Chariots of the Gods
Erich Von Daniken

you can pick up just about any of von daniken’s texts and find the same message: chariots of the gods, in search of ancient gods, gods from outer space, gold of the gods, etc. for the purposes of the work.group, however, it is not necessary to shatter all human myths; we are interested in those related to interpretation of technology and artifacts.

acquire this text: powells.com

without touching the hive trapped over his head, he inferred a dynamism of the hollow nature of the vessel, measuring its range by the trembling of the walls as it seemingly gasped.

yet markings at the site were incongruous with the trajectory of the loosed material

it was as if the machine had encountered an existing condition of wreckage. the onlookers inspected the debris as the machine swung suspended from the tree in which its malfunctioning retrochute cables had become ensnared. the machine brushed languidly by the breeze against the debris risen around it yet was not cradled or supported by it; the machine floated like a magnet above a ceramic superconductor. stepping forth from the crowd, ezekiel indicated that the debris was in fact independent from the machine and that it was itself a vessel from another age. as the crowd dissipated, ezekiel sat upon a fallen limb to wonder at the coincidence. he began to recognize a relationship between the limp movements of the dangling machine and the seemingly chaotic armoured mess of the debris below; the clockwork rind of the debris was actually quivering slightly as the machine swung above it! ezekiel strode forth to lay his hand on the debris. he traced its lines with his fingers feeling for some entrée. — —– — ———- ——- – —— —– — — —- and the prongs of the debris splayed wide to admit him.

witnesses describe a box trailed by spikes or rigid tentacles that glowed like flame and extended like the multi-jointed legs of a spider. the machine seemed uncontrolled by sentient beings when encountered, yet markings at the site were incongruous with the trajectory of the loosed material.

† continue reading black boxes

“…when the living creatures wept, the boxes went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the boxes were lifted up . . . when those wept, these wept; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the boxes were lifted up over against them. A ‘miracle’? Of course not! When a helicopter -1_…- _Cr -1- L.__.I L-__ -. . -1…”

a stealth mission by members of the wrk.grp has uncovered the location of the binder submitted to aiaga on friday, september tenth. one hopes that the dismissive nature of their stowage does not reflect their interest in the contents therein.

contrast enhanced for maximized effect.

am wrkgrp: you can just peep them with comic book reader
jt wrkgrp: so what do you think about the status of our binder?
jt wrkgrp: you should go look at it tomorrow
am wrkgrp: is it in the window w/ other books?
jt wrkgrp: they acted like they had received no submissions when i brought it in
am wrkgrp: haha
jt wrkgrp: there are no other submissions there next to it
am wrkgrp: serves them right; that flyer sucked
jt wrkgrp: i asked if i was the first and they kind of dodged the issue
am wrkgrp: is this in the room by the food court at p’tree mall?
am wrkgrp: did you go early in the day?
am wrkgrp: maybe a stack appeared at 4.50pm
jt wrkgrp: it is in the ground floor of the candler building
jt wrkgrp: i went at 2pm friday to turn it in
jt wrkgrp: but when i looked in the window today, the binder sat there alone on a shelf, with no other entries visible nearby
jt wrkgrp: all of these clues lead me to believe we were the only ones to submit
am wrkgrp: did you see her lay it there?
jt wrkgrp: no
am wrkgrp: do you think they will call it off?
jt wrkgrp: she put it on her desk
am wrkgrp: htf can they go through w/ it if there is only one submission?
jt wrkgrp: i would imagine they will devote the whole show to us, rather than forcing us to split the space with paul valembois
am wrkgrp: i hope they realize what fucking losers they are
am wrkgrp: and you are seeking their approval!
am wrkgrp: as validation for your work/life!
jt wrkgrp: ill take a gallery show
jt wrkgrp: im sure not going to get it honestly
am wrkgrp: riddle me this,
jt wrkgrp: sure
am wrkgrp: do you think they will break it off to us early, if no one else submitted?
jt wrkgrp: haha
am wrkgrp: or will they wait, to fool us
am wrkgrp: or, will they ‘extend’ the deadline?
am wrkgrp: where did you find out about this shit?
jt wrkgrp: hopefully when the woman sees me taking pictures in her window tomorrow she will just beckon for me to come in
jt wrkgrp: i cant remember
jt wrkgrp: their website?
am wrkgrp: can you see this shit from the sidewalk?
jt wrkgrp: yes
am wrkgrp: i can’t imagine that they’d go through with it
jt wrkgrp: i was standing on peachtree street at 3pm today looking at our binder!
am wrkgrp: i have less respect for dgreen than before
am wrkgrp: let me rephrase that
am wrkgrp: it is less likely that i will ever respect dgreen than it was before this bs
jt wrkgrp: did you ever even know him?
jt wrkgrp: i never had the guy
am wrkgrp: fuck!!
am wrkgrp: my pants leg is rolled up from riding my bike 12 hours ago
jt wrkgrp: i did have ddurfee twice though
jt wrkgrp: i see
am wrkgrp: i went to the store like this!
am wrkgrp: no wonder no one talked to me

following in our line of publication types (dossier, pamphlet), we issue the wrk.grp binder. this publication includes the work.group’s three (3) ‘finished’ projects in a pleasing narrative format and is available directly from the work.group by contacting us to arrange for transfer of $85 us to our coffers.

a print-ready pdf [7 MB] of the binder is available for you hi-bandwidth dogs who can’t wait.

please monitor this site for possible future publications that may take the following formats: album, booklet, brochure, codex, folio, leaflet, zine, scroll, tome, broadsheet, circular, flyer, folder, throwaway, tractate, rag, or memorandum. the more mercurial bearder crier will not be available through this site.

listening to the mountain goats and regretting the consumption of a ‘family size’ bag of ‘pictsweet’ baby butter beans.

listening to azaghal and eating dried pineapple

“in the beginning there was icarus, the nascent trickle of the great architect’s cosmic semen and a glitter in the eye of the sun. the sun, over crete, reclaimed him and united him with the father of the beast whom his father the architect had helped to slay. genesis was the might of progress reborn, the promise of the icarus archetype recurrent. he reached out to touch the sun and hold it in his coffers for the journey home. by his hubris he was once again defeated, and united with the sun-scorched earth of utah, who will bear life no more.”

in a less obtuse observation, this scenario smacks of ‘night of the living dead’.

a digital interpretation of the document which was sent to pamphlet architecture has been assembled. our readers may view the pages online here; the page sizes are large, for each is a .png between about 70-120kb. those who don’t understand what that means might be better off with a paper version, you may download the pdf and print copies for yourselves and for dissemination amongst all y’all’s crews. final pamphlet pdf [6.82 mb]

for those of you putting together your own ex_nihilo pamphlets, we have provided visual documentation of its use, that you may discern how the item is constructed.

those not wishing to view the slideshow or download the file and procure the proper materials for assembly may choose instead the option of home/office/shop delivery of one (1) fully assembled pamphlet at the cost of $35 U.S.; contact for more information.

let us hope the postman at gpc does not go on break before mailing out our submission.

[last edit: 17h01]
words: 248

The Unownership Society
On how proprietary ideas are fettered.

Collaboration is generally considered a convergence of intellectual energies, diversified experience sets, pooled resources, and aligned goals. Collaborations are often held under the auspices of some banner of operating methods or alphabetized participant lists. These collaborations are controlled; the inherent loss of information is conceded by all participants. The collaborative project that is the social world is bound by the same guidelines, charts, and grids; society is a collaboration of parallels, not convergence. Agreements on allowed contributions are silently made.

Yet, within this milieu, a dedicated workgroup of participants pushes forth efforts of production which contain openings for the roguish advances of unknown entities, enabling the group’s efforts to be periodically eclipsed, silenced, blotted, obfuscated, and misunderstood. Rather than taint or obscure progress, the feverish input of the audience serves as fertile mulch for the players. While the collaborations of the corporation are tested and verified, the deposed corporate model is slowed by comfortable hierarchy; the workgroup model is fueled by noise and intrusion.

To investigate one universe, one must create a second; the phantasmagoric diversions from the original serve as its critique. Ex_Nihilo functions as a narrative vehicle to carry out such investigations; the interference faced by the workgroup is reflected in the counter-insurgency of Manhattanville. The modes of intra- and inter-office communication are the traces and scars etched into the walls and floors of the island; IM and FTP are replaced by iron hooks embedded into stone walls and grooves cut into shattered brick.

is anything in my ‘abstract proposal’ useful for the narrative text?

it seems to be written from the pov of an inhabitant of the ex/n universe.

on the other hand, it can be saved for the abstract, if the abstract is going to discuss the project in the manner that one would critique a book or film, ie, that the characters are always in the present tense facing events that are true to them, as opposed to an abstract that says ‘here is what john did to the phony ex/n universe’

or you can discard it, which, i have no doubt, is your intention

i believed that your proposal was probably a good one to weave into the abstract due to its pointed critique of the architectural climate. i am not sure if publius or the toastmaster are intended to have any real history in the building arts. although, i am certain that both are dilettantes who would likely snicker upon hearing about the crucifixion of btschumi, it may belong more in the exterior narrative or manifesto.

i have no plans to do away with your text or any of your contributions thus far.

honestly, i don’t think the chronology matters, at least was far as the aims are concerned.

i felt that the 3 aims were ordered in a way that would allow them to reference the three constructives in the order that they have been presented in the past: backlot, ivy, smoke.

the repetition of the shanties vs. towers seems anomalous

i cannot think of what you are referring to offhand but i will look and make the necessary adjustments. i will also add the utterance of the word bricolage by publius as you have directed.

we currently have 10 pages of auto-flowed loaded text fitting into the columnization you have prescribed. not bad.

“One scientist said based on his calculations, the mass of the space object headed for Earth in 1908 was nearly 1 billion tons. He believes the meteorite was blasted by the spaceship at an altitude of 10 kilometers to prevent the destruction of all humanity on the planet.”

reading these texts again, maybe i can be more articulate in my questions about what exactly we are submitting to ‘pamphlet’. should we include only the body of work of ex_nihilo, effectively repackaging it, or should we discuss ex_nihilo as well; for example, instead of just placing ‘missive 02′ without commentary, should the submission instead be about how ex_nihilo developed, with commentary such as, “‘missive 02′ is a plot device to demonstrate that those who quote octavio paz are hacks”. the latter would be (more) work, clearly. has this question been answered?

“you put two million dollars into a single family home, and we are supposed to be impressed that it makes it to the cover of dwell?”
† continue reading another pamphlet architecture abstract proposal