F r o m I n d i a * Vk MATTHEW ERICKSON PAINTING f r « U N « Hanuman TW 7? David Hockney, Picasso, 1990; Dodie Bellamy, Feminine Hijinx, 1991; William S. Burroughs, Painting & Guns, 1992. Imagine a group of Indian fisherman Over the course of its seven-year print (No. 41, 1990), and Jack Kerouac’s Safe One book in particular — Thus Spake Gerstler, David Trinidad, Eileen Myles, Hotel became the de facto stateside in Madras, now Chennai, India, sitting run, Hanuman Books released fifty in Heaven Dead (No. 42, 1990), you Sri Ramakrishna (1952), with a dark and Richard Hell would be placed administrative headquarters for the op­ down to hand sew several hundred books into the world, each produced would be mining several distinct tra­ blue jacket and a hand-painted pho­ amongst established luminaries like eration—Clemente designed the books three-by-four-inch books. The color­ in that same fashion and in that same jectories of literature, art, music, and tograph of the great mystic in yellow Jean Genet, Allen Ginsberg, Simone and Foye oversaw editorial duties. ful paper covers are handmade at the initially peculiar design and size, some­ underground culture from the past robes set into the upper right corner Weil, and Henri Michaux to create The two enlisted their friend George nearby Sri Aurobindo Ashram—every where between that of an index card c e n tu ry . of the cover—became the visual model a broad span that encompassed the Scrivani, a translator who had worked title with its own unique hue: an egg- folded horizontally and a pack of ciga­ The impetus behind Hanuman that the two carried over to their na­ Beats, figures associated with W arhol’s with them on their pre-Hanuman art yolk yellow, a bright lime green, deep rettes. All of these small-format books can be traced to 1985 when editor scent project. For their namesake, they Factory scene, writings by painters, edition of Alberto Savinio’s The De­ scarlet, dark purple. The gold leaf form the Hanuman canon, a publish­ Raymond Foye and painter Francesco picked the Hindu monkey deity Hanu- previously untranslated works, texts on parture of the Argonaut (1986), to over­ stamping for each title is applied by ing endeavor that articulated a new Clemente took a trip to India. For most man, known for his grammar and mis­ mystical themes, and emerging New see the long-term production at the hand, as is the color tinting of the au­ vision of a possible avant-garde lineage of his career, Clemente has spent part chievous bravery. York figures. It was a truly heteroge­ Kalakshetra Press in Madras, on India’s thor’s black-and-white portrait on the in its short life span between 1986 and of each year in India. W hen he wanted Clemente and Foye took their cues neous array but one that made perfect southeastern coast. front jacket. The face on the front 1993, linking the energies and efforts to share some of the varied folk arts dis­ from great mid-twentieth-century pub­ sense on an intuitive level. The history of Kalakshetra is a fas­ cover is Gregory Corso or Simone Weil, of the eighties Lower East Side with covered on his sojourns, he introduced lishers such as Grove, Black Sparrow, The miniature Ramakrishna books cinating tangent in its own right. The Eileen Myles or Jack Smith. The fisher­ threads from earlier poets, painters, Foye to the m iniature devotional books and the frenetic, mimeographed small served not only as visual templates, printing press was only one facet of men, with great casual skill, sew to­ musicians, and thinkers. If you were to easily found throughout the country. poetry presses of the time, as well as they also were the tactile, physical ide­ the much larger Kalakshetra Colony, gether each palm-sized book as though line up the whole Hanuman pantheon The books, small in size and bright in City Lights where Foye worked as an als that the duo would duplicate for a renowned academy for traditional they were merely repairing torn fishing on a shelf chronologically and take a color, were always dedicated to the writ­ editor in the late seventies. The duo each title released under the Hanu- Indian dance founded in 1936 by Ruk- n e ts . random core sample of a few titles, say ings of a particular guru or saint, and sought to gather their own personal man umbrella. The only way to achieve mini Devi Arundale and her husband Francis Picabia’s Yes No (No. 39, 1990), were intended to be carried around inspirations as well as document what their ideal was to print the books at Dr. George Arundale, a prominent MATTHEW ERICKSON is a w riter Robert Creeley’s Autobiography (N o . 40, with ease in a shirt pocket for potential was happening in downtown New York the source of their inspiration. Foye’s couple in M adras’ growing Theosophi- and artist living in Saint Louis, Missouri. 1990), Dodie Bellamy’s Feminine Hijinx contemplation throughout daily life. at that moment. New works by Amy apartment in the legendary Chelsea cal Society. The Arundales assigned the PARKETT 90 2012 242 243 late C.T. Nachiappan—a master printer edition of Cookie M ueller’s Fan Mail, eighties, William Burroughs expound­ trained throughout Europe and the Frank Letters, a n d Crank Calls ( la te r ing on guns and painting, prose pieces United States, a former photography released in 1988) to New York, lug­ by Patti Smith, poetry by the Grateful student with Ansel Adams, and a gage inspectors found the text—part Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, several MATTHEW ERICKSON close friend of Krishnamurti—to run of which reads: “I will always remem­ interviews with Jack Kerouac, and lec­ Kalakshetra’s robust printing opera­ ber your luscious lips, those fat full tures and letters written by Willem de tion. Along with the production of blooming labias. Blow job lips”—to be Kooning. Though many of these texts printed matter related to the dance in violation of the country’s obscenity might have been mere footnotes or school and more directly to the Theo- laws and held up the entire shipment textual marginalia in a typical publish­ sophical Society, Nachiappan’s press of twenty thousand books in that sea­ ing context, they were considered gems also had a contract to produce all of son’s production batch. Scrivani went by Hanum an—items of true relevance. the books for Maria M ontessori’s edu­ on trial in Indian court but was eventu­ Because of Hanuman Books, devotees cational programs throughout the ally acquitted without charges. W hen it could carry around the poetry, prose, Hanuman developing world, a bond that the in­ came time for Bob Flanagan’s Fuck Jour­ speeches, interviews, or errata of their novative educator first established with nal (1987) to be released to the public, own personal saint to consult through­ Kalakshetra during her time spent Scrivani smuggled not just one sample out the day. Books SAFE IN living in India during World War II. copy, but the full print run of five hun­ As with many projects of this na­ HEAVEN DEAD It was in this very workshop—replete dred copies to New York in his suit­ ture, energies dwindle over time and with smoke-spewing printing presses case, each book wrapped with an extra resources gradually fade away. The Ha­ held over from the nineteenth century, jacket of Rene Daumal’s A Fundamental numan Books Records, located at the vats of lead for casting type, and ink Experiment (1987), which was also pub­ University of M ichigan, indicate unreal­ splattered onto most surfaces—that lished in that season’s batch. Due to its ized books abandoned in the planning the physical shape of Hanuman Books controversial back story and its small stages: titles by Jean-M ichel Basquiat, Man stelle sich eine Gruppe indischer zusammen, als würden sie zerrissene came to life, bridging the avant-garde print run, Fuck Journal is now one of Joseph Beuys, Mark Rothko, James Fischer vor, die sich in Madras, heute Fischernetze flicken. arts from the West with the handcrafts the most collectable of the Hanuman Schuyler, and Harry Smith, among Chennai, hinsetzen, um von Hand Im Lauf seines siebenjährigen Be­ o f S o u th e r n In d ia . books, with one copy recently spotted many others. One can imagine how mehrere Hundert, knapp acht mal stehens hat Hanuman Books fünfzig The realization of this project was online for a ripe $716.00. these faces could look in a hand-tinted zwölf Zentimeter grosse Büchlein zu Titel in die Welt entlassen, die alle auf not always a simple endeavor. Foye Aside from the wonderful physical photograph on a small, pastel-hued binden. Die bunten Schutzumschläge dieselbe Weise hergestellt wurden und would mail manuscripts employing and historical aspects of the Hanuman dustjacket, placed inside a shirt pocket. sind im nahen Sri-Aurobindo-Ashram dasselbe, zunächst seltsam anmutende some of the more experimental notions editions, typos, scandals, and all else, ebenfalls von Hand gefertigt worden Format aufweisen, irgendwo zwischen Thanks to Raymond Foye, George Scrivani, \ of language and thought to Madras, perhaps the most interesting element - jeder Titel ein farbliches Unikat: gefalteter Karteikarte und Zigaret­ Mike McGonigal, and Will Schofield for where Scrivani would attempt to turn from a curatorial standpoint is their Eidottergelb, helles Neongrün, tiefes tenpackung. Zusammen bilden diese their help. these texts into finished books in the emphasis on marginality: not only are Scharlachrot, Dunkelviolett.