What does pataphysics have to do with anything? Nothing What does pataphysics have to do with nothing? Anything

An unexpected author among this year's most expensive book sales: Marcel Schwob, to whom Jarry dedicated Ubu Roi. Schwob helped to champion young Jarry's work, but he has largely fallen into obscurity. Yet not completely: www.abebooks.com/books/rarebo...

118 years ago, Jarry acquired the necessary experiences to savor all possible beauties, pataphysical and otherwise. The author surpasses the author, November 1, 1907.

this is the photo in the "absurdity" article on Danish Wikipedia ("A rabbit with a waffle. On the head")

"Taunting the Useful" by Loumille Métros (published in August of last year) is compact, whimsical, and thought-provoking, with wonderfully eclectic citations – and it’s available as a free download from Punctum Books: punctumbooks.com/titles/taunt...

After he gained divisive fame in France, Henri Rousseau’s first solo show was in 1910 at “291” – the renowned NYC gallery that later introduced Americans to Cezanne and Picasso. Of course, Jarry had already recognized Rousseau's genius by commissioning his only lithograph for L'Ymagier No. 2.

Reading Rotpunkt! (Pataphysics of a Criminal Mind), the new experimental novel by Alberto Calligaris is fiendishly disorienting because it is almost entirely written in IPA notation. The supposedly “found” text contains encryptions, neologisms, stains, and mystery!

Pataphysics-inspired, shoeless, experimental music and visuals in Brooklyn this Saturday (No. 16 in a series). Featuring Todd Polenberg, Joshue Ott, Ezekiel Honig, and @matthewdgantt.bsky.social pataphysics.io

Tangent to a point on a spiral: absurd.website Normal to the tangent: theuselessweb.com

#AlfredJarry Portrait by my father Carl Köhler (1919-2006)

The entire Society staff happened to be conducting ritualistic Corsican contemplations when this cinematic event materialized in the world. www.filmlinc.org/films/up-and... We are nevertheless grateful to a member for alerting us to it.

Here’s a contemporary application of pataphysics in a fun little paper on pataphors by Timo Airaksinen. Warning: contains some spicy pataphysical claims. Also delightful for its treatment of contemporary and more recent, lesser cited sources. jmb-online.com/pdf/05/JMB-4...

Today is the birthday of Alfred Jarry, first and greatest popularizer of Sophrotatos the Armenian, and father of modern pataphysics. Born on this date 152 years ago. Merdre! Portrait by Frédéric-Auguste Cazals.

152 years ago today, there was a final moment in the universe, having lasted since the start of eternity, that was about to end: the period of existence that had not yet contained Alfred Jarry.

It is always a golden era for Pataphysics, and right now is no exception, as usual.

Pataphysics will: (Examine the laws governing exceptions AND explain the universe supplementary to this one) OR (Describe a universe which can OR should be envisaged in the place of the traditional one).

Pataphysicians have a proclivity for colorful language.

If recent pontifical proceedings have you yearning for more papal content, consider this English translation of Jarry's "Moutardier du Pape" (The Pope's Mustard Maker) published by Black Scat Books in 2019: blackscatbooks.com/2019/08/10/f...

An original performance ticket and program from the 1896 premiere of Ubu Roi sold at auction today outside Paris. Hammer price: €3340. The extremely rare ephemera came from the collection of historian and critic Victor Perrot. Congratulations to the lucky collector!

Saddened to hear of David Thomas’s death last week. His scathing, jubilant, irascible sound will live forever. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVTt... Unrelated, here’s a concert lineup featuring Pere Ubu and the current president of the London Institute of Pataphysics.

A welcome primer, in English, on an important symbol of pataphysics. We'd only note that the symbol isn't *official* in any way, as written. De facto, perhaps, but there can, of course, be nothing official in pataphysics (perhaps to the chagrin of the College). www.patakosmos.com/what-is-a-gi...

“Fear Visits Love” is featured in Crease by Domino Books (2024), an art comic anthology edited by Austin English. Here Jarry – and Rachilde! – are deliciously illustrated by @cccilla.bsky.social. www.dominobooks.org/crease.html

To celebrate National Poetry Month, we offer this new translation of Alfred Jarry’s "The Man with The Axe," alongside the painting that inspired it.

How tall was Dr. Faustroll? Jarry says "medium height," but the classic equation, given in terms of atomic diameters, says otherwise. Multiplying even the smallest atom's diameter (hydrogen at .1 nm) by the 81,405,000,000 from Jarry's equation results in 8.1 meters or 26.7 feet in height!

Not surprised that the inimitable Christian Bök has found a clever nondeterministic way to supersede the already pataphysical tradition of publishing in limited, numbered, and now stochastic and nondeterministic editions. Looking forward to receiving our copy. www.aupress.ca/books/120337...

Disappointing to see in the latest issue of "Speculations" the CdP report enthusiastically about the Woodcock and Falletta “Finite Monkeys Theorem” variant of the classic thought experiment. The original monkey theorem specifically invokes INFINITY.

The origins of the poop emoji are typically traced back to the “Dr. Slump” manga series of 1980 to 1984, but this cover of a 1977 translation of Ubu Roi suggests the “unchi” has a deeper, more pataphysical history in Japanese culture. Perhaps we haven’t been looking in all the right pelvises. 💩

More new scholarship: This recent book includes a chapter on Bergson & Jarry: edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-french-.... With such a profusion of critical studies in English, it is indeed a convenient time to be a pataphysician. Our Anglophone forebears had it much worse!

"For I am neither stationary nor static, but dynamic, like unto the dragon which, with its tail, drags down a third part of the stars, I make fall in my wake all that is worthy of my purple...." - From Jarry's Caesar Antichrist

Fans of #Severance may have savored the many images and themes from pataphysical texts throughout the show. For example: the balloon heads of the opening credits, recalling a leitmotif in Days and Nights. Literature always knows us before we know ourselves.

Collectors, bibliophiles, and pataphysicians take note: several full sets of the Cahiers du Collège de 'Pataphysique (and other notable journal series) are currently available on major used book platforms. The photos alone are enough to make one's heart skip a beat. www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...

“Mammamouchi: apogrousalabos triphocaran tatalababa colocopicsone zoufzouf laptapoum bottocu pampam.” - October 1895 review / parody of Jarry's Caesar Antichrist in La jeune Belgique.

In case you missed it: the first English bio of Henri Bergson, teacher of Jarry's and subject of endless pataphysical parlor-game speculation as to the nature of his influence upon The Science, is out as of last year, thanks to @emilyherring.bsky.social www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/emily...

Like many English-speaking pataphysicians, we are excited to delve into Amy Catanzano's just-released "The Imaginary Present: Essays in Quantum Poetics." press.umich.edu/Books/T/The-...

The Physics of Pears: A Pataphysical Approach to Geometrodynamics (arxiv.org/html/2411.11...) suggests the universe itself prefers pear-shaped graphs as the fundamental geometry of spacetime. That Ubu's head also manifests in this form is no mere coincidence – a correlation of exceptions, indeed!

“Intemperantia litterarum laboramus” - one of Jarry's prized quotations from Seneca. "We suffer from an excess of literature."

Les Chants de Maldoror (The Songs of Maldoror) was famously a part of Faustroll's library.

Behold the plus-in-minus, that often-overlooked symbol of the science of pataphysics.

For many non-mathematicians, the concept of “identity” to mean something like “identicality” is foreign, which is why we prefer the term “equivalence of opposites” when referring to the tenet of pataphysics in conversational English (except in direct translations).

"Mankind is the mean between infinity and nothingness, pulled apart by the handles of a zero." - Alfred Jarry, who popularized pataphysics for the first time following its discovery by Sophratotos the Armenian.

Ubu's physiognomy can be confusing at first. Here's a reminder of Jarry's intention behind the iconic portrait of the Master of Phynance.

In case you missed our recent research project: We generated the world's largest datset of nonwords to study the nature of uselessness. We benchmarked against classic texts like the Bible and Moby Dick. Read our findings at patanyc.org/nonwords

"Pataphysics is *the* science" - Alfred Jarry

By my green candle, here we are!