29 Jul 2009

Realometer - American Romance: A Talk by Mark von Schlegell at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin

'The realometer is like a machine. The realometer reflects the light of the living world of consciousness as it rolls written through recorded time, romancing an ever-changing real.'

The publishing house Merve Verlag is hosting this evening on the rooftop terrace of the House of World Cultures in Berlin to celebrate the release of the new book 'Realometer – American Romance' by Mark von Schlegell, an American science fiction writer and cultural critic based in Cologne. Although not a visual artist but a writer he publishes almost exclusively in the context of art, and has recently given talks about the correlations of his writing practice and art at Hotel Marienbad at Kunstwerke in Berlin as well as at the gallery, bookshop & small press castillo/corrales in Paris.

On August 6th MVS will talk about his approach to writing what he calls 'Fictocriticism' and particularly about the ideas behind the essays in 'Realometer': In the company of writers like Adam Smith, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville and James Tiptree Jr. as well as with the aid of Thoreaus' realometer (Walden), Schlegell explores questions regarding the founding relationship between a genuinely American style of writing and a fundamental, underlying reality.

Mark von Schlegell (b. 1967 in New York) has written numerous essays which have appeared in magazines such as: Parkett, Arttext, Flash Art. His most recently published books are the novels 'Venusia' (2005) and 'Mercury Station' (2009), both with Semiotext(e), and the novella 'High Wichita' (2006, Pork Salad Press). The latest release, 'Realometer - American Romance', is as yet only available in the form of the German translation with Merve Verlag Berlin: Mark von SchlegellRealometer. Amerikanische Romantik, ISBN 978-3-88396-259-7

Following the talk there will be some djing by Andreas Reihse, member of the band Kreidler and one of the co-translators of 'Realometer'.

The event takes place in cooperation with the Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Merve Verlag.