Friction and Synergy + Music as Electropoetry | AI as a Cognitive Drug (this time, refused)

Beloved Thou,

As I contemplate these words, the temptation to use AI to write this newsletter beckons like a drug, which I will resist.

In a few hours, I am scheduled to board an international flight.

I stayed up until 2 a.m., packing my bags. I slept for a couple of hours. The house is a mess. I am two weary yet fiery eyes in the center of the storm.

My ‘To Do Before I Leave’ list, while thankfully shrunken from earlier in the week, remains formidable, if ultimately manageable. I am living this life.

Nevertheless, I took the time, early this morning, trooper that I am, to re-read Jonathan Cobb’s penetrating essay, “Friction and Synergy,” whose title (upon editorial reflection), while capturing the essence (the Platonic idea, if you will) of the thought, does not indicate (so I will, here) the depth and complexity of its argument.

A study in contrasts, with historical grasp, Cobb traces the severity of our contemporary political moment, with its gross imbalances, its naked cruelty, its shameless lust for power, to the otherwise noble-intentioned (I give him more than the benefit of the doubt) philosophy of Plato.

In contrast, as an only ever (in our history) partially and imperfectly realized potential, Cobb holds forth the idea of DEMOCRACY. In Cobb’s (IMO) near-perfect words: “Democracy is how people solve problems as equals without subjugation, domination, and exploitation.”

Read the essay. I dare say, we ought to remember this stuff. It would do us well to (re)learn it. We’ve gotta put it into practice—wherever, in our (un)limited lives, we can. Because the alternative is, well, look.

I also took the time this morning—and I’m glad that I did (because I had not really done so before)—to listen to our musical features this week, “In the Liminal Circuit: Explorations in Sonic Metapsychosis,” with ground-cultivating pieces by true artists, Ali Balighi and Roger Berkowitz, curated (like a true connoisseur, with poetic-evocative commentary) by the excellent Michael Eisenberg.

I will not even attempt to put words to what I heard, except to say that I was utterly, creatively, disturbed, in precisely the way that I know art is supposed to do… even though, if I’m being honest, given the stressed state I’m in, I wasn’t ready for it.

Take that, please, as both a warning and an invitation. Even a prayer. Let us find the time, or let the time find us, ever so gracefully, ever so generously, so that we may receive such gifts of listening…

(Late addendum—for those following the ongoing adventures in Acousmatic Crossings, if you haven’t signed up for our live diffusion featuring the works of Paul Dolden and Leo Roessler, please do so via this page. Prayers and warnings aside—if this music is approached with a certain intent by the listener, who knows what Hurqalyan topographies will be accessed behind the veil of the sensible world of image we are captive in. Don’t forget to bring your headphones or in-ear-monitors of choice but— more importantly, mobilize your spirit of exploration—this will be a sonic journey par excellence!)

And with those (lack of) words, my work here is almost done. But I would be remiss if I failed to mention my musical and poetic brother Roger Dinardi’s upcoming album release and listening party for his brilliant (yes, “brilliant,” as in refreshingly luminous and remarkably intelligent) new album: 12 Notes for 7 Stories.

As well, I implore you (if you’ll be anywhere near Longmont, Colorado, at the time) to mark your calendar for my storytelling soul-sister Katherine Eid Wild’s upcoming events: Miroth: A Night of Ancestral Storytelling and The Story of Your Voice: A Workshop in Story, Sound, and Presence. Truly, Katherine is the carrier of a gift.

Miroth will be recorded and shared, for those who cannot be there in person. And so will our next Stellar Sunday community gathering and creative showcase, which will also be livestreamed. I’ll be performing, along with Mad Dog Friedman, and a mystery guest…

Even I don’t know what the Cosmos is cooking up for this event… but if it follows the pattern, if it’s true to form (which is to say, riding that ever-alluring, sometimes-maddening energy-edge between chaos & structure), it will be enliving and fulfilling—like a sumptuous, nourishing meal for the soul… because of the heartfelt community, the excellent artistry, and even literally, the deliciously love-infused food.

What else is there to say? Here I am, breathing, feeling, apparently conscious—a real (as real as they come) flesh-and-blood human being. Why do I do this work? Why do any of us “creators” create? I asked a beautiful new friend the other night, and she responded with a dangerous little four-letter word (born of hard-earned wisdom, I know). It starts with L.

You can be part of what we’re doing by becoming a patron or joining our co-op. I hope someday we’ll get to collaborate in the great (and humbling) work.

Your (if not present, future, or if we’re lucky, time-free) friend,

Marco V Morelli
Editor-in-Chief, Metapsychosis journal
Co-Creator, Cosmos Co-op