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An Interview With SPIRITS OF PLACE’s John Reppion

If you’ve been spending any time online in the past few weeks, then chances are good that you’ve heard about Spirits of Place, the new book edited by John Reppion and put out into the world by Daily Grail Publishing. It’s caught the attention of the likes of Guillermo del Toro, Boing Boing, and Blair MacKenzie Blake of ToolBand.net and we’ve even discussed it in the Technoccult Newsletter.

Here’s the synopsis:

Stories are embedded in the world around us; in metal, in brick, in concrete, and in wood. In the very earth beneath our feet. Our history surrounds us and the tales we tell, true or otherwise, are always rooted in what has gone before. The spirits of place are the echoes of people, of events, of ideas which have become imprinted upon a location, for better or for worse. They are the genii loci of classical Roman religion, the disquieting atmosphere of a former battlefield, the comfort and familiarity of a childhood home.

Twelve authors take us on a journey; a tour of places where they themselves have encountered, and consulted with, these Spirits of Place.

Contributing authors: Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir, Vajra Chandrasekera, Maria J. Pérez Cuervo, Warren Ellis, Alan Moore, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Kristine Ong Muslim, Dr. Joanne Parker, Mark Pesce, Iain Sinclair, Gazelle Amber Valentine, and Damien Williams. Edited by John Reppion.

And the cover by illustrator Pye Parr:

It is a truly beautiful book with an awe-inspiring writing lineup, and I am honoured to be a part of it.

I got the chance to do a tarot reading for John Reppion, the mind behind both the book and the event Spirits of Place. Beneath the cut, you’ll find his extremely detailed considerations on everything from magick, to art and creativity, to family, to work/life balance, and quite a lot of thoughts about how all of those things intersect.

Enjoy:

Alan Moore and Will Contribute to Occupy Comics Anthology

December 7, 2011 / Klint Finley

Godkiller Occupy Comics Black Flag

Wired reports:

Nearly 30 years after publishing V for Vendetta, writer Alan Moore and artist David Lloyd are throwing their support behind the global Occupy movement that’s drawn inspiration from their comic’s anti-totalitarian philosophy and iconography.

Moore will contribute a long-form prose piece, possibly with illustrations, to the Occupy Comics project. His writing work will explore the Occupy movement’s principles, corporate control of the comics industry and the superhero paradigm itself.

Lloyd signed onto the growing Occupy Comics project last week, as did Madman’s Mike Allred and American Splendor’s Dean Haspiel. Occupy Comics will eventually sell single-issue comic books and a hardcover compilation, but an innovative arrangement with Kickstarter means that funds raised through pledges of support can be channeled directly to Occupy Wall Street’s populist ranks now.

Wired: V for Vendetta’s Alan Moore, David Lloyd Join Occupy Comics

You can check out the Occupy Comics website and the project’s Kickstarter for more details including a full list of contributors.

Barnes and Nobles Drops DC Collections, Fills the Gap with Pre-DC Alan Moore Books

October 30, 2011 / Klint Finley

The Complete Alan Moore Future Shocks

CBR reports:

DC Comics collections have been disappearing from shelves at Barnes & Noble stores over the past few weeks, but not for the reasons DC would like. In response to the publisher’s exclusive digital partnership with Amazon and the recently announced Kindle Fire, B&N pulled all copies of the titles involved in the deal from their shelves until the Amazon.com window of exclusivity expires, though they do remain available for order through the bookseller’s retail website. Of course, part of what this means for Barnes & Noble is that many best-selling graphic novels, such as “Watchmen,” “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and “Top 10” are not currently available for its brick and mortar stores to sell, leaving a sizable gap in their inventory.

Comic Book Resources has learned exclusively that, rather than wait for DC’s exclusive deal to expire before re-filling the open space on its stores’ shelves, Barnes & Noble has struck a deal with 2000 AD publisher Rebellion, massively increasing the available stock of a number of 2000 AD releases in B&N storefronts.

Comic Book Resources: Barnes & Noble Fills DC Comics Hole with 2000 AD Alan Moore Titles

Alan Moore Mentor Steve Moore Releases New Novel Somnium

October 11, 2011 / Klint Finley

Somnium

Steve Moore, a mentor to Alan Moore (no relation), is publishing his novel Somnium through Strange Attractor. It’s available for pre-order from the publisher. S. Moore was the subject of A. Moore’s audiobook Unearthing, which discussed the circumstances of the writing of Somnium. It’s received praise from Michael Moorcock and Iain Sinclair.

From Strange Attractor:

Written in the early years of the 21st century, when the author was engaged in dream-explorations and mystical practices centred on the Greek moon-goddess Selene, Somnium is an intensely personal and highly-embroidered fictional tapestry that weaves together numerous historical and stylistic variations on the enduring myth of Selene and Endymion. Ranging through the 16th to 21st centuries, it combines mediæval, Elizabethan, Gothic and Decadent elements in a fantastic romance of rare imagination.

With its delirious and heartbroken text spiralling out from the classical myth of Endymion and the Greek lunar goddess Selene, Somnium is an extraordinary odyssey through love and loss and lunacy, illuminated by the silvery moonlight of its exquisite language.

With an afterword by Alan Moore, whose biographical piece Unearthing details the life of his friend and mentor Steve Moore, and includes the circumstances surrounding the writing of Somnium.

Alan Moore Talks League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 1969 and More

July 23, 2011 / Klint Finley

Alan Moore

In a lengthy interview at Wired, Alan Moore talks about the latest installment of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the 60s, The Prisoner, his novel Jerusalem and more:

So my perspective upon that era has changed. You can find that in bits of the dialogue, such as when Mina Murray tries a bit too hard to embrace the ’60s. As she, Allan Quatermain and Orlando make their way to the Hyde Park festival, she says that they are all looking to the future and being incredibly progressive. And Orlando, who’s been around a lot longer than Mina, points out that no, they’re not. They’re just nostalgic for their own childhoods. Which, looking back, was a big part of the ’60s. It was reflected in a lot of the haunted nursery rhymes of that period, especially in the music of Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett.

So my actual feelings about the ’60s are that, yes, of course we had limitations. We talked a lot of shit, and we didn’t have the muscle to back it up. For the most part, we had good intentions. However, we were not able to implement those intentions. And when the state started to take us seriously and initiated countermeasures, the majority of us folded like bitches. Not all of us, but a good number. We weren’t up for the struggle that had sounded so great in our manifestos.

Moore mentioned again his multimedia project, which is indeed the project with Mitch Jenkins:

It’s getting out of hand in the best possible way, and might be expressed in any number of media, and across platforms. So we’re going to start shooting that in August, so expect a release date before the end of the year at which point I’ll be able to tell you much more about it.

Wired: Alan Moore Takes League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to the ’60s

Also: Moore’s magazine Dodgem Logic is going to be an online-only publication moving forward.

PZ Myers on Alan Moore and Magic

June 15, 2011 / Klint Finley

A while back Cat Vincent asked why no atheists debated Alan Moore at the skeptics conference TAM London. I told Cat that I personally didn’t have much to debate with Moore.

Moore’s position, staked out in this essay on magic as well as the magic essay from Dodgem Logic 3 (which I think is a better version of the “Fossil Angels” essay, and extends the purpose of magic from art in particular to creativity in general), is that that magic is a process that takes place probably in one’s own mind and doesn’t confer the power to fulfill wishes. For example, in Dodgem Logic he wrote that using magic to try to get money handed to you was pointless. Instead, you were better off using magic to try to find some creative way to actually earn some money. He claims to have seen visions of gods, but admits they could very well be hallucinations. There’s not much room to debate a guy who says magic can’t fulfill all your wishes and that he could be tripping balls mad.

Biologist and noted atheist blogger PZ Myers seems to agree:

Moore has an affinity for a 2nd century oracular sock puppet, but he doesn’t worship it. He believes in magic, but he doesn’t believe in the supernatural. He also doesn’t like religion. I agreed with almost everything he said 100% (although he did speculate a bit about the absence of explanation for memory, which he thought was a mystery because there are no changes in the structure of the brain that last for more than a few weeks, which is total bullshit, and he wondered if the purpose of junk DNA was to store memories, which is bullshit on fire. But, OK, the rest of the talk was mostly fun.)

Moore is a writer, and his explanation was basically that the weirdness was to spark creativity; for instance, he talked about staring into a quartz crystal and seeing visions, but he was quite plain that it wasn’t supernatural, it wasn’t the crystal, it was his own mind generating and imposing ideas on what he saw. And that’s all right with me — it fits very well with how I see science functioning.

Pharyngula: Alan Moore at Cheltenham

Actually, I think if there’s anything to debate Alan Moore about it’s whether what he describes as magic is truly “magic” at all. But I’m not particularly interested in having that debate, and I doubt he really is either.

Alan Moore Hints That He May Be Making a Video Game

May 6, 2011 / Klint Finley

Alan Moore

The revelation came during a Q&A at an event celebrating his fine magazine Dodgem Logic last night in London, where Moore was asked if he had considered making video games. […]

Moore revealed that he is now looking at a project created with a number of different mediums in mind. While it’s evidently not settled yet, he said there may be “possibly some surprising stuff happening in the next 12 months”

Shack News: Alan Moore hints at making video game

One shouldn’t read too much into this, he could just be referring to Jimmy’s End, which is supposed to be both a film and a television series.

(via Matt Stags)

Damon Albarn Is Going Ahead with the John Dee Opera Without Alan Moore

March 18, 2011 / Klint Finley

Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn has written and will star in a stage show about 16th Century alchemist, astrologer and spy John Dee.

A musical work based on Elizabeth I’s medical and scientific adviser, Doctor Dee will have its premiere in July at the Manchester International Festival.

It will then be staged at the home of the English National Opera as part of London’s Cultural Olympiad programme.

BBC: Damon Albarn to star in new stage show

(via John Reppion)

Previously: Alan Moore explains why he canceled his involvement in the opera.

Al Columbia Finally Reveals What Happened to the Big Numbers # 4 Artwork

February 14, 2011 / Klint Finley

Sebadoh
Sebadoh cover with Al Columbia’s Big Numbers art

In an interview on the Inkstuds podcast, artist Al Columbia reveals what happened to the artwork for Big Numbers # 4. Comic Book Resources transcribes the reveal:

I was roommates with all the guys in this band called Sebadoh, which were particularly large back in the day — Lou Barlow, Eric Gaffney, and Jason Loewenstein, they were all hanging out. And Eric Gaffney was gonna put out this single, this little split single with somebody, and he wanted artwork for it and he wanted me to do something. He was big into collages and stuff like that, and we got the idea that I would chop up all this Big Numbers artwork and make a collage out of it for his album cover. I don’t know how I got the idea, but I just hated [Big Numbers] — I didn’t want anything to do with it, I had already quit it or I was going to, I knew I wasn’t going to have anything to do with it. So we put every page on a chopping block, one of those big slicers, and I just chopped it up madly for about a half hour — just sliced the whole thing up with a chopper. And Marc Arsenault, who’s the Wow Cool guy — I don’t know if anyone knows who he is, the minizine guy — he was a good friend of mine, he came over and just looked horrified. He stood in the doorway and watched me chopping up all the artwork and just went “Oh my God!” I think he must have told somebody I’d done it, and that’s how that [story] got started. But I think even before that, there was something [going around] to that effect. That might have been what influenced me to do it: “Well, they’re saying I did this, I might as well.” I can’t remember, though. But it wasn’t like “Oh my God, I’m gonna flip out, I can’t stand this!” It wasn’t this breakdown. It was just like, “Oh, this’ll make a cool record cover.” That’s it. That’s all it was.

Comic Book Resources: The day indie rock defeated Alan Moore: Al Columbia reveals what happened to Big Numbers #4

See here for some background on why this is a big deal.

Alan Moore on Austin Osman Spare

November 6, 2010 / Klint Finley

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