Coldcut Tribute to Robert Anton Wilson

[squirmelia]

Sunday night at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank, I wandered through a swarm of human beatboxers, on my way to the Robert Anton Wilson memorial event.

Ken Campbell began the night by talking about the Illuminatus! play he originally staged at the Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool in 1976 and then later at the National Theatre.

This was followed by a performance by Coldcut and Mixmaster Morris, who DJed in between tributes. Trippy patterns and diagrams juxtaposed with pictures of Robert Anton Wilson appeared above the stage, accompanied by clips of him speaking and ambient background music.

Ken Campbell had previously mentioned Bill Drummond and araldite, so when Drummond appeared on the stage, he explained why he went to buy araldite and never came back during the play, as well as how influential The Illuminatus! Trilogy was to him. He also mentioned his project The 17 and how after re-reading The Illuminatus! Trilogy before the event, he realised how frequently the number 17 appears in it.

Alan Moore was the final speaker and read a passage from Masks of the Illuminati and then after another burst of Coldcut and Mixmaster Morris, read a greatly moving and interesting piece about Robert Anton Wilson's life and theories.

I missed the end of the event and the after show party due to having to catch a train, but I left with the feeling that I knew a lot more about Robert Anton Wilson than I had previously and that I wanted to re-read some of his books.

Comments

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

There are videos of him reading the Masks of the Illuminati passages here:

http://www.dailymotion.com/pistonjw/alan

Can't find anything of the rest though, unfortunately. :(