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Gaia Matrix: Arkhom & the Geometries of Destiny in the North American Landscape
Book by Champoux, Peter, Buehler, William Stuart
249 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1999
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February 15, 2025if you aren't from/in/have a serious connection with new england such that you are charmed by reading new england trivia this will probably be a pretty tedious read (for the most part)
but if you are, this was pretty fun, and actually more grounded than i expected it to be (for the most part), both prefaces actually stress that the book is written with a sense of playful hyperbole... it gives a nice relaxed vibe to the book, theorycrafting sacred geometries of power fractalling outward from new england (reverse the curse... the sox are gonna send that shit so far outta yawkey way it's gonna knock down the damn citgo sign!!!) and peter champoux steps off the stage right as i was hitting the point of "yeah ok i get it"
then the book shifts tone as the guest writers come on, treating the reader to essays by bethe hagens, william stuart buehler, and henry phelps maclean. maclean's essay matches the tone of the rest of the book, playing with the arkhom concept and focusing in on ecologically focused urban improvement; less of a focus on the grid, per se, but it's all good.
hagens and buehler, however, are extremely focused on the grid. both of their essays are absolutely incredible and shook the fillings out of my teeth. they're operating on, certainly, a much more advanced level than the rest of the book or i myself am and were more than a little genuinely panic-inducing to me. their essays and styles are incredibly different, though i guess upon reflection they both have similar goals and principles, i guess, more or less. hagens' reminds me of the sort of cybernetic-apocalyptic prophecy of charles musès, where buehler's is kind of sort of like if valdamar valerian was very, very into neo-templarism. that's not a good description of his essay but that's the best i am able to do, i think. they're both remarkable and very worth reading if you're not enough of a yankee to resonate with the rest of the book
but if you are, this was pretty fun, and actually more grounded than i expected it to be (for the most part), both prefaces actually stress that the book is written with a sense of playful hyperbole... it gives a nice relaxed vibe to the book, theorycrafting sacred geometries of power fractalling outward from new england (reverse the curse... the sox are gonna send that shit so far outta yawkey way it's gonna knock down the damn citgo sign!!!) and peter champoux steps off the stage right as i was hitting the point of "yeah ok i get it"
then the book shifts tone as the guest writers come on, treating the reader to essays by bethe hagens, william stuart buehler, and henry phelps maclean. maclean's essay matches the tone of the rest of the book, playing with the arkhom concept and focusing in on ecologically focused urban improvement; less of a focus on the grid, per se, but it's all good.
hagens and buehler, however, are extremely focused on the grid. both of their essays are absolutely incredible and shook the fillings out of my teeth. they're operating on, certainly, a much more advanced level than the rest of the book or i myself am and were more than a little genuinely panic-inducing to me. their essays and styles are incredibly different, though i guess upon reflection they both have similar goals and principles, i guess, more or less. hagens' reminds me of the sort of cybernetic-apocalyptic prophecy of charles musès, where buehler's is kind of sort of like if valdamar valerian was very, very into neo-templarism. that's not a good description of his essay but that's the best i am able to do, i think. they're both remarkable and very worth reading if you're not enough of a yankee to resonate with the rest of the book
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