BlindCopyRMartonBan

Currently the Unlearning Specialist at the School of No-Media, P.M. is a speaker/writer/artist and an educator. Born and raised in Paris, he moved to the U.S. in the early seventies to live and teach in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco and, more recently, St. Louis. In parallel to teaching media at major universities, his many video-art activities have included documentaries, video installations […]

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ERVIN MARTON 1912-1968

took portraits of major cultural figures like (L to R) PICASSO, COCTEAU, CHAPLIN, LOUIS ARMSTRONG, CHAGALL AND CAMUS, cf. WIKIPEDIA entry • Others include Bachelard, Léautaud, Jacques Prévert, Jean Genet, Yves Montand, Juliette Gréco, Foujita, et al • A photographer and artist born in Budapest, Hungary, he moved to France in 1937 • Received the Libération medal • Blaise Cendrars called him “l’as du noir et du blanc” (the ace of b&w) …

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Pier Marton & The Shoah

The fact that two-thirds of European Jewry were methodically murdered is bound to create a variety of aftershocks. Some ignore it all while others barricade themselves behind a self-righteous “Never Again!” To keep one’s eyes open to the specificity, the unicity, and the viciousness of the antisemitism is not easy. To remain aware of the violence, the demagoguery, and the limits of representation that surround us takes much work.

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Undoing Media-cracy

Pseudo-Urgency-stop-Media Omnipresence-stop-Currency Engulfing Independence-stop-Colonization Secured-stop-Audience Consumes Molds-stop-Mimicry of Stale Themes-STOP-PRETENSE-STOP • We are to be consumed, but in other ways. “Non-media” is what air is to the flying fish as it escapes mortal danger: an existential exploration & revelation. Our tools to save lives – silence (occasionally vociferous), slowness, kindness, and time.

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BLIGHT: Blinded by Sight

1. When we believe our eyes (and ears), all we do is verify what has been stored in our cataloged universe, and end up knowing only what we know & recognize. 2. Every age has its icons: photographers freeze that moment, cinematographers capture that movement. The traces of those fetishistic rituals are revered in museums, theaters and online. 3. Picture-perfect… Captive audiences…

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We Are Nobodies

The clamor is everywhere: BE SOMEBODY!… but those efforts are illusory. Beyond our names and our affiliations lies the same eternal nobody that we were when we were born – and that we will be when we die. What surrounds us – all the stuff, the concepts… – blinds us and entraps us into a fortress, a coffin. These facts, though, do not constitute any reason to become pessimistic, merely realistic. And freer.

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The School of No Media

Our “fullness” and busyness belies a systematic cover-up: as in a sleight of hand, we are blinded by speed and the surplus of images and sounds. Marton’s lifetime of teaching and working in media has made it clear that a search for “non-images” & “non-media” is vital to our existence. The School of No Media represents a last-gasp-effort toward the elusive goal of standing outside a prescribed universe, surrounded by too many assumptions.

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PM’s News & Olds

THE UNBALANCE BETWEEN: 1. excellence and a kind, singular & porous identity that contains some of the scruples, humor, musicality & the beauty of a harsh and confusing, yet benign and rich reality – away from distractions. 2. the stupidity & blindness of complacency, violence, injustice, pretense, egos, short-term/wishful/group “thinking” & empty talk – in all of their surprising embodiments…

“Against oblivion, the present is our present!” — P.M.

THROUGH MYTHS, WISHFUL THINKING, TRANSFERENCE, PROJECTIONS AND ENTROPY, WE WANDER… WILL KINDNESS LESSEN THE DAMAGE?
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