Why? You may be wondering. Simple. Many of you have wandered to this page in particular because you’ve a clear predilection for apocalyptic imagery, which I tend to revel in. I regard this as a not only respectable subject, but one whose intellectual grounds far transcend those of more shallow popular tripe like politics or social commentary. Apocalypse is not mere escapism in any sense. One who denies that most living things have been swept from the face of this planet in many distinct epochs, ALL free of human interference no less, yet still insists that humanity is still truly the master of this world, can be succinctly dismissed as delusional, simple as that.
There is a place for subject matter the likes of Tsutomu Nihei on the more Frankensteinian side, and Junji Ito and Hidetaka Miyazaki on the more Gaia-centric side. Such a suitable place does NOT include brightly lit pastel playgrounds with neon adds and message boards, well-maintained, fetid with the delusion of order and rationality when most of the human world alone is demonstrably in a state of decay or outright devastation. Simply put, would Tyler Durden ever have run the early phases of Fight Club from an outlet in a safe and sanitary, family-oriented shopping center. No, that would have been completely out of context. Context is significant. To claim otherwise is folly.
Ever hear of that sentiment that roughly states that if this planet were formed at midnight and the current instant is the following midnight, a full day later, then anatomically modern humans have only existed since 11:59:59. Furthermore if the entire, largely obscured, history of anatomically modern humans spans a similar 24 hour cycle, then a mere 14 minutes accounts for the time since Christ. Well dear readers, this isn’t just some bit of propaganda devised by Neil Degrasse Tyson, not that I agree with absolutely everything he says either. Still there is far more evidence for the initial statement of this paragraph than for all of the ideologies invented by humanity in its trivial attempts at self-therapy.
All of said ideologies, regardless of where they lay on the sliding scales of mainstream versus obscura, ethereal versus reductionist, passive versus aggressive, are empty shells made up of the fragile promises of gurus. All are illusions in the end. And don’t put words in my mouth and write me off as a hipster atheist because I am pretty damn far from that. Atheism is a mere ideology as well, built on a foundation of sand and played the fuck out.
The fact that even in the last 5000 years, wherein humanity has been blessed with freakishly stable weather, has been largely a bloodbath, the 20th century being demonstrably one of the worst, is quite telling indeed. Telling of humans being a form of creature existing thus far in a limbo state of unending infancy, out of context with nearly everything. Therefore, it stands to reason that truly primal subject matter requires more primal circumstances to appreciate in all their richness, nuance, and complexity.
Have a look at the following links. Though many of you have grown far too accustomed to having your hand held, try and focus, try and navigate their digital terrain on your own.
angusnicneven.com
www.lcaruana.com
www.alchemywebsite.com/index.h…
alchemillahospital.net
www7b.biglobe.ne.jp/~kuroda6/a…
www.songsouponsea.com/Promenad…
www.sacred-texts.com
www.westgatenecromantic.com
www.deathandhell.com
(this last one’s for the metalheads in particular. the rest of you, feel free to look of course, but with caution and discretion, the imagery can be quite violent at times. I felt the need to counterbalance, since one of the sites was sacred texts. I am not a satanist, nor was the author of the site. I simply hate organized religions of all forms {including the secular, academic, and political varieties, which claim ‘not’ to be religions but are just the same} and respect anyone who doesn’t turn a blind eye toward the unpleasant aspects of themselves, pretending to be a perfect angel when they’re nothing of the sort. There is a reason that societies such as the Roman aristocracy were so obsessed by beauty and the angelic, yet their behavior reflected nothing of the sort. Angels are blind, decadent, thoughtless, heartless, yet superficially beautiful. Demons, dangerous as they are, have self-awareness and honor just the same.)
I really don’t need to justify this any further. Obscure as some of these may have been, if any of you were willing to looking around and try pursuing the pages from different angles and approaches, you’d have been unable to deny the fact that you were rewarded with more information in doing so. This little bit is significant, that nothing can be understood even superficially if it is not first known. You must immerse yourself in a subject in order to become an adept in its domain. Does one risk tumbling blindly down rabbit holes in the process? Of course one does, and this the price one pays for having a soul.
Even the simpler ones were better suited for their subject matter than social media. All personal websites used to be like this, when the internet was young and healthy. Most sites were shrines or lodges or ruins in the midst of a vast wilderness. There one could read and reflect in tranquility, without a bunch ads or pops-ups or instant messages from mallrats and reactionary trolls and virtue-signaling ideologues to distract them. Is it any wonder most mainstream movies and AAA games these days are demonstrably garbage. They’ve all the same storyline, and no one remembers them mere months later. All symptomatic of the vulgar shallowness of social media.
Some particularly naive people might say gosh, those sites seem so cheap and unpolished. Well, hate to bring up superhero movies, but I know people of the stated opinion tend to like those. Remember what the Joker said about the powerful things in life (dynamite, gunpowder, and gasoline) being the cheapest? There is actually no real correlation between things being inherently more powerful or profound or memorable because some idiot arbitrarily frittered away more money (which isn't actually real) on it.
Say you were lost in some abandoned, overgrown, and ruinous complex in the middle of the wilderness. You have no other means of illumination other than a night vision camera, and no other choice but to remain within the structure on account of a ceaseless downpour taking place. As you cautiously explore the labyrinth you find elaborate graffiti and scattered paraphernalia which would strongly suggest that not only are you not alone, but your unseen company isn’t particularly traditional or civilized. The last thing you would be fretting about was how unprofessional the graffiti was; hell, its primitivism would have you all the more on edge.
Bullshit Hollywood glamour is out of context with most of reality. The sites I’ve shown have the capacity to evoke real emotions. Social media and reality television are the same diarrhea shat out into generic cookie cutter moulds in perpetuity. Which is better, I really wonder?
If I seem bitter, well I kind of am. Take Marilyn Mansion for instance. If you’re familiar with his earlier material at all, he had views about the internet which proved rather prophetic. His official site was, for a while run by an artist named Nick Kushner, who also ran a related site called Nachkabarett, dealing with the obscure cultural references and influences touched upon throughout Manson’s work. The latter site was particularly interesting to me since, though I’ve much respect for Marilyn’s obvious breadth of knowledge, class, and cleverness, I really haven’t like much of what he’s put out since Mechanical Animals, but still liked keeping track of him.
With Kushner’s unfortunate passing, it is unsurprising that Nachkabarett ceased to be updated. Still it 'was' a beautiful repository of knowledge presented in an immersive setting that allowed the onlooker to truly absorb the material in question, as any authentic library setting ought convey. Was. Before some corporate shithead decided to axe it for the extra net space they’ll probably never use. At least I wouldn’t assume Marilyn would’ve done it. He’s a lover of many forms of art, and that site was pure art. And guess what? Social media isn’t.
Addendum: By whatever ayat, miracle, twist of fortune the reader be inclined to acknowledge, the Nachkabarett is back online, for now. Look upon it for even more gratuitously blatant proof that leaving creation to the hands of skilled and visionary artists is more enlightening and evolving than indulging any longer in the shallow political vitriol of this addictive disease called social media.
www.nachtkabarett.com/Grotesqu…
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