M.J. Rose

Meditations on the color black…

Robert Fludd’s black square representing the nothingness that was prior to the universe, from his Utriusque Cosmi (1617) – Source: Wellcome Library.

Black on Black

(The Public Domain Review)

“Should we consider black a colour, the absence of colour or a suspension of vision produced by a deprivation of light? Beginning with Robert Fludd’s attempt to picture nothingness, Eugene Thacker reflects* on some of the ways in which blackness has been used and thought about through the history of art and philosophical thought.

Some time ago I was doing research for a seminar I planned to offer on “media and magic”. I was interested in the concept of magic as it existed in the Renaissance, and in particular with the so-called occult philosophy of thinkers like Marsilio Ficino, Giordano Bruno, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Robert Fludd. It was while reading about Fludd that I discovered a startling image. It was from his major work, an ambitious, multi-volume, syncretic theory-of-everything with the cumbersome title The Metaphysical, Physical, and Technical History of the Two Worlds, the Major as well as the Minor. Fludd published his work between 1617 and 1621, and each volume is generously supplied with diagrams, tables and images. The image that jumped out at me is quite simple. In a section discussing the origin of the universe, Fludd was compelled to speculate on what existed prior to the universe, which he describes as an empty nothingness, a sort of “pre-universe” or “un-universe”. He chose to represent this with a simple black square…”

For the rest click here to visit The Public Domain Review.

Stewart Brand: The dawn of de-extinction. Are you ready?

“Throughout humankind’s history, we’ve driven species after species extinct: the passenger pigeon, the Eastern mountain lion, the dodo…But now, says Stewart Brand, we have the technology (and the biology) to bring back species that humanity wiped out. So — should we?”

The history and genius behind an iconic toy that appeals to the desire in us all to tell our fortunes and futures…

Why the Magic 8 Ball Still Holds Our Fascination
Can a classic toy stay relevant? Signs point to yes

By Robert Klara

“Abe Bookman’s toy was a flop. He should have seen it coming. After all, the toy was a fortune-telling device.

It was 1950, and for the previous four years, Bookman’s company Alabe Crafts had tried to market the Syco-Seer. Sold as a “miracle home fortune teller,” the toy was a cylinder filled with dark liquid containing a pair of floating dice, their surfaces scribed with fateful predictions. Users would ask a question, shake up the Syco-Seer and then wait for the device to give them the answer. Only there weren’t many users, and Alabe’s nesting the cylinder inside a crystal ball in 1948 hadn’t helped.

Then Brunswick Billiards called in search of a promotional toy. Would Alabe consider putting its fortune teller inside of a big eight ball? Alabe said sure. And the rest is toy history….”

For the rest click here to go to adweek.com.