Oral history interview with John Giorno, 2014

Biographical Note

John Giorno was an American poet and performance artist. He founded the not-for-profit production company Giorno Poetry Systems and organized a number of early multimedia poetry experiments and events, including Dial-A-Poem. He became prominent as the subject of Andy Warhol's film Sleep (1964). He was also an AIDS activist and fundraiser, founding the AIDS Treatment Project in 1984, which gave direct financial aid and other support to individuals with AIDS

Scope and Contents

Giorno recounts his time with Rauchenberg in the 1960s in the downtown art world in New York City. He speaks about going to Judson Dance Theatre in 1961 and connecting with the young artists there. He recalls the party scene in the early 1960s, where Andy Warhol, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Frank O’Hara and the second generation of the New York school of poets all came together. He talks about being exposed to poetry sonor by Brion Gysin, which led to a collaboration that was ultimately included in the biennale Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris in October 1965. He shares his impressions of the generational divide between the Abstract Expressionists of the 1950s and the following wave in whom he observed a different mind-set. He recalls meeting Rauschenberg in September of 1966 and volunteering to work with Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) on 9 Evenings. He discusses becoming Rauschenberg's lover and feels that he met Rauschenberg during a period of significant transition that began after the relationship between Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns ended in 1961. He gives his impression of life with Rauschenberg during this transitional period, going from a stable relationship with Steve Paxton to the turmoil of 9 Evenings. After the relationship ended in 1968, Giorno recalls how his relationships with different artists (Burroughs, Warhol, Rauschenberg) informed the use of political images in his work

Subjects

• AIDS Treatment Project.
• Columbia University--Alumni and alumnae--Interviews.
• Dial-a-Poem Poets.
• Giorno, John--Interviews.
• Giorno Poetry Systems Institute.
• Interviews.
• New York School of poets and painters.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Poets--United States--New York--20th century.
• Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008.
• Sinclair, Sara interviewer.
• Sound poetry.
• Warhol, Andy, 1928-1987.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2014