Gertrude has had a meeting with the Zeitgeist. I had just posted # 39, the attempt of Proust, Joyce and Pound to Twitter (quite in vain, of course) whereas Stein revealed herself as the naturally born Twitterwit: “Toasted Susie is my icecream”. The same day, a message came flying by from Berlin and London: “Why Twitter is Gertrude Stein in 2010″. Lo and behold. It came via The Reading Room in Berlin from “Very Small Kitchen” in England, “a project space inhabiting, defining and exploring spaces of connection between writing and art practice; text, book and exhibition; curating and authorship.” The founder, David Berridge, answered the Why question so twitterly and steinly that I want to share a piece of it here:
“Gertrude Stein uses Twitter. She doesn’t call it that.
Gertrude Stein lost the continuous present. Then she found it again. She called it twitter.
Alice B. Toklas thinks the whole thing is ridiculous. She sends the occasional e-mail, but nothing more.
Gertrude Stein twitters all day and night.
Gertrude Stein twitters in the park the park.
Twitters twitters twitters twitters twitters.
Gertrude Stein says a text is a text but twitter.
She is aware that it is easy to parody what one is parodying.
That it is not necessarily funny to be funny when one is being funny or not being.
Gertrude Stein knows the limits of twitter.
And all those who twitter in 2010 are being Gertrude Stein. …”
There you have it. And if you would like to read on, go to http://verysmallkitchen.com/2010/03/21/why-twitter-is-gertrude-stei… Gertie would have liked it. She thinks we could replace 2010 with 2020. Just as well.
