From: Quim Pujol
Sent: Thursday, October 6, 2022 2:00 AM
To: María Jerez Quintana <xxx@hotmail.com>;
Cuqui Jerez Quintana <xxx@hotmail.com>
Subject: Trying
Dear Fred,
I want to talk to you, although as Bruce Lee says in Enter the Dragon, “the word I does not exist”. I don't need to underline the relevance of Bruce Lee in all this story.
I wish we were both named Bob so we could add an l to it as a pun.
L the letter, not the pronoun, of course. Although maybe that's what the capital i stands for in English, a shortened version of Blob. That would explain some things.
In order to talk to you, we need to hold hands and look away from each other, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down, from, in, into, near, of, off, on, to, toward, under, upon, with and within the Blob.
In that entanglement of time, space and matter, my voice will become just another voice. Within other voices. The chorus of voices which fucking haunts us all. I know, most of your voices are not the same as mine, but still.
Another way of putting it would be Cerebra, the technological device in the X-Men universe which amplifies the brainwaves of its user. It allows telepaths to hear and feel people above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down, from, in, into, near, of, off, on, to, toward, under, upon, with and within the world. However, only powerful telepaths can use Cerebra without going crazy. For most people it’s too much.
It's certainly too much for me. All those words and affects resonating. Even when I am going for a walk alone, trying to get some rest, graffitis and shop names scream above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down, from, in, into, near, of, off, on, to, toward, under, upon, with and within me.
Of course, there is no need for a telepath. Cerebra works on its own. It is just another name for the Blob. It's an unfortunate one of course: although it picks thoughts and affects, it just evokes the brain. So let's stick to Blob.
After the last session of the seminar -bugger, you saved the best for last- I feel the urge to discuss with you. But the only possible way to continue the conversation -holding hands and looking away from each other- is above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down, from, in, into, near, of, off, on, to, toward, under, upon, with and within artistic work. As often it's my own work, please don't mistake this conversation for self-indulgence. We all know the Blob gets excited and stupid when it is given attention. Although the quantum implications of this last sentence escape me.
I wish I had described to you María Jerez's performance The Blob. I wish I had told you about the Sexy Alien Role Play workshop I taught at Xplore and the other workshops taking place there, especially the one with oil and blindfolds. I wish I had sent you that 20 minute recording of the few poems I managed to translate into English this year. In particular,
You’re my flesh and amniotic fluid
You’re my flesh and aqueous humour
You’re my flesh and bile
You’re my flesh and plasma
You’re my flesh and breast milk
You’re my flesh and cerumen
You’re my flesh and exudate
You’re my flesh and gastric juice
You’re my flesh and vomit
You’re my flesh and lymph
You’re my flesh and mucus
You’re my flesh and cerebrospinal fluid
You’re my flesh and pericardial fluid
You’re my flesh and peritoneal fluid
You’re my flesh and synovial fluid
You’re my flesh and pleural fluid
You’re my flesh and pus
You’re my flesh and saliva
You’re my flesh and sputum
You’re my flesh and sweat
You’re my flesh and tears
You’re my flesh and urine
You’re my flesh and sperm
You’re my flesh and vaginal discharge
You’re my flesh and blood
I wish I would have talked to you about the ASMR of the future (2015). I wish I had sent you that piece from 2014 which intertwines aliens, preformance and objects. And also The Message From Other Worlds from 2021 which intertwines aliens, language and spiritism. Well, in theory you might still get that one. Alix has asked me to give you the Noa & Snow book where it is published along with other texts by Alix Eynaudi, Paula Caspão and many other people. I hope I will wake up in time to give you the book before you leave.
But then, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down, from, in, into, near, of, off, on, to, toward, under, upon, with and within all, there is the work to be done after attending this last session of the seminar. I'm so looking forward to it.
At that point, Blob wouldn't even have initiated a conversation about mysticism. At the same time, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down, from, in, into, near, of, off, on, to, toward, under, upon, with and within Blob, it's there anyway. Space is the place, although so much more as well.
The Blob knows what the Blob knows. So maybe it was not necessary to have any conversation at all.
Radically available,
The fantasy of a body
PS: I might have fucked up with the email address, apologies about that. Out of the 11 dimensions of the universe, we are just aware of 3, so this email may reach you above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down, from, in, into, near, of, off, on, to, toward, under, upon, with and within one of them anyhow. By the way, do you know the work of Cixin Liu?
From the 3rd to the 5th October 2022, Fred Moten gave the seminar Black Preformance: Violence at TBA Theatre in Lisbon (within the cycle Expanded Practices All Over curated by Paula Caspão at the Centre for Theatre Studies / Lisbon University). This e-mail was written after attending the last session of the seminar. The Blob is a science fiction film from 1958 featuring an alien which envelops and absorbs living beings. This alien has been read as a metaphor in many ways. One of these interpretations is Hanna Fenichel Pitkin’s The Attack of the Blob, Hannah Arendt’s Concept of the Social.