FuturePresent

'profound whatever'

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death 1.1
a butterfly in the pool, La Luna, Tuscany
CC cláudia gabriela marques vieira

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I've just began re-reading Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1985) after sixteen years: thinking about Nietzsche's idea that we exist between 'eternal return' and 'absence of return'. 

If every second of our lives recurs an infinite number of times...the weight of unbearable responsibility lies heavy on every move we make. That is why Nietzsche called the idea of eternal return the heaviest of burdens (das schwerste Gewicht)...Conversely, the absolute absence of a burden causes [us] to be lighter than air, to soar into the heights, take leave of the earth and [our] earthly being, and become only half real, [our] movements as free as they are insignificant (Kundera, 1985: 2).

A friend of mine, Iain Mackie, introduced me to Josh Raskin's I Met the Walrus (2008), the soundtrack of which is Jerry Levitan's interview with John Lennon (1969). I think Lennon may have had this dichotomy in mind, when he referred to the "profound whatever" (interview with Jerry Levitan, 1969). Could it be that we live in, "a world that rests essentially on the non-existence of return, [where] everything is pardoned in advance and therefore everything cynically permitted" (Kundera, 1985: 4)? Or, refuting Parmenides' dialectical thinking, do we exist at once through the 'lightness' and 'heaviness' of being, until the two become ambiguously deceptive. Indeed, from a certain perspective, transience and infinity may be perceived as one, made both of 'heaviness' and 'lightness'.

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When Nietzsche Wept: Eternal Return (2007)

director and writer: Pinchas Perry
script based on Irvin D. Yalom's When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel of Obsession (1992)

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I met the Walrus (2008)

director: Josh Raskin
illustrator: James Braithwaite
soundtrack: Jerry Levitan's interview with John Lennon (1969)

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DARK PLACES 001

A screen shot of a Google map of Tyneham, Dorset, UK

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Recently I've been conducting research for Dark Places, a project by The Office of Experiments. Supported by The Arts Catalyst and SCAN.

On my way to Worbarrow Tout on Purbeck over the weekend, I thought I'd explore Tyneham village, commandeered by the War Office (MoD) in 1943 and uninhabited since. It's perfect for Dark Places. The project focuses particularly on publicly documenting and archiving artefact of restricted spaces (and thinking about the relationships between private/restricted/public spaces).

In this third phase of my research for the project, I'm mapping the 'touristification' of (and signification of 'risk' in) Tyneham village. I've documented the photos I have so far on flickr and google maps, though I'll return this week to extend the document:

go to Tyneham photoset on flickr

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A screen shot of a Google map of Portland Bill, Portland, UK. QinetiQ, MoD Portland Bill, takes up the top left-hand land section of the map.

Previous research trips have included a public walk to the Fossil Forest, Lulworth, an archaeological and geological site of special interest along the Jurassic Coast, now in MoD restricted territory. I have also documented QinetiQ, MoD Portland Bill, with Neal White, founder of The Office of Experiments.

The most interesting part of the project so far has been the interview The Office of Experiments conducted with Mike Kenner, an Open Government campaigner and Cold War researcher. Mike Kenner was interviewed for Top Secrets Revealed: Porton Down (2004), a HTV documentary investigating the past activities of the UK Government's Biological Warfare facility at Porton Down, Wiltshire. Mike has released documents to The Office of Experiments for public archiving. Details of Mike's latest research can be found on his twitter profile: @wellbright. More to follow.

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My current photographic archive for Dark Places can be found in the Dark Places Collection on flickr

This is an ongoing project.

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