPS 038 Smack My Crack (LP, cassette, CD, 1987)
GPS 039 Giorno Video Pak 4: Gang Of Souls, a film by Maria Beatty (VHS, 1988)
GPS 040 Like A Girl, I Want You To Keep Coming (LP, cassette, CD, 1989)
Lita Hornik: The Green Fuse: A Memoir (book, 1989)
GPS 041 Giorno Video Pak 5: Old Habits Die Hard (VHS, 1990)
GPS 042 Laurie Anderson, William S. Burroughs, John Giorno: You're The Guy I Want To Share My Money With (CD, 1990)
GPS 043 Paul Alberts: Franz Schubert & W.A. Mozart (CD, 1992)
GPS 044 Cash Cow: The Best of Giorno Poetry Systems, 1965-1993 (CD, 1993)
Lita Hornik: To Elizabeth And Eleanor, Great Queens Who Loved Poetry (book, 1993)
The Best of William Burroughs (4 CD box set, 1998)
GPS XXX The John Giorno Band: I'm Rock Hard, 1982-1989 (LP, 2017)
agradecimento a | acknowledgment to
giorno poetry systems