Blaster Al Ackerman

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Blaster Al Ackerman (born William Hogg Greathouse Jr.; November 27, 1939 – March 17, 2013) was an American mail artist and writer. Ackerman had been active in various subcultures since the early 1970s.[1]

Heavily influenced by pulp writers like

Forrest J. Ackerman
.

Photo of Ackerman which he shared with interviewer Chaw Mank circa 1982
Photo of Ackerman which he shared with interviewer Chaw Mank circa 1982

Al Ackerman's writing, including poetry and short stories, has dealt playfully, if obsessively, with themes of madness and weird phenomena. His visual work is also in the tradition of

black humor, often including a trademark character, the hebephrenic
, with a wide upper lip and two protruding teeth.

He self-published several

Luther Blissett (a reference to the footballer
of the same name), and Swarthy Turk Sellers among many others, as well as regular anonymous and collaborative works.

His influence in the 1980s was strongly felt by neoism founder Istvan Kantor, performance artist Andre Stitt, photographer Richard Kern (who published Ackerman's writing in his magazine Dumb Fucker) and musician Genesis P-Orridge who used one of Ackerman's letters as the text of Throbbing Gristle's song "Hamburger Lady."[2] Many of his stories have been made into videos by Steve "Sleeze" Steele, and one, about a man who gives his life over to the creation of a garment made of Vienna sausages, was given feature-length film treatment by Chet Pancake under the name The Suit. In 2005 a long playing record of his spoken performances, titled I Am Drunk, was issued. His latest book entitled Misto Peas: Tiny Special Stories, was published in 2009 by Luna Bisonte Productions. The book contains rewordings or "hacks" of poet John M. Bennett's writing. He read from this new book at Shattered Wig Nite hosted by Rupert Wondolowski at Baltimore's 14 Karat Cabaret in November 2009. He was a frequent contributor to the Shattered Wig series of performances and publications.[3]

Personal life

In 1971 he married Patty. Their daughter Stephanie was born in 1972. Later, Blaster and Patty divorced.

He died in Austin, Texas in 2013.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "RIP Blaster Al Ackerman". What Weekly. March 21, 2013. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015.
  2. ^ Nagoski, Ian (April 28, 2009). "Blaster Al Ackerman & the Hellishness of High School and/or Throbbing Gristle." Arthur Magazine.
  3. ^ "Blaster Al Ackerman (19xx – 2013) is a hallmark of the obscure, but those who have encountered his work are never the same. His writing seethes with bizzare [sic] truths and ironies but is strangely familiar". zorosko.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2018-11-14.

External links

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