Art, Film, Site, and Book of the Week

Bad Seeds takes us to a bizarre world populated by carnivorous plants that can change shapes the way a chameleon changes colours. The veteran director of deftly connects growth with rivalry and evolution with competition, crafting an increasingly shocking duel that’s peppered with allusions to the western, the Cold War, board games, and much more.

Blood in My Eye is both a book and weapon—one entirely willed and purposeful. Completed barely a week before the author's murder, it was sent out with explicit instructions for its publication as if Jackson knew he would never live to see it in print. What Jackson wanted most out of this book—the central passion of his life—was war. A revolutionary war of people against oppressors that was born out of "perfect love and perfect hate."

"Settle your quarrels, come together, understand the reality of our situation, understand that facism is already here, that people are already dying who could be saved, that generations more will die or live poor butchered half-lives if you fail to act. Do what must be done, discover your humanity and your love in revolution. Pass on the torch. Join us, give up your life for the people."

Because Recollection is  a music interactive experience based on ten years sound and 20 classic artworks of Because Music collection.

Thoughts about day-to-day life interpreted through snapshots and sound collages pondering if life is better than it was thirty years ago.

Like all of Camus' books, The Stranger is about the irrationality/absurdity of the universe and peoples' struggle to reject that idea for something that makes them more comfortable. It tackles ideas of judgement and how juries should feel about crimes—whether they should feel anything at all. Are people to be pitied or demonized? Or are all things, including people, null?

Upload any work online to be shown at Roehrs & Boetsch in Zurich, Switzerland with a live feed.

Favourite of the Ju-On Series; the Japanese films which inspired The Grudge

"The Combahee River Collective, a path-breaking group of radical black feminists, was one of the most important organizations to develop out of the antiracist and women’s liberation movements of the 1960s and 70s. In this collection of essays and interviews edited by activist-scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, founding members of the organization and contemporary activists reflect on the legacy of its contributions to Black feminism and its impact on today’s struggles.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor writes on Black politics, social movements, and racial inequality in the United States."

"Studium Generale & Uncut invite you to ‘take a walk on the wild side’ and enter a space beyond current systems and structures of rule; to regard ‘fabulation’ – fabricating the real, or speculative fiction – as both an artistic, social and political capacity to produce or uncover visions, stories and histories that are radically discontinuous from official and dominant narratives about our lives and our living together. The effect of this on our consciousness and imaginations may turn out to be very real or liberating.

By bringing the unthinkable and silenced into representation, fabulation can be a way or methodology to enter the wild side: a space for what lies beyond current systems and structures of rule. Studium Generale & Uncut want to take you into this ‘wild beyond’, welcoming alternative histories and other regimes of wanting, being and becoming. How do we find each other in this wild space? Who and what do we find there? How can we live, move, perform, make things, and produce knowledge in it, and represent our own stories, histories and futures?"

Ok modern day Basquiat I see you

1984 American concert film featuring a live performance by the American rock band Talking Heads. Probably the best recorded concert I've ever seen.

Fingersmith, the novel in which the movie The Handmaiden (2016) is based off of, is a 2002 historical crime novel set in Victorian-era Britain. It's hard to say anything about this book without spoiling at least one of the 80 plot twists—but I will say that though the movie is good, the book is 10x better and extremely more progressive.

Legwork Studio has dissolved, but their website still remains as an homage to how rad they were. Love the hand-drawn feel of their motion graphics and the interactive aspect.

punk rock screamo. mindless slasher. paris hilton. casual 2000s ableism. washboard abs. decapitation. kind of incestial siblings. murder via javelin. deftones. my chemical romance. mmmm, textures.

origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses. learning about ebola was always particularly interesting within the context of the wider world and different nations response to the epidemic in 2014—how long it took the WHO to declare it as an international emergency, and how many deaths of Black and Brown people had to be lost before people gave a shit.

the people of new york city at lunchtime photographed between 1977 - 1980

an overstimulating, psychedelic, post apocalyptic cyberpunk film with iggy pop as a DJ and one of the sickest sets, costumes, and props ive ever seen. omg. this movie was literally made for me. this low budget, goth shoebox diorama brought to life creates tech noir perfection by being taken to its extreme.

persepolis is an autobiographical series of comics that depicts the authors childhood up to her early adult years in iran and austria during and after the islamic revolution. the book was censored in places for depictions of religion and being too violent, though i think attention to be drawn to the fact that ensoring art or just censoring a book has historically and almost always been used as a way to push a narrative—the act is inherently political and almost always to a group’s detriment. its a great and easy read.

made in the 90s, this was created for its design, but i think theres more that meets the eye! i remain convinced that this is an unsolved ARG. clicking on words and pictures on the website take you to other links, and while the pictures seem arbitrary and random, they may not be. all is connectedthere are pages where stories of random memories, some are gruesome. also on the website are pages with code, puzzles, distorted pictures and writing. whether or not its a story or just something funky, its definitely interesting.

bruh i miss my cat

sci-fi films often (sometimes inadvertently) become those which do the best examinations of the human condition by tackling those ontological questions we’ve all asked ourselves at one point or another. and i can’t blame people for kind of being afraid of that—especially when a film does such a good job as this.

i didn't know if i should have put this in the recommended art section because meanwhile is a BEAUTIFULLY made book. impossibly complicated, it is a choose your own adventure that has so many options itll leave you wondering hwo the author didn't go black-mirror-bandersnatch-insane. meanwhile is not an ordinary comic. you make the choices that determine how the story unfolds. it splits off into thousands of different adventures—most will end in doom and disaster. find the one that leads you to success!

this website has over 6000+ old DOS/Windows and console games preserved for future generations. the website is free to use and tuhe games can be played directly through the browser.

neigh lol

strongest of the LD+R shorts by far —stylishly animated, beautifully graphical, elegantly philosophical, and all without the need for gunfire, explosions, or roaring maws of monstrous beasts. 

the poppy war is a 2018 novel by r.f. kuang. a fantasy, it draws its plot and politics from mid-20th-century china with the conflict in the novel based on the second sino-japanese war, and an atmosphere inspired by the song dynasty. it is part of a trilogy!

fun, novelty website where you can easily lose yourself for hours with nostalgia. there is also a My 80s TV and a My 70s TV

tracing the struggle of the algerian front de liberation nationale (the insurrectionist group that frantz fanon was a part of) to gain freedom from french colonial rule as seen through the eyes of ali from his start as a petty thief to his rise to prominence in the organisation and capture by the french in 1957. the film traces the rebels’ struggle and the increasingly extreme measures taken by the french government to quell the revolt. it takes a very real, overwhelming geopolitical situation and realizes it in the pov of human eyes and ears that very effectively capture the act of witnessing, and material solidarity and ideological martyrdom that are all necessary to see the anti-imperial project through to the end.

blood in my eye is a step by step, realistic approach to what a revolution might truly look like in america—or at least, it tries to make it feasible. i mean, its still infeasible. it is a theoretical conceptualization of guerilla warfare depicting its battle ground in the U.S. as a “technological city” defended by “mechanized warfare."

RPG style quest, made completely of text and symbols.

"Who is that woman? Who is she to you?"

"Let me put it like this: The designer of the new deluxe package has included a decoupage page, where there are images that you can cut out and rearrange. He asked me if I would take the cover image and cut it apart so people could put it together themselves. And I told him that I wouldn't, that the magic of it would be lost if it became a collage by number. I don't think it would be very satisfying to anybody to see it all broken down. Anybody familiar with art history will tell you what those pieces are; for that reason only, I guess I can't."

is it that bad being a cat? Hhru, a schoolgirl bored by her ordinary routine, saves the life of an unusual cat and suddenly her world is transformed beyond anything she ever imagined. the cat king rewards her good deed with a flurry of presents, including a very shocking proposal of marriage to his son! haru embarks on an unexpected journey to the kingdom of cats where her eyes are opened to a whole other world

the central problem is this: how can the oppressed, as divided, unauthentic beings, participate in developing the pedagogy of their liberation? pedagogy of the oppressed gives instructions on what is required during the process of decolonization—to ensure that the goal of it is not to simply take the place of the oppressor, but to eliminate its existence completely. liberation will born a new man—one that is not oppressed or oppressor, but human in the process of achieving freedom.

it's like when I close my eyes before a migraine but concentrated

this romantic, surrealist painting reminds me that what is often most essential is invisible to the eye. this painting conveys to me how we are part of everything we observe, feel, touch—how we become part of things, and how together with things, we become art. my eternal admiration.

at first glance, mishima seems like an outlier in paul schraders filmography both because of the setting and visual choices. however, you quickly see a clear schrader archetype in this portrait of the famous japanese writer mishima. 

this is something of a glorious failure, as mishima only ever scrapes the surface of what made the enigmatic author such a captivating figure. schraders meticulous, economically-efficient recreations of mishimas stories, however, are splendorously engaging, if hollow. i left the movie feeling as if I’d loved it—and I certainly enjoyed it—but as I attempt to write about it, it’s fairly clear that it lacks anything resembling a worldview or thesis. schrader was on the cusp of something brilliant, but he never quite gets there.

i still recommend this. cult classic.

does decolonization warrant violence? frantz fanon, author of the wretched of the earth, says yes. pacifism is both futile and arrogant. this book is a psychoanalysis of the dehumanizing effects of colonization upon the individual and the nation, and explores what revolution necessitates.

holy shit look at him go

put on subtitles they say shit like "thoust" and "whomst" and "whenst" and "ur the devil i hate u" its crazy 

best horror move of all time

philosophy professor john Kaag's hiking with nietzsche chronicles his return — with his second wife and their toddler daughter — to the scene of his near-fatal teenage attempt to follow nietzsches trail and thought processes through the swiss alps. by dissecting nietzsches writings and applying them onto his own life and reflecting on the conclusions drawn by the late philoospher, nietzsche's often convoluted writings are made more clear.

nosleep is a place for redditors to share their scary personal experiences—hundreds of beautifully written stories if you need something to browse before you sleep.

consistently captivating and oddly existential, The Hand manages to set the bar high for stop-motion films in only 18 minutes. following an enthusiastic potter living a simple life dedicated to his craft, the story is quickly set in motion when a malevolent hand begins disrupting all the potter's attempts at making what he desires.

by looking a little deeper and situating the short within the context of when it was made, the film’s messaging is made a little more clear (despite being generally succinct and on the nose). Trnka’s film was banned after his death in the Czech Republic until the end of communism due to its perceived critique of the regime. The Hand challenges both the aesthetic and culture of the time, and is a must-watch for its enthralling depictions of what it means to live as an artist under the treat of an authoritarian regime. 

flowers for algernon is notable for being an short and accurate examination of life, science, knowledge, and happiness. it follows the mentally handicapped charlie gordon who is transformed by a surgery that allows him to become the most intelligent person in the world, only to return to his previous mental state.

despite its acclaim, i am more curious about the way the book reflects on those it is supposed to depict: "mentally disabled" people. keyes states that "i didn't want my readers to laugh at charlie. maybe laugh with him, but not at him." and though he is right that it is impossible to imagine an implied reader meant to laugh at charlie and the reading suggests the inherent dignity of the mentally disabled, it ignores the idea that when mental disability "returns" to the novel, it operates as an inevitable force that threatens the distinct personality of the novel's hero. keyes may have wanted mental disability to evoke pity if not compassion in his readers, but he eventually converts it to the novels primary villain. lmk what u think.

blood knife is a digital magazine about cyberpunk, sci-fi, horror, neon, knives, blood, and capitalism. what else could u ask for.

if you need to sob your eyes out about losing a loved one.

babel criticizes british imperialism, capitalism, and the complicity of academia in perpetuating and enabling them. babel asks what people from colonized countries are supposed to do when they reach positions of power, and when violence is necessary in the face of oppression. great in conversation with fanon's on violence.

are you a lost teenager? of course you are. we always are. you don't grow out of it. honestly, who isn't?

night in the woods is a game about free will, but it's one that acknowledges and analyzes the limitations of free will within inescapable structures. a coming of age story, it's perfect for anyone feeling a little lost or stuck about where they are and where they should be during a particular time in life.

a horror movie which adequately reflects the time and place it was made—2001 japan where new technology was redefining the ways people were interacting with one another, and leaving many to feel impossibly lonely. pulse presciently predicted that widespread internet use would lead to chronic isolation and misery. final scene is an all-timer. dashing my expectations of being horrified and instead allowing myself to be taken by its enigmatic malaise made this much more rewarding this time around.

mommy issues

the purpose of the new atlantis is to offer clarity and guidance at a moment when we seem to be losing confidence in one of the pillars of modern civilization. it is our hope to help us all — as citizens, scientists, policymakers, and human beings — to deal more wisely and more creatively with both the burdens and the blessings of modern science and technology

lewis rossignol, the artist behind tyler the creator's alternative "igor" cover art.

a tale of two sisters is a psychological horror-drama film inspired by a joseon dynasty era folktale entitled janghwa hongryeon jeon, and focuses on a recently released patient from a mental institution who returns home with her sister, only to face disturbing events between her stepmother and the ghosts haunting their house—all of which are connected to a dark past in the family's history.

this landmark book is a founding work in the literature of black protest. w. e. b. du bois played a key role in developing the strategy and program that dominated early 20th-century black protest in america. in this collection of essays, first published together in 1903, he eloquently affirms that it is beneath the dignity of a human being to beg for those rights that belong inherently to all mankind. he also charges that the strategy of accommodation to white supremacy advanced by booker t. washington, then the most influential black leader in america, would only serve to perpetuate black oppression. publication of this book was a dramatic event that helped to polarize black leaders into two groups: the more conservative followers of washington and the more radical supporters of aggressive protest. its influence cannot be overstated. It is essential reading for everyone interested in african-american history and the struggle for civil rights in america.

in lifeline, players interact by choosing from two different responses to help the main character progress in the story through a text-based format to help the main character, taylor, survive after her spaceship has landed. she responds in real time, taking a regular amount of time to respond after telling the player they are going to sleep, for example, or completing tasks, and the player has to wait for taylor's response. some decisions require looking up additional information, and if the player makes a wrong decision, it can cause taylor to die.

this was a personal favourite game for me when it came out. i memorized every option and outcome. play it!

carl spitzweg’s “ash wednesday” invites us into the lenten season with a spirit of introspective piety. we meet a downcast carnival clown, seated in the corner of a cell, his head bent, arms crossed, and face in shadows. a clown normally represents revelry, satire, excess, exuberance, letting go of convention, and laughing at life. yet here, seated somber in a cell, he offers none of that. instead, he sits in a nearly empty stone room, the color of ash and arid desert, with only a pitcher of water as provision. me after texting my ex fr.

is there any filmic gem as precious as that of joel haver? i think not. easily accessible, his often comedic bits or sometimes deeply philosophical works are always worth a watch. always oddly but beautifully executed, perfect for a watch when you're high.

From https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=28175L:

"In attempting to answer the question posed by this book's title, Giorgio Agamben does not address the idea of philosophy itself. Rather, he turns to the apparently most insignificant of its components: the phonemes, letters, syllables, and words that come together to make up the phrases and ideas of philosophical discourse. A summa, of sorts, of Agamben's thought, the book consists of five essays on five emblematic topics: the Voice, the Sayable, the Demand, the Proem, and the Muse. In keeping with the author's trademark methodology, each essay weaves together archaeological and theoretical investigations: to a patient reconstruction of how the concept of language was invented there corresponds an attempt to restore thought to its place within the voice; to an unusual interpretation of the Platonic Idea corresponds a lucid analysis of the relationship between philosophy and science, and of the crisis that both are undergoing today. In the end, there is no universal answer to what is an impossible or inexhaustible question, and philosophical writing—a problem Agamben has never ceased to grapple with—assumes the form of a prelude to a work that must remain unwritten."

It’s Nice That was founded in 2007 in response to a university brief to “put something into the public domain that makes people feel better about themselves”. right from the start, it was built by creatives, for creatives. since then, It’s Nice That has grown to become one of the leading platforms globally for the creative community.

ai art will be the death of us but i cannot help but chuckle at this rip off adams family. why are they BLOO

i remmeber feeling really grossed out by this but also loving it a lot. its unnecessarily long and convoluted but the vibe is perfect.

i think Rushdie is one of the greatest living writers. things to keep in mind about Midnight's Children: it was written thirty years ago, and is his most politically layered work. it isn't so much that it is "difficult" fiction, but that it is heavy on the magical realism and has a lot of subtle sociopolitical references and analogies. questions such as "what constitutes history" are tackled here and i have a feeling this book will be memorialized in the future.

Football 17776 is a (longish?) multimedia short story by SB nation editor/video maker/prolific tweeter Jon Bois. imo, it is one of the best sci-fi stories ever written. it is also free and online! in football 17776, humans have stopped aging and reproducing, ended disease, ended war, and cannot die. this largely happened around the year 2026. since then, for the next 15,000 years, they've mostly... just chilled. they play a lot of football, perpetually hang out, but our perspective on the story is not a human one. we read the thoughts and conversations of three satellites: pioneer 9, pioneer 10, and the jupiter icy moons explorer, named juice. these satellites have bee flying for so long and alone for so long, that they have developed consciousness. they don't do anything super impactful with this consciousness, nor should they really, but it's a story about finding a sort of zen. the satellites too, perpetually hang out. and Juice looks at cities from above. it's beautiful. go check it out. now.

one of the purest expressions in the american tradition of filmmaking (although its visual style is purely germanic). A poem, a painting, a nightmare, and a dream, i had no clue this film would be what it ended up being. a new favourite! and your new one too, if you watch it.

god bless TCM in all of its commercial-free glory

i dont think ive ever spent as much time dissecting a piece of work as i have giorgio agamben's profanations. ever chapter is eternally applicable and every sentence—every word—holds mountains of meaning. sometimes i think english teachers are silly for telling us to look overly deep into every single sentnce. when it comes to agamben, you cannot ever go deep enough. chapter 2 and 8 are favourites.

forgotify tears through spotify in search of songs with zero plays, playing only the songs that no one else has ever listened to. did u know that 20% of all songs on spotify haven't been listened to at all? me neither man.

so if you wanna be quirky and niche and get some new music, check this site out.

cult classic, which is probbaly the only reason you should watch this. i have many contentions with this film. but i want to hear other peoples thoughts on it. so watch it and send me a msg!

young adult fiction novel. dark. spooky. beautifully written. im older now, but its still one of my favourites ever. i read it once a year. rly couldn't recommend it more.

radio garden allows you to listen to thousands of live radio stations world wide by rotating the globe. 

HOLY fucking shit when i first saw this piece of art it blew my mind and i have not been the same since. beautiful. i set it as my background. 

brilliant ymphony of claustrophobia and repression. it's a mood piece, as the title says, and for an accessible film, its some radically experimental filmmaking. every shot is reflexive, concerned only with what can be placed in the frame that will reflect wong’s sensibilities and how it works in concert with the shot before it. a film for aesthetes but intentionally so. i love it.

devastatingly absurd and existential but in the best way possible. this examination of the human condition is done humorously, bittersweetly, and more adequately than ive ever seen done before despite the script being TINY. so well done.

the uncensored library is a minecraft server and map as an attempt to circumvent censorship in countries without freedom of the press. the library contains banned reporting from mexico, russia, vietnam, saudi arabia, and egypt. an entire wing is given to each country, each containing several banned articles.

my favourite art piece. ever. no competition. i think if i ever saw this in person i would throw up. i dont think i will properly be able to type out what this art means to me or what it even represents without crying so feel free to do ur own research. if u dare.

if u drift the trolley u can hit everuone and get bonue points

an underrated, dark, humorless, and star studded gem from 2009. i remember the marketing campaign for this movie like it was yesterday, and i never watched it, until 14 years after the release. this movie is very forgotten, which is such a shame, because this film was remarkably creative in its scope. the design of the characters was incredibly unique, and the very dark tone of the plot, with a script containing almost no humor whatsoever showed me that this is an outstandingly mature animated film, which is not for the faint of heart

from university of chicago press:

"Studiolo is a fascinating take on a selection of artworks created over millennia; some are easily identifiable, others rarer. Though they were produced over an arc of time stretching from 5000 BCE to the present, only now have they achieved their true legibility. Agamben contends that we must understand that the images bequeathed by the past are really addressed to us, here and now; otherwise, our historical awareness is broken. Notwithstanding the attention to details and the critical precautions that characterize the author’s method—they provoke us with a force, even a violence, that we cannot escape. When we understand why Dostoevsky feared losing his faith before Holbein’s Body of the Dead Christ, when Chardin’s Still Life with Hare is suddenly revealed to our gaze as a crucifixion or Twombly’s sculpture shows that beauty must ultimately fall, the artwork is torn from its museological context and restored to its almost prehistoric emergence. These artworks are beautifully reproduced in color throughout Agamben’s short but significant addition to his scholarly oeuvre in English translation."

toronto is notably lacking in youth initiatives. in response to this, my friend alyssa started the magazine the brain scramble which is open to photographers, writers, editors, creatives, and all who are interested in the arts. im eternally proud of our creation and encourage you to check out our work!

the only painting we know rembrandt did of a seascape, it was stolen during the heist of the isabella gardner museum in boston in 1990. the painting shows a close-up view of christ's disciples struggling frantically against the heavy storm to regain control of their fishing boat. one of the disciples is seen vomiting over the side. another one, looking directly out at the viewer, is a self-portrait of the artist. only Christ, depicted on the right, remains calm.

mad god is a 2021 stop motion experimental horror film. completed in 2021, the film was produced over a period of thirty years. disgusting but impressive, it has outstanding world building and and lots of shit (no pun intended) that sticks together in its own way. personally, Ii like looking at colorful clay figures killing each other and sparkling in an obscure story.

the demon in the freezer is generally about bioweapons and epidemics, and the history of weaponized bacteria. it covers the anthrax attacks of 2001, smallpox in the 1970s, and how other countries may be harboring the bioweapon. it covers the russian use of bioweapons in the 1990s in conversation with missiles, and the ethical dilemmas around existing stocks of bacteria and the potential for new strains.

the evolution of trust tests your ability to trust your opponent fully and questions what happens if you dont. do we really trust one another? find out!

perfectly deranged. one of the best things about stephen chow is how his looney tunes heightened approach chafes against some recognizable reality. chows films are inherently fun and watchable and this is no exception. there's great design and effects work throughout and some very fun performances, including frequent hou hsiao-hsien lead shu qi. big and bright and silly, under two hours, this movie made my childhood.

i recommend this series of works every chance i get bc i truly believe there is no other gem more precious than off the air. perfect for an activity when you're tripping or a place to find new content, dave hughes has created a masterpiece.

confined in an apartment from a new york housing project by their father, the six Angulo brothers learned everything they know about the world through watching films and spend their time reenacting their favourite movies with intricate homemade costumes. the documentary follows the children as they slowly gain autonomy and displays the way they are able to find meaning in such a small space.

toni morrison is a must-read author. i used to always think of her as this weighty and momentous author while forgetting how incredibly enjoyable her books are to read. though her works  are important and brilliant and a historical landmark in literature, they're also gothic and dark and beautifully written and as enjoyably plotted as any thriller. i think she’s the rare writer who could be enjoyed by anyone, highbrow or lowbrow. also her non-fiction is in a league of its own.

great big Story is a personal favourite channel of mine—now often forgotten since it stopped publishing in 2020 due to COVID (but they started again!) following stories around the globe, many of which will be lost if not recorded by this channel, you can get a taste of all different walks of life and glean a new appreciation for the so many amazing livelihoods we share a planet with.

BEST ANIMATED film of all time so fucking beautiful so perfect so underrated i can't beliebe that this film has been buried it deserves so much better i used to watch it every day in the car on the way to school

unger argues that for people of high economic class or in a high income country to live morally, they are morally obliged to make sacrifices to help mitigate human suffering and premature death in the lower economic world, and further that it is acceptable (and morally right) to lie, cheat, and steal to mitigate suffering. in short: privilege, and what we should do with it ethcially.

go to online record store. great owners. super cool. hip hip hooray

wip

a south korean thriller on zombies, i think this may be the best zombie film / tv show of all time. the acting, casting, character development, and plot are all great. it really is not lacking in any department. i rewatch it all the time. do urself a favor and check it out.

50 Watts is a growing archive of weird and wonderful visual ephemera from around the world. they also sell books, now, so if you want to check out some cool content ot get a sick gift, this is the place to go.