Patrick Wolf - Together (Live at Pool Studios)

Oh my.

Lebbeus Woods, 1940-2012

One of my greatest philosophical influences has passed away at age 72. As long-time friends of Burnlab know, the work of architect, theorist, disruptor, artist, teacher, terrorist with a pencil and Michigan native Lebbeus Woods has appeared on these pages more than a few times. Woods was an erudite iconoclast of the very highest order. He was an intellectual with punk ethics throbbing in his blood. There is so much I could say, but I will leave you with his own words. The following brief manifesto "was read aloud on the steps of the burned-out Olympic Museum in Sarajevo on November 26, 1993, in full view of Serbian snipers and artillery gunners."

Architecture and war are not incompatible. Architecture is war. War is architecture.I am at war with my time, with history, with all authority that resides in fixed and frightened forms. I am one of millions who do not fit in, who have no home, no family, no doctrine, no firm place to call my own, no known beginning or end, no “sacred and primordial site.” I declare war on all icons and finalities, on all histories that would chain me with my own falseness, my own pitiful fears. I know only moments, and lifetimes that are as moments, and forms that appear with infinite strength, then “melt into air.” I am an architect, a constructor of worlds, a sensualist who worships the flesh, the melody, a silhouette against the darkening sky. I cannot know your name. Nor you can know mine. Tomorrow, we begin together the construction of a city.

Lebbeus Woods blog

Without Walls: 2007 BLDGBLOG interview

BLDGBLOG tribute

The Guardian tribute

Theatre Bizarre "Summoning" a Second Year at the Masonic Temple

Excellent interview with design genius John Dunivant about Theatre Bizarre and the largest (and possibly weirdest) Masonic Temple in the world:

Theatre Bizarre "Summoning" a Second Year at the Masonic Temple: Detroit’s underground carnival is heading back to the Masonic Temple this fall. John Dunivant is co-creator and the artist-designer of Theatre Bizarre. The design of this year’s edition of, what organizers call, “The Greatest Masquerade on Earth” picks up where last year’s ended.

Dunivant spoke recently to WDET’s Rob St. Mary about this year's event "The Summoning", the design, working with the Masonic Temple, lessons learned from last year's event and the current state of Theatre Bizarre's "grounds".

Weirdos Who Make Stuff

An excellent article about OmniCorpDetroit graces the cover of Detroit's alt weekly Metro Times today.

The Nerdy Playhouse

Author Laurie Smolenski does a fantastic job capturing the essence of OCD:

The OCD pop machine dispenses Pabst and strange treasures. Like a bizarre twist on the secret prize of an arcade game, if you press the machine's mystery button and feed it a buck, you may win a something most unexpected, like a bottle filled with colored tinsel. And it's not the prize that matters; it's that some grown-up hacked this thing to dispense hilarious junk that other grown-ups made, probably just to make each other laugh. This is the credo steeped through OCD: hilarious, whimsical, handmade genius. It's stuff that both confuses and illuminates, that incites discussion, and calls us to wonder how it is that things are made.

40

There's a rumor going around that Dethlab [T0ybreaker, David Blunk II and myself] are opening for Black Asteroid on the eve of my birthday in Boston.