Just for the kids who follow this shit – I was against objectology before it was cool…
Perverse Egalitarianism
an otherwise excellent blog
Just for the kids who follow this shit – I was against objectology before it was cool…
Perverse Egalitarianism 
For some reason all this theoretical philosophizing reads like Chinese to me, which is strange because I have a distinct memory of pleasantly reading Hegel.
I must object to your formulation, though I agree with your thought. Unless you are anti-theory (a possible option) I would propose that you say “all this pseudo-theoretical philosophizing reads like Chinese to me”.I think the explanation of this fact and of the difference with Hegel lies in what I call the concept-blindness of OOO. They have a philosophical jargon that has no real concepts underwriting it and they are incapable of seeing the concepts, and thus the arguments, in their interlocutors’ contributions. So any controversy has no substantial content for them, but in their eyes is just a power struggle where anything goes. Informed by a philosophical education your instinct when you read difficult jargon is to look for the concepts behind it. In the case of OOO this reseach does not find anything and you feel you need the key to understanding this foreign language, but you can’t find it as there is no key.
I have trouble keeping up. So lava-lampy ontology is ok now as long as one re-labels it ‘hot objects’?
Yes, because in the concept-free zone of OOO a new label means a new position. Have you noticed as well that units are in now, as we pass from objects to machines to entities to units to unities. NCO, no-concept ontology creates the need for a new style called CRAM (concept replacement amassed massively). Once ontology has been de-concepted new labels can just crop up without justification and then crammed together at will. The new version of the moment is UFO (unit fixated ontology) but thanks to cramming all the old versions can be maintained simultaneously. This keeps everything up in the air by a procedure that I propose to call, in honour of its inventor, levitation.
That’s beautiful…
You kids are as sharp as ever! Making fun of OOO is not as fun as it used to be though – now it’s fairly obvious to anyone that it is utter nonsense and bullshit. I mean now artists are into it! Talk about conceptual degradation…
Do you mean crap artists?
Is there any other kind?
Yes, those who want nothing to do with OOO and other pretentious neo-dogmatism.
Terry,
This had me ROLLING on the floor. Omg, too good. “The new version of the moment is UFO (unit fixated ontology) but thanks to cramming all the old versions can be maintained simultaneously. This keeps everything up in the air by a procedure that I propose to call, in honour of its inventor, levitation.”
That’ll have me going for days.