From Chaos of the Third Mind:
The cut-up method was first created by Tristan Tzara in the early 20th century. Tzara was a member of both the Dada and Surrealist movements. Proponents of new ways of thinking about society and the place and function of art within it, the Dadas utilized new materials and methods including collage, montage, assemblage, ready-mades, the cut-up, performance, and chance.
How to make a cut-up:
-Take a newspaper (or other form of literature).
-Take some scissors.
-Choose from this paper an article the length you want to make your poem.
-Cut out the article.
-Next carefully cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them all in a bag.
-Shake gently.
-Next take out each cutting one after the other.
-Copy conscientiously in the order in which they left the bag.
The poem will resemble you.
“The first step in re-creation is to cut the old lines that hold you right where you are sitting now,” William S. Burroughs, The Third Mind (1978).
