documentary, music, quotes, theory, Uncategorized

1420

«The Romans stole the alphabeta system from the Greeks through war», explains Rammellzee. «Then, in medieval times, monks ornamented letters to hide their meaning from the people. Now, the letter is armored against further manipulation.»

New York graffiti artist and B-boy theoretician Rammellzee (the artist encases himself during gallery performances in Gasholeer, a 148-pound, gadgetry-encrusted exoskeleton inspired by an android he painted on a subway train in 1981. Four years in the making, Rammellzee’s exuberantly low-tech costume bristles with rocket launchers, nozzles that gush gouts of flame, and an all-important sound system.)

«From both wrists, I can shoot seven flames, nine flames from each sneaker’s heel, and colored flames from the throat. Two girl doll heads hanging from my waist and in front of my balls spit fire and vomit smoke… The sound system consists of a Computator, which is a system of screws with wires. These screws can be depressed when the keyboard gun is locked into it. The sound travels through the keyboard and screws, then through the Computator, then the belt, and on up to the four mid-range speakers (with tweeters). This is all balanced by a forward wheel from a jet fighter plane. I also use an echo chamber, Vocoder, and system of strobe lights. A coolant device keeps my head and chest at normal temperature. A 100-watt amp and batteries give me power.»

«slanguage» – a heavily encrypted hip-hop argot – is the linguistic equivalent of graffiti «tags» all over the mother tongue. In an essay on English as the imperial language of the Internet, the cultural critic McKenzie Wark argues for the willful, viral corruption of the lingua franca of global corporate monoculture as a political act.

Black to the Future: Afrofuturism 1.0

Mark Dery


books

1417 – Waste Tide (2013 novel)

For All Tomorrow’s Parties. 全为明日派对。


timespace coordinates: The Waste Tide depicts a dystopian China in the post-2020 era. (2040’s -2050’s) In the Guiyu island, the large electronic recycle industries are in full control of local lineage associations. The laborers who undertake dangerous work for the profit of the Chinese and foreign businessmen who employ them are depicted not as humans, but cyborgs whose bodies and minds have been altered permanently through bio-engineering.

wastetideThe Waste Tide is a science fiction novel by the Chinese writer Chen Qiufan.

The story takes place in the imaginary ”Silicon Isle”. The Chinese word ”硅屿” for Silicon Isle shares a similar pronunciation with Guiyu (Chinese: 贵屿) in Mandarin. In the real world, Guiyu is a town in the Shantou prefecture of Guangdong province in China. And it is Shantou where Chen Qiufan was born and grew up before he entered Peking University. Situated on the South China Sea coast, Guiyu got famous in the global environmentalist community for its reception of E-waste. The town held the record for being the largest E-waste site up to 2013. Though some residents got rich by electronic recycling, pollution became serious in the town. Talking about the background of writing the novel, Chen said: ”Choosing my hometown as background to write the story, is related to my thinking of China. To depict the pain of changing China, is just because I desire for she getting better gradually.’ (wiki)

goodreads

Uncategorized

1416

Joseph Needham’s sketchbook from his visit to the Buddhist grottoes at Chienfodong 千佛洞 (Qianfodong), Dunhuang, Gansu Province,… (NRI2/5/12/4)

download

Joseph Needham



Mirroring the Master: Making Magic in a Nineteenth Century Tibetan Book of Spells

documentary

1405 – One Strange Rock (Documentary | TV Series 2018– )

One Strange Rock is an American television documentary series, produced by Nutopia in conjunction with Darren Aronofsky, which premiered on National Geographic on March 26, 2018. On July 25, 2018, National Geographic renewed the series for a second season, which is set to premiere sometime in 2019.  

One Strange Rock tells the story of how life survives and thrives on planet Earth, as told by eight astronauts from their unique perspective of being away from Earth (for about 1000 days). Hosted by actor Will Smith, One Strange Rock features contributions from astronauts Chris HadfieldNicole StottJeffrey A. HoffmanMae JemisonLeland MelvinMike MassiminoJerry Linenger, and Peggy Whitson. (wiki)

imdb

movies

1398 – Code 8 (2019)

Code 8 is a 2019 crowdfunded Canadian science fiction thriller film directed by Jeff Chan, Based on the 2016 short film of the same name. (wiki)

Code-8-2019“Code 8 is an electrifying film featuring ordinary people with powers in a tough world. It’s a gritty and realistic take that’s a nice change of pace in the superhero genre.” John Nguyen / Nerd Reactor

In December 2019, a short-form spinoff series starring Robbie and Stephen Amell, written by Chris Pare, and directed by Jeff Chan was announced in development at Quibi.

imdb   /   rt

books, documentary, podcast, theory, Uncategorized

1393

Based on his pioneering work in the recent book High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies, author and podcaster Erik Davis will explore the phenomenon of occult revivals, comparing and contrasting some of the factors that made the early 1970s and the late 2010s hotbeds of occultism, witchcraft, and visionary experience. Featuring films by visual artists Dustin Wong and Amanda Siegel.

youtube: High Weirdness Then and Now: The Occult Revival in the ’70s and Today


The Politics of High Weirdness: a Litquake talk with Erik Davis and RU Sirius

For Litquake 2019, Erik Davis spoke with RU Sirius about the politics of high weirdness, then and now.


High Weirdness By Mail  by Ivan Stang

This hysterical hobbyist’s guide belongs in every hip library. Coot cat Reverend Ivan Stang, high holy of the Church of the SubGenius, has compiled a bestiary of American creeps and crazies so that you can write to them and receive mail that is weird, horrible, wonderfully absurd, or a combination of all three.

goodreads   /  wikipedia

movies, music, Uncategorized

1386 – Lords of Chaos (2018)

timespace coordinates: 1980’s – 1991 – 1993 Norway

Lords of Chaos is a 2018 horror-thriller film directed by Jonas Åkerlund and written by Dennis Magnusson and Åkerlund. Adapted from the 1998 book of the same name, the film is a semi-fictionalised account of the early 1990s Norwegian black metal scene told from the perspective of Mayhem co-founder Euronymous. It stars Rory Culkin as Euronymous, Emory Cohen as Varg VikernesJack Kilmer as Dead, and Sky Ferreira as Ann-Marit (character invented for the movie). Music for the film is by sigur rós(wiki)

Historical accuracy

Reactions from the depicted +

imdb   /   rt   /   Euronymous Interview (1993)