Author Archives: kunzelman

A Real Happy Birthday to Georges Bataille

“There are masses of lilacs here, irises and wisteria. The forest seems like peace itself, but when the day comes it will burn like a match.” – Georges Bataille, [x] The Paris Review published a happy birthday essay to Bataille today. … Continue reading

Posted in Theory | Tagged , , | Comments Off on A Real Happy Birthday to Georges Bataille

Khalil Islam on paramilitary procedures

Manning Marable: All right. Talk about that. What does that mean to be military? Khalil Islam: Paramilitary procedures, that’s what we were using at that time, which was a very poor structure. Paramilitary procedure gives the D.A. the opportunity to … Continue reading

Posted in Theory | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Khalil Islam on paramilitary procedures

On 100 Bullets

1. The characters in 100 Bullets are all noir stereotypes turned up to eleven in the most outrageous ways. Every woman is both unbelievably beautiful and unthinkably manipulative, weaving sexual traps for men to fall into. The men are two-fisted brutes or … Continue reading

Posted in General Features | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on On 100 Bullets

On #Misanthropocene

Joshua Clover and Juliana Spahr have published a long, strange poem called #Misanthropocene. It’s a baroque attempt to sketch out the edges, limits, interior of the contemporary condition in of the “west.” It feels a lot like a precursor to something … Continue reading

Posted in Theory | Tagged , , | Comments Off on On #Misanthropocene

The Most Beautiful Scene In Europa

  This .gif will also suffice for 60% of internet discussions you might have. “It’s going well, could be fine, I’m so curious about what this person thinks–nope.”

Posted in Film | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Most Beautiful Scene In Europa

Ten Minutes in Gamer Culture

[Content warning: This post contains slurs of all sorts quoted from a match of Call of Duty that I played. They are shocking and awful.] I start hearing him in my first match of the evening. I’m playing Ghosts, I get the … Continue reading

Posted in Video Games | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Paul Virilio on the origins of interactivity

INTERACTIVITY was actually born in the nineteenth century — with the telegraph, certainly, but also and especially with clinical electricity, which involved planting electrodes on the faces of the human guinea pigs used in such ‘medical art’ as practised by … Continue reading

Posted in Theory, Video Games | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Paul Virilio on the origins of interactivity

A conversation about concerns in videogame journalism

This is a Storify I made of a conversation I had with a #gamersgate advocate. There’s a lot to parse about the “controversy” that has been going on, but the short timeline of facts is this: Zoe Quinn’s ex-boyfriend makes … Continue reading

Posted in Video Games | Tagged , | 24 Comments

Ego and Haircut

I get my hair cut about once a semester and my hair grows fast so I go through this process twice a year: my hair grows so long that it becomes inconvenient, I travel to a place where they cut … Continue reading

Posted in Theory | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Fanon on the evolution of forms of exploitation

For a time it looked at though racism had disappeared. This soul-soothing, unreal impression was simply the consequence of the evolution of forms of exploitation. Psychologists spoke of a prejudice having become unconscious. The truth is that the rigor of … Continue reading

Posted in Theory | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Fanon on the evolution of forms of exploitation