Ouxpo
Encyclopedia
Ouxpo is an acronym for Ouvroir d'X Potentielle. It is an umbrella group for Oulipo
Oulipo
Oulipo is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais...

, Oubapo
Oubapo
OuBaPo is a comics movement which believes in the use of formal constraints to push the boundaries of the medium. OuBaPo is styled after the French literary movement Oulipo , founded by Raymond Queneau and Georges Perec...

, Outrapo
Outrapo
Outrapo stands for "Ouvroir de tragicomédie potentielle", which translates roughly as "workshop of potential tragicomedy." It was founded in London, in 1991, and it seeks to mine the potentialities of stage performance, using new or preexistent constraints...

, etc. The term 'ouvroir', originally used in conjunction with works of charity, was reused by Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau was a French poet and novelist and the co-founder of Ouvroir de littérature potentielle .-Biography:Born in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Queneau was the only child of Auguste Queneau and Joséphine Mignot...

 for a blend of 'ouvroir' and 'œuvre' ('work') and roughly corresponds to the English 'workshop'. The term 'potentiel' is used in the sense of that which is possible, or realisable if one follows certain rules.

History

Created within the Collège de 'Pataphysique in 1960, Oulipo
Oulipo
Oulipo is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais...

 is now better known than the college itself and has survived the decline of the college.

In accordance with the wishes of François Le Lionnais
François Le Lionnais
François Le Lionnais was a French chemical engineer and mathematician, perhaps best known as a founder of the literary movement Oulipo....

 and Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau
Raymond Queneau was a French poet and novelist and the co-founder of Ouvroir de littérature potentielle .-Biography:Born in Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, Queneau was the only child of Auguste Queneau and Joséphine Mignot...

, other Ouvroirs d'X Potentielle have been spun off from Oulipo for all the arts. Each ouvroir is dedicated to some field 'X'. It analyses the pre-existing constraints, and investigates new forms of potential creations within the field. The job of coordinating the ouvroirs was given first to François Le Lionnais
François Le Lionnais
François Le Lionnais was a French chemical engineer and mathematician, perhaps best known as a founder of the literary movement Oulipo....

, then Noël Arnaud, and then Milie von Bariter.

The Official Ouvroirs

After 1960-11-24 when Oulipo
Oulipo
Oulipo is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais...

 was created, thirteen years passed before the appearance of Oulipopo (LIttérature POlicière, detective literature) in 1973, twenty years before Oupeinpo (PEINture, painting) in 1980, and 31 years before Outrapo
Outrapo
Outrapo stands for "Ouvroir de tragicomédie potentielle", which translates roughly as "workshop of potential tragicomedy." It was founded in London, in 1991, and it seeks to mine the potentialities of stage performance, using new or preexistent constraints...

 (TRAgicomédie) in 1991, the first ouvroir to be created without François Le Lionnais. Since then, a new ouvroir has arisen almost every year.

In order of birth:
  • Oubapo
    Oubapo
    OuBaPo is a comics movement which believes in the use of formal constraints to push the boundaries of the medium. OuBaPo is styled after the French literary movement Oulipo , founded by Raymond Queneau and Georges Perec...

    , (BAnde dessinée, or comics)
  • Ouhispo, (HIStory)
  • Oumapo, (MArionnettes)
  • Ouphopo, (PHOtography)
  • Oulipo
    Oulipo
    Oulipo is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais...

    , (LIttérature)
  • Oulipolipo, (LIbyco POlonais de LIttérature)
  • Ou'inpo, (INformatique, or information technology)
  • Ouca(ta)po, (CATAstrophe)
  • Oupypo, ('PYgology')
  • Ouarchpo, (ARCHitecture)
  • Oupolpot, (POLitics)
  • Ougrapo
    Ougrapo
    Ougrapo stands for "Ouvroir du design graphique potentiel", which translates roughly as "workshop of potential graphic design", it was founded in Frankfurt , in 2000. Ougrapo is an archive and a workshop for "graphic design under constraints", researching, collecting and applying methods and...

    , (design GRAphique)
  • Oumypo, (MYspace)


Oumupo and Oucipo
Oucipo
Oucipo is part of the Ouxpo cultural movement that was in turn derived from the Oulipo literary movement, but with a specific focus on cinema.Literally, the Workshop of Possible Cinema , Oucipo was founded on October 7, 1974 by François Le Lionnais as Oucinépo, but later become more commonly known...

 (MUsic and CInematography) were created very early, but the dates are uncertain and these ouvroirs probably experienced multiple births. In fact, many Oumupo seem to co-exist. Oucuipo (CUIsine) was created from a fringe activity of Oulipo.

Some Others

Ougrapo
Ougrapo
Ougrapo stands for "Ouvroir du design graphique potentiel", which translates roughly as "workshop of potential graphic design", it was founded in Frankfurt , in 2000. Ougrapo is an archive and a workshop for "graphic design under constraints", researching, collecting and applying methods and...

 (GRAmmar) wants to remain independent of Ouxpo. Some lists mention both an Oumathpo and an Oupornpo. Others, some probably parodies of ouvroirs, include Outyppo (TYPography), Oupopo (POlitics, again), Oumapo (MAthematics, again), Oulitramupo (LIttérature TRAduite en MUsique), Oupipo (PIètrerie, from piètre 'mediocre'), Oulipo
Oulipo
Oulipo is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais...

 (but pronounced oulīpo, as in LIposuction) — but these do not appear to be either authentic or members of Ou-X-Po.

There exists also an Oucopo (COmedy), an Ougéopo (GEOgraphy), an Oujapo (JArdinage or gardening), an Ououpo (OUxpo (meta-oulipo)),and an Ouwikipo (WIKIpedia).

The notion of an Ouflarfpo (FLARF) has also recently been theorized as a means of resolving some of the aesthetic and political tensions between Flarf and Conceptual Poetry.

External links



The following are French language sites:
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