{"id":32329,"date":"2018-12-13T08:47:49","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T13:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/?p=32329"},"modified":"2018-12-14T15:32:29","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T20:32:29","slug":"reality-as-a-metaphysical-construct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/2018\/12\/reality-as-a-metaphysical-construct.html","title":{"rendered":"Reality as a Metaphysical Construct"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Published by Moloko Print<\/a>\ufeff<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It is a rare thing when a book comes along that looks as magnificent as\u00a0Flesh Film<\/em>\u00a0and reads like an hallucination. To be clear, \u00a0J\u00fcrgen Ploog is an author who does not write for everyone. The “story” he tells in\u00a0Flesh Film <\/a><\/em>has the pulpy tone of science fiction, a narrator who sounds like a globe-trotting private eye down on his luck, and a title that signals the author’s take on reality as a metaphysical construct. \u00a0
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The story is in fact nothing more \u2014 or less \u2014 than a collage of words written in Ploog\u2019s customary cut-prose style, derived from the Burroughs-Gysin cut-up technique. And although the tale has the coloration of a Burroughsian world, its atmosphere is unique to Ploog’s experience as a former Lufthansa space jockey. He used to pilot 747s across the world \u2014 it did something<\/span> strange to his sensibility besides giving him a bird\u2019s eye view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As designed by Robert Schalinski for the German publisher Moloko Print<\/a>, the text of Flesh Film<\/i> looks like a manuscript duplicated on an old copying machine. Meanwhile, the visual collages (also \u201cwritten\u201d by Ploog as a series of hieroglyphic fantasies) lend a splendid sort of punctuation to this fever dream. Something else worth noting: Although Ploog’s native language is German, Flesh Film<\/em> was written directly in English. When it comes to cut-prose, he says, “it’s easier that way.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some excerpts for your viewing and reading pleasure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click the images and\/or the captions to enlarge and read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"'Flesh
Flesh Film<\/a><\/em> pages 74 and 75<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He remembers endless night flights when the body of a pilot is transformed into an artifact of silent language. Spoken words can single out patches of time but they cannot stop the tidal flow of space, the ultimate traveler being stranded between islands of matter. On deck a woman is leaning at the rail. Her scarf flutters in the wind. Is she real or just a reflection of the misty sea? He asks her if she is alone. No, crewmembers are watching them. For a long time they stand side by side, neither saying a word. Sometimes he hears her voice, which is but a whisper in the wind. What’s she saying?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"'Flesh<\/a>
Flesh Film<\/a><\/em> pages 82 and 83<\/a><\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"'Flesh<\/a>
Flesh Film<\/a><\/em> pages 96 and 97<\/a> <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Waldo rises noiselessly from his seat, a gun around his naked waist. Agent K. watching the scene feels a sudden rush of blood in his veins. Mata slides by with a lunatic smile, her long snake-like tongue licking her eyeballs. Waldo’s cock goes off with a plop like a cork from a bottle top. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exposed too long. Outside radio voices echo across a place in agony, robot birds circling over a square where dead bodies lie. Sweat dripping down Waldo’s neck, the smell of death & sperm hangs over the land. …<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"'Flesh<\/a>
F<\/em><\/a><\/strong>lesh Film<\/a><\/strong><\/em> pages 112 and 113<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Windblown September.  Fading presence considered strictly TV. A girl called Countess appears on the set & sits down in a bubble of neon. She starts spelling out lunatic Japanese orders with a shiny snakelike tongue.  The backdrop reveals a garbled western Kraut version of the Sahahra that was originally used for Beau Geste.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m signing off right now.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tired & freaked out, the Countess retreats to a small motel room stashing the phone under a pile of pillows.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>
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<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A scary, absent-minded place in the middle of dusty mesa. Birds circling overhead. Like in a dream, Mata is smiling at the end of a long corridor but Waldo just can’t get to her under the fierce light of the stars. Probably just looking for a sperm donor, he tells himself. Nobody ever told him how sophisticated these Earth codes are. Then her smile in the clear mistral air is torn apart by pleasure & pain smeared all over  a black vinyl chair …<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sound of empty slot machines after a round of Russian roulette … sparks of a break-dance in the morning sun …<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is a rare thing when a book comes along that looks as magnificent as\u00a0Flesh Film\u00a0and reads like an hallucination. To be clear, \u00a0J\u00fcrgen Ploog is an author who does not write for everyone. The “story” he tells in\u00a0Flesh Film has the pulpy tone of science fiction, a narrator who sounds like a globe-trotting private […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19,26,18,4,20,23,17,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32329","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-art","8":"category-books","9":"category-literature","10":"category-main","11":"category-media","12":"category-news","13":"category-political-culture","14":"category-uncategorized","15":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/FF-book-cover.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbvgEs-8pr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32329"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32509,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32329\/revisions\/32509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}