Carl Abrahamsson's Blog, page 56
January 14, 2018
A new clip from ”The larval stage of a bookworm”
A gentle stroll in wonderland is a track from my upcoming solo album The larval stage of a bookworm, to be released on Highbrow Lowlife on January 18, 2018.
Here’s a video clip for the track:
A gentle stroll in wonderland from Carl Abrahamsson on Vimeo.
January 11, 2018
Cut to fit the mouth
Cut to fit the mouth by Vanessa Sinclair and myself has now been released online. It was originally a cassette release on American label Arcana Machine. The cassette is still available at Arcana Machine (US) and Trapart (International). The digital release is available both on download and streaming. Please support independent record labels by buying downloads straight from Highbrow Lowlife. Thanks!
”Vanessa Sinclair is an artist and psychoanalyst who explores the magical practice and artistic expression of the cut-up method. Carl Abrahamsson is a Swedish artist with an extensive past and present of art and music making on the international occultural scene. Together, Vanessa and Carl collaborate on readings of cut-up texts mixed with sound and music. CUT TO FIT THE MOUTH is their first album collaboration and contains nine pieces of mind expanding sounds and words.”
Here’s a little video clip for one of the tracks from the album:
This Is New York from Carl Abrahamsson on Vimeo.
January 3, 2018
”The magic of dreams made real” as podcast/audiobook
THE MAGIC OF DREAMS MADE REAL is now available as an audiobook/podcast
A webinar/online lecture held for the Society of Sentience on December 17, 2017.
In our contemporary culture the dream sphere has been moved to a mystical and stigmatised corner. A sphere which we usually try to understand by simplified interpretation models and a superstitious rationality. In this lecture, I challenge hierarchic models of interpretation and encourage a more artistic and intuitive approach to our dreams. Are our dreams perhaps messages, and, if so, messages from whom?
This audiobook/podcast is now available via www.highbrow-lowlife.com and iTunes.
If you want to stay informed about upcoming online lectures and webinars, please sign up for my newsletter at www.carlabrahamsson.com
If you enjoyed this lecture, you will very likely enjoy my book ”Occulture: the unseen forces that drive culture forward”, which is available here:
www.amazon.com/Occulture-Unseen-Forces-Culture-Forward/dp/1620557037/
December 31, 2017
Next year is already here
Another amazing year just passed by. What happened? Why? When? It’s safe to say that it’s been one of the most intense years so far for me, and I’m very happy about that.
Already in January there was musical action in a new way. Vanessa Sinclair, my wife of approximately one week at the time, and I headed out on a mini-mini-tour of Gothenburg and Stockholm. In Gothenburg we played at the legendary Aniara bookstore, joined by the mighty forces of Joachim Nordwall. Then in Stockholm at even more legendary bookstore Rönnells, joined by Den Arkaiska Rösten. Vanessa was focused on reading material from her book Switching Mirrors (published in November of 2016), and both book and performances were well received by enthusiastic audiences.
All throughout the year, we also recorded a lot of new music and cut-ups. Our first ever proper release was Cut to fit the mouth, a cassette on American label Arcana Machine. This album will also be released digitally early 2018.
A cut-up project that grew and grew and grew was Lunacy. What started out as a Vanessa cut-up of texts about the moon led to musical pieces for them, and then a whole film. We were helped in this endeavor by a crowdfunded campaign that allowed me to buy a super 8 film scanner and scan massive amounts of film material from my archive. A big thank you to those who contributed!
Parallel to the cut-up & music projects, we have also made films to many of the musical tracks we’ve created. If you’re interested you should definitely check them out on my Vimeo page.
There were many books too. California Infernal – Anton LaVey and Jayne Mansfield as portrayed by Walter Fischer sold well and created a nice stir in terms of reviews. The film Mansfield 66/67 helped it along (and vice versa), and I feel that the interest in this weirdly seminal and seminally weird relationship has the potential to grow even more.
Tom Benson: Visionary was published early in the year, and was the result of many years of to-and-fro work together with Benson’s widow Marja Sipola Cuss. I am so very proud to have published this book of images by one of the most talented and peculiar Swedish artists ever. Surrealist, erotic, psychic photo montages from the depth of the human soul, exquisitely conveyed by a master mind/hand. Please check out this book if you haven’t already.
Especially nice in regard to Visionary was to make and see the print of the image William Dreaming, showing William S Burroughs in a very relaxed state of mind. A classic image in every possible way. (It’s sold together with a limited hardbound edition of the book.)
The Fenris Wolf 9 (co-edited by Vanessa and me) was published more or less exactly one year after the successful conference Psychoanalysis, Art & the Occult that we co-organised in London in May 2016. We had a nice release party in New York in May and could celebrate this very nice project with a full circle return. The material in this issue is basically all the papers (and more) from the conference and provides many, many hours of intelligent and thought-provoking reading.
I’ve written more than ever before and there were/are many books in preparation for 2018: Occulture – the unseen forces that drive culture forward will be released in March by Inner Traditions. It’s an anthology of essays, lectures and texts from the most recent years and has already gotten some nice reviews. The book can be pre-ordered now (follow the link in the title)!
The An Art Apart project that was originally a series of documentary films will now be published as a book, scheduled for autumn of 2018. The interviewees are Andrew McKenzie/The Hafler Trio, Vicki Bennett/People Like Us, Charles Gatewood, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Gustaf Broms, Michael Gira, Kenneth Anger, Angela Edwards, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, John Duncan, MV Carbon, Mark McCloud, Val Denham, Joe Coleman, Stelarc, Alison Blickle and Gea Philes. You now understand that this will be a must have book!
I recently published In Too Deep as an e-book. It’s a phantasmagorical series of portraits and vistas from the annual ”adult entertainment expo” in Las Vegas. I will publish two follow up books as e-books during 2018. I visited this expo almost ten times between 1995 and 2010 and have taken thousands of photos of porn stars and fans. Looking back at these images now, I’m amazed I survived. Well, mentally at least! This is something I want to share with you so please check out In Too Deep and the coming books.
The Fenris Wolf 10 is scheduled for release late spring 2018. It will be a bumper of a book, to celebrate dear old wolfie turning ten. More news on that will follow in my newsletters and here at the site. Make sure to stay updated by signing up for the newsletter.
And then back to music… There were several records from the archives that were released digitally via Highbrow Lowlife and all the other digisphere channels so please check them out. I also added several recordings of live stuff to Highbrow Lowlife’s Soundcloud page, which could be interesting if you’re a fan.
On that note, 2017 also saw the end of an era for my long time project with Thomas Tibert: Cotton Ferox. We played our last concert in Stockholm early September 2017, performing improvised live music to Benjamin Christensen’s Häxan (a.k.a. Witchcraft through the ages) from 1922. Now we work as separate entities, and I wish Thomas the best of luck in his musical (and other) endeavors. It is in a way fitting that one of the dearest releases for me from 2017 was a lavish re-release on Ideal Recordings of White Stains’ (my previous project with Tibert) Work Workings. Two old cassettes that were now re-released as brand new cassettes. Another full circle moment of pure joy.
During 2017, I started doing webinars/online lectures. It has been great fun; especially the interacting with the participants/attendees. Videos of the lectures are always posted online, as are audio recordings for those who prefer ”podding”.
I will present new lectures on at least a monthly basis so make sure you don’t miss out by signing up for my newsletter at the site.
There are many projects in the works for 2018. New records, books and films, and also lectures in vivo and online, plus many other things. Vanessa and I are preparing a traveling ”package” of an exhibition with collages and cut-ups, with an opening night of a performance and film screening. This could also be combined with lectures and/or workshops. Please feel free to get in touch if you’d like to arrange something where you reside.
As I’ve written more and more about magical theory and practice over the most recent years, I found it suitable during 2017 to also create an egregorian experiment, and delve into sharing in a new way. The Society of Sentience was actually created several years ago, focusing on dream research with just a small number of people in the Stockholm region. But now the SoS takes a couple of giant leaps forward and offer both theory and practice internationally. It’s not so much me ”setting up shop” after decades of work in other structures as it is stretching out a curious hand to an environment beyond the one I already know so well. For more information about the SoS, please visit our site.
Thank you for being interested and for being part of my 2017. It’s been an absolutely amazing year and I know that 2018 will be better yet. See you there and then/where and when!
With love and best wishes,
Carl Abrahamsson
vimeo.com/user3979080/vod_pages
www.facebook.com/authorcarlabrahamsson
www.tumblr.com/blog/carlabrahamsson
December 28, 2017
The Magic of Dreams lecture is now available on Vimeo
In our contemporary culture the dream sphere has been moved to a mystical and stigmatised corner. A sphere which we usually try to understand by simplified interpretation models and a superstitious rationality. But there’s no escaping the fact that we sleep and thereby dream approximately one third of our lives. That’s a lot of time and a lot of energy spent on something that is generally regarded as something passive and irrational. We can easily see how our two waking thirds are very adapted for survival. We deal with what needs to be done to provide nutrition, protection and shelter and we work together with greater or smaller collectives to create a solid base for survival. Is it then unlikely that the sleeping and thereby dreaming third is also a part of this survival strategy? Of course not. In fact, this could be the most important third of them all.
This is a video recording of my lecture The Magic of Dreams Made Real, arranged by The Society of Sentience on December 17th, 2017.
Occulture: The Magic of Dreams Made Real from Carl Abrahamsson on Vimeo.
For more information, please visit: carlabrahamsson.com and societyofsentience.org
More about the OCCULTURE lecture series 2018
Art, magic, and the occult have been intimately linked since our prehistoric ancestors
created the first cave paintings some 50,000 years ago. As civilizations developed,
these esoteric forces continued to drive culture forward, both visibly and behind the
scenes, from the Hermetic ideas of the Renaissance, to the ethereal worlds of 19th
century Symbolism, to the occult interests of the Surrealists.
In this lecture series exploring “occulture” – the liminal space where art and magic meet
– I reveal the integral role played by magic and occultism in the development of culture
throughout history as well as their relevance to the continuing survival of art and creativity. Blending magical history and esoteric philosophy, I look at the phenomena and people
who have been seminal in modern esoteric developments.
This lecture is part of my book Occulture: the unseen forces that drive culture forward. The book can be ordered HERE. Thank you!
December 26, 2017
My lecture about Anton LaVey is now available as audiobook
My lecture/webinar ANTON LAVEY – MAGICAL INNOVATOR is now online via iTunes and Highbrow Lowlife.
Already in The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey had shown considerable creativity. Concepts like ”Psychic Vampire” and ”The Balance Factor” soon became household terms in America and the rest of the world. His description of the ritual space as an ”Intellectual Decompression Chamber” also hit home outside the strictly Satanic perimeters. As did the slightly later term ”Occultnik”, signifying a person who is lost within old structures of occultism without being able to see what’s really of use on a practical, material level. LaVey’s initial key works, The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals, are great examples of creative appropriation and reformulation. But the two volumes of essays and maxims that followed much later, ie The Devil’s Notebook and Satan Speaks, genuinely contain the essence of LaVey’s wit and creativity. In these books, we find many fascinating topics: the integration of emotionally resonant music, stressing the ego, encouraging a sense of humour, artificial human companions, the total environment, the archetype of the villain, the third side of truth and much more. Join me for a darkside trip into the Satanic mind of Anton LaVey – magical innovator!
If you’d rather watch a video recording of this talk, please visit my VIMEO page.
This talk is also published in my book Occulture: the unseen forces that drive culture forward. You can order this book HERE!
December 23, 2017
The Occulture lecture on TOPY as audiobook
My online lecture/webinar about Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (TOPY) is now available as an audiobook via Highbrow Lowlife and iTunes.
The occultural methods and mutations of Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth (TOPY) have left a legacy that continues to inspire. In this talk (original transmission November 18, 2017), I look back at my time working (1986-1991) with TOPYSCAN and TOPY Europe in collaboration with TOPYUK and TOPYUS. It was a magical, ultra-creative time that taught me many things as well as allowed me to share my own findings with others. TOPY was a unique experiment in occulture, and one that still resonates today. Join me for an illuminating ride through sigil magic, roto-rites, underground publishing, and much more.
If you prefer to watch me instead, you can go HERE to see a video recording of the talk.
The Occulture Lecture series 2017/2018:
Art, magic, and the occult have been intimately linked since our prehistoric ancestors created the first cave paintings some 50,000 years ago. As civilizations developed, these esoteric forces continued to drive culture forward, both visibly and behind the scenes, from the Hermetic ideas of the Renaissance, to the ethereal worlds of 19th century Symbolism, to the occult interests of the Surrealists. In this lecture/webinar series exploring “occulture” – the liminal space where art and magic meet – I reveal the integral role played by magic and occultism in the development of culture throughout history as well as their relevance to the continuing survival of art and creativity. Blending magical history and esoteric philosophy, I look at the phenomena and people who have been seminal in modern esoteric developments.
The foundation for this lecture series is my book Occulture: the unseen forces that drive culture forward, which can be pre-ordered HERE.
December 17, 2017
You can also get ”In too deep”
My new (e)book is a photographic one, chronicling my forays into the netherworlds (?) of porn… In too deep!
”Writer-photographer Carl Abrahamsson traveled to Las Vegas and the annual “Adult Entertainment Expo” between 1995 and 2010. He met porn stars, producers, fans and an assortment of weird people. This book collects his mind-boggling portraits of people in the adult industry: famous as well as infamous. It’s a colourful bonanza of weirdness and beauty, of humility and hubris, of voyeurism and exhibitionism, of despair and excitement. This is a world of its own and Abrahamsson has the all the crazy photos of many of its key movers and shakers. Get ready for an unforgettable and wild ride to smut-land!”
”What the hell was I really doing there? I quickly realised that I’m an ambitious voyeur more than anything else. The cameras have been my protection against an incomprehensible and threatening world. And, as I now realised, against hundreds of porn stars!”
You can get this ebook from:
Amazon (Kindle – get the Kindle app to read on any device)
Enjoy it!
December 13, 2017
Occulture: Carl Jung – Myth Maker
The Occulture online lecture series moves on. The next subject will be Carl Jung – Myth Maker.
In the development of concepts like the “archetypes” and the “collective unconscious”, Carl Jung not only looked at isolated myths in themselves but also at their artistic expressions. He claimed that there is an impulse-generating layer in the psyche that is shared by all human beings and that can be directly accessed through introspection, dreams, the study of myths and personal, artistic work. A certain culture can possess a more rational or “civilised” construction than another but the basic psychological foundations are in essence the same globally. Jung’s travels around the world and his collection of data confirmed his theories and became an important part of his system. In this lecture I talk about Jungian concepts, the importance of myths and how we could possibly re-enchant the world with a little help from this influential Swiss psychologist and artist.
When? Sunday, January 14, 2018, at 20-22 GMT+1 / 11am-1pm PST / 2-4pm EST / 19-21 GMT
After the lecture there will be an opportunity for a Q & A/discussion.
To take part of this lecture/webinar, please send $18 via PayPal to: carl AT carlabrahamsson DOT com After you have paid, I will send you all the relevant information/links. The number of attendee “seats” is limited, so please act fast.
More on the OCCULTURE webinar/lecture series 2018:
Art, magic, and the occult have been intimately linked since our prehistoric ancestors created the first cave paintings some 50,000 years ago. As civilizations developed, these esoteric forces continued to drive culture forward, both visibly and behind the scenes, from the Hermetic ideas of the Renaissance, to the ethereal worlds of 19th century Symbolism, to the occult interests of the Surrealists. In this lecture/webinar series exploring “occulture” – the liminal space where art and magic meet – I reveal the integral role played by magic and occultism in the development of culture throughout history as well as their relevance to the continuing survival of art and creativity. Blending magical history and esoteric philosophy, I look at the phenomena and people who have been seminal in modern esoteric developments.
My book Occulture – the unseen forces that drive culture forward will be published by Inner Traditions in March 2018. You can preorder the book HERE!
December 12, 2017
Anton LaVey – Magical Innovator on Vimeo
My lecture/webinar ANTON LAVEY – MAGICAL INNOVATOR is now online on Vimeo
Occulture: Anton LaVey – Magical Innovator from Carl Abrahamsson on Vimeo.
Already in The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey had shown considerable creativity. Concepts like ”Psychic Vampire” and ”The Balance Factor” soon became household terms in America and the rest of the world. His description of the ritual space as an ”Intellectual Decompression Chamber” also hit home outside the strictly Satanic perimeters. As did the slightly later term ”Occultnik”, signifying a person who is lost within old structures of occultism without being able to see what’s really of use on a practical, material level. LaVey’s initial key works, The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals, are great examples of creative appropriation and reformulation. But the two volumes of essays and maxims that followed much later, ie The Devil’s Notebook and Satan Speaks, genuinely contain the essence of LaVey’s wit and creativity. In these books, we find many fascinating topics: the integration of emotionally resonant music, stressing the ego, encouraging a sense of humour, artificial human companions, the total environment, the archetype of the villain, the third side of truth and much more. Join me for a darkside trip into the Satanic mind of Anton LaVey – magical innovator!
