The Cut-up Machine

The cut-up method is best known as a literary technique in which a written text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text.

It is William S. Burroughs who is now commonly associated with the cut-up technique. Burroughs, introduced to the technique by Brion Gysin, used it to write a number of critically acclaimed novels and talked about the process to the media.

Curator Laura Hoptman: “Burroughs tried his entire life to tell people that Gysin invented the cut-up, but because Burroughs ran with the idea, producing numerous novels, he is the one credited. It’s important to think of Gysin as an idea generator above all.”