Alex Smith is known for his lectures regarding what he has called the "state of affairs," a misunderstood term used by philosophers of meaning and language. At Stanford in 2001 he claimed, "The phrase itself never should have existed. It ruined my level of successful entropy in Ocean City: Poems and Artwork. Not to mention," he said, "my calculations regarding the logistical proofs of lines I will henceforth refer to as the 'proper cultural reference lines' were tainted by several Russellian structures imposed upon the referential theory."
He also co-created Ocean City: Poems and Artwork with painter Peter Labier. It could be said that Smith's over-privileged lifestyle led to a certain level of apathy/candor. But his attempts at timely poetics seemed misguided at best. His "proper cultural reference lines" were immediately criticized as being dated and "rather vengeful, hateful little queries into why nothing seems to work out for him" (New York Times).
Smith's relationship with Labier has come under the eye of literary historians recently; some say they were involved sexually, while others yet say that they were introduced only days before they began collaborating. It is agreed, however, that they worked fruitfully but inevitably attempted to kill each other while arguing over a radio station in Labier's car.
