Auguring The Technocalypse

FP announced my upcoming participation in their Terra:Extremitas event in Amsterdam in August. Guess I'd better get to work on that script...

About 'Terra:Extremitas':
"In many ways the United States are inhospitable to artists. This isn't to say that the case is otherwise elsewhere, but most of my life experience comes from living here. At the extreme, I think there is an underlying, subconscious belief in many people that true commitment to art and creativity is a cultural crime. In my opinion, 'Terra: Extremitas' brings that belief to the forefront, it embodies it as a form of revolt on our part, and mixes it with the now ubiquitous myth of the apocalypse. In a fit of incoherent caffeination I said that my last novel (Fallen Nation) was a cultural apocalypse. Now I know what the hell I was talking about- and can thank the FoolishPeople for it."

shaitan

The symbolism should be self-apparent, though it began essentially as an elaborate doodle.

Reality is being devoured by a surreal nightmare.

The Fiction has arrived.

Immerse yourself in the immense, interconnected story manifested by FoolishPeople and over 30 visionaries and artists working together
from across the world within the unique landscape of Amsterdam's NDSM-werf.

Follow living characters, absorb live transmissions from the other side of the planet, and discover the secrets, which each hold a fragment of the Terra: Extremitas myth.

The surreal and beautiful experience of exploring humanity’s last day on earth.

TERRA EXTREMITAS.
---------------------------------
My Bio: (to go up w/ TE event.)

Ever since an acid trip in 1995 that James Curcio arguably never quite returned from, he has been dedicated (some might say obsessed) with the production of modern myths. These have taken the form of collaborative novels (Fallen Nation: Babylon Burning in 2007, Join My Cult! in 2004), essays on myth and culture (The Immanence of Myth, presently in development, “Living The Myth,” Generation Hex 2004, “Hillbilly Tantra” in Magic On The Edge in 2005, and “Dying Gods” in Lemon Puppy, in 2003), Internet "round-table" musical albums,(subQtaneous: Some Still Despair In A Prozac Nation in 2005, Babalon's Descent in 2001 and posthumous Dreams And Reflections in 2005), and various unorthodox podcast and audiobook series. He has co-founded quite a few independent artist groups and recording studios, and is presently a co-founder of Mythos Media, and editor of Alterati.com. Curcio will present an unwholesome multi-media mindfuck at Terra Extremitas which will leave his audience forever changed- or dizzy, nauseous and psychologically broken, if the “Program” does not take.

About what he does:

“I really don't know how to provide a top-down or general summary of 'what I do.' It isn't simple evasiveness, but rather because it is a relative unknown. All I know is that when you begin practicing an instrument, or painting, or doing virtually anything, you are conscious of every action, of every misstep. As you continue to work, and the years pass, you become less and less conscious of each of those discrete actions. This is why so many teachers stress the fundamentals, because those building blocks, or personal cliches, slip out of your conscious sphere and become increasingly difficult to re-configure. By the time you reach the point that the work becomes what you are, and you serve as a conduit for it, you are completely in the dark about the truly relevant actions you take to bring it about. What is my process? Do what you do, and put everything you possibly can into it. Sacrifice what needs to be sacrificed, and don't hesitate to cannibalize your most private experiences in the process. Cast it into the world as if you were throwing it into the trash can. And start over again, because chances are, you can do better.”

About Terra Extremitas:

“In many ways the United States are inhospitable to artists. This isn't to say that the case is otherwise elsewhere, but most of my life experience comes from living here. At the extreme, I think there is an underlying, subconscious belief in many people that true commitment to art and creativity is a cultural crime. In my opinion, Terra Extremitas brings that belief to the forefront, it embodies it as a form of revolt on our part, and mixes it with the now ubiquitous myth of the apocalypse. In a fit of incoherent caffeination I said that my last novel (Fallen Nation) was a cultural apocalypse. Now I know what the hell I was talking about- and can thank the Foolish People for it.”

subQtaneous now on Amazon.com

subQtaneous: Some Still Despair In A Prozac Nation is now available through Amazon.com.

"Described as a "stick of dynamite strapped to reality," (Scenery Zine), subQtaneous is a diverse conceptual, collaborative album. It carves new soundscapes ranging from brutal, pounding industrial to sarcastic hip hop set over carnival music to delicately layered trance. It has been compared to Pigface, probably due to its format, as well as Coil, Mr Bungle, and Frank Zappa. While the tracks are tied together by a common theme - the corrosive dark side of capitalism, and its effects on our psyche - none of the musicians involved in this project try to beat you over the head with their ideology. Instead it remains, as the title would imply, an almost subliminal experience that slowly gets under your skin, and doesn't come out in the wash. Featuring Scott Landes (Collide, Mankind is Obsolete), P. Emerson Williams (Veil of Thorns, Choronzon), Ryan Moll (Rumpelstiltskin Grinder), Marz233 & Gaetan (Elektroworx, 233project), and many more."

This edition has the full fold out insert, as opposed to our other print edition which has a one page insert. It is however more expensive ($14.95), so if you're just interested in the music you can grab MP3s a la carte on Amazon or iTunes, or continue to order the original print edition for $10.00.


Listen to the interview on Smallworld Podcast about the creation of this unusual album, or read the ReGen interview.

Steal Everything

The wisdom of Kid Rock:

In fact, he says, people should "level the playing field" by stealing anything they need from wealthy corporations.

He mentions laptops, iPods, Toyota vehicles ("It's a foreign car company, so who cares?"), gasoline and Tommy Hilfiger clothing as potential targets for the five-finger discount.

(from CNN)

Mythos Media FAQ

I wrote this up today as a response to the many question that I've received about the site over the past year or two. This is a first draft, after a revision and some additions I'll put it up.

----

F.A.Q.

What kind of media do you publish?

The physical products that we presently sell are books, graphic novels, and CDs. The digital products that we sell or give away for free are mostly mp3s and PDFs. However, provided the right circumstances- and the right myth- we see no reason that we may not expand into animation, film, or even role playing games. The key here is creating myths, which oftentimes relate to each other. The issue is not the container. In fact, we are in early pre-production on a film at this time, which we cannot yet speak about publicly.

Why not just publish books? (Or albums. Or...)

It is no big secret that the old approaches to publishing are dying. In fact the only thing staving it off in many cases is a couple flagship titles, and a big pool of money to draw on. At the same time, the tools for media production have become increasingly accessible to the public. The very approach to publishing media in different "containers" (DVDs, CDs, paper books, PDFs for hand-held readers, etc) has changed so that it is unnecessary to have a seperate company managing these markets based on the "container." Instead, we focus on the content being contained. If we consider it is a myth worth sharing, why not produce it in the "container" that best suits the message?

Why do you give away a lot of your digital products for free? / Why use a Creative Commons license?

PDF versions of books, on the whole, serve as advertisements of them. For free, you can read some of the book, and if you like it, you can order the physical book, or make a donation. Are there going to be people who just squint and read the book on their screen? Sure. But we don't think those are people who would have bought the book in the first place. The same goes for other digital content. We just got a listener or reader for free. Remember, duplicating digital content is free for us as well. What costs money is printing books, CDs, DVDs, etc. The bottom line with all this RIAA lawsuit nonsense is that not one cent of those hundreds of millions won in lawsuits for "pirating music" has gone back to the artists. We're artists too, and that kind of nonsense makes us sick. By all means share our products, in digital format, or with your friends in print format. Just give the artists who produced that work their just due.

We use a Creative Commons 3.0 license for these releases because it represents how we want those materials to be used: you can share them with anyone, so long as you credit, don't change the contents of the work, and don't claim you're the author. The only exception to this is that, in the future, we will release some Mythos Media music along with "remix packs" Online that you are fully free to utilize in your own music, and even sell that music, so long as you give credit to Mythos Media, the original artists, and link back to our site.

I am an artist/author/film-maker. Why publish with Mythos Media?

For one, we are a group of artists, of authors, or producers ourselves. We understand the creative process and the difficulties of bringing that product to the market, as well as the conflicts that can be created between being true to the work, and trying to put food on your table. We work directly with our artists, and if you join us, it is a like joining the team. We will help you get your work in publishable form, help you market it, and as more of our artists market their work, through them new fans can be introduced to your work as well. You can expect us to be honest with you, and to put in our effort as you put in yours.

Notice, however, that we do not say "we will single-handedly market your work." We can help you with promotional tools, utilize our growing contacts, and help consult with you on marketing your work, but at the end of the day in this marketplace you have to take some of those steps, and you have to keep on it. Most publishers take the exact same stance: they just won't be honest with you about it. It is rare indeed for an author without tens of thousands of units sold on a past title to be able to sell off their manuscript, and then walk out, never to worry about it, thinking: "the publisher will market it for me." Think again. If your work isn't worth struggling to get into people's hands and hearts, it probably wasn't worth publishing in the first place.

An added benefit of joining the team is that we have a client-side subsidiary called Synchronicity Studios. The artists, musicians, etc. in our stable are the first that we will turn to when outsourcing client work.

Gaian Mind Summer Festival 2008

Last year's Alterati article on GMSF, if you're wondering what it's all about.

If you can, I suggest you go. I definitely am.

sick and wrong.

AtomFilms.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

AtomFilms.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

Read a book, nigga

And now for something completely different...

The power of theta waves

I've said for years that near-sleep is an essential part of my creative process. God only knows how many hours I've spent drifting into sleep after being able to think up what to do next with a story, or a song, only to have it revealed to me all at once while drifting down and away. At that point you're left with the option of shaking yourself awake, and jotting it down before it is gone, or slipping off, and awaking with only the faint feeling that you lost something. Does it work that way for any of you?

Last night it was this paragraph, nearly full-formed. I woke up, hammered it out in less than a minute (since I already had it all in my mind), and then spent another hour or two trying to fall back asleep. Something else drifted up during the second attempt to go down, but I let it pass.

"Cutting to that heart directly and cleanly defining what myth is and is not will not suffice. The function of myth, even possibly its identity, changes based on the granularity of inquiry. In other words, a particular myth, received by an individual, may not serve the same function as that myth's effect upon a society. Myths are also "mirrors of the soul," which can only reveal to us what we already have in ourselves: so what is a message of love and compassion to one can be a distorting call to hatred and bigotry for another. This inquiry is further obfuscated by the fact that culture itself can only be understood by the myths it produces. Concurrently, it is increasingly difficult to speak meaningfully of "myth" without recognizing the function which runs through all contexts, all "level of granularity": myth is the meaning in representation. Words, sentences, and pictures are, on their own, no more a "myth" than the notes written on a staff are music, however all of these are the embodiment, that is, the representation, of experience. Concealed within that representation is all of the meaning that can be drawn from chaos. Myth is, in the final summation, truly a mirror image of our inner beings, for better or worse. We did not create our flesh or bone, nor did we choose the circumstances we were born into. The myths we create, on the other hand, are truly and completely human. Perhaps, at the same time, they are the closest we have to divinity, demonstrating our ability to build worlds from the clay we are given, to infuse it with our own meaning, and to chose what the very nature of the universe will be in our tale."

This from the growing passages of the Immanence of Myth.

Last night's dreams

So, last night my dreams were fairly uncreative, but fun. Predictably enough: dream begins without plot or subtext, in a room, with a bunch of attractive women, all in the throes of passion. (That is, all of us. I know it was unclear from that sentence. And I also know that "throes of passion" is a cliche, but to an extent it was a fairly cliched situation, however fun it may have been. Bear with me, here.)

At some point, I look up and say, "who are you people?"

To which one of the girls pleasantly replies, "we're prostitutes."

That would suddenly make this a first for me, but my dream self was nonplussed, and said something like, "Oh. Well in that case, who hired you?"

To which she replied, "your subconscious."

Apparently I accepted that response, because the rest of the dream was predictably (figuratively) hot, until I woke up covered in sweat due to the literal heat that has afflicted me for the rest of the day.

I only just recently recalled that detail of the dream, and it made me laugh for quite a few minutes. Way to go, subconscious. The only thing that's got me thinking is what it paid them...

Upcoming 30th birthday

That's right, in a couple days over a month I'll be 30. (Thank God 30 is the new 20.) I hope the next decade to be more adventurous than the last.

To that end, over this month I'm collecting donations to go towards my travels this summer. Obviously, feel free to put in a dollar, ten, you know, twenty thousand.

It'll be much appreciated, especially with airfare and gas being what it is these days...

Mythos Media site launch

We're still working out a couple bugs and details but in general the new Mythos Media site has been rolled out. Along with a new backend (which makes it easier for us to manage), there's also streaming content, artist profiles, a blog (soon with openID), and a lot more.

Check it out, and sign up to the newsletter! Much is in the works for the next 6 months.

How much has changed?

Age 2.


Age 4.


Age 5.


Age 15.


Age 28.



(More on my flickr, though you have to friend me to see some of them.)

Looking forward

I see a bit of a situation brewing on the horizon if this coming summer and autumn doesn't rectify it on it's own. I've been feeling it the past couple weeks, and it has been profoundly effecting me emotionally, (just ask C), but it wasn't until I was writing to a friend tonight that it dawned on me what this thing actually was.

In the past, my work has always been based on my life experience. As I get (ever-so-slightly) more mature in my work, it becomes more and more of an influence. Nevertheless, it is there, and without life experience to draw on- to cannibalize- I have nothing worth saying that can't just be hammered out casually like this blog-post, and then just as casually forgotten. I want to contribute more than that. As much as I'd like to see my book sales grow, there's almost no payment better than the few who contact me saying that I've changed their lives in some profound way. People I've never met, may never meet- changed. That's why I write, it's why I produce albums, or make visual art. For that, or even better, the people that I come to know through that work, or collaboration on future projects. To do this the work must be grounded in experience. Inspired from elsewhere, sure. But that ground, that honesty, has to be there.

After about four or five years where, on the whole, the output has been considerably higher than the input. I have "assets" to draw on for the projects I have planned up through the summer, but I really see myself hitting that bottom full on if I don't have more and varied experiences. Hours a day working in front of a computer, a couple hours of light socializing, making dinner, working, and going to sleep do not inform an artistic career. Contrary to popular opinion, that experience needn't be poverty, heartache, and despair, (I've had more than my share of all of those- it really isn't interesting material to draw from. Honest.) But it does have to come from outside the realm of expectation, a series of mental or emotional arrests, which complacent existence doesn't provide. If it doesn't hurt, it has to reach beyond itself, yearn, struggle, consume. My first book was inspired by an adolescent trip to an asylum, and several years obsession with psychedelics, the esoteric, and the occult. The second drew on a host of experiences which completely shattered everything I had thought to be my world, a re-inspired fascination with mythology, being in a band, living on the road. What can happen when you cling on to things too much, and what it can be like when you truly transcend fear and hope. It was a mental excursion into a hypothetical future, an alternate dimension, in every way different and yet at the same time very similar to our own present.

Now what do I have to draw on? What's the next story?

I guess I'm going to have to wait to find out, because these are the kinds of initiations you can't sign up for. Life gives them, or she doesn't. You can make yourself open to it, or not- but if it wants in, it'll damn well bust the door down if you don't open it up politely. And if it doesn't come, no amount of begging or posturing is going to give you that transformative experience that you need. But I've never been any good at waiting.