Stream of Consciousness

Stream of consciousness is something I have looked into before, as an English Literature and Creative Writing A Level student.
An activity I once had to carry out in a creative writing class was writing repeatedly and not stopping. Rather than stopping, one would instead have to keep on writing - anything, whatever came to mind. If you got to the point at which you felt you should stop, instead of doing so, in order to keep the pen going, a word would be rewritten and rewritten, for example, table, until an idea came. Of course the extra word would be removed in a final edit of the piece, but the idea was of course to remain in a state of writing.
I feel that writing on and on gets the thoughts down on paper, if you pause to think, the train of thought is lost and the sense of an internal monologue has gone because these thoughts have been broken up. It keeps the writing flowing, and besides, the more 'tables' scattered about your work, the more obvious it is how easily you can lose your train of thought and concentration. In a way, it could shame you into motivating yourself a little more, to keep the number at a minimum.

"Consciousness, then, does not appear to itself as chopped up in bits... it is nothing joined; it flows. A 'river' or a 'stream' are the metaphors by which it is most naturally described. In talking of it hereafter, let's call it the stream of thought, consciousness, or subjective life. "
- The Principles of Psychology (1890) by William James

I have found it interesting looking at the likes of Barbara Smith, in regard to this psychological idea, for many of her works seem rather meticulous. For instance, the copious luggage tags, or the extended parking lot lines. It is as though she is tying up loose ends in a way - those of her own and those of others.

Barbara Smith

Stream of Consciousness incorporated into luggage tags
with wool. - the same sense - a train of thought - the physical process of winding wool could be a literal visualisation of the mind at work, writing, line by line

Drawing ideas from Smith's way of working has proved an effective way of taking the idea of Arte Povera forward, exploring ways of creating art in non traditional manners with non-convectional materials.