Old News #4

Tristan Tzara, 1920

Take a newspaper.

Take some scissors.

Choose from this paper an article of the length you want to make your poem.

Cut out the article.

Next carefully cut out each of the words that makes up this article

and put them all in a bag.

Shake gently.

Next take out each cutting one after the other.

Copy conscientiously in the order in which they left the bag.

The poem will resemble you.

And there you are – an infinitely original author of charming sensibility,

even though unappreciated by the vulgar herd.

Old News is a non-profit newspaper presenting a selection of articles, images and words clipped from newspapers. The articles that appear in this newspaper were all cut by individual artists for the purpose of redistributing the news. Old News is a second-generation, free-copyright newspaper. The Old News newspaper is free.
Old News is like a Dadaist poem in the sense that here the articles and images are cut from their original context, they are scrambled and put together in new ways and connected to each other to create new meanings or ’second’ views. A ’second’ view on all the images, information and words that constantly surround us in the news media.
Many different eyes and voices have cut, pasted and handed in their clippings for Old News. During 2007, 14 curators were invited to select the artists/participators and determine the content of Old News #4. Every two months curators were invited to conceptualise the content of six pages (three spreads) for this broadsheet newspaper.
The curators were also asked to think about how the news and news clippings were to be represented in the printed version of Old News #4. They were asked to consider if the artists were to write a statement about their choices and how their approach should be explained in the newspaper. The instructions were simple and some have chosen to follow them and others not to. Sometimes six pages became 23, but we have tried to fit as many of the clippings into Old News #4 as possible. Enjoy!