A graphical representation of one of Egbert B. Gebstadter’s original discovery of the “ambiphone,” which is remarkably similar to one of Douglas R. Hofstadter’s original “ambigram”creations (or are they discoveries?), except that it must be sung while standing on one’s head (or bending over backwards) in order to be properly understood.

This remarkable untitled haiku is an example of Gebstadter’s artful translation of poetic forms, which he calls “transformation.” It is self-referential and self-representational, as well as paradoxically self-contradictory (on every line). It was clearly inspired by Basho’s famous 17th-century “swamp / tadpole / plunk” haiku.

A sample of Gebstadter’s original sonographical form, “Whorly Art,” taken from the cover of his artful 1985 book Thetamagical Memas: Seeking the Whence of Letter and Spirit. Given Gebstadter’s strong emphasis on the horrors of nuclear proliferation throughout Thetamagical Memas, this drawing might be seen as EBG’s attempt to create a lasting whorled piece.

Collected and commented by Gwen Ethylor
Stepford Ninneversity Libraries

©2006 Stepford Ninneversity Libraries