0-9 Magazine
Editors: Bernadette Mayer and Vito Hannibal Acconi
Literary Objectivism and its Connection to Minimalism
Literary objectivism originated in the 1930s, it emphasized viewing poems as objects to be analyzed for their mechanical features. Such analysis includes the structure and construction of the poem. In the 1960s, the New York School of poets led a renewal in interest in objectivism, which helped jumpstart the minimalism movement. This perhaps has to do with the connection between minimalism and the idea of objectivism. The element that characterizes minimalism is its mechanical features. It is stripped back, barebones, and raw in its structure. It does not attempt to achieve any higher meaning, symbolism, or metaphor. What you see is what you get. Whatever way it is constructed, the structure you see is all there is to it. It is simple and only aims to convey the most fundamental meaning. One of the first group exhibitions of minimalists took place at the Tibor De Nagy Gallery in January 1965, hosted by John Bernard Myers. A year later, the “Primary Structures” show, curated by Kynaston McShine, was presented at the Jewish Museum. Two years after that, the first issue of 0 to 9 was published, collecting and presenting the collision of minimalist art and poetry.
0 to 9's Imperfection and Community
Mayer and Acconci created 0 to 9, published in six issues in New York City from 1967 to 1969 that emphasized minimalism, conceptual art, performance art, and the elimination of expressionism. It was created to give themselves and other poets and artists a more collaborative platform and give them more control over their work. Mayer and Acconci created 0 to 9 through the mimeograph machine Mayer discovered in her boyfriend's father's office in New Jersey. After hours, they would enter the office with paper, stencils, and ink purchased from the A.B. Dick Company and work till sunrise to emerge from the office with a new issue of 0 to 9. This imperfectiveness of the process is reflective of both editors' mindsets when it came to the creation of the magazine. They actively avoided perfection and seeked out the form of language rather than depth. Acconci has written in From a Secret Location emphasizing their goal of using "language to cover a space rather than uncover a meaning." Hence the peculiar covers ranging from crumpled paper to a collection of book jackets and the many minimalistic works within that are all far from being considered perfect. Additionally, the magazine has six issues even though it is named 0 to 9. Acconci even personally wrote in UDP 11 that it wouldn't go back to the page as soon as the magazine hit the streets. It wouldn't "play by the book." As Alan Golding wrote in From Outlaw to Classic, the history of literary composition deals heavily with not only individual works but also "writing communities" that these individuals were a part of. Due to a shared dissatisfaction with the Personism of New York School poetry, Mayer and Vito were reluctant to include their works in 0 to 9, with some exceptions. The contributors that were included ranged from writers that were active centuries ago to current American Indians. Their contributions varied between poems, plays, images, art created through letters, and pages containing only one word. Mayer and Acconci set out to create an environment for their own works and the works of their peers that housed experimental works that had no boundaries. They accomplished just that, earning its spot as one of the most influential publications of the mimeograph movement.
Community of Contributors
The contributors to 0 to 9 and their nationalities are represented in an interactive data visualization below. The legend in the lower left corner explains what the various node colors mean. You can move nodes about, hover over them to view their names, and use the search box in the top right to look for certain nodes.
Even though they are largely concentrated around America, this data visualization shows the great variety of nationalities of people connected from 0 to 9 – including contributors from England, France, Germany, Poland, Italy, and other countries. However, due to Mayer and Acconci’s reluctance in including works from the New York School of poetry, not many of its poets were included. For example, Ted Berrigan and Ron Padgett originally had their works rejected by Mayer and Acconci “because of their style.” Interestingly, issues 5, 6, 3 and the supplement share many of the same contributors. This adds to the interconnectedness of the magazines’ contributors in terms of works contributed, which generates a community of writers and artists that are remarkably varied and multifaceted. Like Sir Arthur Gorges and Sir Walter Raleigh, some of them were active centuries before the publication of the magazine. Furthermore, they were not all just poets and writers. Their other occupations include sea captain, translator, courtier, soldier, explorer, installation artist, activist, music composer, choreographer, filmmaker, etc. Despite their differences in obligations outside of writing and the periods in which they were active, they were all brought together because of their minimalist works. The result is a magazine that was one of the most experimental and influential exhibitions of minimalism.
Representative Works
No. 2 - "IN" by Gertrude Stein
In Stein's "IN" from No. 2 of 0 to 9, an excerpt from "BEE TIME VINE AND OTHER PIECES", we see stanzas of sentences stringed together by words that generate no significant meaning. What we see is Gertrude treating words as things. Additionally, many words are repeated within the same stanza either as a complete replica or as part of a sentence with other words, again conveying no apparent meaning. Off to the left side of the stanzas, there are single words, abbreviations, or letters that, in their position, appear to serve to attach some unique meaning to the stanza it is next to. However, these abbreviations appear to have no clear representation after further examination. The words don't seem to relate to the stanza it's attached to. When you look at it from a distance, it looks like a traditional poem, but when closely examined, it reveals only words that convey no meaning other than what you see. This characteristic is a challenge to expressionism through a demonstration of minimalism. It puts up a facade of being an expressionist poem with peculiar repetition of phrases and words that seem to convey a higher meaning, only to break that front by showing that these words mean nothing beyond what they appear as, just things on a piece of paper.
No. 1 - "DODECAHEDRON" by Robert Viscusi
Another showcase of minimalism with words being just words, letters being just letters, and short phrases that is exceptionally straightforward. Much of DODECAHEDRON is just words or phrases that convey no meaning, for example, "MASK THE OLD her decided to figure," or phrases that are very one dimensional in its message like, "EAT MORE NEW APPLES IF HE CAN SUPPLY A SERVILE FLOW OF THEM." Furthermore, many phrases are organized in columns, some with each line numbered, and most with more words off to the left or right as if to create a Frankenstein sentence. On the latter half of DODECAHEDRON, three pages are covered with English letters that don't result in a word whether you read it from left to right or right to left, or diagonally. Then there are phrases organized into the number four, another page where the text divides into two halves, one thicker, one thinner, another one where the text is squished into the middle, and one divided into four columns. The simplistic and stripped-back nature all emphasize the experimental and minimalistic idea of the magazine. Since there is no central meaning or message, the attention focuses solely on the words.
No. 3 - "Golder Cycle" by John Giorno
This work is printed on plain white paper in a poem format as a story is being told. This poem embodies everything that the 0-9 Magazine wanted to be. These issues are unique in its formatting and give off a very different vibe than anything I’ve seen when researching the New York School’s Magazines in particular. It is in this interesting style taking up only a small sliver of the middle of multiple pages. This work can almost be described as a poem formatted story, because of its narrative-like qualities. The true meaning looks encrypted as you first take a look, seeing as it gives off the feel of well constructed verses. This is a story of tragedy as a young boy is killed with his arm cut off, it goes along to describe this person who may have done it and the finding since this body was found. Descriptions of gold and white, seemingly high class, items were mentioned throughout and that's where the story ended off as well. It was a beautiful way to illustrate a tragedy as well as show that despite what has happened in a certain place, the life of the location can still stand tall in its beauty.
No. 5 - "I CAN WALK THROUGH THE WORLD AS MUSIC" by Phillip Corner
This extremely daring and kid-like style is a perfect work to represent this magazine issue as a whole. In my opinion, Corner writes this page as listening to music would feel. It feels like each phrase is a note and clusters of words create a verse. Basic things that anyone would encounter through life are illustrated on this page as a way to romanticize city-life. It's written in such a chaoti, yet simple way that makes this list of everyday things seem like a song. This whole issue can be reflected in this work because of how it takes simple things and interesting pieces of life and brings them all together in such an unheard of way as it shows on the page. In the Walker, Eric Lorberer received a direct quote from Acconci and Mayer stating, “how to make art that had no boundaries.” This was in response to how Mayer went on to create different groundbreaking pieces of art and what she learned through making 0-9.
No.6 (supplement) - “1,500 copies of 2 poems from THE KAMA SUTRA OF JOHN GIORNO were handed out by 7 people in 10 minutes. This is how it was:" by Joy Bang, Michael McClanathan, James Maya, Arthur Shafransky, Frank Meyer
Page 18 of the 0 To 9 supplement, is a flourescent orange paper encapsulating the experiences that Joy Bang, Michael McClanathan, James Maya, Arthur Shafransky, and Frank Meyer undergo while distributing John Giorno’s pornographic poems. The public was often displeased with the contents of the poems and street work programs, holding their own standards of what poetry was supposed to be. But, what is poetry?. In part, Vito Acconci and Bernadette Mayer aimed to push beyond the boundaries of literature in their experimental magazine 0 To 9. These five individuals highlight both the reaction of the public, and the “fuck all spirit” that derives from participating in a community of organized street works. This speaks to the importance of establishing an avant-garde little magazine community in New York. The blossoming community would provide a platform for various poets and artists, marking the beginning of an experimental era in literature, as well as the mimeograph revolution.
No. 6 - "Proposition for a Play" by Bernar Venet
This is one of the oddest works found in the 6th issue of 0 to 9. It would be unlikely to find three pages stacked with math equations in a poem and diagram-filled magazine until I happened upon Bernar Venet's Proposition. It represents a script of a play that depicts a story, but it is told in a mathematical way instead of a narrative story. In my opinion, if I weren't a math major, this work would look chaotic and hurt my brain, but rather, I get an organized flow from it. This is a flawless work to represent this magazine issue - it emphasizes its uniqueness and the fact that there is often more than meets the eye in works of art. In many of the art pieces depicted in this issue, the content looks pretty surface-level and flat at first glance. However, these artists' distinct visions and unique ideas are revealed when we closely observe the details in each piece. Each odd arrangement of text gives us an insight into the artist's mind, which can see meaning in something as mundane as a word, symbol, or math equation in this case.
Table of Contents
0-9
Issue No. 1, New York City 1967
Cover: Dark blue mimeograph stencil
Poem - Sir Arthur Gorges and Sir Walter Raleigh [3]
THE ROUND TRIP OF ICE from NEHALEM TILLAMOOK TALES - Anonymous [4-11]
KAY PRICE AND STELLA PAJUNAS - Vito Hannibal Acconci [12-20]
ALPHABETUM - Edoardo Sanguineti [21-22]
HELLO! RITES OF PASSAGE - Bruce Marcus [23]
A WORTHY POSTULATE RESIGNS - Bruce Marcus [24-25]
TWO BROWN EYES… - Hans Christian Anderson [26]
BOTTLE - Bernadette Mayer [27-28]
from HEINRICH VON OFTERDINGEN - Novalis [29-55]
DODECAHEDRON - Robert Viscusi [56-67]
Interview - Morton Feldman [68-73]
THE MAGIC STAIRWAY from STORY GAMES FOR EVERYBODY - V.V. Alexander [74-79]
0-9
Issue No. 2, New York City 1967
Cover: A rainfall map of the US
KLEIST IN THUN - Robert Walser [1-12]
COUNTERHATCH - Bernadette Mayer [13-14]
SIFR TO NIGON - Bernadette Mayer [15]
Andamanese Song - Anonymous [16]
Australian Songs - Anonymous [17-18]
Dama Song - Anonymous [19]
Eskimo Songs - Anonymous [20-21]
Semang Song- Anonymous [22]
IN - Gertrude Stein [23-29]
BILL’S EPITAPH - Anonymous [30-32]
Drawings - Judy Schiff, Daniel O’Sullivan, Rosemary Mayer [33-36]
from EXERCISES IN STYLE - Raymond Queneau [37-48]
TWELVE MINUTES - Vito Hannibal Acconci [49-57]
Poems - Aram Saroyan [58-61]
Plays - Thomas Clark [62-63]
LIMOUSINE - Ron Padgett [64]
from BAYAMUS - Stefan Themerson [65-80]
KLEIST IN THUN - Robert Walser [1-12]
COUNTERHATCH - Bernadette Mayer [13-14]
SIFR TO NIGON - Bernadette Mayer [15]
Andamanese Song - Anonymous [16]
Australian Songs - Anonymous [17-18]
Dama Song - Anonymous [19]
Eskimo Songs - Anonymous [20-21]
Semang Song- Anonymous [22]
IN - Gertrude Stein [23-29]
BILL’S EPITAPH - Anonymous [30-32]
Drawings - Judy Schiff, Daniel O’Sullivan, Rosemary Mayer [33-36]
from EXERCISES IN STYLE - Raymond Queneau [37-48]
TWELVE MINUTES - Vito Hannibal Acconci [49-57]
Poems - Aram Saroyan [58-61]
Plays - Thomas Clark [62-63]
LIMOUSINE - Ron Padgett [64]
from BAYAMUS - Stefan Themerson [65-80]
0-9
Issue No. 3, New York City 1968
Cover: All of the first lines of the works presented within the magazine.
Poem- Clark Coolidge [3]
ON- Vito Hannibal Acconci [4]
Poetry- Guillaume Apollinaire [5-11]
Poem- Aram Saroyan [12-14]
A Pleasant Tale of a man that was married to
sixteen wives, and how courteously his last wife intreated him- Robert Greene [15-21]
Poem- Aram Saroyan [22-24]
Poem- Aram Saroyan [25-26]
Poems- Bernadette Mayer [27-31]
Poem- Aram Saroyan [32-34]
CARNAC- Gustave Flaubert [35-45]
Poem- Aram Saroyan [46-48]
Golden Cycle- John Giorno [49-53]
Poem- Aram Saroyan [54-56]
Poems- William McGonagall [57-63]
Poem- Aram Saroyan [64-66]
Poem- Aram Saroyan [67-68]
Six Works- Clark Coolidge [69-76]
Trainor pursues the essence of a sexless friend-
Bruce Marcus [77-78]
INNER LANDSCAPES- Ron Padgett & Ted Berrigan [79-82]
0-9
Issue No. 5, New York City 1969
Cover: Crumpled sheet of paper
-Sentences of Conceptual Art- Sol Lewitt [3-5]
-Seneca Songs- Richard Johnny John and Jermone Rothenberg [6-8]
-NON-SITE MAP OF of MONO LAKE, CALIFORNIA- Robert Smithson [9]
-Three Poetry Events- John Perreault [11]
-Lecture for a Group of Unexpected
People- Yvonne Rainer [12-19]
-Untitled- Bernadette Mayer [20-24]
-Sonnet XXI- Clark Coolidge [25]
-Suite VII (“Triplicates”)- Clark Collidge [26-31]
-Four Pages- Vito Hannibal Acconci [32-35]
-Poem- Jerome Rothenberg [36-38]
-Poems- Hannah Weiner [39-40]
-THE DISPOSABLE TRANSIENT ENVIRONMENT- Les Levine [41-46]
-Poem- Bernadette Mayer [47-49]
-Untitled- Adrian Piper [50]
-Untitled- Adrian Piper [51-52]
-THE FASHION SHOW POETRY EVENT ESSAY- Eduardo Costa, John Ferrenault, and Hannah Weiner [53-55]
-THE CONQUEST OF PIZARRO- Kenneth Koch [56]
-I CAN WALK THROUGH THE WORLD AS MUSIC- Phillip Corner [57]
-Poems- Jack Anderson [60-62]
-SCRAMBLE- John Perreualt [63]
-SONNET- John Perreault [64]
-Act 3, Scene 4- Vito Hannibal Acconci [65-70]
-WARHOL- Clark Coolidge [71-73]
-FIRECRACKERS- Rosemary Mayer [74-88]
-Poem- John Inslee [89]
-MOON IN THREE SENTENCES- Bernadette Mayer [90]
-ALTERNATIVES- John Perreault [91-96]
0-9
Issue No. 6, New York City 1969
Cover: A blank sheet of paper
Sketchbook Notes - Jasper Johns [1-2]
Automatic Writing from my Movies - Yvonne Rainer [3]
On Machines - Alan Sondheim [4-9]
Dialogue Piece - Lee Lozano [10]
[“Terminal Boundary General”] - Lawrence Weiner [11]
[“Terminal Boundary Specific”] - Lawrence Weiner [12]
[“An intrusion into an eastward flowing str”] -
Lawrence Weiner [13]
[“Five gallons of red vegetable coloring pou”] - Lawrence Weiner [14-15]
State - Steve Paxton [16]
Contacts/Contexts(Frame of Reference): ten pages of reading Roget’s Thesaurus(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1965) - Vito Acconci [17-26]
Proposition for a Play - Bernar Venet [27-28]
The Space Between Pages - Robert Barry [29-30]
Eisenhower and the Hippies - Dan Graham [30-37]
[“I have such a sense of being at home”] - Philip Corner [38-49]
[“During”] - John Giorno [50]
[“Guerrilla”] - John Giorno [51]
[“The Yankee”] - John Giorno [52]
[“The City”] - John Giorno [53]
[“The point represented above draws to itself and
fixes, for an”] - Douglas Heubler [54]
Solo (a Dance) - John Perreault [55-56]
General Strike Piece - Lee Lozano [57]
Map - Robert Smithson [58-59]
[“Guide Sheet”] - Karen Pirups-Hvarre [60-64]
[“Untitled Drawing”] - Karen Pirups-Hvarre [61-62]
[“Untitled Drawing”] - Karen Pirups-Hvarre [63-64]
Nine Nevada Depressions - Michael Heizer [65]
Pages from Suite V - Clark Coolidge [66-73]
The Space Between Pages - Robert Barry [74-75]
Definition at the Center of the Newspaper, June 13, 1969 - Bernadette Mayer [75-78]
[“Rectangles are located according to coordinate position on”] - Adrian Piper [79-81]
(White Dwarf) - Nels Richardson [82-83]
For Don Judd - Larry Fagin [84-87]
[“Shape”] - Rosemary Mayer [89-90]
[“Two Shapes”] - Rosemary Mayer [91-92]
[“Object”] - Rosemary Mayer [93-94]
[“Located on the above surface is an intermittent quantity of”] - Douglas Heubler [95]
[“A1”] - Bern Porter [96]
[“On-None-On”] - Bern Porter [97]
[“Change”] - Bern Porter [98]
[“Untitled Drawing”] - Bern Porter [99]
Trans-Space Communication - Hannah Weiner [100-102]
Upside Down Tree - Robert Smithson [103-104]
[“The top side of the following page represents a void space”] - Adrian Piper [105-106]
[“Untitled Drawing”] - Adrian Piper [107]
[“The top side of the preceding page represents a void”] - Adrian Piper [108-109]
[“X page”] - Rosemary Mayer [110]
[“Untitled Drawing”] - Dan Graham [111-112]
X on Page 50 - Bernadette Mayer [113-114]
[“Untitled Drawing”] - Sol Lewitt [115]
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0-9
Issue No. 6 Supplement: Street Works, New York City 1969
Cover: Title with dates of publication
Empty page [2]
A situation using streets, walking, running- Vito Acconci [3-4]
Four situations using streets and identification- Vito Acconci [5-6]
A situation using streets, labels, buses- Vito Acconci [6]
A situation using streets, a clock, darkness, time lag- Vito Acconci [6]
A situation using streets, walking, glancing- Vito Aconci [7]
TRASH POEM [8-9]
GUIDE TO A METRPOLITAN MUSEUM OF MODRN ART [10]
Photograph with text- S.R C1ns[11]
THREE STREET WORKS- (for J.P.)- Scott Burton [12]
Visual art with handwritten text- R. Castor [13]
Photos- W. Dawes [14]
How to make an atoel out of Manhattan Island- R Castor [14]
Einstein Printing Co. [15]
[“PLEASE FINISH THESE SENTENCES AND RETURN THIS PAPER TO:”] [16-17]
[“1,500 copies of 2 poems from THE KAMA SUTRA OF JOHN GIORNO were handed out by 7 people in 10 minutes. This is how it was:
Joy Bang, Michael McClanathan, James Maya, Arthur Shafransky, Frank Meyer”] [18]
Exhibitionist- John Giorno [19]
His Fingers- John Giorno [20]
[“I was late getting to 14th Street”] [21]
Street Work- Bobbi Gormley [22]
[“COFFEE”]- Bobbi Gormley [23]
[“sweep broome street”] [24]
Poem- Abraham Lubelski [25]
CONSOLIDATED CIGAR CORPORATION
[26]
make noise- Bernadette Mayer [27]
make noise- Bernadette Mayer [28]
Street Work- Rosemary Mayer [29-30]
STREET MUSIC- John Perreault [31]
STREET WORKS [32]
Diagram [33]
Diagram [34]
art & project- Lil Picard [35]
Street Works II- Adrian Piper [36]
Photo- Marjorie Strider [37]
KIND DAYS photo- Anne Wawman [38]
STREET WORKS # 2- Anne Wawman [39]
8AM- Lewis Warsh [40]
Street Works- Lewis Warsh [40]
STREET WORKSI- Hannah Weiner [41]
STREET WORKS II- Hannah Weiner [42]
Empty page [43]
Work Cited
“0 To 9.” From a Secret Location, 6 Feb. 2017,
https://fromasecretlocation.com/0-to-9/.
Lorberer, Eric. “Bernadette Mayer, Vito Acconci, and 0 to 9 Magazine.” Bernadette Mayer, Vito Acconci, and 0 To 9 Magazine, n.p., 7 Sept. 2012, https://walkerart.org/magazine/bernadette-mayer-vito-acconci-and-0-to-9-magazine.
Acconci Vito, and Mayer Bernadette. 10(A Late Introduction to 0 To 9).
Ugly Duckling Presse, 2006.
Terence Diggory. Encyclopedia of the New York School Poets. Facts On
File, 2009