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Tuesday, February 19, 2019

XYZT Excerpts in e-flux Journal #97 - February 2019


e-flux Journal #97 (February 2019) has published a few excerpts from my novel XYZT here. I'm excited to write that XYZT will be published by Urbanomic and distributed by MIT Press this spring! From MIT site:

Summary

Genre-defying fiction that accelerates “cross-cultural dialogue” into a kaleidoscopic rush of sensory estrangements, fairy tales, and alien encounters.

“We've been told that there's no difference between us and them.” On this premise the protagonists of XYZT contrive a device capable of shuttling volunteers back and forth between the United States and Iran, hidden from the watchful eyes of immigration police and state bureaucracies. Each volunteer will have a single opportunity to be received by a local host and to have a brief authentic experience of what it means to live as “them” before being transported back home.

Set against the backdrop of escalating hostilities between Iran and the United States, and based on her experiences living in Iran at the end of the first decade of 2000s, Kristen Alvanson's XYZT builds on the idea of a “dialogue between civilizations” only to demonstrate the potentially outlandish ramifications that might result from such a seemingly innocuous idea.

As the tests continue and the “dialogue” progresses, the very fabric of reality begins to deteriorate. Ordinary people become entangled in extraordinary situations where the deep state, mythological fauna, and counterfactual universes start to erupt into our world. Terra firma is exposed as an illusion, but far from heralding the bliss of mutual recognition, this final disillusionment may unleash a terrible malediction.

An audacious cross-genre experiment, a firsthand memoir of what it means to see what “they” see, and a science-fictional, non-standard engagement with anthropology, XYZT reveals fissures and cracks in what the media calls reality, but which in fact is liable to take on all the unpredictable features of a contemporary fairy tale.

More information is available here
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Monday, January 15, 2018




New book titled Georges Bataille and Contemporary Thought”, edited by Will Stronge, 2017, Bloomsbury Publishing has a chapter titled “The hatred of God” which includes an interesting take on my dESIRE photo 003580.


Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Aesthetics After Finitude


Baylee Brits, Prudence Gibson and Amy Ireland's anthology Aesthetics After Finitude is available on re:press here. It's my cover image.





Friday, January 30, 2015

For Machine Use Only · Schneiderei Eröffnung, Suchmaschinen, Gruppenausstellung


I participated in this group experiment in Vienna at Schneiderei, curated by Mohammad Salemy and including artists- Abbas Akhavn, Julieta Aranda, Diann Bauer, Amanda Beech, Kevin Bright, Eli Bornowsky, Christine Corlett, Ignacio Corral, Manuel Correa, Jake Dibeler, Samuel Forsythe, Aaron Gemmill, Johann Groebner, Antonia Hirsch, Juliet Jacobson, Gareth James, Khaled Jarrar, Philip King, Atila Richard Lukacs, Tom McGlynn, Christina McPhee, Mani Nilchiani, Rebecca Norton, R. H. Quaytman, Raha Raissnia, Patricia Reed, Brian Rogers, Nooshin Rostami, Nicolas Sassoon, Charles Stankievich, Joni Spigler, Keith Tilford and Paul Wong.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Incredible Machines

Reza Negarestani will be in Vancouver in early March for a few talks including participation in the two-day conference organized by Mohammad Salemy, Incredible Machines: Digitality and the Modern System of Knowledge at the Threshold of the 21st Century more info. here.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Annihilation

Check out Wired article on Jeff Vandermeer’s new novel Annihilation

He talks about the dream he had that that inspired the novel. I had the pleasure of reading this story before it was published and it’s wonderful to see how it has come together into not only a beautiful and haunting novel but a trilogy! There's possibly nothing more satisfying than taking a dream and creating something with it, making it more concrete or at least documenting it.

e-flux Journal #52



e-flux Journal #52 02-2014 is out including Reza Negarestani’s article:


Inhumanism is the extended practical elaboration of humanism; it is born out of a diligent commitment to the project of enlightened humanism. As a universal wave that erases the self-portrait of man drawn in sand, inhumanism is a vector of revision. It relentlessly revises what it means to be human by removing its supposed evident characteristics and preserving certain invariances. At the same time, inhumanism registers itself as a demand for construction, to define what it means to be human by treating human as a constructible hypothesis, a space of navigation and intervention.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction

Q: What's better than a Wonderbook? A: A whole box! 

Jeff Vandermeer's Wonderbook has been out a little over a month and is getting lots of great reviews. 

This all-new definitive guide to writing imaginative fiction takes a completely novel approach and fully exploits the visual nature of fantasy through original drawings, maps, renderings, and exercises to create a spectacularly beautiful and inspiring object. Employing an accessible, example-rich approach, Wonderbook energizes and motivates while also providing practical, nuts-and-bolts information needed to improve as a writer. Aimed at aspiring and intermediate-level writers, Wonderbook includes helpful sidebars and essays from some of the biggest names in fantasy today, such as George R. R. Martin, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Catherynne M. Valente, and Karen Joy Fowler, to name a few.

In addition to Jeff's text, Jeremy Zerfoss has created the fantastic graphics running through the book. My artwork is also included along with many artists and sections on featured writers too. The book is huge, beautifully illustrated and has endless ideas to help fiction writers and others recharge their imagination.

Check out this video that gives a glimpse of the layout...



Order your copy from Amazon here.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Blow Your Mind: On Freedom and Enlightenment Event July 20, 2013



The first Happy Hour event features an evening of Promethean conversation on freedom and enlightenment. Three thinkers committed to exploring new trajectories within philosophical realism- Ray Brassier, Suhail Malik, and Reza Negarestani will discuss the stakes of a return to reason in the realms of philosophy, politics and art.

 

If you happen to be in New York City Saturday night, Ray Brassier doesn't come to town often . . . the conversation between the three should be intense. 


Blow Your Mind: On Freedom and Enlightenment  
A conversation between Ray Brassier, Suhail Malik, and Reza Negarestani
Saturday, July 20, 2013
7 p.m. 
88 Eldridge Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10002

free


Wednesday, July 06, 2011

THE THACKERY T. LAMBSHEAD CABINET OF CURIOSITIES IS OUT!



“The narrative scope and stellar assemblage of writers and illustrators…makes this a book that will be absolutely cherished by fantasy, science fiction, and steampunk afficionados alike.” – Paul Goat Allen, B&N Book Club

---An LA Times recommended summer reading selection
---Features over 60 pieces of art, including four originals by Hellboy’s Mike Mignola
---All-new Fiction from top creators in fiction, comics, and the art world

After the death of Dr. Thackery T. Lambshead at his house in Wimpering-on-the-Brook, England, a remarkable discovery was unearthed: the remains of an astonishing cabinet of curiosities. Many of these artifacts, curios, and wonders related to anecdotes and stories in the doctor's personal journals. Others, when shown to the doctor's friends, elicited further tales from a life like no other. Thus, in keeping with the bold spirit exemplified by Dr. Lambs­head and his exploits, we now proudly present highlights from the doctor's cabinet, reconstructed not only through visual representations but also through exciting stories of intrigue and adventure. A carefully selected group of popular artists and acclaimed, bestselling authors has been assembled to bring this cabinet of curiosities to life.

An independent follow-up to the cult classic The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases, a Hugo Award and World Fantasy Award finalist…

Contributors include Holly Black, Greg Broadmore, Ted Chiang, John Coulthart, Rikki Ducornet, Amal El-Mohtar, Minister Faust, Jeffrey Ford, Lev Grossman, N.K. Jemisin, Caitlin R. Kiernan, China Mieville, Mike Mignola, Michael Moorcock, Alan Moore, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, James A. Owen, Helen Oyeyemi, J.K. Potter, Cherie Priest, Ekaterina Sedia, Jan Svankmajer, Rachel Swirsky, Carrie Vaughn, Jake von Slatt, Tad Williams, Charles Yu, and many more.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Urbanomic is having a Summer Auction!!!


All proceeds of the auction go to support Urbanomic's journal Collapse. The lots – including original work and exclusive signed editions – have been donated by artists, musicians and writers who have contributed to Collapse or been otherwise involved in Urbanomic projects over the past few years, including:

Kristen Alvanson, Amanda Beech, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Cut Hands, Detanico and Lain, FIELDCLUB, Renée Green, Florian Hecker, Kröõt Juurak & Mårten Spångberg, Nick Land, Sam Lewitt, China Miéville, Pamela Rosenkranz, Conrad Shawcross, Keith Tilford

The PDF catalogue, which contains images and details of all works, with links to higher resolution images, and details of how to bid can be found online at http://www.urbanomic.com/auction.php
The Auction ends on June 24 so get you bids in now and support this great journal.

Friday, February 04, 2011

THE THACKERY T. LAMBSHEAD CABINET OF CURIOSITIES

My artwork will be included in THE THACKERY T. LAMBSHEAD CABINET OF CURIOSITIES Exhibits, Oddities, Images, & Stories from Top Authors and Artists. Edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, the book comes out in June from Eos Books, but you can pre-order it from Amazon now. There are a number of really great writers and artists included (see description and the table of contents below).

A stunning find beneath the famed Dr. Thackery T. Lambshead's house years after his death: a basement space lost under a collapsed floor, in which were found the remains of a remarkable cabinet of curiosities. Containing artifacts, curios, and keepsakes collected over Dr. Lambshead's many, many decades, the cabinet of curiosities took over a year to unearth, document, and catalog. Thus, in keeping with the bold spirit exemplified by Dr. Lambshead and his exploits, we are now proud to present highlights from the doctor's cabinet, reconstructed not only through original visual representations, but also through exciting stories of intrigue and adventure. (Sumptuous title pages provided by John Coulthart.)

Introduction: The Contradictions of a Collection, Dr. Lambshead's Cabinet (by the Editors)
Holy Devices and Infernal Duds: The Broadmore Exhibits
The Electric Neurheographiton - Minister FaustSt. Brendan's Shank - Kelly Barnhill
The Auble Gun - Will Hindmarch
Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny - Ted Chiang
Honoring Lambshead: Stories Inspired by the Cabinet
Threads - Carrie Vaughn
Ambrose and the Ancient Spirits of East and West - Garth Nix
Relic - Jeffrey Ford
Lord Dunsany's Teapot - Naomi Novik
Lot 558: Shadow of My Nephew by Wells, Charlotte - Holly Black
A History of Dunkelblau's Meistergarten - Tad Williams
Microbial Alchemy & Demented Machinery: The Mignola Exhibits
Addison Howell and the Clockroach - Cherie Priest
Roboticus the All-Knowing - Lev Grossman
Shamalung (The Diminutions) - Michael Moorcock
Pulvadmonitor: the Dust's Warning - China Miéville
The Miéville Anomalies
The Very Shoe - Helen Oyeyemi
The Gallows-Horse - Reza Negarestani
Further Oddities
The Thing in the Jar - Michael Cisco
The Singing Fish - Amal El-Mohtar
The Armor of Sir Locust - Stepan Chapman
A Key to the Castleblakeney Key - Caitlín R. Kiernan
Taking the Rats to Riga - Jay Lake
The Book of Categories - Charles Yu
Objects Discovered in a Novel Under Construction - Alan Moore
Visits & Departures
1929: The Singular Taffy Puller - N.K. Jemisin
1943: A Brief Note Pertaining to the Absence of One Olivaceous Cormorant, Stuffed - Rachel Swirsky
1963: The Argument Against Louis Pasteur - Mur Lafferty
1972: The Testimony of a Respected Lichenologist - Ekaterina Sedia
1995: Kneel - Brian Evenson
2000: Dr. Lambshead's Dark Room - S.J. Chambers
2003: The Pea - Gio Clairval

A Brief Catalog of Additional Items, Featuring Micro-Fictions by:
Hugh Alter, Charlie Jane Anders, Julie Andrews, Christopher Begley, Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Nickolas Brienza, Tucker Cummings, Kaolin Imago Fire, Jess Gulbranson, Jen Harwood-Smith, Willow Holser, Rhys Hughes, Incognitum, Paul Kirsch, Michael J. Larson, Therese Littleton, Graham Lowther, Claire Massey, Tony Mileman, Adam Mills, Annalee Newitz, Ignacio Sanz, Steven M. Schmidt, Grant Stone, Norman Taber, Brian Thill, Nick Tramdack, Nicholas Troy, Tom Underberg, Horia Ursu, William T. Vandemark, Kali Wallace, Tracie Welser, Amy Willats, Nadine Wilson, and Ben Woodard.

Over 60 images by: Aeron Alfrey, Kristen Alvanson, Rikki Ducornet, Greg Broadmore, John Coulthart, Scott Eagle, Vladimir Gvozdariki, Yishan Li, Mike Mignola, Jonathan Nix, Eric Orchard, James A. Owen, Ron Pippin, J.K. Potter, Eric Schaller, Ivica Stevanovic, Jan Svankmajer, Sam Van Olffen, Myrtle von Damitz, III, and Jake von Slatt.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

NEW YORK TO LONDON AND BACK – The Medium of Contingency


NEW YORK TO LONDON AND BACK – The Medium of Contingency
January 18 – February 19, 2011


An exhibition and event collectively organized by Thomas Dane Gallery (London), Miguel Abreu Gallery (New York) and the vanguard independent philosophy and art institute Urbanomic (based in the UK) on the thought of contingency.

Artists in the exhibition include Kristen Alvanson, Hans Bellmer, Liz Deschenes, Thomas Eggerer, Rachel Harrison, Gareth James, Alison Knowles, Sam Lewitt, Scott Lyall, R. H. Quaytman, Eileen Quinlan, Raha Raissnia, Jimmy Raskin, Blake Rayne, Pamela Rosenkranz, Pieter Schoolwerth, Amy Sillman and Cheyney Thompson.

The event highlights of one of the most significant shifts in philosophical thought and contemporary art practice in the 21st century, that is the thought of contingency in artistic reflection/production and in new philosophies of realism. Artists whose works are exhibited in this show exemplify various engagements with the thought of contingency, a speculative imperative that marks a transition from different forms of artistic experimentation driven by meaning-dominated metaphysics of calculation and chance to alternative rigorous engagements with the reality of contingency and its formidable role not only in art practice and philosophy but also in ecological, political, technological and economic domains.

As part of the event, a discussion between Elie Ayache (market theorist), Reza Negarestani (philosopher), Robin Mackay (philosopher), Matthew Poole (curator), Scott Lyall (artist) and Miguel Abreu (gallerist and art theorist) will be held on Wednesday 19 January, 6-8pm atThomas Dane Gallery located at 11 Duke St., St James's, London SW1Y 6BN. Nearest Tube: Green Park.
The event is free and all are welcome: the event is not ticketed but seating is limited, so do arrive promptly to avoid disappointment!

For more information check the following sites:

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

dESIRE Gloss: A Specimen in Glossator


Glossator: Practice and Theory of the Commentary Vol 3 has just been published and is also available online: http://ojs.gc.cuny.edu/index.php/glossator/issue/view/45.

Included in the volume is a specimen of dESIRE Gloss, a collaborative commentary on a series of 100 photographs drawn from my dESIRE Project. Befitting the polysemy of the word gloss, dESIRE Gloss is designed to demonstrate the amorous relations between photography, commentary, and desire. This specimen includes gloss from Nicola Masciandaro and Scott Wilson two of the commentators in the collaborative.  

Articles in the volume:

The Night Vigil of Shen Zhou J. H. Prynne
The Rhetoric of Commentary Carsten Madsen
Fourty-Four Ways of Looking at Marginalia Louis Bury
A Curious Mistake Concerning Cranial Sutures in Aristotle's Parts of Animals, or, the Use and Abuse of the Footnote Barbara Clayton
Kinesis of Nothing and the Ousia of Poetics (Part Review Essay, Part Notes on a Poetics of Auto-Commentary) Daniel C. Remein
dESIRE Gloss: A Specimen Kristen Alvanson, Nicola Masciandaro, Scott Wilson

Thursday, September 02, 2010

THE REAL THING September 3, 2010 at Tate Britain

Presented by Urbanomic featuring contemporary sound, video and sculptural work, and other interventions exploring the emerging philosophical paradigm of Speculative Realism and its impact on contemporary art practice. Featuring work by artists Amanda Beech, William Bennett, Mikko Canini, John Gerrard, Florian Hecker and Pamela Rosenkranz. 


Also part of the event will be a curatorial intervention in which I have also been involved (in collaboration with China Miéville, Robin Mackay, Eugene Thacker, Reza Negarestani and others): The entire collection of paintings in Room 9 which is currently themed Art and the Sublime has been relabeled according to the paradigms of speculative / weird realism, transcendental nihilism and other emerging philosophical lines of inquiry.


For more details visit Urbanomic’s website: http://www.urbanomic.com/event-uf12-details.php.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Update on Protocol Architecture



I posted earlier about the Protocol Architecture Competition. Geoff Manaugh from BLDGBLOG, one of the other judges, has written more about the Protocol Architecture competition and the group’s other projects (guided by v. progressive thinker Ed Keller). Check out Geoff’s post DOCUMENTS, MAPS, AND FILES OF A FICTIONAL ARCHITECTURE. He has included some images from the publication Protocol Architecture – Recovering Berlin (Danil Nagy, Yvual Borochov, Lisa Ekle) on his blog. You can download the book here. But the printed book is very nice if you can buy it (order here).

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Transmission Annual: Hospitality



Transmission Annual: Hospitality has just been published. Hospitality edited by Michael Corris, Jaspar Joseph-Lester and Sharon Kivland is in conjunction with their ongoing Transmission series of artists’ talks organized by Sheffield Hallam University in association with Site Gallery. For more information check here: http://transmission.uk.com/.

The annual includes clusters of ‘friends’ who asked each other to participate. Contributors include: Graham Allen, Kristen Alvanson, Amanda Beech, Jerome Carroll, Clegg & Guttmann, Kris Cohen, Clare Connors, Nigel Cooke, Michael Corris, Eileen Costa, Juan Cruz, Meritxell Duran, Tim Etchells, Marcia Farquhar, Rachael Garfield, Charlie, Gere, Judith Goddard, Laura Heit, Vit Hopely, Nancy Hwang, Alfredo Jaar, Jaspar Joseph-Lester, Ahuvia Kahane, Sharon Kivland, Esther Leslie, Yve Lomax, Juliet Flower MacCannell, Robin Mackay, Marko Maetamm, Victor Mazin, Penny McCarthy, E. Elias Merhige, Forbes Morlock, Reza Negarestani, Hayley Newman, Dany Nobus, Haralampi G. Oroschakoff, John W. P. Phillips, Cesare Pietroiusti, Jeanne Randolph, Antonio Santos, Javier Santos, Naomi Segal, Roy Sellars, Blake Stimson, Thomson & Craighead, Irene De Vico Fallani, Rodrigo Villas, Nina Wakeford, Sarah Wood.


Transmission Annual: Hospitality

Edited by Michael Corris, Jaspar Joseph-Lester, Sharon Kivland

ISBN: 978-1-906441-24-1
Artwords Press London


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Open Space in Singapore



My dESIRE Project is currently included in Open Space an online and on-site exhibition exploring the theme of Open Space curated by Patricia R. Zimmerman, Nikki Draper and Sharon Lin Tay at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore with Wenjie Zhang. Open Space will be up during the International Communication Association (ICA) Conference in Singapore from June 22-26, 2010. The exhibition is shown as the digital arts exploration of the conference theme Im/Material.

Other artists/filmmakers participating in the exhibition include:
Vaibhau Bhawsar
Andreas Zingerle
Myriam Thyes
Babak Fakhamzadeh
Reclaim Land: Justin Zhuang, Sam Kang Li, Wong Shu Yun, Serene Cheong
Nguyen Bich Thuy
Alessandro Perini
15 Malaysia: Ho Yuhang, Yasmin Ahmad, Amir Muhammad, Linus Chung, Liew Seng Tat, Desmond Ng, Kamal Sabran, Tan Chui Mui, Woo Ming Jin, James Lee, Benji & Bahir, Johan John, Khairil Bahar, Nam Ron, Suleiman Brothers
Gebhard Sengmüller 

For more information check here: http://www.ica2010.sg/openspace/view.html

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Anonymous Materials Opening

My installation Objects 302 (made up of documents related to my chapter in Cyclonopedia) and Spell Map drawing A Thousand Ways to Die are included in Anonymous Materials an exhibition curated by Pamela Rosenkranz at Binz39 in Zürich from 4th June to 4th July, 2010 /Opening hours Thursday - Saturday, 2 - 6 pm.

Opening 6 pm Thursday / June 3rd/ 2010/ Binz39 /Sihlquai 133, 8005 Zürich

Including contributions by:
Kristen Alvanson, Kim Seob Boninsegni, Pavel Büchler, Ida Ekblad, Ulrik Heltoft, Marie Koelbaek lversen, Fabian Marti, Rachel Mason, Ketuta Alexi Meskhishvili, Lucy Pawlak, Martin Soto Climent, Mai-Thu Perret, Urs Zahn

“Anonymous Materials” brings together artists who use very different approaches in their practices. But its presentation of their works draws attention to a particular form of complicity common to them, and unfolds its consequences for our understanding of art-production. As the title indicates, the exhibition focuses on the autonomy of those materials which constitute an elemental component in the process of creating art. The show therefore explores art as a material-driven process of production so as to raise the question: How does the autonomy or contingency of the artists’ material influence or interfere with the artwork itself? In examining the conditions of art production, the show emphasizes the dynamics and ambivalence of the concept of materiality in artistic production, rather than deconstructing the meaning of the artwork by thematizing its material substrate.


Neither does this examination of materiality entail a fashionable celebration of those aesthetic effects commonly associated with processual tropes of artistic production (the presentation of raw materials, open-endedness, and so on). It does not rely upon the unfinished status of an artwork as a form of process-oriented practice. It could be said that such artistic sensibilities only exacerbate or obfuscate the enigma of materiality, semantically supercharging materiality in a way that can only be grasped by an audience hungry for meaning. Therefore, these processual tropes reestablish the authority of a privileged sentience whose correlation with meaning is ultimately a complete dismissal of both independency and contingency of materials in art production. As opposed to this approach, the artists in this show were chosen because their practices involve clear decisions towards the problems mentioned. In tracking the traces of production in the artwork, this group show could even be understood as a critical response to a current tendency to be too “sensitive” to materials; a tendency that could further be defined as an eclectic approach to the visual reminiscence of conceptual art.


The title of the show is taken from Iranian philosopher Reza Negarestani’s book Cyclonopedia: Complicities with Anonymous Materials. It refers – in an open manner – to the book’s take on the problem of ‘inauthenticity’ whereby the subjective identity of the author is repeatedly overturned and undermined by the intervention of references, materials and narrative processes which enjoy autonomy and contingent complicities of their own. The show opens up, unfolds and reinvents this problematic embracing of materiality by evoking the randomness of functionality attributed to artists’ materials and allowing a multiplicity of relations between the artwork and its arbitrary context. Systematically blocking the tendency for a ‘higher meaning’ to emerge, the show resolutely focuses on the active, contingent role of the material conditions of the artwork. The studio-like installation itself explores the process of creating art in its very contingent and disruptive character.