Annalee Newitz has posted a piece over on i09 about why we humans love (both Biblically and Platonically) cyborgs. Here’s the link: http://io9.com/5648537/why-do-we-keep-falling-in-love-with-cyborgs Most of it is really good. I particularly appreciate her complication of the “natural human” vs. “synthetic…
So, Madonna chooses humanism, whereas Beyonce chooses Afrofuturist posthumanism. In this post, I’ll discuss Gaga’s post-goth sometimes posthuman-ism. Gaga chooses the robot, sometimes. For example, in this David LaChapelle photo, her “Paparazzi” costume clearly references Lang’s robo-Maria (note too the…
So over on his blog, my partner Christian, who is an artist, has been thinking about the difference between the practice of robot-making and the practice of making cyborg prosthetic devices. Here’s the link to his post, but I”ll reproduce…
My book, The Conjectural Body: Gender, Race, and the Philosophy of Music, is being released this month by Rowman & Littlefield. Due to some permissions issues, I was not allowed to print lyrics to “Swagga Like Us” in the book….
So, when Madonna is presented with the choice “human or posthuman”?, she clearly chooses humanism (and reproductive futurity). Beyonce, on the other hand, always chooses the posthuman (and a futurity that is not necessarily “reproductive” in the way hetero-whiteness wants…
So, the local cable news channel interviewed me today about the idea that listening to violent music can cause someone to murder cops: http://charlotte.news14.com/content/top_stories/630138/trial-brings-up-debate-over-music-s-influence-on-behavior The short version is: The idea that “the gangsta rap made me do it” rests on…
So, Gaga’s new cover for Vogue Japan is making the rounds on teh internets today: Interestingly, nobody is mentioning that it’s basically a take on Jana Sterbak’s relatively famous and important piece of feminist art, “Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an…
As promised, here is an excerpt from a work in progress where I read Monae as critiquing Shephard Fairey’s appropriation/use of images of radicalized non-Western women of color. First, let’s put some images in play. They are, in this order:…
So, commenter Andrew asked why I wasn’t including Janel Monae in my series on Afrofuturism. There are a few reasons, including: 1. She’s not a “pop diva”–i.e., she’s a critical darling, yes, but she’s neither a multiplatinum-selling nor an arena-filling…
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