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2017 Geoffrey Farmer, the Courtyard, Library, "Howl," and Venice

Geoffrey Farmer, (studied 1991), replicated the SFAI courtyard fountain as part of his installation  The Way Out of the Mirror for the Canadian Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale: “I was holding a copy of Howl, the epic poem by Allen Ginsberg….I was in my studio reading about the San Francisco Art Institute students who had organized Ginsberg’s first reading of Howl on 7 October 1955. I had been an SFAI student myself in 1991. I was 24 years old and I heard Ginsberg sing Father Death Blues, which rattled me. It was also when I first learned about the Venice Biennale. I discovered a copy of a 1970 artscanada magazine about Michael Snow in the School’s library. I somehow thought that if I went back to that moment of discovery I might find something. I found Allen Ginsberg and the memory of a poem he recited.” [thank you Tanya Zimbardo for this!]


With permission, SFAA is re-posting the emails Jeff Gunderson Librarian/Archivist Anne Bremer Memorial Library has been sending out since March 2020. Please enjoy this magnificent archive.



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