Neoism is a parodistic art movement trying to bypass and subvert the power dynamics of the art world as well as its aesthetics and practices. Making reference to the anti-institutional positions of previous avant-garde movements like Fluxus, Mail Art, and the Situationists, or subcultures like punk, Neoists try to negate, deny, and invert art practices mainly via plagiarism, collective anonymity, disruptive performances, and ever-shifting positions and practices, continuously producing more art while doing so. Most active in the 1980s and 1990s, the network of artists published, performed, and exhibited under the pseudonyms of Monty Cantsin and Karen Eliot with a sensitivity to media theory that touches print and its ephemera as well as computer culture.

A NEOIST RESEARCH PROJECT was also published under one of Cantsin’s pseudonyms, as the note at the beginning states: “NO COPY NO RIGHT NO RESERVE N.O. CANTSIN NO TIME LESS SPACE.” The book ends with the declaration: “OUR WORK IS RARELY SIGNED, / AND THE NOTION OF PLAGIARISM DOES NOT EXIST. IT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED THAT ALL NEOISM IS THE WORK OF ONLY ONE AGELESS AND ANONYMOUS NEOIST.”

The book collects writings, ranging from very short statements to manifestos and scores published in the context of the movement, mostly scattered through different publication organs and under different pseudonyms. They are divided into five chapters: “Activations,” “Apt Fests,” “Language,” “Neoism,” and “Replication.”

Set in an 8-bit font, text is always laid out on verso pages with recto pages reproducing photographs and art works in heavy contrasted black and white. These layout decisions reference early computer culture as well as the aesthetic of xeroxed zines—both important benchmarks for Neoist artists—yet only simulating their lo-fi aesthetics. This is very much in line with Neoist art practices in general, as is the choice of print-on-demand publishing as the perfect “poor” hybrid of analog and digital production methods.