solar anus
Georges Bataille. Surrealist, philosopher, anti-fascist. My fourth-favorite thing about him is the fact that, although he considered himself a medievalist and a librarian and not a philosopher per se, he ended up being influential upon the likes of Foucault, Baudrillard and Derrida, which is kind of badass. My third-favorite thing about him is the writing he did in the late 1930s decrying the Fascist appropriation of Nietzsche’s work. I’d link to that stuff, but can only find the good Nietzsche essay in French, and I’m sure this post is already causing people to roll their eyes as it is. It gets better, trust me.
My second favorite thing about him is the fact that he founded a bizarre secret society called Acéphale (”headless”). The cover of the society’s first journal features a drawing that pretty much looks like it had been done by some late-80s middle schooler on the back of his Pee-Chee folder, after smoking his first joint and listening to Black Sabbath for three hours:
But my very favorite thing about Bataille is a surrealist essay he wrote in his early 20s called “Solar Anus.” It can be found here, and it’s amazing. Some representative quotes:
“Everyone is aware that life is parodic and that it lacks an interpretation. Thus lead is the parody of gold. Air is the parody of water. The brain is the parody of the equator. Coitus is the parody of crime.”
“Beings only die to be born, in the manner of phalluses that leave bodies in order to enter them.”
“The sea continuously jerks off.”
“Love and life appear to be separate only because everything on earth is broken apart by vibrations of various amplitudes and durations.”
“I want to have my throat slashed while violating the girl to whom I will have been able to say: you are the night.”
I’d like to say that context helps, but I’d be lying. But it’s good stuff regardless, despite being a little batshit insane.
My friend Schuyler came up with a Bataille generator which will spit out passages generated from “Solar Anus” for as long as you feel like hitting “refresh.” Oddly enough, the randomization doesn’t do any violence to the original essay, and occasionally improves upon it.