{"id":4214,"date":"2019-05-31T13:55:20","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T18:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/?p=4214"},"modified":"2023-08-05T22:20:16","modified_gmt":"2023-08-06T03:20:16","slug":"sackner-archive-of-concrete-and-visual-poetry-moves-to-the-university-of-iowa-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/2019\/05\/31\/sackner-archive-of-concrete-and-visual-poetry-moves-to-the-university-of-iowa-libraries\/","title":{"rendered":"Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry moves to the University of Iowa Libraries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Tom<\/a>
A Humument <\/em> Fourth Revision Page 366 by Tom Phillips, 1997. The drawing depicts a varicolored stone mosaic, which, based on the content of the poem on this page, may be an abstraction of the facade of Morro Castle that opens James Joyce\u2019s \u201cUlysses.\u201d The poem adapts Molly Bloom\u2019s closing soliloquy that ends the book: \u201cOh, Ah, And I said \u2014 yes yes \u2013 I will yes \u2013 end.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections<\/a> <\/strong>is the new home of the renowned Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry. Founded by Ruth and Marvin Sackner in 1979 in Miami Beach, Florida, the Sackner Archive currently holds the largest collection of concrete and visual poetry in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The archive includes over 75,000 items that document the concrete poetry movement. Annotated books, periodicals, typewritings, drawings, letters, print portfolios, ephemera, and rare and out-of-print artists\u2019 books and manuscripts represent 20th-century art movements such as Italian Futurism, Russian and Eastern European Avant Garde, Dada, Surrealism, Bauhaus, De Stijl, Ultra, Tabu-Dada, Lettrisme, and Ultra-Lettrisme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among many notable items, the collection includes materials by and about the founders of the contemporary concrete poetry movement, such as Haroldo de Campos, Augusto de Campos, Eugen Gomringer, \u00d6yvind Fahlstr\u00f6m, D\u00e9cio Pignatari, and Ian Hamilton Finlay. Also among the richly varied cross section of artists and poets represented in the archive are Dom Sylvester Hou\u00e9dard, Henri Chopin, John Cage, Johanna Drucker, Yoko Ono, and Nam June Paik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great honor for the UI Libraries to become the new home for the Sackner Archive, which will enrich scholarship, inspire generations of students, and draw visitors from around the world,\u201d says John Culshaw, the Jack B. King university librarian at the UI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margaret Gamm, head of UI Libraries Special Collections, says the Sackners\u2019 extensive work with item descriptions makes the archive of even greater value to scholars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will soon be able to make a truly remarkable assortment of materials available, thanks to the dedication of Ruth and Marvin Sackner, their love of collecting, and their determination to create a complete archive by creating descriptive item records for each piece,\u201d Gamm says. \u201cI cannot wait to see how our students, faculty, and community use these materials in their research and classes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire archive has been moved to the UI Libraries, where it will be housed and maintained. The Sackner family has arranged for a scheduled donation of materials to be transferred to the UI Libraries\u2019 ownership. The archive will be open by appointment to students, scholars, and the general public starting January 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sackner family chose the University of Iowa Libraries as the new home for the archive due to the Libraries\u2019 reputation as a center for the study of Dadaism, with its substantial holdings in the International Dada Archive. In addition, the Libraries\u2019 world-class conservation program, the UI\u2019s nationally recognized Center for the Book and the Iowa Writers\u2019 Workshop, collections in the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, and location in Iowa City (a UNESCO City of Literature) were also factors influencing their decision. The Sackners\u2019 first encounter with Iowa was to loan work for the 1983 UI exhibition Lettrisme: Into the Present<\/em>, not knowing that those items would eventually find their way back to the Midwest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy beloved wife, Ruth, and I had a dream that one day our efforts to build our collection into one that would reside in a world-class educational institution like the University of Iowa would come true,\u201d Dr. Marvin Sackner says. \u201cOur dream has finally become a reality. I am just sorry that Ruth is no longer with us to witness this monumental moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to housing the archive in Special Collections, the UI Libraries will maintain the condition of archive items, including fragile materials and rare or one-of-a-kind items. The Libraries Preservation and Conservation departmen<\/a>t<\/strong> has begun repairs on items damaged during Hurricane Irma in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its new home, the Sackner Archive will continue to function as a living record of the concrete poetry movement, as new works are accepted into the collections. The UI Libraries will house new items as they come in and work to make the material available to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to collaborate with the University of Iowa Libraries staff to ensure the safety of the collection during the move and into the future,\u201d says Amanda Keeley, who has served as associate curator of the Sackner Archive for three years. \u201cMargaret [Gamm] has been a particularly helpful partner, allowing a smooth process for moving this substantial archive to Iowa City.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University of Iowa Libraries plans to host a celebration of the Sackner Archive in the near future. At a later date, UI Libraries staff will mount an exhibition of select archive items in the Main Library Gallery. The exhibition dates will be announced at lib.uiowa.edu\/gallery<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Margaret Gamm<\/strong>, head, Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries margaret-gamm@uiowa.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Shipe<\/strong>, curator, International Dada Archive, University of Iowa Libraries timothy-shipe@uiowa.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images from the collection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Sackner Archive of Visual and Concrete Poetry includes items created in a wide variety of styles and media. Initially, the Sackners collected examples of artists who started the concrete poetry movement, but the archive has since expanded in scope and now includes a broad array of works that integrate text and image. Examples include experimental typography, experimental calligraphy, correspondence art, stamp art, sound poetry, performance poetry, micrography, \u2018zines,\u2019 graphic design, and artist magazines.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The images below show a variety of materials and techniques such as calligraphy on an ostrich egg, a \u201chandmade\u201d leather book cover, pressed leaves, lithograph, embossed paper, tea bags encased in paper, one-of-a-kind artist\u2019s book in a round box, carved\/painted wood, and an altered book page on which poetry was created through a technique called \u201cerasure.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Couve le Feu<\/em>, part of a series published by Atelier des Grames, 2000. The egg is engraved with the title and embellished with an original engraving enclosed with a text by Michael Gluck. This book object was delivered with rolled, uncrumpled pages within the shell. Their removal caused them to crumple. The texts are egg-shaped and printed on Tibetan paper with a gilded initial on each page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Couve
Couve le Feu<\/em>, part of a series published by Atelier des Grames, 2000.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Kyoto Grids <\/em>by Margaret Ahrens Sahlstrand, 1984. Unique artist\u2019s book, which captures the grids of Kyoto\u2019s streets in original drawings contained within an unusual circular shape.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Les
Les Cl\u00e9s de la Tombe<\/em>, conceived and realized by E\u0301mile Bernard Souchie\u0300re for Christian Gabriel\/le Guez-Ricord. Atelier des Grames, 1987.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Guez Ricord<\/em> by Christian Gabrielle, a series by Atelier des Grames, 1982.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Print
Engraving by Albert Dupont, from Isidore Isou\u2019s Concerto pour \u0153il et oreille <\/em> (Paris: Atelier Dupont-Visat, 1984).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections is the new home of the renowned Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry. Founded by Ruth and Marvin Sackner in 1979 in Miami Beach, Florida, the Sackner Archive currently holds the largest collection of concrete and visual poetry in the world. The archive includes over 75,000 itemsContinue reading “Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry moves to the University of Iowa Libraries”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":4271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,29,9,14,15,18,1,44],"tags":[],"syndication":[33],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4214"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4214"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5778,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4214\/revisions\/5778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4214"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=4214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}