I have sort of specifically never given much of a shit about philosophy or philosophers before, but I do like a photo that can make me feel alive.
In poking through my iTunes for some late night time experimental electronic tunages, I discovered the Matmos Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth of a Beast record, all songs on which are “dedicated” to a certain famous-not-famous queer person. I recognized most of the names (including Valerie Solanas, William S Burroughs, Darby Crash), but not the dedicatee of the first track, ”Roses and Teeth for Ludwig Wittgenstein”.
From here I rabbit-holed on Wittgenstein—not a German king as I suspected but in fact a Jewish early 20th C philosopher—and, voila, discovered the striking image above. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but this photo blows me away in both Wittgenstein’s strikingly-attractive, ultra-modern proto-hipster look and in the way the photographer managed to capture him so perfectly and non-Germanly looking into the camera, as if he’s talking to you about his work (while knowing you aren’t getting it, though you should). Really fucking amazing, this photo.
As an aside, I’ve now listened to this whole Matmos record too and have been reminded of the challenging relationship I’ve had with these artists as a band that strikes a weird balance between “great, interesting, inspired!” and “pretentious, clinical, non-musical, boring”. The Ludwig track alas falls into the latter category but there are three great numbers listed below worth mentioning (in a feat remarkably appropriate for the man himself, the William Burroughs track manages to be both “interesting, inspired” and “pretentious, boring”):
- “Semen Song for James Bidgood” (f. Antony)
- “Snails and Lasers for Patricia Highsmith”
- “Solo Buttons for Joe Meek”
The first is included for your aural review.
