panopticon (13. 665)

Architecture studio SpY has installed a temporary monolithic intervention in Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles, the stark black triangle juxtaposing with the Art Nouveau façade of the palace—formerly home to the capital’s main post office and telegraph service—to encourage public dialogue, through obstruction of established lines-of-site of the historic square, forcing passersby to reposition their bodies or their cameras and viewing portholes, peepholes of CCTV feeds of the immediate surroundings, about urban surveillance and digital tracking. Though to a degree, we’ve all opted-in to this monitoring and superintendence for convenience but we also were not allowed to give informed consent.

netherwood (13. 664)

With dozens of titles ranging from the classics of horror and speculative fiction, biographies of figures like Madame Blavatsky, members of the Hell Fire Club and Aleister Crowley and guides on tarot, palm-reading, practical magic and other forms of divination, this omnibus introduction to the Library of the Occult, published by Sphere Books beginning in 1974—capitalising on the revival of interest in the supernatural in the UK starting earlier in the decade. Every instalment of the series was selected by the project’s editor emeritus Dennis Wheatley, a prolific writer himself and among the world’s best-selling authors from the 1930s to 1960s, with a preface to each volume of the anthology. John Coulthart has put together a short synopsis to accompany each paperback, annotated with links for those works in the public domain.

slide show (13. 963)

For his latest installation, artist Carsten Höller assembled an ensemble of metallic architectural slides to connect different parts of a hotel, shopping and business campus in Mexico City’s posh Palanco bureau. This is Höller’s most ambitious and largest construction yet, having had a temporary slide at the Tate Modern, designed to shunt visitors (see also) as messages through a series of pneumatic tubes, inspiring both terror and delight as they cross into adjacent buildings and are ejected at their destination. Other projects include carousels and exhibitions reflective of his original studies in entomology and mycology. More from Dezeen at the link up top.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronoptica) plus a walk at the local airfield

two years ago: AI espionage, RFK Jr’s future role in Trump’s cabinet plus the lead narrows in the US congress 

three years ago: All This and World War II (1976), an astronomic discovery plus Kissinger’s diplomacy 

four year ago: more links to enjoy, MacArthur Park, the Feast of St Menas plus Kurt Vonnegut Jr at 100

five years ago: even more links, 3 quarks daily, superannuated image formats, Bliss symbols, an autumnal walk plus more out of the way wanderings

six years ago: the Trizone anthem, more links worth the revisit plus an observatory receives a new name

seven years ago: the Feast of St Martin plus early generative text

eight years ago: the Armistice of 1918, assorted links worth revisiting plus a Bosch-bot

 

day two hundred forty six (13. 962)

With eleven Democrats missing the vote, the US house of congress narrowly blocks the impeachment bid for Hegseth, Republicans loosing their bald majority in January. The GOP elects Ohio congressman Jim Jordan to replace Speaker Johnson as minority whip. Amid ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington, parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says that Tel Aviv has redoubled efforts to drag the US into an endless war with Iran. Pezeshkian accuses US and Israeli of environmental crimes at COP31. UN peacekeepers come under fire in Tyre whilst IDF blocks aid from entering flood ravaged Gaza. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent moved out of his DC mansion to a military base after intelligence reveals credible threats on American officials, upset over Operation Economic Outcast. One of Russia’s last independent news outlets, Novaya Gazeta, ceases publication, succumbing to wartime censorship and pressure from Moscow. US supreme court clears the way for construction to begin on a section of the Border Wall through Texas’ pristine Big Bend national park.

the school for rare and endangered disciples (13. 961)

Under the auspices of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Studies (UCASS—not be confused with the charity UCAS for providing educational support services and application processing for higher learning in the UK), new college in Beijing recently had its opening ceremony with a mission to promote obscure and declining fields of study and specialised scholarship. Disciplines boosted through the school, with support of libraries and museums and other institutions nationwide, focus chiefly on ancient scripts, including Oracle Bone Writing—see previously. The oldest known glyph system, dating from the Shang dynasty (circa 1250-1046 BCE), are inscriptions based on logographs carved into shoulder blades of oxen or turtle shells, a form of scapulimancy, and involved divination by marking prompts on said osseous tissue and consigning them to a ritual fire and interpreting the token, cracked and foxed, both being recorded on the bones. The field is referred to as oraculology (jiǎgǔxué or 甲骨学) under the aegis of paleography in the Humanities.

synchronoptica

one year ago: the Question of Palestine (with synchronoptica), Catch-22 (1961), the Festival of Reason plus US supreme court rejects calls to overturn landmark gay rights case 

two years ago: assorted links to revisit, the Bear of California plus Trump’s grievances 

three years ago: St Martin’s Eve, US presidential debate recaps, Relax (1984) plus more links to enjoy

four year ago: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) plus Radiation Baby

five years ago: sinking nations plus Chaka Khan (1984)

six years ago: Toot, Whistle, Pluck and Boom, the US election, the Friends theme song, expecting more from America, voting irregularities plus an early edition

seven years ago: an Art Nouveau printmaker, more Inktober maps, film composer Carlo Savina, a racing bar chart of the biggest musicians plus the debut of Sesame Street

eight years ago: more unbuilt architecture, AI writes news copy, The 5000 Fingers of Doctor T plus a historical film lot consumed by wildfire

 

day two hundred forty six (13. 960)

After meeting with the Qatari prime minister, Trump declares Iran war effectively over militarily as Tehran calls for Washington to surrender to its terms. More US aircraft are evacuated from a second base in the UK. The American president and secretary of state Rubio defend Hegseth and momentum for impeachment builds. Nvidia shareholders sue CEO Jensen Huang over honeypot ties to Chinese spy as AI stocks continue their sell-off. Zelenskyy, Trump and Putin schedule a meeting in Abu Dhabi.

8x8 (13. 959)

level 42: the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything—see also here and here and here  

aftermath: Return of the Living Dead cast aghast at AI generated sequel that zombified their likenesses 

the only way out is through: Americans cannot simply undo Trumpism  

the ship of gold: a coin from the sunken steamer whose loss set off the first global financial panic and fuelled the American civil war—an artefact from A History of the United States in 100 Objects—see previously  

matriculation: the incoming Democrat class at the US senate 

1up: after four decades of adventures, former opponents help an elderly Mario complete a level 

red planet: the 1951 release Flight to Mars  

peridromophilataly: collecting of train-tickets and/or streetcar transfers, coined by William James Sidis—under the pseudonym Frank Folupa in his 1925 work The Animate and thee Inanimate, speculating on the origin of life through the lens of thermodynamics—whom had the highest IQ ever registered at two hundred fifty four

crockett and tubbs (13. 958)

Peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot One Hundred US singles charts on this day in 1985, “Miami Vice Theme” was an electronic composition by Czech-American musician and record producer Jan Hammer, which would go on to win a Grammy the following year. Along with “You Belong to the City” by Glenn Frey reaching number two, the show’s soundtrack remained on album charts for eleven weeks, the most successful until displaced in 2006 by Disney’s High School Musical. The accompanying music video is a mini-episode of the series featuring Hammer playing a fugitive fleeing from the detectives as he performs on his keyboard.

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synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth the revisit (with synchronoptica), WotY: Vibe-Coding plus the fiction of Benito Mussolini 

two years ago: a monument to the Armenian diaspora, the Carrington count, backstage customs plus US presidential numbering 

three years ago: an AI wearable, a rediscovered species of echidna plus a montage of international traffic signs

four year ago: the Lateran Basilica, an archaeological discovery in the muddy ruins of a bath house plus more links to enjoy

five years ago: another MST3K classic plus prioritising driverless technology over pedestrian safety

six years ago: World Freedom Day, unfortunate juxtapositions, a vaccine for COVID under development, a synonym for Schadenfreude plus Poe’s Dream-Land

seven years ago: the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) 

eight years ago: a resort on the Adriatic, single-use as Word of the Year, the veil of ignorance plus Kristallnacht (1938)