Julian Gough

An Apple a Day ... Julian Gough

Publisher Marketing: " ... Neither Jeremy Fernando nor Julian Gough are literally concerned with the nominal subjects of their respective contributions to this book; that much seems clear, if anything can be clear in the face of their extravagant attempts to take perhaps the dominant icon of contemporary capitalism - the iPhone (and its variants) - and allow it to mutate into a prickly, resonant metaphor for everything from September 11, ISIS, Anders Behring Breivik, blind gratification, the power of the image, and being itself. Gough's story - 'The iHole' - is not simply irreverent to capitalism's toys, it also seeks to pulverize flat notions of material reality by provoking and disturbing them and, in so doing, fulfills one of the central possibilities of the creative impulse. Fernando's larger target - in 'iS6' - is meaning, or our attempts to force the meaningless into the garb of meaning - although this doesn't simply extend to a different kind of avoidance. He just wants to keep the monster in the game, lest we forget we are monsters." - Neil Murphy, from 'Introduction: When Thought Wanders Off' From the back cover: "Here's the story that convinced me Julian Gough was the right guy to write the end game text for Minecraft." - Notch "Recently described as 'Asia's Sexiest Philosopher', Fernando's erudition and grasp of theory are balanced by a playful approach to popular culture and, in real life, a sartorial elan that does, indeed, match his sobriquet." - Walter Mason Contributor Bio:  Gough, Julian Gough is founder of the underground rock band Toasted Heretic and is renowned in Ireland for his sardonic wit in print and on television. Contributor Bio:  Fernando, Jeremy Jennifer Hope Davy is an artist and writer whose work moves between the poetic and the parodic, largely operating in the form of a gesture, an act or a proposition. She was born and raised primarily in Jersey (New Jersey). She has studied, worked and wandered in various countries across the globe and is now currently in situ. Davy received her Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute, her Masters in Art History and Criticism from the University of Texas San Antonio and completed her PhD at the European Graduate School (EGS), where she is currently a post-doctoral fellow, focusing on contemporary art as an apparatus of mobility within aporetic junctures. Forthcoming books include Staging Aporetic Potential and Pedestrian Stories. In addition to art and writing, Davy has functioned as a critic, curator, editor, producer, and professor of art and media studies. Jeremy Fernando is the Jean Baudrillard Fellow at the European Graduate School, where he is also a Reader in Contemporary Literature & Thought. He works at the intersections of literature, philosophy, and the media; and has written eight books - including Reading Blindly, and Writing Death. His work has also been featured in magazines and journals such as Berfrois, CTheory, TimeOut, and Vice, amongst others. Exploring other media has led him to film, music, and art; and his work has been exhibited in Seoul, Vienna, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He is the general editor of both Delere Press and the thematic magazine One Imperative, and a Fellow of Tembusu College at the National University of Singapore. Julia Holzl is the Maurice Blanchot Fellow at the European Graduate School, where she also received her PhD. Currently completing a second doctorate at the Centre for Modern Thought at Aberdeen University, her present research focuses on the notion of finitude in Blanchot and Heidegger. Julia has studied and taught a variety of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences in Austria, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Thailand, where she has been a Visiting Professor at the Institute of International Studies at Ramkhamhaeng University (Bangkok) since 2009. Book publications include Transience: A poiesis, of dis/appearance (Atropos Press, 2010). Contributor Bio:  Murphy, Neil Flann O'Brien, whose real name was Brian O'Nolan, also wrote under the pen name of Myles na Gopaleen. He was born in 1911 in County Tyrone. A resident of Dublin, he graduated from University College after a brilliant career as a student (editing a magazine called Blather) and joined the Civil Service, in which he eventually attained a senior position. He wrote throughout his life, which ended in Dublin on April 1, 1966. His other novels include The Dalkey Archive, The Third Policeman, The Hard Life, and The Poor Mouth, all available from Dalkey Archive Press. Also available are three volumes of his newspaper columns: The Best of Myles, Further Cuttings from Cruiskeen Lawn, and At War.