The Pataphysical Society of New York
@patanyc.bsky.social
Investigating exceptions to rules, equivalence of opposites, and the science of imaginary solutions (and its practitioners). https://patanyc.org
What does pataphysics have to do with anything? Nothing
What does pataphysics have to do with nothing? Anything
What does pataphysics have to do with nothing? Anything
December 1, 2025 at 5:28 PM
What does pataphysics have to do with anything? Nothing
What does pataphysics have to do with nothing? Anything
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...
www.abebooks.com/books/rarebo...
November 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
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...
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.
November 1, 2025 at 12:52 PM
118 years ago, Jarry acquired the necessary experiences to savor all possible beauties, pataphysical and otherwise. The author surpasses the author, November 1, 1907.
Reposted by The Pataphysical Society of New York
this is the photo in the "absurdity" article on Danish Wikipedia ("A rabbit with a waffle. On the head")
October 4, 2025 at 10:17 PM
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...
October 4, 2025 at 12:38 PM
"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.
September 27, 2025 at 1:20 PM
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!
September 22, 2025 at 12:37 PM
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
pataphysics.io
PATAPHYSICS
pataphysics.io
September 16, 2025 at 12:19 PM
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
pataphysics.io
Reposted by The Pataphysical Society of New York
September 12, 2025 at 4:38 AM
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.
www.filmlinc.org/films/up-and... We are nevertheless grateful to a member for alerting us to it.
Up and Down
At once a spoof of French cycling culture and a loving tribute to 19th-century writer and forerunner of surrealism Alfred Jarry, Up and Down follows a bicycle rally up the French Alps’ Parpaillon pass...
www.filmlinc.org
September 12, 2025 at 12:49 PM
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.
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...
jmb-online.com/pdf/05/JMB-4...
September 10, 2025 at 5:43 PM
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...
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.
September 8, 2025 at 1:53 PM
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.
September 7, 2025 at 4:14 PM
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.
July 13, 2025 at 4:06 AM
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).
(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).
May 24, 2025 at 3:12 PM
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).
(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.
May 17, 2025 at 4:51 PM
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...
FIRST PUBLICATION IN ENGLISH
The Pope’s Mustard-Maker (Le Moutardier du pape) was the last work that Alfred Jarry finished, a few months before his death in 1907. It is a bawdy three-act farce loosely based on the medieval leg…
blackscatbooks.com
May 13, 2025 at 12:27 AM
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!
May 5, 2025 at 11:07 PM
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.
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.
May 2, 2025 at 10:09 PM
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.
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...
What is a Gidouille? | Patakosmos
The Spiral Rising from the Belly of Humanity Anyone who’s ever seen an illustration of Père Ubu, the grotesque hero of Alfred Jarry’s famous Ubu Roi, will remember a peculiar, baffling detail: a large...
www.patakosmos.com
May 1, 2025 at 12:11 PM
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
April 26, 2025 at 5:29 PM
“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.
April 13, 2025 at 5:59 AM
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!
April 7, 2025 at 10:12 PM
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...
My Works, Ye Mighty - Athabasca University Press
My Works, Ye Mighty expands upon the conceptual literature of Christian Bök, particularly his ongoing project, entitled The Xenotext. Based upon work conducted during his tenure as the Writer-in-Resid...
www.aupress.ca
April 6, 2025 at 6:58 PM
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...