Spirituality: A Profit Industry?

The Witch of Agnesi

See more here.

On the Set of Surrealmageddon

How could we say no?  We were dealing with a subliminal suggestion to film a stop motion "interpretation" of  Bienvenido Bones Bañez Jr's  Surrealmageddon Art World Manifesto.

Ahem. Was it to be?

First, we needed a set.  Here's the back of the sound stage:

Surrealmageddon on Location

The view from the parking lot :

Surrealmageddon: the Scene is Set!

A couple of actors out on the patio with a Brooklyn Wild Hound dining on pickled pterodactyl.  Looks like Terrnace Lindall, elder statesman of Williamsburg surreal consciousness, and Brooklyn sharpshooter Brittany Natale, contributing writer to Bushwick Daily, and special assistant to Yuko Nii, Williamsburg philanthropist, international ambassador of good will, and patroness of the arts. Yes!  Precisely the kind of talent producer Bañez is looking for:

Brooklyn thespians looking for a part in low budget art film

While Ms. Natale works the Brownie, producers Dr. Highbrow and Professor Lindall hammer out the deal:

"Yeah, but how do we write off the biz jet?!!"

A "Brownie"

Places everyone!  Get the Wild Hound inside, and let's cook up a script!

Testing the script on the focus group:

Good: Pastoral with Heroic Subtext

Better: A Sentimental Apostrophe

Best: Religious Epic

 It all begins with a fashion statement:

"Don't worry, Brit, I  got that pterodactyl under my hat!"

Actors preparing for the "Big Meeting with the Technical Advisor" scene:

"Jeesh, memorizing this literary dialogues stuff is moydah!"

A snappy script requires good, sound research, and a knowledgeable script consultant

Professor Lindall as the "Technical Advisor"

Filming the "Big Telephone" scene:

"I said, 'telephone' not 'flugelhorn!'"

In true highbrow art there is never any resolution, but there can be charisma masquerading as profound insight:

Another day at the office, or something else entirely?

Emanations 3

Submissions are in and the production process has begun.  Emanations: Third Eye should be available in mid-August.

Effects of Education by Gender

Quantum Engines Must Break Down

Wonderful title...  Read the article HERE.

July 1-3, 1863

Hayden Westfield-Bell on the Shortlist for Penguin Wayfarer

This summer Penguin Books is hiring a "Wayfarer" to walk, write and follow in the footsteps of Robert Macfarlane. International Authors editorial board member Hayden Westfield-Bell has been short-listed for the Wayfarer.  The final selection will be announced June 28.

Here is Hayden's video application:

Hayden Westfield-Bell

Off to a Small Island

I am off to a small island for a few days.  During my hiatus, good solid highbrow reading can be found here:

Tassonomia

Gypsy Scholar

Mumbai Microcosm

Backchannel Amusements

Although well-informed, the Highbrow public is generally unaware of the complex backchannel conversations that transpire as the International Authors team of editors and writers work to produce new publications.  Recently, Professor Horace Jeffery Hodges went public with an exchange concerning the collaborative introduction now in preparation for Emanations III.  Click HERE for a rare glimpse at the sorts of communications that make up the lively virtual Bauhaus that is International Authors.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Grotesque figures, crooked buildings, angular walls, deliberate artificiality, bizarre style, stilted movement, abstract significance, a profound "document" of the state of German culture at the beginning of the Weimar Republic, an 'epicenter' of German Expressionism, a landmark in the evolution of the art of film...

Completely meaningless but susceptible to description,  conducive to outlandish interpretation, and begging some "important" explanation.  I can barely sit through sixty seconds, bored even of my own fondness for analysis, evaluation, and diagnosis.

A painting by Lyonel Feininger, however, I can view for hours, meanwhile thoroughly disabused of the desire to pronounce commentary.

Stiller Tag am Meer III, 1929

Subject Surrealism: Additional Monographs by Terrance Lindall

Last week I announced the on-line publication of Terrnafe Lindall's monograph on the Brooklyn art scene, entitled Wiliamsburg Chronicles.

Today, I am happy to announce the on-line publications of two new monographs by Terrance Lindalll: The Epistemological Movement in Late-20th Century Art, The New International Surrealist Manifesto, and Notes from the Diary of Terrance Lindall.

Click HERE to read The Epistemological Movement in Late-20th Century Art.

Click HERE to read The New International Surrealist Manifesto.

Click HERE to read Notes from the Diary of Terrance Lindall.

...we will see the creature as she was...

Williamsburg Chronicles

A ripping tale of serendipity and high adventure in the creation of the Williamsburg Brooklyn artists' community circa 1996. War among the artists and war among space aliens... with a fantastic ending.

Updated weekly with new illustrations! Twenty-two episodes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to read the Williamsburg Chronicles.

"the universe might not make sense"

New Physics Complications Lend Support to Multiverse Hypothesis

Decades of confounding experiments have physicists considering a startling possibility: The universe might not make sense

Read about it in Scientific American by clicking HERE.

Query: is it possible to make sense of a thesis that suggests that the universe does not make sense?

The Mothra Song

The Shobijin, twin tiny fairies telepathically connected to Mothra

In Japanese:

Mosura ya Mosura
Tasukete yo te yobeba
Toki o koete
Umi o koete
Nami no yo ni yatte kuru
Mamorigami

Mosura ya Mosura
Yasashisasae wasure
Arehateta
Hito no kokoro
Inorinagara utau
Ai no uta

In English:

Mothra O Mothra
If we were to call for help
Over time
Over sea
Like a wave you'd come
Our guardian angel

Mothra O Mothra
Of forgotten kindness
And ruined spirits
We pray for the people's
Spirit as we sing
This song of love.

Mothra

International Authors Display at the American Literature Association Conference

This weekend, International Authors books are on display at the American Literature Association Conference in Boston.  Here are pictures taken yesterday and today in the publishers' room:

 International Authors Consultants:
Dedicated and Knowledgeable

Highly Recommended:
Emanations: Second Sight

Drawn Closer by Amy B. Trosino

On behalf of International Authors, I am happy to announce the publication of Amy B. Trosino's collection of pen and ink drawings, Drawn Closer.

"The pen and ink drawings in this book are samples from my life placed under a microscope. They are highly autobiographical and invite the viewer to look closely for hidden and obvious meanings in detail. Through this technique, the immersion into every aspect of being, from the minute cellular level of the physical to the vast intangible potency of the spiritual, is revealed."                                                                                      --Amy B. Trosino

Click here to view the Amazon sales page for Drawn Closer.

Interview

Philip Murray-Lawson and I discuss academics, modern philosophy,  the avant-garde, literary publishing, International Authors, and Emanations in his new interview blog, EVOLUTION-ABC.  Click the title to view our witty repartee.

Reclamation by Elkie Riches

On behalf of International Authors, I am happy to announce the publication of the novel Reclamation by Elkie Riches.

Leda Varsis is a shaman--more precisely, she is a member of the Shaman Division, serving the global military order that has survived the apocalyptic event known as the Turning. Adapted from past mysticism to military specifications, the Shaman Division provides communication channels between the enemy and mankind. When Leda is assigned to the military base of ex-London, she intends to carry out her role but the communications that come to her are not what she expects.

Characteristic of Elkie Riches' previous work are her readable, precise and often-elegant prose, and her preoccupation with nature, manifested in its creative force. Both things are to be found in this novel, set in a rapidly-changing environment becoming ever more hostile for human beings. Excellent observation and a mounting sense of danger combine to create an outstanding novel that presents humanity in a way that is unflattering but which leaves room for hope.                     
                                                                        --Langdon Jones

Click here to view the Amazon sales page for Reclamation.

Elkie Riches