Black Metal Theory Symposium in Brooklyn on Saturday

HIDEOUS GNOSIS
Black Metal Theory Symposium
December 12, 2009
The Public Assembly
70 North 6th St
Brooklyn, NY
1:00-7:00 p.m.
$10 cover

A gathering dedicated to the mutual blackening of metal and theory.

I: 1:00-2:15
The Light that Illuminates Itself, the Dark that Soils itself: Blackened Notes from Schelling's Underground
Steven Shakespeare
The Counter-Reformation in Stone and Metal: Spiritual Substances
Erik Butler
BAsileus philosoPHOrum METaloricum
Scott Wilson
(moderator: Niall Scott)

II: 2:20-3:30
Transcendental Black Metal
Hunter Hunt-Hendrix
Anti-Cosmosis: Black Mahapralaya
Nicola Masciandaro
Perpetual Rot: Obsessive Cycles of Deterioration
Joseph Russo
(moderator: Steven Shakespeare)

Interlude: 3:30-4:30
Nader Sadek, Baptism in Black (Phase II)

In Sadek's new performance, the phenomena of cymatics are used as mark-making tools to visualize the sound of a black metal song. "Freezing Moon," a song by the legendary band Mayhem, will be used for this transformation from sound to sight. Sadek, who has no musical training, will attempt to play this song using the guitar utilized on Mayhem's last US tour as the primary producer of sound. A flesh guitar made from a cast of the band's guitar will be laid on the cymatics system and used as the subject of this visual recording, affecting its blackened baptism.

Cymatics (from Greek: ???? "wave"), also known as modal phenomena, is the study of visible sound and vibration, typically on the surface of a plate, diaphragm, or membrane. Directly visualizing these vibrations involves using sound to excite media often in the form of particles, pastes, and liquids.
Sym-posium (together-drinking)

III: 4:30-5:45
'Remain true to the earth!': Remarks on the Politics of Black Metal
Benjamin Noys (in absentia)
The Headless Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Evan Calder Williams
Black Confessions and Absu-lution
Niall Scott
Meaningful Leaning Mess
Brandon Stosuy
(moderator: Scott Wilson)

IV: 5:50-7:00
Black Metal and Evil
Aspasia Stephanou
Red in a World of Black: A Discussion of Blood in Black Metal
Murray Resinski
'Goatsteps behind my steps': Black Metal and Ritual Renewal
Anthony Sciscione
(moderator: Erik Butler)

With sculpture by Lionel Maunz
Organized by Nicola Masciandaro