Erik Davis Livres

An exploration of the emergence of a new psychedelic spirituality in the work of Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson.

Curated by Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Leckey, The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things explores the theme of “techno-animism,” whereby the inanimate comes to life through technology. Leckey juxtaposes contemporary art with machines, archeological objects and historical documents.

How does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? In TechGnosis - a cult classic now updated and reissued with a new afterword - Erik Davis argues that while the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online role-playing games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah. The final chapters address the apocalyptic dreams that haunt technology, providing vital historical context as well as new ways to think about a future defined by the mutant intermingling of mind and machine, nightmare and fantasy.

Exploring various spiritual and cultural codes, Erik Davis delves into how individuals seek to transcend life’s limitations. His essays cover a broad spectrum, from Asian religious traditions and West African trickster gods to postmodern theory and psychedelic science, alongside festival cultures like Burning Man. With a blend of skepticism and curiosity, Davis navigates the realm of "modern esoterica," a space where anthropology meets mystical experiences. His writing invites readers to embrace a nomadic approach to understanding this complex landscape.

The author of the cult book Techgnosis writes about the big, big Led Zeppelin album. Featuring every heavy metal fan's favourite epic Stairway to Heaven, the huge sound of this album has set the template for rock. Also includes Black Dog and Rock 'n' Roll.

"Flame Wars," the verbal firefights that take place between disembodied combatants on electronic bulletin boards, remind us that our interaction with the world is increasingly mediated by computers. Bit by digital bit we are being "Borged," as devotees of Star Trek: The Next Generation would have it—transformed into cyborgian hybrids of technology and biology through our ever more frequent interaction with machines, or with one another through technological interfaces. The subcultural practices of the "incurably informed," to borrow the cyberpunk novelist Pat Cadigan’s coinage, offer a precognitive glimpse of mainstream culture in the near future, when many of us will be part-time residents in virtual communities. Yet, as the essays in this expanded edition of a special issue of the South Atlantic Quarterly confirm, there is more to fringe computer culture than cyberspace. Within these pages, readers will encounter flame warriors; new age mutant ninja hackers; technopagans for whom the computer is an occult engine; and William Gibson’s "Agrippa," a short story on software that can only be read once because it gobbles itself up as soon as the last page is reached. Here, too, is Lady El, an African American cleaning woman reincarnated as an all-powerful cyborg; devotees of on-line swinging, or "compu-sex"; the teleoperated weaponry and amok robots of the mechanical performance art group, Survival Research Laboratories; an interview with Samuel Delany, and more.Rallying around Fredric Jameson’s call for a cognitive cartography that "seeks to endow the individual subject with some new heightened sense of place in the global system," the contributors to Flame Wars have sketched a corner of that map, an outline for a wiring diagram of a terminally wired world. Contributors. Anne Balsamo, Gareth Branwyn, Scott Bukatman, Pat Cadigan, Gary Chapman, Erik Davis, Manuel De Landa, Mark Dery, Julian Dibbell, Marc Laidlaw, Mark Pauline, Peter Schwenger, Vivian Sobchack, Claudia SpringerContents:Flame wars / Mark Dery --New age mutant Ninja hackers : reading Mondo 2000 / Vivian Sobchack --Techgnosis, magic, memory, and the angels of information / Erik Davis --Agrippa, or, The apocalyptic book / Peter Schwenger --Gibson's typewriter / Scott Bukatman --Virtual surreality : our new romance with plot devices / Marc Laidlaw --Chapter 14, Synners / Pat Cadigan --Feminism for the incurably informed / Anne Balsamo --Sex, memories, and angry women / Claudia Springer --Black to the future: interviews with Samuel R. Delany, Greg Tate, and Tricia Rose / Mark Dery --Compu-sex: erotica for cybernauts / Gareth Branwyn --Virtual environments and the emergence of synthetic reason / Manual de Landa --Survival Research Laboratories performs in Austria / Mark Pauline --Taming the computer / Gary Chapman.

The book presents a comprehensive look at Mark McCloud's LSD blotter art collection, enriched with contextual essays and interviews. It delves into the intricate connections between drug culture and pop appropriation, highlighting how these artistic expressions reflect broader social themes. Through visual and written narratives, it examines the significance of this unique art form within contemporary culture.

Katalog přináší přehled textů a fotografií z výstavy Rhizomatic Spell. Moderní člověk uvažuje o světě, ve​ ​kterém žije, jako o odkouzleném. Tuto​ ​myšlenku jsme zdědili od Maxe Webera,​ ​který ji převzal z argumentace Friedricha Schillera o odlišnosti života ve starověkémŘecku a moderní době. Stejně​ ​jako Schiller i Weber viděl moderní svět​ ​jako vysoce racionalizovaný, zbavený​ ​záhad a symbolů, a to vše díky technologickému vývoji, který akceleroval během​ ​průmyslové revoluce. Racionalizace​ ​pronikla skrze náboženství, vědu, ekonomii i státní správu. Všem těmto oblastem dnes vévodí technologie, dokonce​ ​i náboženství, k němuž Walter Benjamin​ ​přirovnával kapitalismus. Odkouzlení také znamená odcizení člověka. Karl​ ​Marx společně s Friedrichem Engelsem​ ​popsali, jak se v kapitalistické společnosti​ ​práce stala odcizenou, když dělníci již nevlastní výrobní prostředky. Člověk se​ ​odcizil světu, o němž si myslel, že jej zná.​ ​Technologie vytvářejí nová pouta, jejichž​ ​povaha je v lecčems magičtější a mytolo-gičtejší, než tomu bylo dříve. RHIZOMATIC SPELL: ♈️ O XENO-MAGII Eva Skopalová ♋️ RHIZOMATIC SPELL: ON XENO-MAGIC Eva Skopalová ♎️ ASTROLOGICKÝ ROZBOR / THE ORACLE CORPORATION ♐️ DEFINICE MAGIE Henri Hubert & Marcel Mauss ♒️ MAGIE: METAFYZIKA POUTA Laurent de Sutter ♉️ MÝTUS, MAGIE A MYSTICISMUS V INFORMAČNÍM VĚKU Erik Davis UMĚLCI / ARTISTS