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mmmm [2013-03-18 11:54] – created majammmm [2021-03-03 13:46] (current) maja
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 ==== Magick, Mistakes and the Multitude of the Matter ==== ==== Magick, Mistakes and the Multitude of the Matter ====
  
-//Transcript of the talk by Maja Kuzmanovic and Nik Gaffney at [[http://www.designmarch.is/designtalks/|DesignTalks]], part of the [[http://www.designmarch.is/|Design March]] Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland, on the 14th of March 2013. With warm thanks to Edda K. Sigurjonsdottir and Hrund Gunnsteinsdottir for their invitation and hosting.// +//[[Lecture notes]] of the talk by Maja Kuzmanovic and Nik Gaffney at [[http://www.designmarch.is/designtalks/|DesignTalks]], part of the [[http://www.designmarch.is/|Design March]] Festival in Reykjavik, Iceland, on the 14th of March 2013.// 
  
 +Talk in video form: https://vimeo.com/66260826 \\
  
-Before we begin we'd like to note that every word in our title is “beyond speech or thought or silence”. Therefore, we invite you to listen in between, behind and underneath everything we say. +---- 
 + 
 +Before we begin we'd like to note that every word in our title is “beyond speech or thought or silence”. Therefore, we invite you to listen in between, behind and underneath everything we say. 
 + 
 +{{>http://www.flickr.com/photos/zzkt/7006377422/}} \\ 
  
 I'm sure you know that any form of magick - like the future - is ultimately unknowable. We can try to explain, analyse and justify how magic works, but it will never be the same as experiencing its effects directly on your own skin. In today's materialist culture direct experiences tend to raise sceptical eyebrows, or be dismissed as archaic and all together irrelevant. However, such experience is able to take us outside of structured time and allow us to grasp our intrinsic interconnectedness with other beings and environments. It doesn't matter that we can't put it in words, we just know, that we are just this... I'm sure you know that any form of magick - like the future - is ultimately unknowable. We can try to explain, analyse and justify how magic works, but it will never be the same as experiencing its effects directly on your own skin. In today's materialist culture direct experiences tend to raise sceptical eyebrows, or be dismissed as archaic and all together irrelevant. However, such experience is able to take us outside of structured time and allow us to grasp our intrinsic interconnectedness with other beings and environments. It doesn't matter that we can't put it in words, we just know, that we are just this...
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 Instead I invite you to join me in a small invocation experiment. We'd like to try to invoke Viriditas, the vegetal side of our minds. The medieval mystic Hildegard Von Bingen had a vision that behind all life there is a greening force that connects all beings and keeps us fresh and alive. You could see it as an invocation of the quiet but tenacious force of spring. I realise that it might be quite a challenge to invoke Viriditas in winter, inside a dark theatre… however Viriditas is a force that not only greens our landscapes, but also our thoughts, emotions, language and actions. Whether you believe that such a force exists or not doesn't matter - you can simply invoke a feeling of freshness. Instead I invite you to join me in a small invocation experiment. We'd like to try to invoke Viriditas, the vegetal side of our minds. The medieval mystic Hildegard Von Bingen had a vision that behind all life there is a greening force that connects all beings and keeps us fresh and alive. You could see it as an invocation of the quiet but tenacious force of spring. I realise that it might be quite a challenge to invoke Viriditas in winter, inside a dark theatre… however Viriditas is a force that not only greens our landscapes, but also our thoughts, emotions, language and actions. Whether you believe that such a force exists or not doesn't matter - you can simply invoke a feeling of freshness.
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 +<html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zzkt/8450241100/" title="20130203 by zzkt, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8072/8450241100_f9849d6442_c.jpg" width="800" height="515" alt="20130203"></a></html>
  
 To begin, I invite you to stand up (if standing is a problem, feel free to remain seated). To begin, I invite you to stand up (if standing is a problem, feel free to remain seated).
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 Now slowly, with every in-breath, move your attention upwards towards the freshness and lightness of air in your lungs. With every out-breath spill out into your roots. Breathe in, you're fresh, breathe out, you're here…  Now slowly, with every in-breath, move your attention upwards towards the freshness and lightness of air in your lungs. With every out-breath spill out into your roots. Breathe in, you're fresh, breathe out, you're here… 
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 +<html><a href="http://blog.icelanddesign.is/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/HS-DesignersTalk-7-of-17.jpg"><img src="http://blog.icelanddesign.is/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/HS-DesignersTalk-7-of-17.jpg"></a></html>
  
 Your body becoming alive with every breath, and dissolving with every out-breath. Every skin-cell is breathing, dissolving, reaching out. Through your limbs, your spine, your trunk, neck and head. Soaking up the greenness, opening up like a brave but fragile leaf in early spring. Being aware of the touch of air, the temperature, the scent and the sounds of the space, of other people breathing, growing and dissolving.  Your body becoming alive with every breath, and dissolving with every out-breath. Every skin-cell is breathing, dissolving, reaching out. Through your limbs, your spine, your trunk, neck and head. Soaking up the greenness, opening up like a brave but fragile leaf in early spring. Being aware of the touch of air, the temperature, the scent and the sounds of the space, of other people breathing, growing and dissolving. 
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 Try not to think or interpret too much, just let the words and images wash over your senses… Try not to think or interpret too much, just let the words and images wash over your senses…
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 +<html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zzkt/8356227071/" title="20130106 by zzkt, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8075/8356227071_da7338c854_c.jpg" width="800" height="420" alt="20130106"></a></html>
  
  
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 <blockquote>The moment when sedentary systems begin oscillating <blockquote>The moment when sedentary systems begin oscillating
 </blockquote> </blockquote>
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 <blockquote> <blockquote>
-Thalience is an attempt to give nature a voice without that voice being ours in disguise.</blockquote>+Thalience is an attempt to give nature a voice without that voice being ours in disguise.((Karl Schroeder))</blockquote>
  
  
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 <blockquote> <blockquote>
-"Reestablishing channels of direct communication with the planetary Other, the mind behind nature is the best hope for dissolving the steep walls of cultural inflexibility that appear to be channeling us toward true ruin. We need a new set of lenses to see our way into the world."</blockquote>+"Reestablishing channels of direct communication with the planetary Other, the mind behind nature is the best hope for dissolving the steep walls of cultural inflexibility that appear to be channeling us toward true ruin. We need a new set of lenses to see our way into the world."((T.McKenna))</blockquote>
  
  
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-<blockquote>Minimise borders, maximise edges.</blockquote>+<blockquote>Minimise borders, maximise edges.((FoAM))</blockquote>
  
  
-<blockquote>It is spoken of the sephiroth and the paths, of spirits and conjurations, of gods, spheres, and planes and many other things which may or may not exist. It is immaterial whether they exist or not. By doing certain things, certain results follow.</blockquote>+<blockquote>It is spoken of the sephiroth and the paths, of spirits and conjurations, of gods, spheres, and planes and many other things which may or may not exist. It is immaterial whether they exist or not. By doing certain things, certain results follow.((Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice))</blockquote>
  
  
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-<blockquote>A magical perspective sees non-apparent links and connections amidst an illusion of order, control, and restriction. An alternative worldview that summons the creative and prophetic power of the multitude.</blockquote>+<blockquote>A magical perspective sees non-apparent links and connections amidst an illusion of order, control, and restriction. An alternative worldview that summons the creative and prophetic power of the multitude.((Centre for Tactical Magic. http://www.tacticalmagic.org/CTM/thoughts/tactical%20magic%20text.htm)) </blockquote>
  
  
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 <blockquote>There is an “outside” now, maybe an infinite number of outsides, places to stand with a lever in one hand - and a magic mushroom in the other. The dispossessed have always believed in a millennium, a magickal resistance, a heaven on earth, a world turned upside down. This is it. Well, time’s up.</blockquote> <blockquote>There is an “outside” now, maybe an infinite number of outsides, places to stand with a lever in one hand - and a magic mushroom in the other. The dispossessed have always believed in a millennium, a magickal resistance, a heaven on earth, a world turned upside down. This is it. Well, time’s up.</blockquote>
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 +<html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zzkt/8391223633/" title="20130117 by zzkt, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8391223633_3135030eee_c.jpg" width="800" height="527" alt="20130117"></a></html>
  
  
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 The environmentalist creed 'think globally act locally' follows a similar process to meditative and magical rituals. These rituals usually start small, making changes in the body. Some, as in the Buddhist tradition, gradually expand to include the person's family and friends, then enemies, people they don't know, other species and their habitats, until the rite may encompass the planet and even the universe. Even though the effect might not be immediately felt, something changes in the person practicing the ritual, which - ideally - effects everything and everyone they're connected to. The environmentalist creed 'think globally act locally' follows a similar process to meditative and magical rituals. These rituals usually start small, making changes in the body. Some, as in the Buddhist tradition, gradually expand to include the person's family and friends, then enemies, people they don't know, other species and their habitats, until the rite may encompass the planet and even the universe. Even though the effect might not be immediately felt, something changes in the person practicing the ritual, which - ideally - effects everything and everyone they're connected to.
 +
 +
 +<html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zzkt/8086898259/" title="20121014 by zzkt, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8324/8086898259_fa6bb091c4_c.jpg" width="800" height="509" alt="20121014"></a></html>
  
  
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 We were encouraged by the observation of Arthur C. Clarke that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And by corollary "Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology." For FoAM this meant that we would create a story where technology helps us to establish communication with plants, without this sounding too impossible or 'hippy-like'. You are seeing images from this story, an alternate reality narrative called Borrowed Scenery. In addition to the story, we are experimenting with developing technologies for Human Plant Interaction or HPI, borrowing from the established field of HCI. We were encouraged by the observation of Arthur C. Clarke that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And by corollary "Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology." For FoAM this meant that we would create a story where technology helps us to establish communication with plants, without this sounding too impossible or 'hippy-like'. You are seeing images from this story, an alternate reality narrative called Borrowed Scenery. In addition to the story, we are experimenting with developing technologies for Human Plant Interaction or HPI, borrowing from the established field of HCI.
 +
 +<html><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/foam/8098362560/" title="L1005732 by _foam, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8183/8098362560_374c8de26c_c.jpg" width="800" height="469" alt="L1005732"></a></html>
  
 This brings us back to direct experience. In Borrowed Scenery we designed a story embodied in a physical space, together with a set of experimental technologies and situations, that together would formed the seed of a reality where humans and plants (and perhaps other beings) could communicate. In this reality we envisioned science being able to commune with the 'planetary other' instead of just poking it with sharp instruments. The scientific curiosity to empirically substantiate facts would no longer be at odds with the mystical traditions of direct experiences and non-ontological knowledge. This brings us back to direct experience. In Borrowed Scenery we designed a story embodied in a physical space, together with a set of experimental technologies and situations, that together would formed the seed of a reality where humans and plants (and perhaps other beings) could communicate. In this reality we envisioned science being able to commune with the 'planetary other' instead of just poking it with sharp instruments. The scientific curiosity to empirically substantiate facts would no longer be at odds with the mystical traditions of direct experiences and non-ontological knowledge.
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 Science fiction author Karl Schroeder called this voice of the Other 'Thalience', following from 'Thalia' - the greek muse of flourishing. Thalience would emerge as successor to science and form a basis for a technology that would be advanced enough to encourage us to abandon the idea that humans are separate from nature. Instead we could begin to listen other 'thalient' beings about how they perceive and experience the world. It is at this moment that science would enter the territory of magick. Science fiction author Karl Schroeder called this voice of the Other 'Thalience', following from 'Thalia' - the greek muse of flourishing. Thalience would emerge as successor to science and form a basis for a technology that would be advanced enough to encourage us to abandon the idea that humans are separate from nature. Instead we could begin to listen other 'thalient' beings about how they perceive and experience the world. It is at this moment that science would enter the territory of magick.
  
-It is the discipline that chooses among multiple successful scientific models based on which ones best satisfy our human, aesthetic/moral/personal needs. In other words, given two or more equally valid models of the universe, thalience is the art of choosing the one with the most human face. It is the recovery of the natural in our understanding of the Natural.” +<blockquote> 
 +It is the discipline that chooses among multiple successful scientific models based on which ones best satisfy our human, aesthetic/moral/personal needs. In other words, given two or more equally valid models of the universe, thalience is the art of choosing the one with the most human face. It is the recovery of the natural in our understanding of the Natural.</blockquote>
  
 And with that thought, we'd like to move from monologue to dialogue, perhaps not yet with plants, but with all of you, hopefully invigorated by the spirit of Viriditas and Thalience.  And with that thought, we'd like to move from monologue to dialogue, perhaps not yet with plants, but with all of you, hopefully invigorated by the spirit of Viriditas and Thalience. 
 +
 +//With warm thanks to Edda K. Sigurjonsdottir and Hrund Gunnsteinsdottir for their invitation and hosting, as well as Kristin and Goddur for a unique insight into Icelandic nature & culture and everyone else of Design March who has made our stay a most inspiring one.//
  
  
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