High Noon Showdown on Black Metal Theory

HIGH NOON SHOWDOWN ON BLACK METAL THEORY

TOPICS IN THE AESTHETICS OF MUSIC AND SOUND

SEMINAR SERIES

Thursday, October 1, 2015

3:15-5 p.m. in U67

Institute for the Study of Culture (IKV) University of Southern Denmark (SDU) Campusvej 55, Odense

Panel discussion (Via Skype):

High Noon Showdown on Black Metal Theory

With …

Karl Spracklen is Professor of Leisure Studies at Leeds Beckett University, UK. He is the Editor of Metal Music Studies and the Secretary of the International Society for Metal Music Studies. He has extensive research interests relating to leisure spaces and leisure identities, and has contributed to debates regarding leisure theory. He has over seventy publications, including three research monographs, the most recent of which is Whiteness and Leisure (2013), published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Niall Scott is Senior Lecturer in Ethics at the University of Central Lancashire. He is editor of Helvete: A Journal of Black Metal Theory and Co-Editor of Metal Music Studies. He is one of the founders and Chair of the Society for Metal Music Studies, and has published over 40 pieces in the fields of metal studies, black metal theory, political philosophy, cultural theory, ethics and bioethics.

Edia Connole is co-author with Nicola Masciandaro of Floating Tomb: Black Metal Theory (Mimesis, 2015), and co-editor with Gary J. Shipley of Serial Killing: A Philosophical Anthology (Schism, 2015). With Scott Wilson, Edia Connole is also the co-founder of MOUTH, an actionist art project in culinary divinomics. mmmouth.wordpress.com

Black Metal Theory

Abstract: In this seminar defenders and critics will debate the epistemic value of black metal theory (BMT). An amorphous “metallectual” movement initiated in 2009 with the symposium Hideous Gnosis, BMT has developed in the form of a distributed and vexed forum for trans-disciplinary intellectual work committed to thinking “with” rather than “about” black metal. For defenders of the discipline, its value lies in its ability to destroy creatively the boundary between black metal and theory—constituting itself in the space of their shared negativity, as stated on its inaugural website: “Not black metal. Not Theory. Not not black metal. Not not theory. Black metal theory. Theoretical blackening of metal. Metallic blackening of theory. Mutual blackening. Nigredo in the intoxological crucible of symposia.” For critics of the discipline, this trans-disciplinary approach is devoid of purpose and meaning, and makes the work of critically exploring black metal more difficult.

 

All are welcome – also via Skype

Outland

 

***END***

‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

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Embracing the Randon: Essays on the Music of Tool, Esotericism and Creative Expression

Celestial Dome Inverted

EMBRACING THE RANDOM: ESSAYS ON THE MUSIC OF TOOL, ESOTERICISM AND CREATIVE EXPRESSION

REMINDER – CALL FOR PAPERS

Essays are invited which examine themes of the esoteric in the interconnected areas of popular culture which include the musical projects of Maynard James Keenan, visionary artwork (especially that inspired by N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT or N,N-DMT)), and spiritual worldviews. This is a collection that proposes to explore these creative forms of expression, with a focus on how they manifest in contemporary Western contexts. Such scholarly analyses of this area of popular culture will add new perspectives and insights into subcultures and lifestyles as well as into the specific art and music scenes.

 

Topics could include, but are not limited to:

 Occult and mystical symbology in the music of Tool

 Essays on Maynard James Keenan’s other bands, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer

 Dreams, visions, and DMT

 Visionary art and spirituality (in Western contexts)

 Entheogens and artistic expression (in indigenous Amazonian Amerindian cultural contexts)

 Judeo-Christianity and the lyrics of Tool

 Mathematics, sacred geometry, the physical universe, cosmology, and the music of Tool

 Analysis of the artwork of Alex Grey

 Lachrymology and pseudo-religions

 Esotericism, altered states of consciousness, and music subcultures

New Materialism

 

Essays are invited from scholars in the disciplines of ethnomusicology, music studies, cultural studies, study of religions, art history, philosophy, psychology, and related disciplines. Cross-disciplinary analysis is welcome. Proposals should take the form of an approximately 300-500 word abstract, a provisional title, as well as a short biography (50-100 words).

All proposals must be received via email by June 15, 2015. Please send all proposals and questions to the editor, Dr Jenny Butler at j.butler@ucc.ie and cc. to butler.jennifer@gmail.com

 

***END***

‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.co.uk/

TOOL

Dark Nights of the Universe

Celestial Dome Inverted

DARK NIGHTS OF THE UNIVERSE

Recess, in conjunction with The Public School New York, Presents:

Dark Nights of the Universe
et nox sicut dies illuminabitur

A four-night theoretical exploration of mysticism in dialogue with Du noir univers, a text by François Laruelle.

April 26th – 29th, 2012

Classes nightly at 7pm

 

Night I: Eugene Thacker – Remote: The Forgetting of the World
Clodagh Emoe – Mystical Anarchism. Screening and discussion. Introduced by Simon Critchley.

 

Night II: Daniel Colucciello Barber – Whylessness: The Universe is Deaf and Blind.

 

Night III: Nicola Masciandaro – Secret: No Light Has Ever Seen the Black Universe

 

Night IV: Alexander Galloway – Rocket: Present at Every Point of the Remote

 

Classes will begin at 7pm. Visitors are welcome to join each day or a selection of days.

Recess will house a temporary library of relevant texts, which visitors may browse and annotate freely throughout Recess’s public hours and during the classes.  The exhibition will feature visual works by  Clodagh Emoe and Aaron Mette, and audio works by Eugene Thacker and Taku Unami.

Participants:

Daniel Colucciello Barber, Simon Critchley, Clodagh Emoe, Alexander Galloway, Nicola Masciandaro, Aaron Mette, Eugene Thacker, and Taku Unami.

Download Du noir univers. The English edition of this essay was first translated and published by Miguel Abreu as “Of Black Universe in the Human Foundations of Color” in the catalogue Hyun Soo Choi: Seven Large-Scale Paintings (New York: Thread Waxing Space, 1991): 2-4. It has been reproduced here with a few slight modifications. The original French essay, titled “Du noir univers: dans les fondations humaines de la couleur,” was published in La Décision philosophique 5 (April 1988): 107-112.

Audio archive of the series available here.

RSVP encouraged: click here.

Download the press release.

Click here to view images.

For image request or more information contact info@recessactivities.org

**END**

‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski?ev=hdr_xprf

Online Publications at The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Embracing the Random: Essays on the Music of Tool, Esotericism and Creative Expression

TOOL

EMBRACING THE RANDOM: ESSAYS ON THE MUSIC OF TOOL, ESOTERICISM AND CREATIVE EXPRESSION

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Embracing the Random: Essays on the Music of Tool, Esotericism and Creative Expression

Essays are invited which examine themes of the esoteric in the interconnected areas of popular culture which include the musical projects of Maynard James Keenan, visionary artwork (especially that inspired by Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)), and spiritual worldviews. This is a collection that proposes to explore these creative forms of expression, with a focus on how they manifest in contemporary Western contexts.

Such scholarly analyses of this area of popular culture will add new perspectives and insights into subcultures and lifestyles as well as into the specific art and music scenes.

Topics could include, but are not limited to:

 Occult and mystical symbology in the music of Tool

 Essays on Maynard James Keenan’s other bands, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer

 Dreams, visions, and DMT

 Visionary art and spirituality (in Western contexts)

 Entheogens and artistic expression (in indigenous Amazonian Amerindian cultural contexts)

 Judeo-Christianity and the lyrics of Tool

 Mathematics, sacred geometry, the physical universe, cosmology, and the music of Tool

 Analysis of the artwork of Alex Grey

 Lachrymology and pseudo-religions

 Esotericism, altered states of consciousness, and music subcultures

Essays are invited from scholars in the disciplines of ethnomusicology, music studies, cultural studies, study of religions, art history, philosophy, psychology, and related disciplines. Cross-disciplinary analysis is welcome.

Proposals should take the form of an approximately 300-500 word abstract, a provisional title, as well as a short biography (50-100 words). All proposals must be received via email by April 30, 2015. The word count of essays accepted for inclusion in the collection should be between 4,000 and 7,000 words.

Please send all proposals and questions to the editor, Dr Jenny Butler at j.butler@ucc.ie and cc. to butler.jennifer@gmail.com

**END**

‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski?ev=hdr_xprf

Online Publications at The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.co.uk/

Mors Mystica: Black Metal Theory Symposium

MORS MYSTICA

MORS MYSTICA: BLACK METAL THEORY SYMPOSIUM

23^rd April 2015

12-5 pm

St. Vitus Bar

Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NYC

hideous.gnosis@gmail.com

“Only that person who says: My soul chooses hanging, and my bones death can truly embrace this fire … for it is absolutely true that no one can see me and live” — Bonaventure, Iterium Mentis in Deum

See:

http://thewhim.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/mors-mystica-black-metal-theory.html and

http://www.academia.edu/9851062/Mors_Mystica_Black_Metal_Theory_Symposium

Suspiria

**END**

‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski?ev=hdr_xprf

Online Publications at The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.co.uk/

Outland

Coloring the Black: A Black Metal Theory Symposium

Black Metal Theory

COLORING THE BLACK: A BLACK METAL THEORY SYMPOSIUM

Organized by Daniel Lukes (USA) and Michael O’Rourke (IRE)

Dublin, Friday 20 March 2015 (venue tba)

Coloring the Black will be a one-day symposium on Black Metal Theory to be held in Dublin on Friday 20th March, 2015.  It will be the latest in a very successful series of events which have focused on black metal music, contemporary theory, philosophy, art, aesthetics, and music. The symposium has three primary aims: firstly, to challenge the potentially ponderous and serious nature of black metal theory, secondly, to question the black/white binary which dominates theorizing about black metal music and aesthetics, and thirdly, to foreground diverse, marginal, and intersectional black metal voices, readings, and practices.

It is our sense that Black Metal Theory runs the risk of taking itself far too seriously with the unfortunate result of taking the fun out of talking and thinking about black metal. More worryingly, it may end up establishing a KVLT BMT which would police or limit the potentialities of Black Metal Theory. In response to this we wish to open up the more comedic, playful, camp, ludic, carnivalesque dimension of black metal and black metal theory. In so doing, we set out to “pink” black metal by questioning its more nihilistic impulses (“blackening” and more “blackening”) in favour of more affirmative approaches and utilizations of BMT.

In “pinking” black metal/theory (and we are thinking here of critical and ironic BM-related gestures such as The Soft Pink Truth, Pinkish Black, Zweizz, Deafheaven, not to mention the influence of My Bloody Valentine and “pink noise” on shoegaze, post, or “hipster” black metal) we also hope to queer it by decentering the cisheteronormative and patriarchal underpinnings of both the black metal music and philosophy scenes. We wish to further BMT from a range of feminist, LGBTQ, and intersectional perspectives, including disability studies, crip theory, animal studies, and cute studies. Our interest in a more rainbow approach to black metal would also seek to consider and destabilize the racial normativities of black metal musical and theoretical traditions.

Our second sense is that there has been an almost exclusive attention to black or to black and white (in readings of corpsepaint, or noise for example) which has the effect of instantiating a binary which even a focus on “green” black metal has done little to disturb. In our coloring of the black we wish to open up Black Metal Theory to a broader spectrum beyond the black, a more prismatic and multicoloured BMT. Inspired by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s recent collection of essays Prismatic Ecology: Ecotheory Beyond Green (which includes essays by two contributors to black metal theoretical discourse in Ben Woodard and Timothy Morton) we hope to widen out the color spectrum of BMT to red, blue, pink, orange, green, gold, brown, violet, ultraviolet, grey and others.

Coloring the Black will bring theorists, philosophers, artists, musicians, and aestheticians together to have a black metal party.

Michael O’Rourke at Academia: http://isshs.academia.edu/MichaelORourke/Papers

**END**

‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski?ev=hdr_xprf

Online Publications at The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

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Black Metal Theory

Politics and Black Metal

Black Metal Theory

POLITICS AND BLACK METAL

Helvete: A Journal of Black Metal Theory

ISSUE 4 “POLITICS AND BLACK METAL” CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Call for Papers and Art

Proposals due August 1 2015.
Expectant publication, winter 2015

The complex subject of politics and black metal, directly and para-musically, has long been brushed up against within black metal theory work, but rarely unfolded at length. We would like to reserve this issue of Helvete as a forum to begin to address and perhaps even articulate some of these discussions.

While some may insist that black metal (as a diverse field of culture and music) exists outside of politics or cannot be described politically, it frequently sparks political repercussions, and its history courts political controversy. These include headline grabbing moments such as Varg Vikernes’s arrest in 2013 by the French government on accounts of suspicion of planning a terrorist attack; Norway’s implementation in 2011 of black metal education within its foreign diplomats; Nachtmystium’s forced cancellation in 2009 of a concert at Scion Rock Fest in Atlanta, Georgia; Inquisition’s forced cancellation in 2014 of their Vienna, Austria concert due to alleged connections to NSBM; and the complete ban on black metal in Malaysia in 2006. Most recently, Behemoth‘s recent encounter with Polish and Russian authorities has been well documented in the mainstream press. It may seem that the proposition that black metal is apolitical is itself a (privileged) political position.

The editors of Helvete are accepting proposals for essays that focus on politics and black metal. Contributors are encouraged to suggest topics such as Black Metal’s interactions with nation, race, linguistic, gender, religion, and culture. Special consideration will be given to the explorations of the negotiations that the individual makes within the city or community, using black metal as a verb rather than a noun.

In honor of this issue’s intent, and the innate politics of language, starting with Issue 4, Helvete will begin taking multi-lingual submissions. Please contact the editors for more details.

Helvete is an open access electronic and print journal dedicated to continuing the mutual blackening of metal and theory inaugurated by the Black Metal Theory Symposia. Not to be confused with a metal studies, music criticism, ethnography, or sociology, black metal theory is a speculative and creative endeavor, one which seeks ways of thinking that “count” as black metal events—and, indeed, to see how black metal might count as thinking. Theory of black metal, and black metal of theory. Mutual blackening. Black metal as a language of contemporary art practices a transmodality between sound and vision, mutually blackening both art and metal, and thus pushing the limits of contemporary academic genres by definition.

Essay proposals may be sent to the editors at helvetejournal@gmail.com
Art proposals may be sent to helvetejournalart@gmail.com
For detailed guidelines, see the Submission Checklist on our website: http://helvetejournal.org/forthcoming/submission-checklist/

Helvete

Helvete: http://helvetejournal.org/

 

**END**

‘Human Herbs’ – a song by Cold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au-vyMtfDAs

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski?ev=hdr_xprf

Online Publications at The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Volumizer: http://glennrikowski.blogspot.com

Rikowski Point: http://rikowskipoint.blogspot.co.uk/

Black Metal Theory