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3 kit-volume II VOH lex-mag is a product organized in a collaborative manner between creatives from around the orb. It sparkles with its curiosity and explores mainly contemporary creative ejection. Its basic concept “Awake and Laughable� will maintain throughout, while at the same time remaining open for revamping by anyone with will for involvement VOH provides free pages for free expression to amateurs and pros, as well as promotes broke artists on the house. Hobbyists and Anonymous Creatives are more than welcome! When there is enough accumulated info, a new volume will appear. Monthly or exact date releases are not in any interest of ours. So F**K you deadline!
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DA R E T O B E N AI VE “Nature is trying very hard to make us succeed, but nature does not depend on us. We are not the only experiment.” The Things to do are: the things that need doing, that you see need to be done, and that no one else seems to see need to be done. Then you will conceive your own way of doing that which needs to be done — that no one else has told you to do or how to do it. This will bring out the real you that often gets buried inside a character that has acquired a superficial array of behaviors induced or imposed by others on the individual. Now there is one outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth, and that is that no instruction book came with it. Evolution consists of many great revolutionary events taking place quite independently of man’s consciously attempting to bring them about. Man is very vain; he likes to feel that he is responsible for all the favorable things that happen, and he is innocent of all the unfavorable happenings. Our brains deal exclusively with special-case experiences. Only our minds are able to discover the generalized principles operating without exception in each and every special-experience case which if detected and mastered will give knowledgeable advantage in all instances.
It is essential to release humanity from the false fixations of yesterday, which seem now to bind it to a rationale of action leading only to extinction. Quite clearly, our task is predominantly metaphysical, for it is how to get all of humanity to educate itself swiftly enough to generate spontaneous social behaviors that will avoid extinction. I do not look upon human beings as good or bad. I don’t think of my feet as a right foot and a wrong foot. ... I am a student of the effectiveness of the technological evolution in its all unexpected alterations of the preoccupations of humanity and in its all unexpected alterings of human behaviors and prospects. I never try to tell anybody else what to do, number one. And number two, I think that’s what the individual is all about. Each one of us has something to contribute. This really depends on each one doing their own thinking, but not following any kind of rule that I can give out, any command. We’re all on the frontier, we’re all in a great mystery — incredibly mysterious. Each one possesses exactly what each one is working out, and what each one works out relates to their particular set of circumstances of any one day, or any one place around the world.
— Bucky Fuller
The text above was build upon stolen quotes from Bucky Fuller’s works. If any problem, regarding any rights….. Well, we have no idea what to advice you.
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VOH lexicon-magazine Kit-Volume 2
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magazine design — Ana Teodoro editor — Maya Normusbutt co-editor — Sawlar Vu copy-writer — Josh D. Daffy structurizer — Bay Kirro editor.voh@gmail.com VOH is ideally supported by 'Fresh From The Rock' and 'Merry Johnson' cover onlay: Guzz`ini Cats by artist: Mo Ganji
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JOHN REAKTOR (SAM CREW)
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In 2003 John Reaktor joined the SAM Crew and helped them explode further in their process. In 2005 the Crew moved to Berlin and John Reaktor quickly found his place in the “urban art scene” with the power of his characters. His work is fantastic mirror of the overdressed world around him, and so he is treading in hidden messages the strange habits of society. The trifle of most “V.I.P.’s”, the hustle in the graffiti-game, the zombie of pop-culture, or simply the ghost of love. John finds his working-materials on the streets and old hals. He likes to use wood and metal for backgrounds; as well as working with cans, brush, pencil, oil, colourful pains, and many more mix-medias. Hazard Hope Von (SAM Crew)
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They said the world is going to end this year... Pssh, they can barely predict the weather...
HYPOTHETICAL
Maya Normusbutt, France
The end of the world … didn’t come once more. One cannot avoid but feel a little disappointed… In my somewhat of a short lifespan I have been promised and forewarned several times for the so-called Doomsday or Last Judgement; and just like politicians always fail to deliver their promises, the holy harbingers of the Tribunal of Penance manage to betray my trust just as unceasingly. And I should be the first to admit the paradoxical nature of my last statement since I rarely display any confidence in anything whatsoever. And this is what makes it so unbelievably commendable: they manage to betray the non-existing. Now let us imagine for a second that I truly put my faith in the next damnation preaching wacko. Let’s say I am thoroughly convinced that the world is coming to an end and I am a) relieved that my excruciating pain on this wretched earth is soon to finish; or b) dead scared that my comfortable and most fulfilling existence on this marvellous planet is to be annihilated any minute now. What lies in store for me in such an unconceivable situation?
CASE A I am thrilled with anticipation, arranging my affairs for the Big Day; possibly organizing a little farewell party, feeling invigorated for the first time in living memory. I attend a dinner with my family where I display sincere delight of being reunited with those closest to me, knowing that this is the last time I have to sit through this mind-numbing snooze-fest where everyone knows better than me and is eager to explain what my problem is in graphic details. I kiss goodbye the boy/girl I’ve never dared to kiss. I don’t pay my bills and share that openly with the world. I tell my boss to go copulate with himself/herself. Briefly, I have the courage to do everything I have ever wanted to do but was too chickenshit to do it. Then the Day of Salvation comes. I am wearing my formal clothes, sipping champagne in the living room, gloating at the puny world with that inner satisfaction typical of deadbeats who have proved to be right for the first time in their life. At some point I am sufficiently drunk (or in some extremely rare cases stoned, seeing how stoners are less likely to
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crave extinction) and starting to realize through the haze of eagerness and the alcohol miasma that after having done the countdown I am still there, as well as the entire heinous world, and I am probably not going anywhere, or at least not in this particular life. Hence, I start to feel more and more suffocated by the striking seizure of the inevitable panic attack. Each and every cell in my body is overwhelmed by the comprehension that the end is nowhere near; on the contrary, I have singlehandedly inflicted an even greater suffering upon myself: now I have to go to my boss with my head bowed down and beg for forgiveness (and my job back); I have to pay all my bills together with all fines and interest accumulated; I will feel bitterly ashamed each time I meet the boy/girl I’ve kissed goodbye; and what is the worst – I’ll have to feign the same enthusiasm at each family occasion I attend. So I must take the only honourable path, what with the killing myself!
CASE B 16
I am absolutely horrified of the idea of losing my precious belongings (luxurious house, vintage car, designer clothes, etc.) and more or less my bosom friends and family. I have already SMSed, emailed, blogged, posted on facebook and tweeted dozens of frenetic warnings to everybody I know because misery just loves company. I am planning an escape to a remote isolated island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and, accordingly, have acquainted myself with and adopted some ancient esoteric and utterly exotic religion granting everlasting inner peace and postmortem absolution. Inexorably obsessed by apocalyptic paranoia, I sell all the aforementioned cherished paraphernalia and execute my escape plan. Unfortunately, the so despised and feared Day of Reckoning finally comes. I am sitting on the top of a big rock wearing no clothes on (as I am cleansing myself from my former materialistic ways), drinking a beverage made from the fruit of purification (probably some rare roots used by various shamans for entering into another state of consciousness) and feel that inner anxiety typical of deadbeats who have been proven wrong for the millionth time in their life. At some point I am sufficiently woozy
and starting to realize through the haze of despair and root soup effluvium that I have poisoned myself and am actually going to perish in contrast to the glorious world (containing my beloved personal possessions and more or less my dearest companions and relatives) which is still there and obviously not going to be mercilessly destroyed. Each and every cell in my body is overwhelmed by the comprehension that the end is nowhere near; on the contrary, the Earth will continue its lifecycle untouched and unchanged, or even more marvelous than ever, and I will not be animate to participate in this wonder. But what is the worst: nobody will know that I have bought the farm, therefore, I will not be lamented, missed, or monumentalized, but rather just dead.
CONCLUSION Both cases come to show that whether the world is to be destroyed or not, and whether one loves the idea or not, human beings are extreme and self-destructive in essence and nature, but most of all disastrously dumb. This is why in such a situation being ignorant and uninterested is a basic prerequisite for being alive.
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The weather appears to be one of the most discussed subjects on our planet. Everybody has an opinion about it and nobody seems to like it. As one of my favorite authors, Jerome K. Jerome, once said, nobody will be content until “each man makes his own weather and keeps it to himself.” I’ve heard old people tell stories about the weather in the past, when winters were winters and summers were summers; not like this rebellious weather today, when winter is spring, spring is winter and the summer is hotter than mexican chili. I’ve never heard so many complaints on any other subject either. I don’t know why most humans think that the seasons are something static and they won’t change with time. As evolution shows us, everything changes; even we would not be the same in 10 years from now, so why should climate stay the same? Moreover – people made the year and the seasons as a mark for rough orientation, so why do they expect that nature itself will follow them. I guess the human kind has a high opinion of itself or just like to complain about stuff and the weather is always a reliable subject. Isn’t it funny when somebody starts complaining that it is cold in January or when it is hot in August? Yes, it is supposed to be like that! But this fact doesn’t suit most of the people who need exactly the right temperature to feel good. but when it rains during fall they are depressed; winters are too cold and snowy, springs are pretty but the weather changes too often then. Maybe if they have a personal weather balloon that creates weather based on their mood, they will be happy and everything will be great. Then they could move to the next thing that annoys them the most and start complaining about that. Yes, the weather has an effect on us. Many studies have shown how it affects our circadian clock and secretion of melatonin, which
KAMELLIA KIRICHEVA
ABOUT THE WEATHER
In the summer there’s too much sun and they want clouds and rain,
can cause mood swings, faintness and sleepiness, but we cannot attribute all of our failures to it. I think the weather really matters when you don’t have money to pay the gas bill and you are forced to live in a cold room; it matters when the public transportation is late for 40 minutes and you are waiting it in the cold; and it matters when you can’t do what you planned to do because of the head melting heat outside. Generally, if it makes you miserable, and I don’t think this is the reason for 70% of the complaints. In conclusion I want to say that I’m not being hard on humanity for complaining, I’m just so tired of the same conversation everywhere I go. So I plead to you – be original and keep the subject only for emergency situations.
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Larissa, 24 years old, is a brazilian Graphic Designer and Illustrator who loves colours, textures, and animals. She makes vector, as well as handmade illustrations inspired by the nature, the oniric universe, and the ludic world. Contact: larissa.88m@gmail.com www.flickr.com/photos/mellowpeak
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I One letter that defines millions of me's, made by society, environment, friends and family. On paper I'm a German with Persian roots. In Africa they call me Mosongu, white man. On Facebook I'm known as MoFocker. At home I'm Mohammad, prophet of God the almighty. I play so many roles, my profession should be acting. Thanks to evolution our body is able to adapt to any environment and not even that, it gave our mind the ability to project what ever people see in us. Having said that, our identity is something that changes constantly like the weather forecast. I can be what ever people believe I'm. This ability of changing from role to role is the reason why people have such a tough time finding themselves. They struggle to find their "I" in the mirror and to define their own being. It's something that was given to us by nature to survive in a time when only the strong were suppose to live. I don't even know if that ever really changed but at least we act like it did! But nature also gave us the ability to ask questions, like who am I? Not sure if that was ever planed that way? We live in a society were names and nationalities are nothing worth. People change them like dirty underwear. Solidarity and Social Cohesion is lower than ever these days and the only thing that we all have in common is that we all want to be different from everyone else. But yet we wear the same trend, eat the same garbage, and poison our minds with the same entertainment that tries to keep us as dumb as possible.
What if we would all stop to pretending for one day? What if nothing else but your true self would matter. What if? Probably the two most painful words ever. But nature always finds its ways. A way to find a clear reflection of yourself is love. That's something I've learned on my journey. If you find someone who loves you for everything you are and most important for what you aren't; you'll look into a mirror that reflects everything of your true being. But what if I rather show you a place were it doesn't matter who you are. What if I show you a place where you can be nobody, without wearing a mask that covered your face and skin colour. I recently experienced a state of mind which I never knew existed. I found a place were I can let go of the part of my brain which tells me who I'm. It felt good to be a part of something bigger or nothing. It felt good to care about everything and everyone around me but myself. It felt good to let go of all behaviours and everything I've thought necessary in this society. I found my nirvana in the most unexpected place on this earth. On a dirty toilet, in a shithole of a club. A moment of holy enlightenment. I became addicted and obsessed with the thought of being nobody. What a great and peaceful place would this planet be if everyone could experience the same state of mind just for one day. So, forget everything what I've told you about me in the beginning. I've changed my mind about it. Because since I'm nobody my life is awesome.
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BERNHARD WILLHELM SPRING/SUMMER‘13 CLAUDIA RODRIGUES
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Claudia Rodrigues is a stylist, presenting in this volume, impressions from the Spring Summer 13 Bernhard Willhelm man’s collection, released in Paris at Palais de Bourse. Claudia lives between fashion and cinema, Lisbon and Sao Paulo, the dream and the reality. Photography is something that appeared in her daily life, having to deal with registering everything she could lost in memories. She collects colours, faces, shapes, moods, and songs. She works building realities. More at www.claudiarodrigues.com
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credits and photo-style report: Clรกudia Rodrigues
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f
- Agry Prostac, South-East-Somewhere
AH, SUNDAYS
as dw e t n a I wa ram “All y, Futu - Am
el mys e g r o to g
” e.…
tl a lit
Ah Sunday, magnificent Sunday, like any other day. One fresh rustic morning, highly saturated in green and inevitably conquered by an overwhelming harmonic cacophony; one rich environment of natural goodies; bright and breezy, birds being chirpy and all; mostly cute nagging old people with focusing problems around. Like no bothering whatsoever…..well, except for the tumultuous teens. Errr, do I dislike those! And as a pure agrarian, I have my daily basic tasks to get on with, explicitly connected to me and my family’s hangover. Various tasks, such as: feeding the goats, cleaning the piggery; talking to my cactuses, suddenly falling asleep on a sunny spot; playing with the cats - if some around - gardening my tomatoes and all the other veggies; completely disregarding my roses; of course slightly enticing myself with a big fat joint during all in-betweens; and the most intriguing of all - my cow Penka, and most specifically - milking her. And when I usually start talking about milking a cow manually, some individuals tend to find it not just acoustically funny, but after digesting the knowledge of this process, they find themselves not just surprised, but also little dumb - which is always a good thing to feel. And here it is the space-time where I try to define how complex in deed is the process of manual cow milking. My Penka isn’t an easy cow above all. And I haven’t even told her about the state of some of her ‘sises around the world, being all holed for manual stomach regulation - HOW EMBARRASSING! (!?But don’t you worry, they are all corked!?)
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When I enter in my well decorated cowshed, I can’t but be polite and say ‘Bonjour’ to my Penka. With my hat off, if wearing one. You see, Penka might be just mooing on me, but she gets it, I know it. I can see it in her eyes; I can feel it in her chugging. Before starting I must be aware, if she has taken a proper crap - the only way she easily gets into gushy state of mind. And if I find her stressed, I usually talk to her, or play her some episodes of Radiolab, just to keep her curious and dreamy, while I prepare myself for the operation. And of course, as a living creature, massaging her before the beginning helps for finer processing. And petting Penka may sounds simple, but people who’ve never spent much time around such an animal are not aware of the do’s and don’ts of approaching and touching a cow. It is pretty specific, using too much force or speed, or petting it in the wrong sector can agitate, therefore causing stress. A good general guideline is to consider how well you know your cow.
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The tale of the mammal must always be at least 180 degree knotted out towards the corpse. In a way, for protecting your results, as well as signifying that you have started the procedure. Water-showering the cow’s tits contributes to both predisposing the bovine to extra relaxation and ensuring unadulterated outcome. In case of interest, one may apply an extra area-specific tit massage for obtaining fine processing, you know. The milker’s siting arrangement must be at best 90 degrees clock- or counter-clock-wise around the cow`s back side, where the basic point is its central behind, i.e. facing the milking organ sideways. Due to my experience, I have established tactics in my process, depending on the desired effect. With Daft Punk as background, my cow tends to give the dreamiest milk, whereas Celine Dion on track, my cow gives her finest poignant-bitter milk. It’s a matter of personal taste and there’s no blame to lay, nobody likes Celine. The specific complex finger arrangement, the so called squeeze-finger-pattern, when outing the white fat juice, is an essential part of a pro-milker; a technique that has been passed through generations. Although I’ve learned it from the neighbour, my dad was not really into milking, he is a vegan - (ha, nevertheless, nice joke Robert, but it was chemistry not beauty I ran after.) And finally after a gradual hour of fitness squeeze, I get to the point of releasing Penka in order for her teetotal regeneration to take place, since it isn’t so easy being erotically massaged for such a long time.
And, you see, I might be a terrible Christian for it, but I do, every Sunday after chores, go to the club in the near city. Where instead a pope to listen to, I got the DJ, front, playing picturesque beauties; and instead of eating the body of Jeez, I got much better option - a big variety of options, actually. And in lieu of sitting sad and praying in the abstract, we are all in the seeking of gladness; so happy that in fact we are all like an emotional puree, composing the extreme of an ejaculating continuum of indescribable delight. Each smile you gaze upon, all of them but fake, is able to possess your mind, to infect it with its pure effigy (I know, I do sound like a stoner). All in combat with the ambient touch of a freshly squeezed light overwhelming bombarding from the VJ. A smoky world, hidden under the ground, where you get to see many distinct species within the same breed. YEAH, we all are as high as ‘poo’, most indeededly, but the obvious is what comes out. People have catalysed themselves with extras, but they have actually zoomed their real selves out. You can see it then, who’s really in front of you. All we want is to simply feel good; all there to think upon nothing, but enjoying. Most don’t even know one another, but they are there, individually, seeking the same thing. A bunch of curious zombies having the best time of their respective lives, all together, and not united. Nobody gives a damn who the hell I am, neither do I, because it is simply not the point. One illusion, which is pretty much a beautiful reality for couple of hours, or days. It’s definitely sect-like a thing, but which kinda’ grouping isn’t itself, in its essence, sectlike. And we can all speculate and aggregate negatives of drug usage, but let’s face it - humanity has been springing on supported by extras - which is nothing to be ashamed of; we always seek for more; and we don’t mind even having it in surplus, now do we? What’s more, MDMA has been used for treating Autism, Ketamine for treating Depression, and they seem to be workin’ - specialists say. Of course, numerous problems may occur out of drug usage, as with anything else in usage. Whatever you are doing in consort with yourself - if you are a junky, you’d be a junky; if you are an idiot, you’d be an idiot, maybe slightly more idiotic; and if you are none of the above but cool and informed, then you might be in a reach of goodies. And the majors here are as obvious as they have ever been: It’s about How well you actually know yourself, about Who You Are?…. if you think you are somebody; What The Hell Do You Want? ….if you want anything….this obvious and boring junk.
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BEATING INSTINCT -JOHN FOLEY In life, sometimes certain genetic traits run their course, and no longer provide a benefit to the species. Evolution is by no means a perfect process, and just because a particular trait was carried on through the process of natural selection at one point does not mean that it is an optimal solution at all points. Often times, it’s not even close, but rather what simply worked, given the conditions at play. Traits that were passed down to future generations, no matter how effective they might have been in the past, often times lose their efficacy in ensuring the propagation of the species in the future. Sometimes, those once beneficial traits may eventually hinder the chances of survival of the species, if left unencumbered in the gene pool.
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A frequently cited example of this is the Irish Elk. A particular characteristic of these creatures, their antler diameter, was a great benefit in mating with females. The males battled for the right to mate with females, and the males with the larger antlers were much more likely to win their battles, and therefore pass their genes down the line. Consequently, as time went on, the average diameter of male antlers got bigger, to a point where they became a liability. A leading theory is that one of the main reasons the Irish Elk went extinct is because their average antler size quickly became so large that it became difficult for the animals to turn their heads quickly in defense, and limited locomotion through woody areas. It is likely that there were other factors that contributed to the species’ extinction, but the point remains; some evolutionary trends are not optimal for long term survival, but are still selected down to future generations, with the right conditions in affect. In this sloppy process called evolution, sometimes traits hang around to the detriment of the species. People have been realizing this for some time now, so there’s nothing groundbreaking here; we’ve got a few problems like that, with our own kind. Just like the diameter of the Irish Elk rack, it seems that some of our current traits that were once beneficial to our survival might now be out of tune with current environmental conditions, and may actually doing damage to our chances of success. The way I see it, we’ve got three major issues that are like this, and I feel they are all potentially detrimental to our survival. The first is our instinct to cast out people that are not like us, and to group together with those that are. The second is the tendency for humans to believe in a higher power, and an afterlife. The third, which I feel is the most jeopardizing to our survival, is our instinct to acquire material things, and to make things ‘better’. These traits developed over extremely long periods of time, and in the first and third cases, were in development well before the dawn of modern humans.
In fact, in 2011, researchers at Yale University found that Rhesus monkeys exhibit the same sort of intergroup bias that humans do. In experiment, they showed that the monkeys associated good thoughts with members of their group, and associated bad things with outsiders. One can easily imagine how these instincts have been beneficial to early humans, other primates, and other highly social animals that work in groups. Before any forms of early civilization, groups of people were sparsely scattered about, with no governments or laws, or societal norms. So, assuming that every visitor to the group comes in peace would make the group more vulnerable, and actually increase the chances that your genes don’t get passed down through your offspring. It is easy to imagine why it was a vital advantage to be wary of those who are different, or not in the same group. But at least with humans, this is not the case any more. The world is getting smaller and smaller every day. Today, one can fly to the other side of the world in less than a day. We can communicate to anyone, anywhere, instantaneously. Our cultures, and our various races, are smashing together all across the world, and have been for a long time. The rates of interracial reproduction have been on a steady incline, and over time, human beings’ appearances will be more even homogenous. Our social universe has evolved exponentially, in an extremely short period of time, especially during and after The Industrial Revolution. This infinitesimally small point in history represents a massive increase in rates of population, and our rate of migration over the Earth. Our tendency to be prejudiced evolved over incredibly long period of times, and in a relative bat of the eye, this characteristic ceased being a beneficial value in our modernized, connected, small world. On the contrary, we’ve seen it cause an immense amount of harm, with things like oppression, segregation, racism, murder, mass genocide, and war. It is also easy to think of a possible history where belief in a higher power or an afterlife was beneficial to survival. Consider a man in the wild, alone, in grave danger, with no remaining family members, stuck in a predicament that seems impossible to get out of, with no way to contact anyone. Is it possible that a belief that he is supported and watched over by a higher power would muster up more will and determination to stay alive? It does not seem absurd to imagine that as a possibility. We see this benefit from such a belief today, in accounts from religious people who worked through a seemingly impossible scenario, and assert that their faith in God helped them through the predicament. When times are tough, every human likes to feel that they are not alone, that there is some way to understand the situation, and that they have help behind them. We are highly social animals, with a great need for companionship. Tom Hank’s character in Cast Away, Chuck Nolan, could have just as easily adopted God as his companion, but instead chose a volleyball, whom he named Wilson. With no intention to insult religion, I feel the example highlights the same general human need. In our early history, predicaments like the one described were a lot more common than they are today, and belief in a higher power might have played an even more important role.. In a time where the globe was only sparsely populated with humans that had little understanding of the cosmos or their physiology, mysteries of
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the world were understood as being the works of God. With so many unknowns, a belief in a God could have been all they had to help them through the problem. Today, we don’t see a lot of incidents like the one described above, or like Tom Hank’s character in Cast Away. We have cell phones, emergency services, we’ve got a much better understanding of science, and why things happen, which I believe reduces the necessity of a belief in a higher power to explain things. We see this played out in our current worldwide, demographics, with studies indicating that higher levels of education actually lead to lower levels of religious belief.
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The theory of religion called ‘the God of narrowing gaps’ states that the more we understand about our globe and the rest of the universe through science, the less need there is for the idea of a God. Through most of our history, the concept of God helped explain everything about the world that we did not understand. This is the case, even today, but to a much lesser extent, as there are fewer gaps in our understanding. Before modern science, much of the world was a mystery to us, and the idea of a God played a much more important role in the attempt to comprehend things. Natural phenomenon such as lightning, comets, life, and death were unexplainable, and attributed to the hand of God. But with our drive to understand things, over time humans developed a complete understanding of these sorts of phenomena. Before modern medicine, it was impossible for someone to know why one of their relatives died at such an early age, but now, we can almost always determine that answer. Before modern astronomy, some people thought stars were holes in the sky, made by God, to look down on us. Now, we know exactly how stars are made. Yet, despite this apparent reduction in God’s role in the world, the belief of a higher power is held by the majority of humans on Earth today. Most of the time, this does not pose a problem to our species. There’s a lot we don’t know about the physical world, still, and theists attribute these mysteries to God. Tragically, organized religion often causes grave harm to humanity. Millions of people have been killed over time in holy wars, in God’s name. Most recently, anyone that was living on Earth on September 11th, 2001 and old enough to understand a radio or television broadcast saw a very clear example of this, and of the damage that can be caused under the name of God. There are also other forms of killing in God’s name, that are not as violent. For example, this year, in the U.S alone, handfuls of parents will have their young children die by their side, because administering medical treatment or vaccines is altering God’s natural plan. In U.S. law, those incidents are clear cases of involuntary manslaughter, a classification of the crime of murder. Yet, society has trouble standing behind that charge, because we value our right to believe in God. Another example of non-violent murder in the name of a God is with doomsday cults. Leaders of such cults shephard their followers to the grave, having fully convinced them that this is the only way that they will be saved, in the rapture of God. Lastly, the third major issue that I see is our tendency to want more stuff, and the desire to constantly make our lives easier through improvements. Once again, it seems easy to imagine why these traits were so beneficial in the past, and how they came to be two of the most pronounced features of our human nature today.
Out of the three problems I bring up, this one seems to be the most obvious, and threatening. We know that throughout a large amount of human history, times were tough, and food was scarce. There was no food industry, no easy means to kill prey, and no refrigeration. Those that excelled at hunting, gathering, and preserving their inventory were more likely to live through a cold winter, and also more likely to successfully pass on their genes to the next generation. If a small family of early humans did not possess this strong instinct to collect wealth, or were lazy, then the chances of those genes moving into the future were not good, at all. The value of this instinct in early times was immense, as well as our ability to innovate. With other animals, whose actions are seem largely governed by hardwired instinct, the fittest bodies had the greatest chance of survival. With humans, however, intelligence and innovation became a very valuable tool in survival. If another type of mammal became ill and lost the ability to run at full speed, its days were likely numbered. A human with the same symptoms and loss of effectiveness, however, is able to compensate with intelligence. Perhaps that person thinks of digging a hole in the ground on a high traffic animal path, to trap prey. Even if he was not able to dig the hole himself, he could share the idea with others, who could help in the process. Even in our earliest times, humans have separated themselves from the rest of the animals by our ability to comprehend the world, and in turn, to manipulate it to serve our purposes. Survival of the fittest? Definitely. Survival of animals with extremely fit brains. In modern times, especially after the Industrial Revolution, our strong instincts to accumulate wealth and innovate have caused some real problems. Humans have spread all over the Earth, and populations are booming at ever increasing rates. In 10,000 BC, the estimated population of humans was around 1,000,000. In 1500 AD, it was estimated to be around 500,000,000. In 1800, the population of humans was around one billion. In 1930, two billion. At the turn of the millenium, there were six billion people living. In under one hundred years, the population of humans has tripled. In evolutionary time, this is no time at all. We’ve got the same bodies, minds, and animal instincts, but a massively different environment, due to our uniqueness in the animal kingdom; our big brains. This rampant growth in our population, in such a short period of time, is happening on a finite amount of land! There’s only a certain amount of livable space for humans, and only a certain amount of fertile land for growing and harvesting food. Without any question, the large increase in human population has been made possible by these instincts. In our earliest times, these instincts were vital, as they not only increased the chances of individuals’ survival, but they also greatly reduced the chances of extinction. Today, they threaten our chances of survival, and have lead to a myriad of problems; global warming, world war, financial market crashes, deforestation, genocide, and even the possibility for a serious pandemic, to name a few.
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It seems clear to me that we’ve overdone it; that we’ve improved too much. We are at a critical point, and have the most amazing opportunity in front of us, that no other living thing on our planet has. Our intelligence allows us the ability to forecast and make attempts to control our future. Literally speaking, we have the ability to control our own evolution. With the large brains that we evolved to have, we’ve been able to understand the world in profound ways, and to manipulate it in ways that no other living thing can. We have the ability to think about our place not only in our immediate surroundings, but also in the universe. We are able to reflect on how things came to be the way they are, and where they are going, in a much deeper way than any other type of animal. Through science, and experimental verification, we’ve been able to think big, and then build big things to figure out if we’re on the right track. We aim to understand everything, and to constantly improve our quality of life. Will we be able to take advantage of this opportunity we have? We have the special gift of being able to understand that these three traits are no longer as beneficial as they once might have been, and make extraordinary efforts to control their influence in our civilization. It’s a beautiful idea, but with a seemingly impossible execution.
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Such a massive change would be the largest revolution in humanity, by far. It will be extremely difficult, but we can’t afford to think it is impossible. It will require our attempt to manipulate those characteristics that made us human in the first place. The only way it can happen is through education, and a species-wide recognition of these problems, and the dangers they present. While I don’t have a proposal or blueprints on how such a revolution would unfold, a nice place for us to start is to reflect on some powerful words of U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, who with a few others in the history of our species, was granted an incredible perspective of our small globe, and our humanity. "It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small." I feel it is this sort of perspective that all of humanity will need to embody, for us to improve our chances. We’re going to have to educate, unite, cooperate, and sacrifice. Thankfully, humans are good at those actions; they helped us grow to where we are today. But now we need to employ them on a much more unified, universal scale, if we want to have a chance in overcoming the suddenly outdated, yet fully operational animal instincts that threaten our future. By definition of the word, overcome any instinct seems impossible. But, if any living thing has the ability to do it, it is us.
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IT’S ALL FAKE 44
FOR THE SAKE OF HUMANITY
—- Chick Norris
- Gareth Lewinsky
fakestablishment:
Our modern society, seriously, seems to be rolling around the word “fake” in the true manner. In our daily lives, we are constantly being challenged to identify the ‘potential fake’ starting from our breakfast cereal that contains “no preservatives,” the “freshly pressed orange box juice,” which is nothing of a such; the handbag made from “real leather” in the store across the street, or even recognizing the emotions and reactions of people and friends, wondering if they are truly sincere or not - Is this compliment really a compliment or a cranked irony?! Regarding the last case, the compliment is serving its purpose, no matter who have said it, no matter if it was irony or not. The point of a compliment is to actually make you feel better and once out-loud it does make its point and there is no need of rationale. Everyday our eyes may scan more than 30 different types of Louis Vuitton bags on the shoulders of students, business bitches, club whores, and so on. We see them on the bus, we talk to them while in line for bagels, and during these adventurous experiences our heads may as well overheat, automatically, beeping “FAKE FAKE FAKE”. But if the LV monogram has its right proportions and the canvas is not upside-down, the result could actually be pretty tolerable, and when the person wearing the bag has a Louis Vuitton-(fake or not)-worthy-attitude, he can actually look good with the right accessory, let us suppose. What is interesting about the young generation is that they could easily guess one man’s biography, or try so, without any attempt to probe his actual life experience. We can guess if the person is dumb, if he’s rich, if he’s married. Let’s not talk about his bag which is absolutely fake! But why are we in a trial of spiritual rape towards the person, destroying any attempt for natural surprise, without asking ourselves at first “Is this really necessary?”, and most importantly – “What has this to do with us?” A case born from curiosity, a little bit of envy, and a blind liberty directly pointing at us and our beliefs. We are putting the visual mask on; we are creating the “perfect” public image, trying hard to keep it alive with strong will and fat lies. We go out surrounded by tentative friends and we are feeling (kind of) good! We receive compliments. We start a conversation, we comment the latest social news, and then we go home and the make-up has to be taken off, you know. The bed is waiting for our tired soul, but has it not been for the fake executions that make us ready, somehow, for the next same day, stuffed with another types of challenges. Our somewhat modern society has twisted the perception of fake. It has also twisted our perception of sincerity, making it hard for us to find it at first sight. We are living for the moment (or are we?), we are living for the opinion of others, we are looking hella’ good for the stranger’s eyes, creating the lunatic paradox – this actually makes us feel extremely fine. We are happy because people around us “love” us. This is the human-emotion-trend that is about to become a tradition. And we, as young people embroiled in a daily life of social events, countless acquaintances, and a struggle for life achievements, are obliged to keep it going. You and I both are dressed in the latest fashion. We are dressed in another man’s skin. And what’s more, we look drop-dead gorgeous in it. Fake or not!
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I’M FUCKING HUNGRY! — anonymous, Ethiopia
“WE MUST DO AWAY WITH THE ABSOLUTELY SPECIOUS NOTION THAT EVERYBODY HAS TO EARN A LIVING. IT IS A FACT TODAY THAT ONE IN TEN THOUSAND OF US CAN MAKE A TECHNOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING ALL THE REST. THE YOUTH OF TODAY ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT IN RECOGNIZING THIS NONSENSE OF EARNING A LIVING. WE KEEP INVENTING JOBS BECAUSE OF THIS FALSE IDEA THAT EVERYBODY HAS TO BE EMPLOYED AT SOME KIND OF DRUDGERY BECAUSE, ACCORDING TO MALTHUSIAN-DARWINIAN THEORY, HE MUST JUSTIFY HIS RIGHT TO EXIST. SO WE HAVE INSPECTORS OF INSPECTORS AND PEOPLE MAKING INSTRUMENTS FOR INSPECTORS TO INSPECT INSPECTORS. THE TRUE BUSINESS OF PEOPLE SHOULD BE TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND THINK ABOUT WHATEVER IT WAS THEY WERE THINKING ABOUT BEFORE SOMEBODY CAME ALONG AND TOLD THEM THEY HAD TO EARN A LIVING.” -RICHARD BUCKMINSTER FULLER
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YOU AND ME
MATERIAL MANIFESTATIONS OF THE MIND.
Pascal Mayet was born in the 1980 in Sweden, where he grew up in the southern city of Helsingborg.
In
2003 he moved to Denmark, where he currently studies at the Funen Art Academy. From 2011 to 2012, Pascal spent a year in Budapest, attending the Hungarian University of Fine Arts as an exchange student. Since June 2012 he resides in Berlin. Pascal’s main interest lies in the spaces that make up our very being. In his work he explores the spaces that surround us. From the external to the internal
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space, where he is interested in the connection in between; how these spaces not only affect us but also how we can affect them. His attention is centered on this connection, and he looks, examines, and plays with the transformation that occurs between the external and the internal, the material and the mental, and between reality and abstraction. His work is often conducted in series, and centers around the usage of drawing and painting, even if text, installation, performance and sound, all make part of his practice. There is a persistent fascination with the two-dimensional image, with its power, role and usage in human communication and development. With its unique ability to define, represent, communicate and even create -- narrative, abstract and emotional -- space through it’s physical and “fixed” nature.
Website: http://www.pascalmayet.com
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CIENCE S E K A M S ' LET HYPE-FREE AS - BEN THOM
foundly reshape our world - take time to explain. Reprogrammable neural stem cells are about to radically change the way we treat brain injuries. Optogeneticists are curing symptoms of depression with beams of light. Memory researchers are distilling “essence of familiarity” and implanting it directly into brains. But when it comes to mass-market consumption, none of A few weeks ago, I fell into conversation these breakthroughs generates automatic with a music composer. When I mentioned one-click hype. Does it have to be this way, though? Isn’t that I’m a neuroscience writer, he replied that is possible, with a little verbal tinkerhe’s always been fascinated by psychology ing and a firm commitment to accuracy, to - but the neuroscience headlines he sees present new discoveries hype-free, and let strike him as almost uselessly simplistic. the thrill of their implications speak for “So we can point to a part of the brain itself? and say, ‘This causes fear,’” he said. “So I have tattoos of dopamine and serotowhat? What’s that tell us about what fear nin molecules on my forearms, which gets means, or why it feels the way it does, me into lots of checkout-line chats about or how it creeps into our consciousness?” what those chemicals are “for.” I strugAnd he’s right - if those headlines repre- gle every time with the question of how to sent the pinnacle of modern neuroscience, give an honest answer, because - contrary to popular conwhat good is it? ception - dopamine That question gnawed at me as “SO WE CAN POINT TO isn’t a “pleasure I compiled my Website’s list of A PART OF THE BRAIN chemical,” nor is the top five neuroscience breakserotonin a “goodthroughs of 2012. As I flipped AND SAY, mood chemical;” through my list, though, a re‘THIS CAUSES their roles in the alization leaped out at me; brain are subtle FEAR,’” HE SAID. a qualitative difference beand multifaceted. tween what I consider a “top “SO WHAT? " Dopamine can induce breakthrough” and what many paranoia. Serotonin other science news sites do. can promote longLots of top-tier sites - from - BEN THOMAS`S — term depression. pop-cultural hubs like io9 to COMPOSER`S QUOTE True answers don’t more serious aggregators like always make good ScienceDaily - love to feature sound bites. discoveries that boil down easily into repeatable, retweetable water-cooler sound To me, the inked diagrams on my arms serve as reminders that excitation and inhibites. This preference is nothing new in pop cul- bition - and romance and depression and ture, of course; but it becomes especial- schizophrenic hallucinations - all hinge ly problematic when applied to scientific on a thimbleful of chemicals squirting discoveries. A hype-heavy headline like, around inside our skulls. That’s the angle “Brain Region Responsible for Optimism of explanation I try to focus on: None of Discovered!” or “Brain Chemical Responsi- these chemicals is “for” any single purble for Sexual Attraction Isolated!” does pose - what makes them beautiful to me are more than just crudely oversimplify what the richly layered canvases they paint. these studies actually found - it also So now I offer you a challenge and an exfosters a false belief that modern neu- hortation; whether you’re a scientist, a roscience is little more than “phrenology blogger or a water-cooler gossiper: Let’s 2.0” - a parlor game of pointing to struc- make this year our Year of Hype-Free Scitures and chemicals in people’s heads and ence. Let’s present new discoveries honsaying, “This part makes people fall in estly, clearly, with the passion and verve love! This bit makes people racist!” and they deserve - and beyond that, let’s let the facts speak for themselves, and let so on. The root of this false belief, though, the genuinely meaningful breakthroughs isn’t that neuroscience itself is sim- stride into the spotlight where they beplistic. It’s that the really exciting long. discoveries - the ones that could pro-
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LOGANIC r e r e d n a W l The Visua
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Loganic is visually a nomad. He creates interesting new worlds in which to travel and unique characters
to
encounter.
The
process itself is a journey, a “faith walk” from the first pen stroke to the last minor detail. Loganic discovers forms, primarily
through
mark-making
serendipitous
and
spontaneous
creation. From a tapestry of strokes and chaotic lines, he begins
his
visual
discovery,
an excavation which allows him to play in his work, in order to unearth strange and uncanny characters.
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method
of
creation
is
a
blending of illustrative technique and free expression. He begins by “doodling”, working from chaos to order, from carefree mark-making to fine-tuning edges and line execution. The
characters
are
presented
in personal moments of awkward demeanor, some abiding conditions of hurt, while others unwind in the process of healing. The interconnectedness between beings, as well as gender ambiguity, seem to be reoccurring plots in his narratives.
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We speak of freedom of speech and democracy at long lengths and berate people that think or do differently from the so called “Normal” people. Celebrity news is more important than fixing our hospitals, schools and bettering ourselves. Somehow sports people and hollywood stars have become gods and every day people that truly make this earth run like clockwork are mere cattle.
- Wolfgang of South Brae, Australia
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The Idiosyncrasies of a Common Man
When I was young I was told to be a good person. What constitutes as a “good” person?? Saying all the right things? Believing profanity, Adultery, Tattoo’s, different hair styles, laughing at someone else’s misfortune is wrong? Being respectful for everyone even though they don’t respect themselves or you is right and people that don’t value the guidelines of a set in stone society are street urchins.
I’m not saying that there should be anarchy on the streets of Victoria, that all laws should be abolished but a person should have the right to call a spade a FUCKING spade. In schools all black boards were taken away because it was racist to call a board which was black in colour a “Black Board”. But my Asshole is still an Asshole. The day will come when in magazines, brochures, catalogues an item of black colour will not be called a “black t-shirt” it will be called a “night coloured shirt”, for the simple fact that it is somehow now racist. I truly will never know what it is like to be a victim of racial taunts because I am white Australian male that really doesn’t give a fuck about much to be honest, so I won’t understand how it feels. Maybe I am just ignorant. I truly believe that I am not a so called smart person, but from an early age I have recognised that the mundane is becoming out dated and not being sophisticated for certain activities and festivities is leading people to think they are not worthy of certain things. We tell one another “We cannot play golf there it is way too fancy for us” “I hear people say I could never buy a car like that because people would thing I’m a toff”. Most of us before we do anything consider what other people will think of our actions. “I will not wear this T-shirt because people will think its lame” But somehow we need gratification from a well known person before it can become acceptable to wear or try. When did not knowing the correct spelling for a certain word become a bigger travesty than genocide? You take spell check away from people and we will find out who can actually spell, I cannot spell that many words correctly but at least I know i'm not perfect. Even by having this function (spell check) it enables us not to learn how to spell the word correctly just merely recognise that a Red squiggly line under a word means “Wrong”. The thing that annoys me is that people get caught up in doing the so called sophisticated and cultured things e.g. going to see a play. A museum, an exhibition on the life and times of Wolfgang of South Brae, truly think they are better than someone that stays home and plays Video games.
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E r i k Nilsson
35
year
old
Swedish
artist,
based in Berlin. Educated at the Academy of fine Arts - Umeå, Sweden. Erik is currently working for The Pantheon Bar (Berlin based techno collective)
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of
the
decoration
as
part
team. His
own work is focused on drawings, wall paintings & installations. www.thepantheonbar.org www.hysterik.se
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Tomorrow I might be a crook, but today I am just a poet. Rome was built in less than a day, why can’t I stay in the dance-floor one more day? I need to jog, my dog! Take me! Take me to the undertaker. He’s probably somewhere hiding, trying to stop sneezing and laughing at the same time. Tomorrow they will accuse me of being a poet, today they think I am a crook. He lost his way in the ceiling, trying to fix a disco ball on the hook, and crept out of the velvet underground, searching for his mirror, but he only found a word: Look! They all went out in the garden and saw several objective points of view waiting in the queue. Out came Mr. Sniper, kissing-zooming everybody, until he saw his favorite point of view: You are my Lady Objectivity and I will marry you!, said Mr. Sniper, making a ring in her finger before she could say I love you!
- Sokol Ferizi, Kosovo
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Observations From Achilles’ Heel
Oh my dog, help me jog!
They found him in the Southeast of the disco ball, a crooked poet without clutches, who knew nothing and was always groping for a dance-floor, because he thought that’s where everybody gets a job. He will be remembered as a dismembered member who made everybody laugh and sneeze at the same time. Once he said: ‘I forgot the line’, everybody felt cured of sneezing, but they started pissing laughing. He scared superheroes and put their pants to dry every morning, inviting, sometimes, Mr. Sniper and Lady Objectivity to smell around for a coffee in the garden. Oh my dog, make me jog! Later it became clear someone had told a joke that nobody could take seriously: Adam asked Steve: Where the fuck is Eve? They died laughing thinking it’s the other way around, until they broke their necks. Only Eve was there to grieve.
SPECULATIVE REALISM IS THE NEW LOST
— anonymous, Bashkiria
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Lora Rounevska aka Lo AksvenuR is a multimedia artist currently based in Amsterdam. Graduated Gerrit Rietveld Academy'2010 Visual arts; she works in various field, such
as
painting/drawing,
video/instal-
lations, photography, graphic design and other printed matters. Since 2006 she is performing as VJ artist aka AksvenuR.
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Her visual language is Inspired from the history of art and design to street art, video art and installations. Often her works play with human perception. Breaking the boundaries between the different forms of media in a creative way, is what intrigues her in general.
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Text And Image Can Move Us In Time - Lora Rounevska
"Text and Image can move us in time" is a project that stands in
opposition
to
all
adver-
tisements that surround us - in huge amounts - nowadays; all those that make us want needless things; that fill our minds with
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promotions
and
abstract
garbage. Although its rebelic application, the project acts simply as a reminder, to us humans, that our imagination is something we should be caring about.
The project involves collages and
a
stop-motion
animation
called
'Duration6'.
Individu-
al printed collages were ruthlessly placed at stops of public transportation all around Amsterdam.
It
is
a
call
for
recall to imaginative people, what a book gives us in a world flooded by advertisement. text Kamellia Kiricheva
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YASUNARI AWAZU
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Yasunari Awazu is Japanese illustrator, born 1982 in Hyogo, who started his career n 2008. He depicts keen human impression by usage of dynamic brush strokes
and
by
consciously
leaving out some blank space. His stylish and fashionable art inspires the imagination of his viewers. http://www.awazu-illust.com/
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YES, YOU ARE FUCKING RESPONSIBLE!
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CONSIDERING CAUSE AND EFFECT, 76
ANY DEATH IS (SIMPLY) A SUICIDE
A SUICIDE NOTE
- M. I. Labile, Timbuktu "I Seem to Be a Verb." - Bucky Fuller
My life used to be much rosier when I was hipping it to the fullest, not that I'd rather loop it back, but it was a great time itself. Everything was kinda possible, no unicorns I have to woefully admit, but there was this emotional spirit, always a positive spurt in my life. At a friend's parties I was the best seat-filler; I was the most stylish rag out there; I was a sunbather, a proud slacker, one true missionary seeking his "pure being"; as well as all other following delusions that could inevitably result out of such a mental mash-up, as mine at that time, all based on just ideas. And not for long, though, till I finally reached my jamming-point of trans-evaluating all of my values and almost getting myself rehab-ed, but rather then I killed myself - after all, it was easier and much cheaper. (And this is just to be mentioned) And of course I was lost, duuh. What do you think? It was simply terrific; I almost crazed trying to comprehend my bullshit. 'X' was gone, there was no 'divine' to take it all, it was just me left, so I had to take the damn responsibility myself. And so I did. It has been a tough time and honest labour - whereas honest the subjective. All of which happened at the same time of my prelude with science. My second going, phah. The very moment when I fell in love again, you know that sick-addictive feeling, the one that has been promoting us for ages. And there I was, plunging myself into the-scientific-realm. Where I settled for years till now. A realm that started giving me the gag. A realm full of scientific robots trying to explain themselves as such - reductionists, determinists, the atomizedgangstas that don't know when to stop, or where to properly start from. A place, where the-Rational has already gone the wrong direction. And let's only mention the terrifying scientific error of elementary logic of confusing correlation and causation - very awkward, I know. Since I migrated from being an all-lovin'-hippie to a scepticalscience-addict, I'm getting closer and closer to killing myself, again, and rationally. I knew changing religion could have drastic consciences, but this was simply spanking.
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In their push for growth, scientists are willing to exaggerate, of course, they are willing to hide mistakes, aham, and yet not willing to take responsibility for their own fckn' selves? A rational institution that cannot address responsibility for their own choices-decisions, considering it as a "moral problem"….wow, dude, definitely I suggest choosing an edge and accelerating….. How exactly can I differentiate Science from Religion? How? When the former was supposed to free you from religious nonsense, but it seems it's going to get you back there, basically and 'rationally'. I'm in this silly neuroscientific abstract, which influences upon me a confusion - whether my subconscious is me or isn't. (a ca) Maybe the next derivation is me being totally afraid of myself (whatever the hell that is)….as exactly as it is in Religion! It is as obvious as drunk jackass in a bar that top and bottom are two interrelated aspects of the same thing, or whatever - ethically speaking I guess.
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An extra contribution to the clutter was the influence provided by the confused atheist, and potential ex-hippie, Mr. Sam Harris, who just recently entered the prominence scene. His book on the Free-Will had to be titled 'I Am Just a Bottom'. Since Harris doesn't just keep his logically insufficient examples for himself, it means that anyone could say whatever, and after all there is no space for injuries here, we are NOT responsible for our choices, right Sam? (It's Nature's way, a Sam - phhah) 'I Finally Found God' is Sam's latest book coming next year, said a gipsy I met, whom I paid in return for Sam's future, a few days ago. People who try to grasp a metaphor about free-will - an obvious biological function - are the ones showing how much they have dug themselves lately, probably lonely. How can one enjoy life while needing to accept the lack of his own free-will, without which he couldn't even think of, a, anything! - viewed as problem, yet it itself is nothing more than a bad metaphor, made out of incorrect experimental translation and bad ideas - and when I say bad, I don't just mean old. However, one promising voice in the fog of atheism - Daniel Clement Dennett III - conjoins the free-will with 'Cognitive Competence' which is one cool standpoint. (But I've heard Visual Perception is not always in agreement with Dan.) It isn't a cool world, in which the majority of scientists have no idea when I say - having done tree-four days on the row - So sad. And yeah, it bothers my feelings. On top of that I have a terrible blood pressure. I'm way deeply disappointed in these hilariously-sad scientific times, where many scientists don't really, REALLY care about the science itself, but rather other human bullshit they still carry
along. (I mean: is published paper more important than hundreds of people confused? No, I don't think so.) Besides, Leading Labs in Neuroscience, like the Eagleman and the Seung Labs, are competing against one another, secretly, instead of combining their fucking data and working together….."But noo, look at me, I will be the N-1"….suckers. And paradoxically, at the same time, both labs promote "Together Working and Data Sharing", blah blah. (And that is generally The Seung Lab in complex-nagging-motion, but not every Asian can be a Yid…. ups, too soon?) Duly to the science of this fucked up century - I'm no more than one amazing nothing. A determined machine in a determined world with determined connections, and boring and predictable outcomes.…A world where I have to consider myself as bag of potatoes, or as Francis Crick puts it astonishingly boring, "You're nothing but a pack of neurons." - Am I Crick, AM I?! Sunny Auyang has it in this interesting fashion, "All complex systems are complex, but some are more complex than others are…. The claim that a thing is nothing but something else is the crux of ideological reductionism, an influential philosophical doctrine in this century…. I prefer to call it nothing-butism…." Can I take the 'free-notion', if any left, and try to define myself, or I've been entirely defined in advance, so, never mind, nothing to worry, just heck it?! I'm already inly confused who-the-fuck is in-charge here, man?! Some of our new-age Sciencey prays for serious spank-ish-ing, we should all be agreed on that.
But, I'm definitely sick of myself, o-yeah, and no more; sorry that it took so long to put THE sure end to this…. I THINK-I AM-THEREFORE TO CANCEL ANOTHER SELF OF MINE, right now!(Don’t you dare try stopping me) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------And here I begin, new and shiny like nobody, again, ready to rock, and it feels cool.
"SOME OF OUR NEW-AGE SCIENCEY PRAYS FOR SERIOUS SPANK-ISH-ING.
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DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE photography — paçoquita + oing le
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ARE THERE “CONS”
mean for thoughts to “flow freely?” This, I think, is where we reach the root of the reason why conscious awareness is sometimes a liability. Mammals have survived for tens of milBY BEN THOMAS lions of years because their brains are extraordinarily adept at learning at associating new, unexpected stimuli with old memories. This storage and retrieval caAsk someone what separates humans from all pacity for detailed multisensory memories other species on earth, and the answer will enables a mouse to learn a maze in a few likely involve our talents for abstract hours, and helps a human learn poetry by thought and self awareness. Though many of heart. Forming memories isn’t something we us are willing to grant that consciousness do consciously - brain structures like the has also evolved in dolphins and chimps, hippocampus and amygdala trigger the proand to some degree, perhaps, even in ravens cess without any direct conscious control. or octopi, it’s easy to assume that human And much of the time, retrieving memories consciousness makes our species more crea- isn’t a conscious act either. Though it’s tive and adaptable than any other animal in true that we can activate memory pathways earth’s history. by thinking certain conscious thoughts, For all the advantages it’s brought us, many memories spring into our conscious though, can consciousness ever be a li- awareness under their own power; sometimes ability? quite unexpectedly. Well, what are some features of conscious- But conscious control, what some researchly controlled behavior? The more attention ers call “executive control”,inhibits and we apply modulates these “free flowing” patterns of to a given task, balancing on one leg, say, neural association. Consciousness amplior taking a math test, the more details we fies some thoughts at the expense of othnotice about it, and the more important ers. Frustratingly enough, it often amplieach detail seems. If we focus our con- fies the very thoughts we’re resisting the scious attention on the “wrong” aspects hardest. This becomes even more apparent of the act, though, we might magnify a leg in nightmares, where the goals we grasp for cramp to unbearable intensity, or notice slip out of reach, and the pursuer we flee more details about the ink and paper of is always right behind us. This conscious the math test than about the numbers rep- amplification of anxious thoughts is what resented on it. Intensity of focus, then, some meditation schools seek to remedy. isn’t inherently useful or detrimental in In other words, consciousness doesn’t aland of itself. ways sense clearly when it’s getting in the What about unconscious or semi conscious way of the very goals it thinks it wants. acts, then? When we talk about great ath- When, for instance, we realize we’ve been letes or dancers we say their grace is reading and recognizing every word on a “natural,” that they seem to move “with- page without assembling any idea of what out even thinking about it,” and so on. As the sentences mean, or when we find ourathletes and artists both know, focusing selves suddenly unable to shoot a basket or intense conscious attention on the perfor- play a song because we’re trying too hard mance of a physical task can actually mud- to remember if we’re doing it correctly. dle the execution of it. Even writers and All those times, in fact, when we realize philosophers, whose craft is abstract and we’re focusing on the “wrong thing.” intellectual, understand that the creative This lack of “consciousness brakes” doesn’t process succeeds when one “lets go,” al- always lead to disaster. It’s led our anlows ideas to “flow freely,” and then plucks cestors to speculate about the stars; to out the juiciest concepts for further ex- explore the globe; to examine our own amination. thought processes more closely than any This all begs the question of what we mean other animal on earth. But for all the benwhen we talk about “letting go” of our efits consciousness has provided us and our thoughts. What is it, exactly, that’s do- mammalian forebears, it’s got one drawing this “letting go?” And what does it back: It gets tangled up in itself.
TO CONSCIOUSNESS?
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GALACTIC IQ TEST: THE CHANCE OF INTELLIGENT ALIEN LIFE - JAMIE KAISER, AUSTRALIA
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The Drake equation was created by Frank Drake to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations capable of interstellar communication in our galaxy at this point in time. In this report the Fi term will be analyzed. This term relates to the chance of intelligent life developing given life has arisen. In this case intelligence will be considered as being able to communicate over interstellar distances. The answer to this question lies in a far more fundamental and challenging question, how much does evolution favor intelligence? This question tends to divide those who choose to answer into two extreme outcomes. On one side the more biological view and timescale are apparent. The first thing to note is that evolution is not a linear operation [1]. It has no net outcome, no net goal and instead has highly vast amount of completely unrelated volatile outcomes. Think of it more of a tree branching diverse and unpredictable results then a linear ending. Therefore the people who tend to side with this argument are amazed at the improbability of life developing intelligence [1]. Out of all the species of life that have developed on earth, only one has managed to become intelligent. Here is quick explanation in more detail. Life has been around since about 3.8 billion years ago and for the first 2 billion years were simple prokaryotes, cells without an organized nucleus [1]. They produced over 50 to 100 lineages all failing except one to produce even the simplest building blocks for intelligent life [1]. The one that did eventually separated into distinct groups, known as plants, fungi and animals. Of all the species of fungi and plants, past and present none have evolved any intelligence [1]. There have been 50 billion species on earth [2] and so far only one that can even develop civilizations and out of the 20 civilizations only one capable of developing electronic technology [2]. This series of events clearly paints an improbable picture of life becoming intelligent. However this is only one side of the argument. Physicists tend to see on timelines far greater then that of biologist [1]. If something happened within the lifetime of a planet, there should be no reason for it not to happen again. It’s obvious the exact replication of humans is near impossible due to the reliance on a very precise series of contributing events through some three bil-
lion years [3]. However the biologists still have a human-centric or even Earth-centric few of intelligence [4]. There may be environments on other planets that may pressure the evolution of life to require or favor intelligence therefore producing it, faster and more efficiently than Earth. Humans may not be able to comprehend the capabilities that life could produce, especially not in unforeseen environments. Whether it be swimming, flying or standing there’s no reason another species couldn’t comprehend the laws of physics enough to receive or emit radio waves [4]. Also if evolution is based on natural selection, intelligence we instinctively assume would help any species that develops it to reproduce. In short, for survival its better to be smart then dumb [4]. At the moment humans are potentially capable of overcoming asteroid impacts, global weather changes and in the future may even develop enough technology to inhabit other planets to survive and propagate their species. The counterargument to this point is that our intuition is wrong. Based on the evidence of life on Earth, intelligence is not at all favored by natural selection. Unlike flight, eyes and bioluminescence which have all evolved many times independently, we are still yet to see intelligence evolve more then once [1]. Overall to estimate a numerical value for this term is almost impossible. The single data set that is available, life on Earth cannot and should not be extrapolated for a reasonable estimate. From the logical and reasonable arguments above it is clear both intelligence could be either abundant or scarce in the Universe. References E. Mayr, “A Critique of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence” The Bioastronomy News vol. 7, (no.3) 1995. E. Mayer “The Search for Intelligence” Science vol. 259, (no.5101) 1993 G.G. Simpson “The Non-prevalence of Humanoids” Science vol. 143 (no. 3608) 1964 C. Sagan, “The Abundance of Life-Bearing Planets” astronomy News vol. 7, (no.4) 1995.
The Bio-
M. Shermer “The Chain of Accidents and the Rule of Law: The Role of Contingency and Necessity in the Evolution of Higher Intelligence” Skeptic vol. 14 Iss. 2, 2008 A. Powell, (2009, May) Life in the Universe? Almost Certainly. Intelligence? Maybe not. [Online] Available : HYPERLINK “http://www.physorg.com/news161358845.html” http:// www.physorg.com/news161358845.html (Viewed September 2011) T. Dean, (2007, April) “A Review of the Drake Equation” Cosmos [Online] Available: HYPERLINK “http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/print/2915/are-we-alone” http://www.cosmosmagazine. com/features/print/2915/are-we-alone (Viewed September 2011) G. Schilling (1999, May). Revaluating the Drake Equation [Online]. Available : HYPERLINK “http://www.astro-tom.com/technical_data/alien_life.htm” http://www.astro-tom.com/technical_data/alien_life.htm (Viewed September 2011)
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ALI JOHANNES ÜLKER Ali is a wonderful mixture of Turkish roots and German culture. When I met Ali and saw his work, I was convinced he was a stoner. To my surprise, I turned out to be wrong, and concluded that he must be tripping on life... He started at age of 10, drawing battles at school desks . At the age of 14, he started to graffiti around his hometown, trying to make better quality street art….instead of quantity. Ali also finds himself through music, in either jam sessions or building up Electronics. His art is generally expressed through his relation with love, of course. But what's unique about his way is the total lack of relation-ownership towards his pieces. When he finishes a particular work, he either sells it or otherwise just gives it away. "When I look at my work, I get the same feelings back again…for this reason I have the need to give it away, and continue seeking new ways of viewing and describing reality."
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In his work, he dances on the subject of breaking borders: "….the borders between me and you, " he says, " between me and a plant, me and an animal; also, the animal inside me, or me inside an animal..." One of his focuses, around which Ali cycles often, is the female body. However, sometimes it's neither a woman nor a man but rather the combination of the former, the latter, and an animal… His current/future process is heavy loaded with the imaginative patterns of mad chimeras: a bird that is also a fish, and at the same time behaving like a plant….and instinct, pi, natural form of existing….(His own ontology) By the way, Ali hates explaining his art. For him, the art is just there, it's feelings. He is simply in his flow, where he feels cozy to create….whether it be a drawing, a song, or writing, he just does it as it comes out of him. For Ali, in the flow comes the wonder!
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While discovering the German electronic scene, in Berlin, to be precise, I happened to bump into two talented DJ's from Leipzig, namely Usunov and Rekorder a.k.a. " The Big Men Restless" from BLACKRED label. I saw them in the back of a club, in its more secluded section, yet their electro-techno sounds made it the best hall for me that night. After a solid few hours of pure acoustic pleasure, I met them, and of course being curious who these young and talented mixer-freaks are, I couldn't help but ask them a few question about their work, which was obviously super fun! It turns out that BLACKRED has began back in the 90's, before either Usunov and Rekorder were a part of it. Interestingly, the label started as a partypromo-crew, founded by Marcel Baer and friends, including a proper amount of outside producers, who joined for freelance collaborations. Over the years, more and more friends and artists joined the project, bringing it to it's current size of about twenty members. The BLACKRED Parties brought people like Dopplereffekt, DJ Stingray, Aux 88, Egyptian Lover, DMX Krew, Tevo Howard and many more to Leipzig. It was two years ago, when the electronic gangsters of Leipzig conceptualized BlACKRED into a record label, with their first release - BR01 - in october of 2012. The main idea of the label is the release of original electro music (electro in the sense of Kraftwerk, Aux88, Dopplereffekt…), and amusingly without being actually retro. BR01, as their first released record, showed BLACKRED's full spectrum style: Magnetic and Credit00 presenting dance-floor tunes, with Credit00 loading with fat bass-lines. The A-side of the record finishes with Porkfour, "who is the little enfant-terrible with brain-dance-leaning, beat-structures and arrangements."….as the crew put it themselves. The vinyl's B-side features Invalog, a collaboration between Cvbox and a friend, as well as Headnoaks and Cvbox as a solo artist, lighting up some Acid, Dub, Ambient, and Techno. The imminent second release will be introducing Headnoaks, who will expose a straight electro mind. What's more, Usunov & Rekorder are developing a side-project, called LUNATIC, which will be a platform and daughter label of BLACKRED, focusing on artists of different styles, promoting their own definition of dance music: " House, Techno, Acid, Chicago, Detroit, New York whatever ... but not Electro - that's a BLACKRED thing." The next Lunatic Party is gonna be on the 14th of June at a secret spot in Leipzig, watch out for invitations ….
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- Maria João Fortunato
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Logic and Paradoxes
Paradoxes are of great interest in Logic, a branch both of Philosophy and Mathematics. Logic is, actually, a subject you can’t ignore if you wish to reason correctly even in current life ; and to reason clearly is of the most importance in our lives of citizens in a Democracy. • Who shaves the barber? The Barber’s paradox is usually attributed to Bertrand Russell, an English philosopher and mathematician, whom has dedicated himself especially to Logic. This paradox connects Logic and the Theory of Sets and had a great influence in the works of Cantor and was used both by Gödel and Turing to prove theorems and propositions. The barber´s paradox considers a village where the barber shaves any man who doesn’t shave himself and doesn’t shave those who shave themselves. But this village can’t exist : • If the barber is a man that doesn’t shave himself, he must shave himself and become a man that shaves himself ; • If the barber is a man that shaves himself, he can’t shave himself because the barber only shaves those who don’t shave themselves; Who, so, shaves the barber? • The Paradox of the liar or The Paradox of Epiménides from Crete Epiménides is a natural of Crete island. He states that all naturals of Crete lie. If Epiménides is a natural of Crete and states that all the island naturals lie, than when he states “All naturals of Crete lie” he is telling the truth. So, Epiménides is not lying. Paradox: • Epiménides lies only and if only if he doesn’t lie (tells the truth) • Epiménides doesn’t lie only and if only lies (tells the truth) a ^ ~a = F
(non-contradiction principle )
“Quis custodiat ipsos custode?”
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The above latin sentence means “who will guar the guardians?” or “who watches the watchmen?” and it comes to my mind when I think of the barber’s paradox. Logic is really important in current life , raising philosophical problems coming through the centuries. May we all want to think by our own minds !
I’M THE PURREST FORM OF THE MISTAKE — anonymous, China
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www.divine-design.wf Not so long list of academic notes on counter-clockwise decay of constellative hypochondria. Divine Design‘s aphoristic quest on non-existing diseases concerning the psychic aerodynamic of mental constellations is dedicated to the development of a lindering device, to detect, correct and counteract malign hypochondriac behaviour. A horror to those who interact with modern day pharmaphantasms! This so called device is in itself a quasi-quantum-mechanical pixel projector. Why pixel?! After Friedendorp’s essay on the ‘Decay of Infection’, the pixel, as a meta-particle superimposed over the human synapse cell, plays a key role in the development of evil digimatter. As a matter of fact evil digimatter contradicts the maternal impregnating of the iso-hypothermic hypothalamus (the fundamental basis for hypochondriac imagination), and makes it ideally the predestined digi-matte, on which the pixel can be intubated. A plain microcosm of interpolated paralytic paradigmatic prostheses. Relying basically on neo-cultural medical and esoteric superstition, ecto-pixels have been extracted out of virgin‘s blood in five general stages of decay. Those were injected in the device and used for several suspicious image-calculations. The first reading signals prove a vast generic discontinuity of hypochondriac and hyperconedriac meta-impulses. To improve these results, the subject of research has been isolated into a channel of foursome inconvenience, according to contemporary scientific bluramadations. This technique proves it‘s deformation capabilities on visual perception, thus evoking painful malfunctions of the human’s vestibularamidiac apparatus. To ensure a documentary objectivity the following pictures were calculated in space (so that the earth‘s declination can be ignored). Pressed through the Friedendorp obscurity molecularmethod, a joint photographic experts group detected an increasing appearance of compression artifacts. The results were of a big interest to a bandwidth of pets, cars and motorcycles, attached to the safety health monitoring and prevention network CUSAC. This is the moment also to mention the Belgian Autobahn society for increasing of horizontal variety, which will soon receive Divine Design‘s wraithful and sincere thanks for putting 1988 online open-source crucial peak-time transaction data of genetic interpolation to inverted gamut.
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ELECTROPOODLE TOMOGRAPHY OF
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B E N G A L ENERGYTIME SOLUTION
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- Ludi Crous
AROUND 5 am., MY BEST TIME OF THE YEAR
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“ The best things in life are free! “ It was around 5 am. when I came back from dreaming. One mild trip it was. Outside, as it seemed through the windows, still Lusco-Fusco, my favourite - slightly enlightened but not exactly. Not only for exquisite contrast, but the stunningly quiet atmosphere was my reason to be awake at that time. As already alleged, due to the constant teen traffic at home, the coffee was simply gone, so I infused some tea, out of which evaporated fragrance was dispersing around like a mad (GMO) skunk, from the ones that smell of cinnamon, sold in any GMO-pet store. Too, the rolled “johnny” was not just an established fact but already a profound history. Meanwhile, an ambient web was disproportionally streaming out of my iTunes. Very delicate, imagine the sound of a blooming flower, with sonorous micro bells, vibrant noisy waves, and some other thrilled shit. What made my experience a real zener was the fundamental snoring, independently taking place in the opposite of me corner -- my friend was, in fact, still sleeping, but nevertheless she was keeping me a concrete company. Her snoring was of the finest I knew so far -- it was the real sound of the industrial action, alright. But was it not for the funny cohesion of her snoring with the ambient bubble I was with that made me giggle inside in a protracted manner; my first case of actual appreciation and solid concentration for one of nature’s “drilling” mechanisms; one definitely brisk momentum of attunement. And it was evolving, I mean the snoring, from Hrrrr to Ghrlrrr. And It may have been influenced by multiply causes - one very intriguing subject to many but me. What was missing in this synergetic contingency was my medical supply, which I have engaged with since I was diagnosed subject-HD (Happily-Depressed) -- a condition, which obviously does not require any further definition. Had no choice but to head to the pharmacy. It had evolved to 8 am. somehow, and I had already enjoyed a substantial amount of balanced zen snoring, i.e. ready to hop out of the bubble and face the consequence.
………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………Making the short story even shorter, once I paid for my drug-cocktail of Tofranil, Zelapar, and Sarafem, which is only for rush hours, I tried to open the plastic bag that was new and hard to manage. The staff person and one of the costumers had poked their eyes into me while I was trying to open the plastic bag, and I was having a hard time; as if repeatedly rehearsing my failure! I knew that what causes and connects us in life was meaning, I also knew that having two extra subjective perspectives, objectively staring at me -- sharing a ternary visual field with them -- was already a context determinant, all due to some quantum breakthroughs and cognitive juggles, as I had read in the holy book of Quantum Mumbo-Jumbos previously. Besides, my drug absence was already showing its progression and most advanced action. Therefore I turned around, panicked, so as not to be stared at anymore by two individuals convinced that I could not manage a plastic bag, and I did with an ease open the fucking bag….. oooor, may all of that have simply been my ‘first-person-ontological-delusions’. Not exactly a conundrum, I would say, rather more of a hilarious blah.
MEANING IS NOT THE ONLY THING... IT IS ALSO ABOUT EXPERIENCE. PATTERNS ARE THE NEW REAL OF OUR SOCIETY.
— Adam Frank
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PHOTOGRAPHY Vanessa Diskin STYLING Cláudia Rodrigues STYLING ASSISTANT Thais Costa MAKE UP Maya Rove HAIR Robertinho Santos MODEL Alexia Bellini | WAY Brasil
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Slight summary of my life’s basic events Anton Hristov
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I was born on 03/23/1980 in Haskovo, Bulgaria. My parents named me Anton Georgiev Hristov. I grew up in a small Bulgarian village not far from the Turkish-Greek border. There I enjoyed along with my sister and my parents a wonderful childhood. My parents Emilia Hristova Hristova and Georgi Andreev Hristov are or were ordinary people who enjoyed life on the land tolerably. I said “were” because my father died in a car accident when I was 14 years old. Until then, life in the village was wonderful because my sister and I were growing up carefree, surrounded by the love and care of our parents. Now my father’s dissolution has become that event for much change. Our widowed mother surrounded us with the whole love she had inside herself furthermore and did her best, so that we miss nothing aside from our deceased father. Last one she could not change so much she wanted. But in Bulgaria, which has being in a period of transformation, it was almost impossible for a widowed woman to provide for two children who were in the most difficult time of their life both financially and morally and mentally. In that time when our mother gets widowed, we were anything but reasonable. As much as mother tried that we gain a good education, she failed to bring both me and my sister to terms. First, my sister dropped
out of school and shortly after I did the same. That must have been horrible for a Mother. I let myself be persuaded by my mother to return to school and obtain my high school examinations. My sister, she could not persuade unfortunately. Meanwhile I had already started to work at weekends in age of fourteen in order to afford something more than our mother could make available to us. But that is not told the basis for a happy life and going untroubled to school was missing – it just used to be a little modest. Well I have gained high school examinations and did not know at first exactly what to do with my life. To my great good fortune I had changed (which I owe to my mother, and I will never be able to thank her fairly for everything she did for me) and would have liked to study at once, but that was not possible due to financial reasons. So at first I worked in various cafes and restaurants, without spending any thoughts on how it should proceed in life. In between I had even worked as a truck driver and a baker. In the summer I worked in the fields in the village. There were tough times when I was working a lot, but could not afford anything. I earned just enough to survive. This went on for several years. So I had neither the time nor the means for thinking about a University degree. But I always
knew I had to leave that village and change my lifestyle because I was not happy. That changed pretty quickly when one day my dearest aunt Beni saw the artist in me and told me to give some attention and further development to my talent. So I started to draw and took a course with an artist in the nearest small town named Haskovo. Now I had an aim in life and was very happy and motivated. Besides, I was still working at a restaurant in that town. So I lived during the week in the town and on the weekend I went to the village, where I worked in our garden, which was quite large and where we grew different fruit and vegetable crops. It runs until 2003.Then I went to Sofia, where I lived with my aunt. There, I attended another course with an artist. In those lessons I got to know young people, preparing for entrance examinations at German Universities. I was very excited by the idea of studying abroad, but I was not able to afford it financially. I did not even speak German. So it seemed as if this would stay just a dream of mine. A girl from the artist course told me about au pair, in whom I saw the opportunity to immigrate to Germany and to start all over. I was already almost twenty-four years old. The age limit for au pair girls and boys was by twenty-four. So I had to act very quickly. I applied to an au pair agency that very quickly found a family in Hanover, which wanted to take me. So I came to Germany in 2004 and was supposed to spend one year in the house of that family. Besides working in the family, I learned German intensively. I visited three times a week a “Volkshochschule”, a kind of community college, where one can learn languages and other sciences. Everything was beautiful and I was very motivated until one day I heard that I have to leave the family because the husband of my host mother (they were divorced) no longer wanted to pay alimony and she would not be able to fund an au pair boy. Nine months had passed since my arrival in Germany. So again began a turbulent time for me. I did not even imagine returning to Bulgaria as a failed Man. So I, my host mother and my au pair agency we all started to search a new host family across Germany. A family from Berlin (Glynis and Michael Held) got in touch with me. They invited me to Berlin, where I visited them. We had a nice day together and we liked one another at once. So I decided to move to Berlin. I then learned that Glynis was interested in my profile at the au-pair agency already one year ago, but she did not attend me, because entry into Germany from Bulgaria was complicated at that time. At that time she needed an au pair immediately. Therefore, she was not able to wait till my entry permit was issued. Now again she needed an au pair boy and she really wanted to give me the chance and save me out of my situation! Well she has managed it, even in difficult times, as no longer living in the same house. And it was not uncommon. After my Au Pair time ran out, I moved in with a friend I got to know in Berlin, where I stayed the next time. At that time I applied to the university, and I had to learn that my Bulgarian high school examinations are not recognized in Germany. Well I had to go to school again, or give up the dream to study at a German university. “Giving up? That concept
is totally new to me.” So I started School. That was very hard experience for me. Five days a week I was at school and at the evening I worked because I had to fund everything by myself, and at night I learned. While school time I slept no more than three hours a day. The more proud I was at the end when I managed excellent high school examinations. Unfortunately, I had neglected painting because of financial and time reasons. I had been away from the world of arts very much. After high school I began to study public policy and politics. I did not know exactly what I am going to do with it later. But I have studied it with great interest. It was very difficult to study and work so much. But I have had to do it so I could finance my life and my studies by myself. I had times when I lived only with potatoes, because I was not able to afford other food. In Germany potatoes are cheap. I have had to interrupt my studies often because I was no longer able to stand it both mentally and financially. In the time I did not go to university I only went to work and saved money for going back to university. This has affected my studies very much. It took me a very long time for the study. So I am just now about to get my degree. There remains only to write the bachelor thesis. The best thing is that now I know what I want to do with my studies. And despite all the difficulties and longtime of studying I am proud to stand before the finale. I managed it by myself! I am going to get my university degree! The poor boy from the small Bulgarian village has made the long rocky road almost. The Balkans and especially the ex-Yugoslavian countries have given me always worries. I was always interested in how the situation can be changed there. How can we ensure that human rights can be guaranteed, various peoples and cultures in this region can peaceful exist together, all religions, customs and traditions can exist in parallel and can be accepted readily, and even there, as everywhere else in Europe democracy can work. So that’s what I want to do in future - development co-operation! I want to support different people, peoples, cultures and their peaceful coexistence in their own countries which are going to become better in any aspects. As someone who comes from that region, I am really interested in it. And the more I want to change something in that part of Europe. Not so long ago, I reverted to arts. So in the future I would like to follow both development co-operation and arts. I think the both are arts painting and development co-operation. To reunite peoples and to turn countries into better places to live is a great kind of arts. I want to follow those bot key aspects of activity because arts make one happy, not only the artists but also the people who have been reached by arts. Arts have brought me to Germany! In gratitude, I reverted to arts and I do not like arts will be buried in oblivion by me even though I mainly want to dedicate development cooperation. It seems as if the tumultuous, very difficult times after twenty years are finally over for me!
03.04.2013, Berlin
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YAWNING
- Kasdas Boozegulp, Turkey
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Yaawn? Suddenly, I found myself arousing in what seemed to be at first sight a Boobs’Bar. Still not fully aware of whom I was; what was I doing there; why my head hurts so badly, and all that symptoms of my ‘Lost and Found’ casual paradigms. Nevertheless, I felt kinda convenient: I mean, already being sat at the couch…. A feet above me, imagine: “luscious hams” stripn’ down dimensionally; quaking up the fumy atmosphere; movements so telling, following it was the sickening. My nipples heavily expanding…. It was scary alright! All that lushies cricking-out before ma-eye-balls + that amorous reek in the air…….Gloss! aa…I mean Gosh! My deterministic self had no other but the only (according to destiny) choice to drag itself to the bar, where it originally belonged. Kinda half perceptive, engaging a passage through the ‘Land of Ass Scuffling Porn Barbies’, I succeeded in reaching the bar chairs, where I could, again, feel the utility: I mean, I needed a gulp! While questioning my drink, while still fixating my eyes uncrossed, I spotted the dirty mirror next to him, the Tender, and by instant - not just six seconds ago - I decided my importance behind the bar and acted upon in a more or less rustic manner - I lunged. He ‘knew’ I needed my ‘Cup of Tea’, as well as I could qualify due to my previous career of drug abuser - it was dividual I should like to believe. Clarifying my presence behind the bar, which seemed as equally fine for both of us, since we were clearly from the same “liberal party”, as ‘Yo’. Apparently, due to snorting, I was able to focus again. My visual field as if appeared online. Still not sure was I blowing it out, though. Engrossingly, our converse flowed as if Naturel; and I wasn’t there whoring, don’t get me wrong…. (Although I have to admit: I am as easy as it can get; a wink away of getting naked… {but that was not the case, somehow}) Being a naive balky, I found the topicality of interest being this crazy, yet drastically honest chatter adjoining between us - lacking the casual tune of asking our background knowledge as basic datum point from which we determine our further questionary, like: ‘Where are you from?’ and ‘What do you do there?’, this sort of programmable drivel that’s repetitive and could easily go unhandy. Wo-am-talkin’ about is a communication, essentially based on intuition and empty profiles. What if labelling ourselves just about after the chit-chat. Or much better, lets even forget to mention our names. Don’t get too wishy, a; next time when you happen to be around people you don’t know, loose yourself, you might get surprised. I kinda get it: Not knowing you gives me the freedom to rap out according to how I feel about you present; also, it gives me the peacefulness of not giving a fuck will I say it right.
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SURELY UNSURE OF WHAT'S HAPPENIN' copy-writer's note
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"i don't know where i'm, yet I'm in two places simultaneously" What you see is my laundry, simply hanging above my head while I'm noting it. A delicate view, right? According to Google I seem to be situated in Germany, which is a great start since I 'know' where I am, ouch; in basically the cheapest area of Berlin, where every time I go out, I'm rather in a solid state of confusion - aren't I in Turkey?! And considering my hanging laundry, nothing in my interior surroundings evokes Germanic style either; more of a Tzigane. So, in actuality, I'm not sure sometimes. I have no job, got about 150EUR left in my pocket, pack of merry, 2 kaki, and I still haven't even registered; no bank account(don't ask how I've been paying and donating so far). My heart used to be fine until I started reading poetry, what a cute woe, yet I've learned something of a valuable interest: Only a princess could be waiting to be taken to the undertaker; a dude needs no such thing‌.well, unless he's 'clandestine' I suppose. And as elsewhere, I'm definitely not here seeking a career - the corner stone in the pyramid of the today's modern human. Call me a dummy, but opting for a career is one thing that never caught my interest. However, I'm constantly applying to jobs but my self-earned Cleaning Engineering degree is apparently not enough, and I have a tons of experience cleaning puke from all over the world; it's like my collection, so precious. As I mentioned briefly above, my wallet already suffers Anorexia Nervosa, and I don't seem to care that much. I know, soon I'll be water-painting some important grounds. On the other hand, soup cans aren't so bad in Germany, but boy, am I happy as five! Thanks to my dear friend here, I'm fortunate enough to occupy a small part of a couch, upon which I'm currently living till I establish myself into this society, which is a future as unknown as the origins of life; the bigger part of the couch belongs to the dog.
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So it's quite evident already, my life is a total jumble, isn't it? And I'm not being facetious, just self ironic. Having on mind my messed-up fortune, I'm surely unsure, will VOH be going to continue its twisted trajectory, but the enraged mare truth is that as long as there are cool people around, having something to say, and as long as there's something to trigger my personal repulsion to the world - perhaps there's goin' to be next. If nothing else, I feel TERA lost and the fact of being GIGA confused seems to be diversifying it over. And I stand far from dismissing the positives of being lost and confused, which have turned out to be my favourite forces in life, always keeping me forward. I will be happy if You happen to like this volume, and much happier if You happen to disagree with it in Your own consistent way, if such. So, ENJOY! - Josh D. Daffy
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