Weird Studies

In this first of two episodes devoted to the music of the weird, Phil and JF discuss two works that have bowled them over: the second movement of Ligeti's Musica Ricercata, used to powerful effect in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, and the opening music to Cronenberg's film Naked Lunch, composed by Howard Shore and featuring the inimitable stylings of Ornette Coleman. After teasing out the intrinsic weirdness of music in general, the dialogue soars over a strange country rife with shadows, mad geniuses, and skittering insects. And to top it all off, Phil breaks out the grand piano. Header image by Bandan, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES Ligeti, Musica Ricercata, 2nd movement Howard Shore and Ornette Coleman, opening music for David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation Suzanne Langer, Philosophy in a New Key Henri Bergson, Creative Evolution Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey Viktor Shklovsky, "Art as Technique" Stanley Kubrick, Eyes Wide Shut Hitchcock, Psycho Vulture, "The Evolution of the Movie Trailer" by Granger Willson Official Trailer for The Shining_vs teaser for _2012 Jan Harlan (director), Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures David Cronenberg, Crash William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus Gunther Schuller's interview with Ethan Iverson Weird Studies, Episode 25: David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch Deleuze & Guattari, Anti-Oedipus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stone, bronze, iron... glass? In his recent thought and writing, transdisciplinary artist and thinker Michael Garfield defines modernity as an age of glass, arguing that the entire ethos of our era inheres in the transformative enchantments of this amorphous solid. No one would deny that glass plays a central role in our lives, although glass does have a knack for disappearing into the background, at least until the beakers or screens crack and shatter. Glass is weird, and like a lot of weird things, it can serve as a lens (so to speak!) for observing our world from strange new angles. In this episode, Michael joins Phil and JF to talk through the origins, the significance, and the fate of the Glass Age. Michael Garfield is a musician, live painter, and futurist. He is the host of the brilliant Future Fossils Podcast. REFERENCES Michael Garfield's website + Patreon + Medium + Bandcamp Michael Garfield, "The Future is Indistinguishable from Magic" (This is the essay we discuss that was unpublished at the time of the recording) Michael Garfield, "The Future Acts Like You" Michael Garfield, "The Evolution of Surveillance Part 3: Living in the Belly of the Beast" Artist David Titterington's Patreon page Richard Doyle, On Beyond Living: Rhetorical Transformations of the Life Sciences Corning, "The Glass Age" (corporate video) Jean-Paul Sartre, Baudelaire John David Ebert, "On Hypermodernity" John C. Wright, The Golden Age J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Timothy Morton, Hyperobjects Christopher Knight and Alan Butler, Who Built the Moon? Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon Marshall McLuhan, The Gutenberg Galaxy Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage Spinoza, Ethics Charles Taylor, The Malaise of Modernity Martine Rothblatt, Virtually Human: The Promise and the Peril of Digital Immortality John Crowley, Little, Big Jose Arguelles, Dreamspell Calendar William Irwin Thompson, Lindisfarne Tapes Jonathan Sterne, The Audible Past Karl Schroeder, “Degrees of Freedom,” in Heiroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future Michael Garfield, “Being Every Drone” Henri Bergson, Creative EvolutionSpecial Guest: Michael Garfield. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JF and Phil head for Interzone in an attempt to solve the enigma of Naked Lunch, David Cronenberg's 1991 screen adaptation of William S. Burroughs' infamous 1959 novel. A treatise on addiction, a diagnosis of modern ills, a lucid portrait of the artist as cosmic transgressor, and like the book, "a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork," Naked Lunch is here framed in the light Cronenberg's recent speech making the case for the crime of art. Image by Melancholie, Wikimedia Commons. REFERENCES David Foster Wallace, "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way," from Girl With Curious Hair Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Anti-Oedipus, and "How Do You Make Yourself a Body Without Organs?" in A Thousand Plateaus David Cronenberg (writer-director), Naked Lunch (the film) William Burroughs, Naked Lunch (the novel) Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an Opium-Eater Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Poeia: Power Plants, Poisons and Herbcraft "David Cronenberg: I would like to make the case for the crime of art," Globe and Mail June 22 2018 JF Martel, Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice Phil Ford, Dig: Sound and Music in Hip Culture Derek Bailey (director), On the Edge: Improvisation in Music Phil Ford, "Good Prose is Written By People Who Are Not Frightened" Geroge Orwell, "Inside the Whale" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lionel Snell, a.k.a. Ramsey Dukes, is an author and esoteric thinker exploring the intersections of magic and philosophy. He dives into the roles of trickery and authenticity in spiritual practices, challenging conventional views on truth and illusion. Snell discusses the wisdom found in deceitful experiences, cultural shifts in perceptions of truth, and the balance between rational thought and magical belief. He champions embracing uncertainty and mystery, ultimately advocating for a richer understanding of reality that transcends strict rationalism.

Phil stops by JF's Canadian homestead for a raucous IRL conversation on the idea of presence. The range of topics includes objects of power, the magic of books, the mystery of the event, modernity's knack for making myths immanent, genius loci, the mad wonder of Blue Velvet, and the iron fist of the virtual. REFERENCES Gil Scott-Heron, "The Revolution Will Bot Be Televised" Louis CK on smart phones at the ballet recital Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory, Creative Evolution Gilles Deleuze on the virtual: see Bergsonism, Proust and Signs, The Logic of Sense, Difference and Repetition, Cinema II: The TIme Image Expanding Mind with Erik Davis, "Being Anarchist" JF Martel, "Reality is Analog" Jason A. Josephson-Storm, The Myth of Disenchantment (and Gyrus's review) Gyrus, North: The Rise and Fall of the Polar Cosmos William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture Geoffrey O’Brien, Phantom Empire David Foster Wallace, “David Lynch Keeps His Head” Donald Barthelme David Lynch, Blue Velvet Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Cannibal Meraphysics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American philosopher Joshua Ramey, author of The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal, and Politics of Divination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency, joins Phil and JF to discuss a philosophical project whose implications go deep and weird. In his books and articles, Joshua proffers the vision of a world where divination -- whether or not it is recognized as such -- isn't just possible, but necessary for advancing knowledge, creating art, and forming communities. And his research has revealed that the wardens of our neoliberal order know this all too well. As he writes in an essay discussed in this episode, the mandate of a weird age ought to be clear: "Occupy, and practice divination." **REFERENCES Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal Joshua Ramey, Politics of DIvination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency Joshua Ramey, "Contingency Without Unreason: Speculation After Meillassoux" (abstract) Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, University of British Columbia, at academia.edu Fred Moten and Stefano Harney, The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning and Black Study Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy, Difference and Repetition, and The Logic of Sense Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on Contingency Elie Ayache, The Blank Swan: The End of Probability Weird Studies, "Does Consciousness Exist?" Parts One and TwoSpecial Guest: Joshua Ramey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jack Smith, a renowned underground filmmaker, joins to explore the fascinating 'trash stratum.' The conversation reveals how seemingly kitschy art can reclaim value, flipping the narrative of cultural artifacts. They discuss the enchanting performances of Maria Montez, emphasizing authenticity in art amidst a backdrop of ironic detachment. Smith and the hosts delve into spiritual themes in California's consumer culture, pondering the quest for meaning in a chaotic landscape. They ultimately discover that even within trash, divine shimmer can emerge.

What if the Holy Grail is just a trashy beer can? The hosts dive into Philip K. Dick's intriguing 'trash stratum,' where the sacred and the discarded collide. They ponder the grotesque beauty in sacred relics and explore how Gnosticism reveals divinity in overlooked realities. Amidst discussions on Tarkovsky's adaptations and the philosophical dance between garbage and grace, they challenge our views on what holds true value. Expect a wild mix of art, disillusionment, and unexpected treasures lurking in the depths of life's refuse.

After announcing that Weird Studies will be going to a bi-weekly release schedule for the summer, Phil and JF talk about how the podcast has gone so far and what's on the horizon (more guests!). Before long, they're digging deep into what makes each of them tick as weird speculators, locating the points at which their ideas differ and converge. The discussion touches on the philosophy of Quentin Meillassoux, the theology of Tertullian, the Beatles, the Coke-Pepsi dichotomy, the art of religion, and more. SHOUT OUTS Mandala artist Betty Paz Infinite Conversations Michael Garfield, the Future Fossils podcast Ramsey Dukes (Lionel Snell), “The Charlatan and the Magus” Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze: Philosophy and the Spiritual Ordeal and The Politics of Divination: Neoliberal Endgame and the Religion of Contingency REFERENCES Patrick Harpur, The Secret Tradition of the Soul Quentin Meillassoux, After Finitude: An Essay on Contingency GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy MC Escher, Drawing Hands The works of Tertullian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Delve into the philosophical debate around consciousness and pure experience. What if thoughts are just as real as physical objects? Explore how radical empiricism intertwines consciousness with the body. Discover the magical power of belief and its impact on reality and society. The conversation challenges our understanding of memory and objective reality, emphasizing the connection between the past and present. Finally, see how enlightenment can manifest in everyday moments, redefining the journey to understanding.