Painter, writer, sound poet, tape composer, lyricist, and performance artist, Gysin is remembered particularly for his evocative paintings of the North African desert in the 1950s and his original calligraphic abstractions based on Japanese and Arabic scripts. The chance discovery by Gysin of the cut-up technique (later developed and refined by William S. Burroughs) and the concept of permutated poems gave rise to new and original forms of sound art wordplay, striking not only in print but also in recordings or live performance. Gysin's inventive ideas also extended to the Dreamachine and to collages of text and photographs.

This is the first comprehensive publication on Gysin's achievements. It features reproductions of his paintings and graphics as well as examples of his permutated poems and other writings. Complete with first-hand reminiscences by his contemporaries, it generates the sense of excitement and experimentation that so captivated all who knew this remarkable artistic pioneer.