Vonnegut artistic collaborator to give two presentations

Joel Cohen, one of Kurt Vonnegut's artistic colleagues, will give two presentations on Wednesday, March 30.

"Kurt Vonnegut's 1978 Fredonia Commencement Speech: Tralfamadorian Beads of Amber" will be held from noon to 1:10 p.m. in Williams Center Room S204. From 3 to 4 p.m., Mr. Cohen will give an interactive presentation, "Mail Art, Ragged Edge Press, and Social Change," in Fenton Hall Room 127.

Also known as "The Sticker Dude," Cohen is the cofounder of Ragged Edge Press, and has been collaboratively creating art and social change for more than 25 years. A graphic artist, poet, printer, editor, mail art innovator and musical performer, Cohen began creating progressive political art in response to the counter-culture movements of the 1960s and 1970s. He has worked with a variety of like-minded artists, including the internationally renowned author Vonnegut, folk singer and activist Pete Seeger and award-winning editorial illustrator Thomas Kerr.

The public screening of Vonnegut's May 20, 1978 Fredonia Commencement address is part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Brown Bag Lecture Series. Collected in “Palm Sunday,” Vonnegut's 1980 "autobiographical collage," the landmark speech offers Vonnegut's explanation for "how jokes work" along with a "ridiculous" Fredonia song, a puberty ceremony, reflections on "clarking" and other pearls of wisdom.

To set the stage for unlocking these "moments frozen in amber," Department of English Professor Christina Jarvis will briefly contextualize the speech within Vonnegut's canon while Professor Emeritus and Fredonia's Reminiscer-in-Chief, Malcolm “Mac” Nelson, will describe the excitement Vonnegut's speech generated.

After screening the recently digitized television recording of the address, Cohen will discuss some of his artistic collaborations with Vonnegut, which include the author's "Rare Earth" sticker, limited edition printings of essays, a first-day Malcolm X cover and other graphic art projects.

At his second event, "The Sticker Dude" will share some of his mail art projects, Ragged Edge Press graphic work and stories from his nearly three decades of creating progressive art. Audience members will be encouraged to ask questions and to engage in a larger conversation about creating change through collaborative art projects.

Both presentations by Cohen are free and open to the public and are sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Department of English.