#temporary autonomous zone

[notclevr]

One of my favorite books ever is Temporary Autonomous Zone by Peter Lamborn Wilson, published under the pseudonym Hakim Bey.

I fed a copy of it into Google's NotebookLM which generated this summary and "podcast"

Hakim Bey’s T.A.Z. is a book outlining the concept of Temporary Autonomous Zones (TAZ), which are spaces of freedom and self-expression outside of the control of the state and capitalism. The book argues that these zones can be created through a combination of poetic terr0rism, ontological anarchy, and sorcery, all of which challenge the dominant power structures and norms. Bey proposes a series of strategies for creating and sustaining TAZ, ranging from practical tactics like hacking and squatting to more mystical approaches like ritual magic and altered states of consciousness. The book also examines the historical precedents for TAZ, including pirate utopias, indigenous tribal societies, and anarchist communes, suggesting that the concept is not a new idea but a recurring impulse in human history.

Visit Original Link

[dirtyfilthy]

Poetic Terrorism - Hakim Bey (from “Temporary Autonomous Zone”)

WEIRD DANCING IN ALL-NIGHT computer-banking lobbies. Unauthorized pyrotechnic displays. Land-art, earth-works as bizarre alien artifacts strewn in State Parks. Burglarize houses but instead of stealing, leave Poetic-Terrorist objects. Kidnap someone & make them happy. Pick someone at random & convince them they're the heir to an enormous, useless & amazing fortune--say 5000 square miles of Antarctica, or an aging circus elephant, or an orphanage in Bombay, or a collection of alchemical mss. ...

Bolt up brass commemorative plaques in places (public or private) where you have experienced a revelation or had particularly fulfilling sexual experience, etc.

Go naked for a sign.

Organize a strike in your school or workplace on the grounds that it does not satisfy your need for indolence & spiritual beauty.

Graffiti-art loaned some grace to ugly subways & rigid public monuments--poetic-terrorism-art can also be created for public places: poems scrawled in courthouse lavatories, small fetishes abandoned in parks & restaurants, Xerox-art under windshield-wipers of parked cars, Big Character Slogans pasted on playground walls, anonymous letters mailed to random or chosen recipients (mail fraud), pirate radio transmissions, wet cement...

The audience reaction or aesthetic-shock produced by poetic-terrorism ought to be at least as strong as the emotion of terror-- powerful disgust, sexual arousal, superstitious awe, sudden intuitive breakthrough, dada-esque angst--no matter whether the poetic-terrorism is aimed at one person or many, no matter whether it is "signed" or anonymous, if it does not change someone's life (aside from the artist) it fails.

Poetic-terrorism is an act in a Theater of Cruelty which has no stage, no rows of seats, no tickets & no walls. In order to work at all, poetic-terrorism must categorically be divorced from all conventional structures for art consumption (galleries, publications, media). Even the guerilla Situationist tactics of street theater are perhaps too well known & expected now.

An exquisite seduction carried out not only in the cause of mutual satisfaction but also as a conscious act in a deliberately beautiful life--may be the ultimate poetic-terrorism. The poetic-terrorist behaves like a confidence-trickster whose aim is not money but CHANGE.

Don't do poetic-terrorism for other artists, do it for people who will not realize (at least for a few moments) that what you have done is art. Avoid recognizable art-categories, avoid politics, don't stick around to argue, don't be sentimental; be ruthless, take risks, vandalize only what must be defaced, do something children will remember all their lives--but don't be spontaneous unless the poetic-terrorism Muse has possessed you.

Dress up. Leave a false name. Be legendary. The best poetic-terrorism is against the law, but don't get caught. Art as crime; crime as art

Note: Hakim Bey was (is?) a paedophile and NAMBLA supporter (ala Ginsberg),  however I don’t really have a problem separating the art from the artist (unless it’s Bill Cosby). Death of the Author and all that. His political theory, especially regarding the TAZ, is very influential. 

[flamingkorybante]

I've decided that instead of dealing with Hakim Bey I'm just going to attribute the parts of his writing that I like to Beyoncé.

[mudheadreynolds]

Shopping Cart configuration

[changingpathsresources]

Dreaming of change

Changing Paths challenge day 8: dreams The world is dreaming of alternatives to capitalism and colonialism. The student encampments are temporary autonomous zones (TAZs) where students are demonstrating alternative ways to live: that people from different backgrounds and religions can live side by side, and cooperate. If we want to move away from capitalism, colonialism and the dogma of…

View On WordPress

[khatibjuma]

Welcome to the blog, for anyone who makes it this far.

I'll be posting works in progress for an extended essay, The Modern TAZ.

I was heavily influenced by Hakim Bey's work on the temporary autonomous zone. Time, technology, culture, and context have changed. I endeavour to provide a contemporary update to the original TAZ.

The name "The Modern TAZ" is a hat-tip to Antonio Gramsci's "The Modern Prince", which in turn hearkens back to Nicoló Machiavelli's "The Prince".

[sadoldjonny]

Peter Lamborn Wilson, Advocate of ‘Poetic Terrorism,’ Dies at 76

His concept of a “temporary autonomous zone” became an inspiration for protests like Occupy Wall Street and for gatherings like Burning Man.

Rest in Peace, Peter

[dirtyfilthy]

Libertatia

I keep rolling the idea of building a techno pirate-utopia over in my mind, but where to start? The engineering problems are the easy bit. 

Should I try and come up with some grand overall principles?

Or start with small practical problems (communications, identity etc) and build the solutions, then get people on board and try and figure things out organically?

I dunno, I’m not sure if I have a clear enough vision of what I want to begin yet.

I’m pretty sure that, like Field of Dreams, “if I build it, they will come”. There’s got to be enough people out there who want something different and are willing take a little risk.