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Home > Departments > Libraries > Special Collections & Archives > Student Exhibits > Heart Beats Exhibit

ENGL 4310 – Heart Beats Exhibit
 

ENGL 4310 – Heart Beats Exhibit

The Beat artists represented in this exhibition embody unique expressions of the artistic rebellion that rocked American culture during the 1950s and can be considered individual beats within the pulsating “Beat heart.” Poet Allen Ginsberg’s first public reading of his poem “Howl,” at the Six Gallery in San Francisco on October 7, 1955, triggered an unanticipated explosion of emotional energies unleashed by his denouncement of spiritual emptiness and blind conformity to a growing capitalist, materialist society. Writers Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Diane Di Prima, and Anne Waldman each wrote from their own distinct emotional and intellectual registers, but they were all part of a shared conversation promoted by the little magazines that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s and served as the metaphorical circulatory system for the Beat cultural body.

All of the writers whose work appears in this exhibition made early print appearances in little magazines such as Yugen, The Floating Bear, Big Table, Intrepid, and Angel Hair. Little magazines are non-commercial, small press publications that focused on literature, art, and social theory by obscure authors. They are considered precursors of the contemporary zine and mini comic. The great strength of these magazines was the rapidity with which they distributed new forms of artistic expression to those most directly involved in producing it. In this way, little magazines brought together painters and poets, sculptors and novelists, all hungry for what was new. The little magazines themselves often operated on shoestring budgets and sacrificed durability for speedy production, almost always vanishing after print runs of months or a few short years. This exhibition combines Beat writers with little magazines and the artwork of the period to communicate the interconnectedness of the entire Beat artistic scene.

Heart Beats is curated by the 2019 Utah State University English 4310 Beat Class, which consists of the following students: Maddie Barker, Tanner Benson, Terin Crane, Brecken Duve, Jayden Hamling, Paige Hammer, Samantha Hanson, Nate Hardy, Nicole King, Sarah Lueckler, Megan Mattinson, Kortland Phillips, Bennett Robinet, Andrea Sagers, Erin Searle, Maysen Smith.

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  • Acknowledgements by ENGL4310

    Acknowledgements

    ENGL4310

  • Definition of "Beat" by ENGL4310

    Definition of "Beat"

    ENGL4310

  • Welcome by ENGL4310

    Welcome

    ENGL4310

  • The Joker is Wild by Llyn Foulkes

    The Joker is Wild

    Llyn Foulkes

  • Icon by Sonia Gechtoff

    Icon

    Sonia Gechtoff

  • Kerouac by Paige Hammer and Tanner Benson

    Kerouac

    Paige Hammer and Tanner Benson

  • Flower Flag by Wally Bill Hedrick

    Flower Flag

    Wally Bill Hedrick

  • Pure XX by George Herms

    Pure XX

    George Herms

  • Diane di Prima by Nicole King and Maddie Barker

    Diane di Prima

    Nicole King and Maddie Barker

  • Ginsberg by Sarah Lueckler, Samantha Hanson, and Nate Hardy

    Ginsberg

    Sarah Lueckler, Samantha Hanson, and Nate Hardy

  • Ferlinghetti by Megan Mattinson, Kortland Philllips, and Bennett Robinett

    Ferlinghetti

    Megan Mattinson, Kortland Philllips, and Bennett Robinett

  • Anne Waldman by Andrea Sagers, Jayden Hamling, and Maysen Smith

    Anne Waldman

    Andrea Sagers, Jayden Hamling, and Maysen Smith

  • Little Magazines by Erin Searle, Terin Crane, and Brecken Duve

    Little Magazines

    Erin Searle, Terin Crane, and Brecken Duve

  • Opening Reception for Heart Beats Exhibit: Featuring Gerd Stern by Gerd Stern, Maddie Barker, Tanner Benson, Terin Crane, Brecken Duve, Jayden Hamling, Paige Hammer, Samantha Hanson, Nate Hardy, Nicole King, Sarah Lueckler, Megan Mattinson, Kortland Phillips, Bennett Robinett, Andrea Sagers, Erin Searle, and Maysen Smith

    Opening Reception for Heart Beats Exhibit: Featuring Gerd Stern

    Gerd Stern, Maddie Barker, Tanner Benson, Terin Crane, Brecken Duve, Jayden Hamling, Paige Hammer, Samantha Hanson, Nate Hardy, Nicole King, Sarah Lueckler, Megan Mattinson, Kortland Phillips, Bennett Robinett, Andrea Sagers, Erin Searle, and Maysen Smith

 
 
 

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