Join us at UMMA on Valentine's Day for some radical pataphysical explorations designed to put reality slightly out of kilter. Presented by UMMA, the Avant-Garde Interest Group in the Rackham Graduate School, and the UM Department of English, this UMMA Dialogue features experimental poet Christian Bok (University of Calgary), art historian David Doris (UM), and music performance professor Stephen Rush (UM) in a series of presentations and performances inspired by 'Pataphysics. 'Pataphysics is a philosophical precursor of Dada and Surrealism that reveals and dissolves the conceptual categories that constitute our understanding of reality by playfully placing everyday objects that we take for granted into odd, strange, and funny contexts. Highlights include a presentation by Professor Bok on his xenotext project, a collaboration with microbiologists to design a cell that can store and write a poem, and an experimental performance art introduction to pataphysical concepts by Stephen Rush and some of his students in SMTD.