language is a virus: william s. burroughs and the dream team

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So this lens is about viral language theory as encircled by the writings and thoughts of William S. Burroughs, Antonin Artaud, Laurie Anderson, and a host of others. It is an introduction and meditation, or at least a starting point, for topics near and dear to me: namely linguistics, philosophy, art, writing, technology and the "surface tension" of words and image.

"Language is a virus from outer space." W.S. Burroughs

photograph by Dmitri Kasterine

links

Internal Resonance, or Three Steps Towards a Non-Viral Becoming: This article talks about the various aspects of "language as a virus", Artaud, Burroughs, and how this relates to language, information, science. Difficult reading maybe but a crash course.
some post-structuralist assumptions: Good summary of some ideas around post-structualism and P-S linguistics.
homepage for laurie anderson: I've seen LA live at three different shows, very different performances, and have listened to her music for over 20 years. Her End of the Moon series looks really interesting. Who taught you what beauty is? Well, Laurie did, with Big Science and Mister Heartbreak. Also, Raquel Welch in that dinosaur movie. And Rothko.
site dedicated to antonin artaud: Poet, theorist.
wikipedia entry for william s. burroughs: lots of good info on W.S. Burroughs.
charles keatts: language is a virus blog: my blog with links to various sites related to literature and linguistics such as Julia Kristeva, Kathy Acker, and others.

about me

a bit a the old viral in an out...

I am a writer and artist living La Dolce Vita in San Francisco but without the skinny ties. My writing consists of novels in what I call the postmodern vein with influences like Joyce, Kafka, Paul Bowles, W.S. Burroughs, Neal Stephenson, and David Foster Wallace. Other fave authors and thinkers are Sartre, Beauvoir, Proust, and Heideggar. My first novel, Blue, is available on Amazon or from the publisher. My second novel (in progress) is called Daydream Nation.
It involves nanotechnology, virtual reality, drugs, suicide, ecoterrorism, genetics, eugenics, as well as meditations on art, writing, culture, and sex. Lots of sex. Did I mention sex? That there is lots of it?

My art deals with language in terms of it's avoidance, in addition to referencing my fascination with movements such as dada, surrealism, abstract expressionism, pop art, and Duchamp (he is a movement, isn't he?). I make what interests me using found objects, paint, hardware store materials, and photography. I am interested in process/product and their deconstructed manifestations.

I am interested in internet technology to an extent but am somewhat judicious read skeptical. I have been in and out of computers since the TRS-80 in jr high and through Pascal and into the net through Pine and Lynx in 1995. I have done a bit of web design and to quote Mr. Horse "No sir, I don't like it". So I am stuck being a novelist and artist. I do like the concept here and I have a tattoo of a squid so I am all for squids in popular culture.