Watch Bob Dylan Do The ‘Cut-Up’ Technique

Bob Dylan’s creative streak in the sixties was his ultimate weapon in perfecting his craft, which was fleeting and ever-changing with the times. Just like the artist that he was, Dylan wasn’t afraid to take in the influences of peers and contemporaries of his time, even crossing over different mediums at a time for inspiration.

This was also the time where Dylan learned of the artistic technique, cut-up. It was the multi-faceted artist Brion Gysin that showed American beat author William Burroughs the said technique before it was popularized. The latter explained when an artist could use the technique, saying that it was spontaneity that fueled the beauty of art whether it be photography or prose and poetry.

He went on further by saying that while it was difficult to capture or create spontaneity itself, the cut-up technique provided an avenue where the artist could “recreate” the feeling by willing it into existence with the help of scissors. David Bowie himself made use of the technique, creating some of the most unorthodox yet pleasing lyrical imagery.

Watch Dylan demonstrate the technique for the creation of Blonde on Blonde in the video below.