Two Americans, Beat poet and photographer Ira Cohen and the musician Angus MacLise, helped to found Bardo Matrix Press in Kathmandu, Nepal, in the mid-1970s. Bardo Matrix and the related Dreamweapon Press produced small-edition publications and singlesheet images using traditional woodblock printing techniques on specialty papers, with the books hand sewn. The results are exquisitely crafted and somewhat quirky explorations of Eastern spirituality, altered consciousness, and pop culture. Artist Dana Young contributed a distinctive graphic sensibility to Bardo Matrix, as did Tibetan woodblock artist Nawang Norbu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Angus Maclise (American, 1938 \u2013 1979) [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Angus Maclise [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Diane di Prima [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gregory Corso [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ira Cohen and Dana Young Within the sensibility developed by Bardo Matrix, smoking opium was seen as a traditional and natural alternative to shooting heroin, which was viewed as an inherent evil. Artist Dana Young\u2019s image of a dreaming opium smoker inspired Ira Cohen to write a poetic text on the subject. It was published in 1976 as Opium Elementals<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ira Cohen [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bardo Matrix (Dana Young ?) [frog and mushrooms]<\/strong>, n.d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dana Young [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bardo Matrix (artist unknown) The Spirit Catcher Bookstore was at the crux of 1970s counterculture in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. The bookstore was at once a serious literary outpost and a head shop. In addition to books, magazines, and poetry readings, the shop offered various wares for hippie clientele, including \u201cposters\u201d such as this Grateful Dead inspired work that was printed locally on Nepalese paper by the Bardo Matrix Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert LaVigne (American, 1928 \u2013 2014) Paradise Now<\/em> was a performance of the Living Theatre billed as a \u201ccollective creation\u201d that was intended to overcome \u201cpsycho-sexual repression.\u201d Its goal was the spontaneous creation of a temporary anarchist collective within the theater. The play was controversial for its sexual content and nudity, which involved actors intermingling with the audience, and it prompted multiple arrests for public indecency. Marty Topp\u2019s 1969 film presents a montage of clips from the Living Theatre\u2019s 1968 American tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Bardo Matrix Two Americans, Beat poet and photographer Ira Cohen and the musician Angus MacLise, helped to found Bardo Matrix Press in Kathmandu, Nepal, in the mid-1970s. Bardo Matrix and the related Dreamweapon Press produced small-edition publications and singlesheet images using traditional woodblock printing techniques on specialty papers, with the books hand sewn. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-exhibition.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-182","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/beat-visions-and-the-counterculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/beat-visions-and-the-counterculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/beat-visions-and-the-counterculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/beat-visions-and-the-counterculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/beat-visions-and-the-counterculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/beat-visions-and-the-counterculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1151,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/beat-visions-and-the-counterculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182\/revisions\/1151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/beat-visions-and-the-counterculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The New Universal Solar Calendar<\/strong>, 1969
offset lithograph of calligraphy on paper<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Angus MacLise was a percussionist, composer, poet, occultist, and calligrapher. These last three came together in his New Universal Solar Calendar<\/em>, which reimagines the year in five seasons with individual days devoted to various cosmological concepts. Abstract filmmaker Don Snyder supplied the photographs, while Fluxus founder George Maciunas \u201cproduced\u201d the work. MacLise is perhaps best known as the original drummer for the Velvet Underground, although his greatest accomplishment may be his work as a cofounder of the Bardo Matrix Press in his adopted home of Kathmandu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Subliminal Report<\/strong>, 1975
Bardo Matrix, Kathmandu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Loba II<\/strong>, 1976
Eidolon Editions, Point Reyes, Calif.; Dreamweapon, Kathmandu.
Illustrations by Josie Grant<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Way Out<\/strong>, 1974
Bardo Matrix, Kathmandu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opium Elementals<\/strong>, 1976
Bardo Matrix, Kathmandu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7 Marvels<\/strong>, 1975
Bardo Matrix, Kathmandu<\/p>\n\n\n\n
letter to Craig Love<\/strong>, n.d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[Skeleton and Roses]<\/strong>, ca. 1970s
woodcut on Nepalese paper<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paradise Now [A film by Marty Topp, produced by Ira Cohen]<\/strong>, 1969
poster<\/p>\n\n\n\n