The Strange Uniformity of Madness

After coming across some references to Posadism, I recently got sucked into the art and philosophy of the ectocultures (my term). I don’t mean the Occupy movement or Anonymous, but the real deviants, people who either were (or maybe should have been) institutionalized. There is almost no coherent categorization, except that they’re all highly conspiratorial, anti-rational, and often invoke alien or demonic powers (or both). … Continue reading The Strange Uniformity of Madness

R WAugust 19, 2017August 20, 2017Leave a comment

Fiction

It seemed a shame to break the spell

I don’t know that I believed in magic. But I believed there were people who did, enough to kill for it. I didn’t know what was happening then. In fact, my working theory turned out to be not even close. But a few things seemed obvious enough, like why my best friend was having an affair with my boss. The details always get messy, but … Continue reading It seemed a shame to break the spell

R WAugust 14, 2017Leave a comment

Soapbox

The link between digital art and hegemony

This is “Splash goat” by Zhelong Xu. It’s not pottery. It’s computer generated. It was made by a Chinese artist and it beautifully illustrates how easy it will be to fake just about everything. I expect forgery will make a comeback, only rather than forging “lost” works of art, talented artists will be paid by nation-states, media outlets, and criminal syndicates to forge reality itself … Continue reading The link between digital art and hegemony

R WAugust 5, 2017August 14, 2017Leave a comment

Edumacational

The Original Resistance

The story of the Buddha’s enlightenment is really one of the most powerful in world literature, and I wish it was as well known in the West as, say, the story of the Exodus or the Crucifixion. Your average Westerner can look on an image of a bearded man holding a clay tablet and parse the encoded meaning (law, authority, revelation) without thought. With one … Continue reading The Original Resistance

R WJuly 29, 2017July 29, 20171 Comment

Soapbox

A Case Study in Post-Factualism

In case you haven’t heard, The History Channel recently aired a documentary suggesting that Amelia Earhart survived her trek across the Pacific. The evidence was based mostly on a photograph, recently discovered in the National Archives (where it had apparently been misfiled), showing a woman with an appearance similar to Earhart’s sitting on a dock watching a boat haul a plane that also looked a … Continue reading A Case Study in Post-Factualism

R WJuly 14, 2017July 14, 2017Leave a comment

Fiction

The Three of Swords

They had a tarot deck alright, but it wasn’t what I expected. It came with a free app download. I guess there really is an app for everything. I bought it and went to a cafe and waited for my quarry to make an appearance. While the app was downloading, I unwrapped the deck from the plastic. There was a little instruction manual folded at … Continue reading The Three of Swords

R WJuly 11, 2017July 10, 2017Leave a comment

Fiction

A spell you can touch

I held up the book. “I’m so sorry. I think my friend stole this the other day.” He scowled. His face was so old, his wrinkles magnified every expression. “Yes. She did.” He had a faint European accent. “I’d like to pay for it, if that’s okay.” He walked over to a wood phone stand at the back of the room, next to the last … Continue reading A spell you can touch

R WJuly 5, 2017July 7, 2017Leave a comment