lightsinthedistance-modernlife

...we don't even have (very many) wild variants of crops to help alter them. Because they are considered "weeds." Because of agrilogistics. Oh dear. Thanks Cliff Gerrish. (Not for the lack of crops, of course.)

Sometimes my job is out of control depressing. Sure things are connected. And it sucks. 

@twitter, you really do need to look at your abuse policy. Like, formulate one, you know? Anyone who wonders what it would be like to live in a world where Spinozism actually ruled need only consider the gigantic descent of conatus upon the head of feminist Caroline Criado-Perez on Twitter today, for the successful campaign to put the head of Jane Austen on sterling notes. Blogger, Twitter, and Facebook are California, the dark side of, stripped for export, in a box. A world of dirty looks and instant judgment. What can a body do? Gang up on others... I fear that Mary Beard had it quite wrong when, having been dive bombed similarly a while back, she argued that in the end people would learn some kind of etiquette online. Hmmm, online etiquette--let's call it "netiquette"...only that already happened, in about 1990. Now that everyone  is online, as it were, we have descended from the vaguely libertarian days into pure superego suction. Mary Beard had it backwards. Etiquet...

Told you ! Been thinking about this for about three years now. The thing is, I've been reasoning that if tiny things can behave in a quantum way, it's because there is something about objects in general that enables this. So that larger things might also be able to behave in a quantum way, validating the idea that there is something general about objects. Which is why after reading a lot of quantum theory textbooks I got very interested in OOO. A thing is incapable of being grasped in some decisive way, even when it's considered as a unit such as a quantum. Even when it is totally isolated, beyond relations with others . It sort of aesthetically ripples: it is a little bit displaced from itself. It is not fully present, even to itself. Relation and processes don't account for why things are flowy and permeated with nothingness. They are like that all on their ownsome... Remember, the object these guys use is way, way  bigger than the quantum scale we've become used ...

Also adieu to the speculative Tate. Reza Negarestani, Robin Mackay and I and others wrote these weird labels for existing paintings by the Romantics. Such as the now absent Richard Wilson. That was in 2010 and would now be impossible. The nonhuman is nowhere to be seen in this new setup. Which proves the conventional wisdom that art history is usually about 15 years behind philosophy and literary criticism. The obviously post colonial vibe of Tate 2.0 sits uneasily inside its post-imprrial Tate sugar BP sponsorship shell. Reza--oil sponsoring history! Forwards--into the past!

The horseshoe in a boxing glove obviousness of the Tate Britain 2.0 omits the following lineages from its modern and thus less than contemporary purview: Ecology Nonhumans Things As a result, the following and more are nowhere or stuffed in corners: Bridget Riley David Hockney (Even) Francis Bacon Ian Hamilton Finlay Vanessa Bell Richard Long James McNeil Whistler John Sell Cotman John Everett Millais William Blake ... Dude who stole my Tate? My Tate got me to environmental philosophy, OOO, thing theory, Romanticism. Some of the things that will eject us from modernity with its complicated wheels, as Blake would say. That Tate is now a relic of the 70s, consigned to the dustbin of history as is the old ecology exhibit at the Natural History Museum, whose refit is now also sponsored by--BP. It's sad that the 1970s is now in the future.

This kind of injunction, identical to "Perfectly Ripe Mangoes," is why I don't visit the Tate Modern. But now the Tate Britain has been sucked into the orbit of Philistinism 2.0. It's an upgrade because now you are welcome to enjoy contemporary art: just look at how valuable and famous it is! And just like what the Americans and French had in the 1950s! I feel so cool Britannia! It's like commerce without imperial guilt! Seriously Guilt Free Money! What is now the entrance hall is bedecked with something like Matisse's snail, only it isn't. It's a huge waste of wall that says "Hey kids, this is modern art and it's fun. Enjoy!" Please please give me my blank fucking walls back. Then the central hall is empty, and impassable: no one, quite literally, is in it. Because a sound piece is enjoying it on your behalf. I'm a fan of pieces that roam around with cameras, the way it does. The dark ecology piece at the Gemeentemuseum in the Hague ...

At the Tate Britain, from the 70s, when I first started to dig it. But that's about it. In this and the next couple of posts, some thoughts about the major, entirely wrong restructuring--or destructuring, or actually, destruction. The net effect: cynical reason plus presentism plus big Britart money minus meaningful British patronage of the arts in the 50s and 60s and 70s = good old British philistinism 2.0. Throw millions of pounds at some new stuff because it's less guilt inducing and more obvious, like the elephant with the machine gun and the flags: geddit? The aesthetic of much of the contemporary art and its curation is  precisely  the identical cynical reason that uses Earth as an exploitable resource. And of course, as we all know (as they knew in 1807, or 1660), the present is the best: finally we are out of that awful history tunnel! Then outsource the "history" to BP and have it compressed into the smallest possible space. Use decades rather than periods be...

This is for you Zimmerman.

These guys created some musical pieces called Hyperobjects  last year. Now they are making a piece for the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid called The Disco of the Present Moment , which is a section from Realist Magic . Forthcoming...

Obama had to say it. Having to say it. In a week in which issues of "blood" reared their ugly heads for him and the rest of the US. WebRep currentVote noRating noWeight

That was the other thing the Royal commentator said about the Royal DNA. Beam me up Scotty.

I just heard a fatuous Royal commentator talking about the Royal labor and the Royal birth of the Royal boy. "Now it's back to stability." Which translates to: "The DNA of the scapegoat, Lady Diana Spencer, is now fully incorporated into the DNA structure of the Royal family." I'm having another death-of-Mrs-Thatcher moment. A moment in which I am glad I don't actually live here.

This is very well put together is it not ? And to commemorate it here is “Something in the Way of Things" which I have occasionally written about and often taught about: Amiri Baraka's "Something In The Way Of Things [In Town]" from Bryan Green on Vimeo .

...and when I say that my black step dad Maurice was searched at the airport I mean every time. Every single time he went through customs, at any airport, anywhere in Europe or the USA. At the age of forty something.

This is a good line from a good piece about the Trayvon Martin Zimmerman trial fiasco . I got pretty nauseated at a dinner a while back when someone accused Obama of being an Uncle Tom--a white man accused him that is...I wanted to smack him. Of course if Obama so much as pounded a desk (as Clinton liked to do) he would be instantly vilified. I have a lot of feelings about that as my step dad was black and was always being stopped and searched at airports, having to remain ever so calm. There is a certain aspect of what has been labeled the emo-prog reaction to Obama that just totally sucks.

When doing a lot of research with older literature, you start to gain a strange sense of respect and familiarity with authors that are by now long gone. I've written about this before, with regards to Samuel Hildreth , but lately, I've had a different connection with another scientist who has passed. Usually, when I visualize these old scientists, I imagine senior scientists writing with a large degree of certainty, brought on by their age. Of course, this isn't an accurate visualization, but it's been my go-to imagery. It's sort of a pleasant surprise when I find out an author is younger, especially when they're in their early 20s, since that's where I am right now. It's easier to connect with another 23 year old than a 35 year old. It also impresses me and motivates me to match that level of commitment. Those were the thoughts swirling around my head when I came upon the papers of Charles Harvey Bollman, born in 1868 in Monongahela City, Pennsylvania. ...

My millipede research always seems to throw me into new adventures. Neat information just sort of hangs out in the old literature, sometimes in the form of a new species that no one is quite sure about. The species in question is Chaetaspis albus . Sort of. First, we'll go over the information we have about this species. Chaetaspis albus (no common name, sorry) was described by Charles Harvey Bollman in 1887 ( Entomologica Americana , II, 1887, pp.45-46). It's a millipede in the order Polydesmida and family Macrosternodesmidae. His description was also included in an 1893 publication of his works, which is great, because that means I can post the whole thing here without having to worry about copyright. If it's tough to read, you can click the photo to enlarge it. From Bollman 1893 So there's our information on the original specimen. It's white, less than a centimeter long, less than a millimeter wide, and was found in Indiana under a log. That's a millipede th...

Do read Henry Warwick's comment on my post on Roger Dean and Avatar . It makes a lot of sense and has a good link in it. And way to call this issue years ago! I too am not totally convinced that Dean can successfully sue. You can copy people's ideas so surely you can copy their imagery. Unless there is some more strict copyrighting you have engaged in. It was rather silly, and disingenuous, of Cameron to talk as if he'd never heard of Dean though. Why not just say "Yeah I love Yes and I love Dean's art" and so on.

The trick with indexing is not to be a control freak. If you try to index everything, you end up with an unworkable index that approaches the size of the book itself. I think I did all right. It's actually quite a nice thing to do, somewhat like getting the dandruff off your lapels on a suit. You want to attend the funeral for your book in a suit without dandruff.

This is the most extraordinary trip. Eight weeks. Four people. Three countries. Planes, trains, automobiles. Beer. Curry. Snails. Cardamom gel. And so on and so on. I believe the Byron and sound talks have gone quite well. Next up, a Wordsworth talk in Cumbria.

Avatar may have been his "most personal film to date" (as he says) but part of that may well have been having very personal connections in the early seventies to the Yes album art of Roger Dean, who is now suing for copyright infringement. How hard would it have been to get Dean involved from the start in any case? This is the art from the cover of An Evening of Yes Music Plus  for instance. Erm... And the whole theme of a fragile planet. One assumes he dug Olias of Sunhillow , Jon Anderson's solo album based on Dean's paintings. For heaven's sake. Roger I'll be happy to testify mate if you are reading this. Thank you Gerry Canavan for this. Fairly shortly my essay on Avatar  will be published (thanks again Gerry) in which the resemblance (more than that even) is noted. And there's this .

Does anyone have a copy of Crass, "Wimbledon on Acid"?

Ed moved to Colorado, after I had left--too bad for me! But nice for him no doubt, good for you sir. Before that he lived on Wimbledon Common, right opposite the Hand pub. Oh the evenings outside on the lawn. That was very much the Colorado of Wimbledon, right old friends? This might be one of the best mysterious chill tracks they've ever done. Look at that nice photo of my old mate Zia the bassist, with whom I used to play songs such as "Twine Snipper."

Using PR to influence the other. But somehow unable not to come to blows when PR is turned on himself. I remember the election campaign of 1979, "Labour Isn't Working," cynically rehashed for Romney. These guys just split because Saatchi couldn't agree to the PR about the public strangling incident... We are so addicted to looking outside ourselves that we have lost access to our inner being almost completely. We are terrified to look inward, because our culture has given us no idea of what we will find. We may even think that if we do, we will be in danger of madness. This is one of the last and most resourceful ploys of ego to prevent us from discovering our real nature. So we make our lives so hectic that we eliminate the slightest risk of looking into ourselves. Even the idea of meditation can scare people. When they hear the words   egoless   or   emptiness ,  they think that experiencing those states will be like being thrown out the door of a spaceship to floa...

"Up until now thought has changed the world. The point is only to interpret it in various ways." Discuss.

Publisher Univ Of Minnesota Press (October 1, 2013) Language English ISBN-10 0816689237 ISBN-13 978-0816689231 Product Dimensions 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches Shipping Weight 1.1 pounds ( View shipping rates and policies ) Best-sellers rank #38,718 in Books   #7 in  Politics & Social Sciences - Philosophy - Criticism

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy in my opinion. The American University in Cairo has recognized Graham as Distinguished University Professor . There can be only one! Congratulations sir. If you don't know of him yet, I really do think that Harman is the most important philosopher to have emerged in the last decade. For me he shows a way to proceed into a truly post-modern (rather than postmodern) era of thought, an era I take to be ecological.

Here are some more images of the chapel at KCL. Quite extraordinary. It was a nice place for my silly ecosermon...

I like brutalist architecture. Don't ask why--I have no idea. When wet that much concrete with that kind of texture has a very earthy smell. Perhaps that's it. Perhaps it's the way the buildings look like Alien's body. Anyway here is an incredible use of brutalism: as a vertical garden. It wraps around the whole structure. Brilliant. It's a UK kind of Target like store in the high street where I'm staying in London. There's something very beautiful about this idea of using brutalism this way. And just a few years ago vertical gardens were just contemporary art. I prefer this (kitsch). Yes New York, maybe we are exiting modernity after all. Brutalism as gigantic flower bed. Agrilogistics rotated 90 degrees. Love it.

This is actually quite sad and it's everywhere in London. Sharipova is trying to look like she did when a baby. Babies don't try that. Which face is more manifesting the nature of mind? Take a wild uneducated guess...

In meditation, as in all arts, there has to be a delicate balance between relaxation and alertness. Once a monk called Shrona was studying meditation with one of Buddha’s closest disciples. He had difficulty finding the right frame of mind. He tried very hard to concentrate, and gave himself a headache. Then he relaxed his mind, but so much that he fell asleep. Finally he appealed to Buddha for help. Knowing that Shrona had been a famous musician before he became a monk, Buddha asked him: “Weren’t you a  vina  player when you were a layperson?” Shrona nodded. “How did you get the best sound out of your  vina?  Was it when the strings were very tight or when they were very loose?” “Neither. When they had just the right tension, neither too taut nor too slack.” “Well, it’s exactly the same with your mind.” --Sogyal Rinpoche Why is it tricky? Because it takes a while to figure out whether you are a too tight or too loose person in this particular situation. I'm clearly ...

This is my talk from the International Byron Conference. Laugh! Cry! Hear my exasperation at Simon Critchley!

I'm now officially a graduate student at the University of Arkansas--kind of my way of starting July off with a bang. My first two days have been jam-packed with information that I'm still trying to digest, and what better way to do that than to share it? I started off my first day by assisting another student in the lab in setting up a few malaise traps. Our goal for the day: set up four of them. Spoiler alert: we only set up two of them due to a broken trap and not nearly enough cord. But hey, two is better than one. Or none. We set out for Lake Wedington, west of Fayetteville, and found a nice spot on a slope in a patch of secondary succession forest. It looked like a good flyway for insects, so we set up the trap. A malaise trap catches flying insects and funnels them into a container (usually filled with ethanol), from which they're collected after a few days. We felt good about the location we chose, since we were already seeing some flies, wasps, and other insects fl...

It was both very political and very contemplative, at the very same time. I couldn't attend all the events, as I was there with my family. But it sounded like the city was being walked, camped in, sat in, stood in, recorded, heard, and on and on. All over the shop. You could put on Victorian period acoustic glasses and hear certain tones emanating from plants. You could do a Debord and discover Japan is actually at the end of a strange alley round the back of the canal. And on and on. What I did hear was incredibly rich. For once the tech people were absolutely and totally in charge of the machines we all have to use: of course! They are musicians! Thank you Raviv, Ann and a huge host of others. Hillel Schwartz's talk was awesome, as was meeting him. Termites! It was great to meet everyone. I was very touched to find that people had been influenced by my stuff on ambience and music, and it's a line I continue to develop. In fact I'm pretty sure my talk is a slightly mor...

Sound, noise, ambience, OOO, music, with some nice examples (Felix Hess and Subject 13). Really an OOO theory of sound. From Tuned City Brussels. Gernot Böhme, whom I've been wanting to meet for ages, was very into it. And I believe that at some point it will be published. Christoph Cox also spoke: I shall upload my notes as soon as I can. Very nice chap. Earworms