We remember back in 1986 when Brion Gysin was becoming ever more sick. We visited him the week before he dropped his body. At one point, he asked me to go out and have a coffee while the funeral staff came to measure him for a coffin. He was pale, as if he were literally fading away from reality and becoming semitransparent. We took a Polaroid, one of our prized possessions. "Gen," he said, "I can't take this pain any longer. I need to go." Our heart faltered for a second. He was our mentor, our teacher, our engine of hope. And he was leaving. We said to him, very sincerely and seriously, "I'm going to make sure that nobody forgets about how important your work is until it gets recognized." It became one of our life tasks. To proselytize his works, his ideas; keep his books and artworks available and influential. This is what we've done. He deserved it. He generated the most important techniques and tools of the last century for short-circuiting control and moving the culture in a new direction.
from NONBINARY by Genesis P-Orridge
