Two Concrete Poetry Works by Moineau, Jean-Claude

Two works of concrete poetry from the late 1960s by Jean-Claude Moineau, comprising an undated 12-page unrecorded work of Concrete Poetry done in collaboration with Christiane Frougny, "Textes à tester (Texts to Test)", and a 1968 work "Orléans mai-juin 1968 / La Bibliotheque Universitaire est occupee". Typed and mimeographed pages. 4to. Stapled self-wrpps, some insignificant toning and minor creasing, overall very good. N.p. (Orléans?), 1968 and undated, late 1960s. Jean-Claude Moineau was a professor of mathematics in the Faculty of Science at the University of Orléans. Following the May '68 revolts in Paris, Moineau organized the occupation of the University of Orléans Library, and soon after formed the revolutionary artistic group GRRRR (Groupe de Recherche et de Réalisation d'une Reflexion Révolutionnaire) and the journal "Ne coupez-pas". Moineau is also considered to be one of the founders of the "Meta-Art" avant-garde group of the early 1970s.

The first item in this grouping is an extraordinary and unrecorded work of Concrete Poetry in French and English, produced as a collaboration between Moineau and Frougny. The texts attempt to engage the reader by inviting participation, such as the direction on the first page which reads "Pointez le doigt au hasard sur cette page. (Le résultat du test est indiqué au verso.)" Other instructions appear throughout the work, asking the reader to perform other actions such as drawing a line to reveal a poem, and leaving a mark. Page three reads, "Vous etes....Le Poeme est.... - You are... The Poem is...," a bold statement on par with the views of concrete poets.The work was produced by a combination of mimeograph and manual typewriter. We could find no record of this work ever being reproduced.

The second item is a 6-page (3 sheets, printed on both sides) mimeographed Manifesto for the Occupation of the University of Orléans Library, originally printed in Moineau's own journal "Ne coupez-pas", Nos. 1 (May 1968) and 2 (November 1968). This journal was devoted to politics, visual poetry, typography, and design. This manifesto comes out of a legendary time of revolt in France, and is an excellent example of the often hastifly produced typographic and graphic posters, pamphlets, and leaflets which proliferated during this series of events. In the words of the Parisian agit-prop Atelier Populaire, these types of materials are "weapons in the service of the struggle and are an inseparble part of it. Their rightful place is in the centers of conflict...These works should not be taken as the final outcome of an experience, but as an inducement for finding, through contact with the masses, new levels of action, both on the cultural and the political plane."

Both incredibly scarce; as of December 2020, we do not know of any other copies of "Textes à tester", and OCLC does not list any separate holdings of the Manifesto outside of its publication in "Ne coupez-pas." Our thanks to Michael Laird for his assistance in cataloging these items.