Kodwo Eshun
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Kodwo Eshun (born 1967) is a British writer and theorist. He studied English Literature (BA Hons, MA Hons) at University College, Oxford University and Post Colonial Discourse Analysis MA Hons at Southampton University. He is currently course leader of the MA in Aural and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
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[edit] Writing
Eshun's writing deals with cyberculture, science fiction and music with a particular focus on where these ideas intersect with the African Diaspora. He has contributed to a wide-range of publications including The Guardian, The Face, The Wire, i-D, Melody Maker, Spin, Arena, Frieze, CR: The New Centennial Review and 032c.
[edit] More Brilliant Than The Sun
Eshun's book More Brilliant than the Sun: Adventures in Sonic Fiction was published in 1998 and is “At its simplest... a study of visions of the future in music from Sun Ra to 4 Hero”[1]. Reliant on neologism and re-appropriated jargon the book is an exploration of “Sonic Fictions” - Eshun's term for the intersection of Black Music and Science Fiction; Eshun describes himself not as the book's author, but as its "concept-engineer"[1]. Specific consideration is made of the following musicians:
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[edit] Architechtronics
Architechtronics is a collaboration by Kodwo Eshun and Franz Pomassl recorded live at the AR-60-Studio (ORF/FM4) Vienna in 1998. Eshun's contribution is a text entitled Black Atlantic Turns On The Flow Line which condenses much of the thematic content of More Brilliant Than The Sun.
[edit] The Otolith Group
In 2002 Eshun co-founded The Otolith Group with Anjalika Sagar, the name coming from a structure found in the inner ear that establishes our sense of gravity and orientation[2]. Based in London the group's work engages with archival materials, with futurity and with the histories of transnationality[3]. The group's projects have included the film Otolith and curating the exhibition The Ghosts of Songs: The Film Art of The Black Audio Collective.
[edit] Bibliography
- More Brilliant than the Sun: Adventures in Sonic Fiction. London: Quartet Books. 1998. ISBN 0704380250
- The Microrhythmic Pneumacosm of Hype Williams in Cinesonic: cinema and the sound of music. Edited by Philip Brophy. Sydney: Australian film, television, and radio school. 2000. ISBN 9781876351090
- Operating System for the Redesign of Sonic Reality in Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music Edited by Christoph Cox & Daniel Warner. London: Continuum Books. 2004. ISBN 0826416152
- Learning from Lagos: A Dialogue on the Poetics of Informal Habitation in David Adjaye: Making Public Buildings: Specificity Customization Imbrication Edited by Peter Allison. London: Thames & Hudson. 2006. ISBN 0500286485
- Drawing the Forms of Things Unknown and John Akomfrah in conversation with Kodwo Eshun in The Ghosts Of Songs: The Film Art of The Black Audio Film Collective. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 2007. ISBN 9781846310140
- Hat and Beard London: Book Works. Forthcoming 2008. ISBN 1870699 95 5
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Kodwo Eshun - Image Capture http://www.ccru.net/swarm1/1_motion.htm
- ^ The Otolith Group http://www.icp.org/site/c.dnJGKJNsFqG/b.2041611/k.AD96/The_Otolith_Group.htm
- ^ The Otolith Group The Ghosts Of Songs: The Film Art Of The Black Audio Film Collective. ISBN 978-1-84631-014-0
[edit] External links
- [1] - Drexciya: Fear of a Wet Planet an article by Kodwo Eshun from The Wire originally published in Issue 167 January 1998
- [2] - Abducted by Audio by Kodwo Eshun from Abstract Culture
- [3] - "Everything was to be done. All the adventures are still there." A Speculative Dialogue with Kodwo Eshun by Geert Lovnik originally published in Telepolis
- [4] - Some Excursions into Sonic Fiction - A two-step with Kodwo Eshun by Dirk Van Weelden
- [5] - Obituary of Octavia Butler by Kodwo Eshun from The Guardian, published Thursday March 16, 2006
- [6] - This Day Remains an article by The Otolith Group about The Black Audio Film Collective from Frieze
