My Kimono Book by C. Mehrl Bennett

 

Publisher	Luna Bisonte Prods
Published	June 26, 2008
Language	English
Pages	68
Binding	Perfect-bound Paperback
Interior Ink	Full color
Dimensions (inches)	7.4 wide × 9.7 tall

In her collaborative technique alone, Cathy both conforms to and goes against tradition. She conforms to the traditions of collaboration by reacting appropriately to the work of her collaborators, and she spurns convention by deciding on the final product herself, by being, truly, the full creator of these pieces. And it is a technique that works. Her results react to the data she receives. It is as if her collaborators whispered something into her ear, and she created from that an unexpectedly accurate representation of what they had imagined.

(Above is excerpt from a review by Geof Huth)

The kimono material in this book originates from other artists and writers - with their permission - with due credit made on each image. Often I've given website links in my comments not only so that the original image(s) contributed by my collaborator can be viewed, but also to allow the reader to do research to learn more about these incredibly creative people and to view their art, visual poetry, poetry, photography, etc. I've taken liberties to collage and embroider with Photoshop Elements 4.0 so as to fuse multiple images by one person or to elaborate on a composition or theme that develops as I work to 'fit' the kimono to that persona. It is a joy to work with material from creative people whose art and poetry I so much admire, and I feel like a 'curator' of sorts as I build my kimono collection. As when a poet constricts his/her self to the rules of a haiku, and thus discovers new surprising twists of life in language, so do I surprise myself again and again within the shape of the kimono. -CMB

 

Words & Junk by C. Mehrl Bennett To preview http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/words-junk/2647728 

Publisher	Luna Bisonte Prods
Published	April 5, 2008
Language	English
Pages	50
Binding	Perfect-bound Paperback
Interior Ink	Full color
Dimensions (inches)	8.5 wide × 8.5 tall

This book is PRO FOUND and PRO FUN! C. Mehrl Bennett comes from a fine arts background; B.A. in painting and drawing, spent many years as a mail artist, and has an art exhibit history from the 80’s and early 90’s that focused on junk assemblage (found objects- thus the claim for PRO FOUND). This work in this book combines her creative spirit of play using digital software with a longtime interest in visual poetry and includes collaborations (in the spirit of mail art). C. Mehrl Bennett lives in Columbus, OH, with spouse (they met through mail art), poet John M. Bennett. Her word art has been published in Lost&Found Times, Vispoeology, Otoliths, www.nakedsunfish.com, Womb, Word For/Word, and Black Box. Two reviews are posted under book details on the Lulu site by Sheila E Murphy and Bob Grumman.

 O N D A - John M. Bennett and Thomas M. Cassidy

Publisher	Luna Bisonte Prods
Published	March 2, 2009
Language	English
Pages	106
Binding	Perfect-bound Paperback
Interior Ink	Full color
Dimensions (inches)	7.4 wide × 9.7 tall

These works were created in 2008, when, per Thomas Cassidy, "I committed myself to doing 1,000 drawings in 2008 - roughly 100 a month or 3.33 per day allowing two months off for vacations and idle drinking." John M. Bennett is primarily a poet. John and Tom have corresponded through the mail for decades and the two of them are the primary collaborators for this book, with a generous sprinkling of works done with these other artist/poets: Sheila E. Murphy, Mark Sargent, Baron, Jukka Pekka Kervinen, Reed Altemus, Scott Helmes, Luigino Solamito, and Rea Nikonova. A total of 100 full-color images are here to drown in.

Rrêves (Ddreams) by John M. Bennett 

Rreves is a translation into French by Philippe Bille, of Ddreams by John M. Bennett, a classic minimalist poem sequence written in 1981 and published in English by Blue Lion Books, 2009

Publisher	Luna Bisonte Prods
Published	April 10, 2009
Language	French
Pages	141
Binding	Perfect-bound Paperback
Interior Ink	Black & white
Dimensions (inches)	4.3 wide × 6.9 tall

VOCLALO by John M. Bennett and Jon Cone

Poetry in Spanish by/Poesía en español por John M. Bennett;

With Transductions by/Con transducciones por Jon Cone.

Publisher	Luna Bisonte Prods
Published	May 3, 2009
Language	Spanish with transduction on facing page in English
Pages	36
Binding	Saddle-stitch Paperback
Interior Ink	Black & white
Dimensions (inches)	6.0 wide × 9.0 tall