''Assembling'' is an American magazine launched in 1970 as an annual publication. The full run consisted of 12 issues (issue 8 split into parts 1-3). 1,000 copies of each issue were created, three going to each person that submitted work. The remaining issues were sold to recoup the cost of compilation.
Assembling was billed as "A collection of otherwise unpublishable manuscripts." No contribution was rejected for publication.
Contributors were invited to submit their work, which had to be printed at their own expense, in editions of 1,000. Submissions could be anything the contributors wanted, printed on up to four 8 1/2" x 11" pages.
The stated goal of Assembling was to "open the editorial/industrial complex to alternatives and possibilities. The short-range goal is to provide the means for unpublished and otherwise unpublishable work to see print light and to consider what other kindred spirits and spooks are doing."
Richard Kostelanetz stated he was influenced to create the magazine by other publications such as Thomas Niggl's ''Omnibus News''
and
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...
's ''
Notations
''Notations'' is a book that was edited and compiled by American avant-garde composer John Cage (1912–1992) with Alison Knowles and first published in 1969 by Something Else Press. The book is made up of a large collection of graphical scores ...
''
Contributors
Notable contributors have included:
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David Ignatow
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Arno Karlen
Arno Chanoch Karlen (May 7, 1937 – May 13, 2010) was an American poet, psychoanalyst
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought ...
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Robert Lax
Robert Lax (November 30, 1915 – September 26, 2000) was an American poet, known in particular for his association with Trappist monk and writer Thomas Merton. Another friend of his youth was the painter Ad Reinhardt. After a long period of dri ...
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Keith Waldrop
Bernard Keith Waldrop (December 11, 1932 – July 27, 2023) was an American poet, translator, publisher, and academic. He won the National Book Award for Poetry for his 2009 collection ''Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy''.
Early life and educ ...
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Hannah Weiner
Hannah Adelle Weiner (née Finegold) (November 4, 1928 – September 11, 1997) was an American poet who is often grouped with the ''Language poets'' because of the prominent place she assumed in the poetics of that group.
Early life and writing ...
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Dan Graham
Daniel Graham (March 31, 1942 – February 19, 2022) was an American visual artist, writer, and curator in the writer-artist tradition. In addition to his visual works, he published a large array of critical and speculative writing that spanned ...
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Bernadette Mayer
Bernadette Mayer (May 12, 1945 – November 22, 2022) was an American poet, writer, and visual artist associated with both the Language poets and the New York School (art), New York School.
Early life and education
Bernadette Mayer was born ...
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Liam O’Gallagher
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Edward Ruscha
Edward Joseph Ruscha IV (, ''roo-SHAY''; born December 16, 1937) is an American artist associated with the anti- pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. He is also noted for creating s ...
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Alan Sondheim
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Vito Acconci
Vito Acconci (, ; January 24, 1940 – April 27, 2017) was an American performance art, performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His performan ...
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Lee Baxandall
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Madeline Gins
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Marvin Cohen
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Russell Edson
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Raymond Federman
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Jochen Gerz
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Davi det thompson
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Ruth Jacoby
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Bern Porter
Bernard Harden Porter (February 14, 1911, Porter Settlement in Houlton, Aroostook County, Maine – June 7, 2004, in Belfast, Maine) was an American artist, writer, publisher, performer, and physicist. He was a representative of the avant-garde a ...
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Stan Vanderbeek
References
{{Reflist
Magazines established in 1970
Magazines published in the United States