Emmett Williams (4 April 1925 – 14 February 2007) was an American poet and visual artist. He was married to British visual artist Ann Noël.
Williams was born in Greenville, South Carolina, grew up in Virginia, and lived in Europe from 1949 to 1966. Williams studied poetry with John Crowe Ransom at Kenyon College, anthropology at the University of Paris, and worked as an assistant to the ethnologist Paul Radin in Switzerland.
As an artist and poet, Emmett Williams collaborated with Daniel Spoerri and German poet Claus Bremer in the Darmstadt circle of concrete poetry from 1957 to 1959. One of his notable pieces from this period is "Four-Directional Song of Doubt for Five Voices" (1957), in which five performers are each assigned one word of the phrase "You just never quite know", and say their word according to a grid on a card, keeping together with the beat of a metronome: when a black circle appears on the grid, the performer speaks the word, and when no circle appears they say nothing. In the resulting performance, the core phrase "you never quite know" is overshadowed by other combinations of words, such as "you know" and "quite just".In the 1960s, Williams was the European coordinator of Fluxus and worked closely with French artist Robert Filliou, and a founding member of the Domaine Poetique in Paris, France. Williams was friends with Václav Havel during his dissident years' he translated some of Havel's work into English. Williams was a guest artist in residence teaching at Mount Holyoke College from September 1975 to June 1976.
Williams' theater essays appeared in Das Neue Forum, Berner Blatter, Ulmer Theater, and other European magazines. He translated Daniel Spoerri's Topographie Anecdotee du Hasard (An Anecdoted Topography of Chance), collaborated with Claes Oldenburg on Store Days, and edited An Anthology of Concrete Poetry, all published by the Something Else Press, which was owned and managed by fellow Fluxus artist Dick Higgins. From the mid-1960s through the early 1970s Williams was Editor in Chief of the Something Else Press.
In 1991, Williams published an autobiography, My Life in Fluxus - And Vice Versa, published by Edition Hansjörg Mayer, Stuttgart, and reprinted the next year by Thames and Hudson.
In 1996, he was honored for his life work with the Hannah-Höch-Preis. He died in Berlin in 2007.
In 2014, Edition Zédélé published a reprint of SOLDIER (Reprint Collection, curated by Anne Moeglin-Delcroix and Clive Phillpot), first published in A Valentine for Noel (1973) by Something Else Press and Hansjörg Mayer.
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Some of their strengths
Emmett Williams has many admirable traits.
Based on spiritual traditions from around the world, they are someone who can be described as Energetic, Intelligent, Ambitious, Intuitive, Passionate, Adventurous, and Extroverted.
Independent and Brave
According to Mysticism’s Astrology tradition, Emmett Williams is someone who is an independent, brave, and honest person who approaches life with energy, intuition, passion, and generosity. A person who defines themself by their friends and what groups they belong to.
Constant and Serious
Based on Daoism’s Ba-Zi or ‘Chinese Zodiac’ tradition, people who know Emmett Williams well know them as someone who can be determined, unmoving, and firm, like a rock or a high mountain.
Inventive and Clever
According to Hinduism’s Jyotisha or ‘Vedic Astrology’ tradition, many would also describe Emmett Williams as someone who is flexible, intelligent, and quick-witted.
A person who likes to be creative, and to be recognized for their artistic talents. Who possesses intelligence, mental discipline, and ambition, and who does well in relationships and partnerships.
Communicative and Intelligent
Based on the Mayan Tzolk’in or ‘Mayan Astrology’ tradition, Emmett Williams is someone who tends to have a desire to communicate with others, either verbally, through written form, or otherwise, and to have a knack for understanding art, beauty, and aesthetics.
They are also someone who is intuitive, imaginative, and an agent of change, and who is always dreaming of life's great possibilities and partnering with people to try to achieve those possibilities.
Independent and Dynamic
According to Judaism’s Kabbalah tradition, Emmett Williams tends to be someone who is independent, dynamic, and courageous. Who can be positive, energetic, self-reliant, and adventurous, and who can make friends easily.
Some of Emmett Williams's challenges
While Emmett Williams has many strengths, nobody is perfect. They also have some challenging traits they need to manage.
For example, Emmett Williams can be Status-seeking, Indecisive, Short-tempered, Impulsive, Arrogant, Hypocritical, and Self-centered.
Short-tempered and Impulsive
One of Emmett Williams's key challenges is that they are someone who can come across as short-tempered and impulsive.
Emmett Williams must also exercise caution as they can be excessive and unrealistic.
Unfocused and Indecisive
Emmett Williams is someone who can be scattered, restless, and insensitive, be distracted by fluctuating professional interests, be a workaholic, and who can be arrogant and have difficulty accepting advice.
Aggressive and Domineering
Finally, Emmett Williams also can be aggressive, impatient, impulsive, and short-tempered.
