k-punk

It’s not a matter of forgetting Kant’s exclusion from the in-itself. It’s a matter of questioning why he gives humans a monopoly on such exclusion. In a sense, I’m trying to let rocks, stones, armies, and Exxon join in the fun of being excluded from the in-itself. A sort of Kantianism for inanimate objects.

One of many delights now available at Graham Harman’s predictably wonderful new blog, which, as I’m sure many of you have already seen, has started at a cracking pace, reflecting the ebullience, enthusiasm and energy of its author.
Related:
New Metaphysics
Series editors: Graham Harman and Bruno Latour
The world is due for a resurgence of original speculative metaphysics. The New Metaphysics series aims to provide a safe house for such thinking amidst the demoralizing caution and prudence of professional academic philosophy. We do not aim to bridge the analytic-continental divide, since we are equally impatient with nail-filing analytic critique and the continental reverence for dusty textual monuments. We favor instead the spirit of the intellectual gambler, and wish to discover and promote authors who meet this description. Like an emergent recording company, what we seek are traces of a new metaphysical “sound” from any nation of the world. The editors are open to translations of neglected metaphysical classics, and will consider secondary works of especial force and daring. But our main interest is to stimulate the birth of disturbing masterpieces of twenty-first century philosophy. Please send project descriptions (not full manuscripts) to Graham Harman, graham@rinzai.com. Open Humanities Press is an international Open Access publishing collective. OHP was formed by scholars to overcome the current crisis in publishing that threatens intellectual freedom and academic rigor worldwide. All OHP publications are peer-reviewed, published under open access licenses, and freely and immediately available online through www.openhumanitiespress.org.
Elsewhere in the k-punkosphere:
Simon Reynolds on the Hardcore Continuum
11 February 7.00pm
£7.00/£5.00 (Members & concs)
Shout out to all UK ravers – renowned author and music journalist Simon Reynolds (Energy Flash/Rip It Up and Start Again) brings rave music to FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool as part of current exhibition DING>>DONG.
In a talk illustrated by seminal tracks, old and new, Reynolds will outline his oft-quoted and sometimes controversial theory of a “Hardcore Continuum”: a thread linking the UK’s rapidly mutating genres of electronic dance music – from hardcore rave to jungle, speed garage to 2step, grime to dubstep to bassline and beyond – through a set of shared influences, including Jamaican sound system culture, digital technology, drugs, and pirate radio.
Reynolds presents the idea in depth, in person, for the first time while addressing its continued relevance and vitality against a backdrop of new genres (funky house), a shift of focus to the North (bassline), and a digital revolution that has new forms of distribution (from peer-to-peer sharing of DJ sets to MySpace) gradually eclipsing the traditional media of pirate radio and vinyl.
Plus, in a special Wire Online exclusive, Reynolds reaches deep into the archive to introduce seven features from The Wire magazine, written from 1992 to 2005 on the (then) emerging genres of ardkore, jungle, drum & bass, speed garage, 2step, and grime. Offered for the first time as a series, the articles will provide a sneak preview of what to expect at FACT.
The event will also feature a discussion between Reynolds and Mark Fisher, Acting Deputy Editor of The Wire and the man behind the influential blog K-Punk, with an audience Q&A session.
Tickets available at http://www.picturehouses.co.uk
In association with The Wire
__________________________________________________________________
I’ll be back with more proper posts soon. Note to anyone interested in hiring my services: my tenure as Acting Deputy Ed of The Wire is coming to an end in the next few weeks, so, come February, I’ll be a gun for hire again.