
Photo: MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona from Barcelona, Spain / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Kenneth Goldsmith is exactly the sort of provocateur I love to wrestle with. A poet from Freeport, New York, he built his reputation on conceptual writing, retyping and recontextualizing existing text until the very idea of authorship feels destabilized. Founding UbuWeb, that sprawling avant-garde archive, was a gift to anyone curious about the experimental margins, and his reach across music criticism and computer art shows a restless intelligence. He divides readers sharply, and I think that is the point. I am persuaded by artists who force us to ask what language even is. Goldsmith makes boredom into a weapon, and I find that irresistibly clever.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Kenneth Goldsmith
- Name (Japanese)
- ケネス・ゴールドスミス
- Reading
- けねす・ごーるどすみす
- Born
- January 1, 1961 (age 65)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Ox
- Origin
- Freeport, New York, United States
- Occupation
- poet / university teacher / writer / music critic / computer artist
2. Background
Awards & achievements
- 2020 François Morellet Prize
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Kenneth Goldsmith born?
Born January 1, 1961 (age 65).
Where is Kenneth Goldsmith from?
Kenneth Goldsmith is from Freeport, New York, United States.
What does Kenneth Goldsmith do?
Kenneth Goldsmith works as poet, university teacher, writer, music critic, computer artist.
Poet — see all → · University teacher — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.