Cover of Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND
(West Lima, Wisconsin, USA) (Xerox Sutra Editions 2024)
(Image courtesy of the Asemic Front 2 Archive)
Review of Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel
by mIEKAL aND
La Farge Wisconsin, USA:
Xerox Sutra Editions 2024
8 X 10 inches; 84 black & white plates
Review by De Villo Sloan
I have just recently obtained a copy of mIEKAL aND’s Interrupted
Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel published in 2024 by Xerox Sutra Editions
in La Farge, Wisconsin, USA. I am enjoying perusing this excellent collection
and want to register some observations in the official record of my reviews and
commentary before at last saying a fond farewell to 2024.
The creation of AI-assisted digital vispo (for which mIEKAL
aND is receiving much praise) is opening new literary genres. We are witnessing
the birth of patasemics, metasemics, conceptualism, quantum poetry, and
numerous other new poetic forms and concepts.
From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND
(West Lima, Wisconsin, USA) (Xerox Sutra Editions 2024)
(Image courtesy of the Asemic Front 2 Archive)
Canadian conceptualist Christian Bok has created his Xenotext, a truly revolutionary bio-poem of the 21st century. Experimental poets are creating visionary digital epics as well as graphic novels and asemic comics.
Visual poet Shawn McMurtagh (California, USA) and I collaborated on an asemic, glitchtext graphic novel titled, The Many Masks of 'Doc' Mortag (2021). I know firsthand the structural challenges of sustaining an extended vispo piece
From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND
(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the
Asemic Front 2 Archive)
mIEKAL aND’s Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel is a collection of nearly one hundred visual poems by one of our most significant and inventive visual poets. The series ranges from contemplative asemic calligraphy to sci-fi hyperreal landscapes of deconstructing texts.
From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND
(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the
Asemic Front 2 Archive)
Unfortunately, in Interrupted Narrative, I can find no structures or repeating themes that suggest this is meant to be a continuous piece, narrative, or meta-narrative. In that sense, the reader must look elsewhere to find better examples of aND’s ability to create expansive textual structures. The book is extremely ambitious, but its strength is found in the individual works on a single page.
Make no mistake: Interrupted Narrative is a dazzling and diverse showcase of mIEKAL aND’s talents. (I hope the selections from the book shared here in the blog will give you a sense of his talents.) Owning a copy of this book is making an investment in the best visual poetry being made.
- - De Villo Sloan
- July 21, 2025
- Elbridge, New York, USA
From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND
(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the
Asemic Front 2 Archive)
From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND
(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the
Asemic Front 2 Archive)
From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND
(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the
Asemic Front 2 Archive)
From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND
(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the
Asemic Front 2 Archive)
From Interrupted Narrative: A Hypergraphic Novel by mIEKAL aND
(Xerox Sutra Editions 2024) (Image courtesy of the
Asemic Front 2 Archive)
De Villo Sloan is a concrete poet living in Upstate, New York. He writes frequently about postavant art & culture. He is director of the Winifred & De Villo Sloan, Jr., Charitable Fund.
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From mIEKAL aND on July 21, 2025 - Huzzahs to DeVillo for the close reading of Interrupted Narratives. I think he's the first one to tackle this series. I almost never have introductions to my books that explain the process or the motivation, nor is there one reading of anything I've ever done. In his pass thru the book, he explains that he doesn't see the narrative, since the pieces are so diverse, often with no similarity to the pieces before and after.
ReplyDeleteI'll remind him that this is a collection of "interrupted" narratives, as if the narrative is "interrupted" segue after segue. Also all of the pieces were created sequentially with the word "interrupted narrative" in every prompt, and each variation is based on the previous piece, but with filters and subtle hiccups of prompting. The real narrative is the syntax of time and space that is created between myself and the rogue AI.