Similar Objects -- Rara Avis (2016; self-released)

You may read this in a number of different ways: The first being in chronological order, the second following the directions indicated by the text, the third to the nth, in whichever way you please.

1

“Rare birds are mental constructs waiting to attain sentience. All trainable systems that exhibit circuit universality should be kept in cages.” -- Mike Samothrace

(next 4)

2

Hello! You appear to have dialled this number by accident, but you have reached The Infinite Body Corporation. For English, press 1. For any Filipino language, press 2 and look behind you. For Spanish, press 3. For L337, press #. For Japanese, press 4. For Icelandic, press 5. For Inuit Throat Singing, press 6. For Glossolalia, press 7. For The Language Of God, press 8. For Hieroglyphics, press 9 and jump at least 42 times. To repeat, press 0.

Hello! You have selected one of several languages with differing syntactical rules. None of these translations of the same text are faithful to a supposed original; in fact, it seems that the original has been lost in an ocean of echoes, but that is ok! If you are holding a snake, press 1. If you are in front of a door, press 2. For a complete guide to the flora and fauna of the city, press 3. If you want to make out with a stranger, press 4. If there are no birds in the area, press 5. If you want to press 6, press 6. For an incomplete catalogue of the works of Mark Rothko, press 7. If you are unsure about the future, press 8. If you have developed an intense craving for soup, press 9. To repeat, press 0.

Hello! You have selected one of several options, but the truth is this: they all lead you to this entry, which may seem like an unfortunate cop-out, but such is life and the immense depthlessness of the postmodern condition! Carry on! You can do it! We have fries and late capitalism over there in the corner! If you desire a goat, press 1. If you think you are no longer human, press 2. To piss off Haruki Murakami, press 3. If you have a problem with this portion of the false dialogue, press 4. If you are not satisfied with the way your voice sounds on record, press 5. If you do not understand the language you have selected earlier, press 6. When in doubt, press 7. If you believe in God, press 8. If you do not believe in God, press 9 and look behind you. To repeat, press 0.

Hello! Your thoughts have temporarily been derailed by this message from The Infinite Body Corporation from the idea of mortality! Congratulations! You now remember what it means to be human in the face of overwhelming absurdity. Now shed the illusion; you are not using a telephone, and there are no voices here except the ones inside your head. Question the external stimuli designed to distract you from the idea of time and the impossibility of persisting after death! Put the non-existent phone down, and make love to an idea! To repeat, press 0.

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3

“Didn’t music [...] give the example of a collective discipline? What is an orchestra if not a cohort of fanatical individualists led by the baton? If the orchestra changes mode and is wholly replaced by sound reproduction, perhaps accompanied by cinematographic spatialization, we shall have to find it elsewhere. Progress on the contrary: all the musicians in this new orchestra will be composers. Much more than the previous ones, they create the work, are fully its makers.” -- Pierre Schaeffer, In Search of a Concrete Music

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On the surface, a hybrid of two sounds: glitch pop of the likes of Junior Boys and the subdued R&B stylings of How To Dress Well. Beneath the surface, a study of texture. Beneath what is beneath the surface, a catalogue of unfinished events. Beneath what is beneath beneath the surface, acquiescence above all things. Above the surface, the cages collapse upon themselves and the birds soar.

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5

The Internet Has The Touch Of Midas But Instead Of Gold, Disintegration. There Is No Value Judgement In The Previous Statement.

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6

We have constantly misunderstood the word “entropy”, for it is not really a vanishing of things so much as a gradual, progressive knotting into. The entire system of the universe appears to flatten out, and everything begins to integrate into itself, as it approaches dy/dx = 0. Everything becomes part of everything else.

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7

“This is an affirmation I repeat daily until I convince myself with certainty of its truth. My features are dull, of this I am aware; yet still I swell with hope at the thought of my potential, at the limitless possibility in knowing that all these little stupid things like working in a Times Square Applebee’s or walking dogs for three and a half years will finally pay off, finally filing neatly into fodder for the most dazzling bio you’ve ever seen. It’s a liminal casket, a spectral point-of-entry mapped across a three-year-old brand-anxiety matrix, but someone’s gotta do it. The space between Deleuze and Delusion is paper thin, but in its potential, we continue. There is no other way.” -- Rob Arcand

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- Itos Ledesma