The Gutter: Gutterland JargonWatch™: "Fantasmatic Dramatology"

Gutterland JargonWatch™: "Fantasmatic Dramatology"
Monday, February 6, 2006

We will be the first to admit that, prior to his now-epic tussle with Liz Diller, we had no idea who the fuck Karl Chu was. Color us unconcerned. But now that we've stumbled into the architecture professor's existence and, it follows, his writings, we are very, very concerned. About the future of clarity and good taste in the verbal ejaculations of those who aspire to teach our architect-youth. Below, enjoy a sample of Mr. Chu's description of his "Recursive Library":

Be that as it may, seen from another vantage point, Madonna, the material girl, long after she has departed from this material world, and after having her body and DNA patented, encrypted and transcribed into binary codes and sorted into the digital archives of the Recursive Library, will continue to sing and dance with all her provocative passion and seductive gestures augmented, no doubt, by her perpetually renewed sense of immortality. This phenomenal performance, however, will neither take place solely in the corporeal library of Borges nor represented in the incorporeal pages of the book of simulacrum, but somewhere in-between, a phantasmagoric chamber of bionic proclivities that will be indistinguishable, if not undecidable, from the global sphere of hypervirtuality: an emergent phenomenon which, if all goes well, will be propelled, sustained and modulated by the evolutionary dynamism of a Demiurgic Capitalism that is poised to flourish, with all the vicissitudes that accompany a fantasmatic dramatology of a Brave New World, on the horizon of expectation.

Madonna. For shame. And somewhere, everywhere, Borges dies another death.

· Karl Chu [GSAPP]

Posted in JargonWatch

Reader Comments (15 extant)

Karl (Carl) S Chu sucks...
I will go on with the topic later tonight.
But,for now, I think that sums him up.
(more to come from personal experience)

By whatwhat...in yo face at February 6, 2006 1:07 PM

We look forward to hearing your report...

By The Guttersniper at February 6, 2006 2:09 PM

we have a winner
(Gutterland Jargonwatch, January 27)

By the admonisher at February 6, 2006 3:02 PM

eh? que dice ese chino?

By el matador at February 6, 2006 6:27 PM

As one of my grad school profs put it: "Architects shouldn't write."

By Pete at February 7, 2006 2:43 AM

ok not late night, but early morning, I am sorry.
I will be quick and to the point.

I have had the pleasure to study with said Chu. Students deem him as "theoretical" or "he's a futurist, man" but I believe these are the ones who fall for his game. If he is so "theoretical" then he should be able to teach his theory, which mainly consists of "genetic coding" and knots. But, the man can not explain himself without going through the banter that he is used to.
"Genetic space is the domain of the set of possible worlds generated and mitigated by the machinic phylum over time. This is the zone of emission
radiating out from the decompression of reality, a supercritical explosion of genetic algorithms latent with the capacity to exfoliate out into genetic space. This is not a passive receptacle but an active evolutionary space endowed with dynamical properties and behavior of the epigenetic landscape."

Who are you?
We are the Knights Who Say... 'Ni'!

If you notice, it is basically the same talk as in the original Madonna post, with other jargon.
This guy is getting through architecture, like my brother got through high school.
Also, he can not perform the techniques of craft that he asks of everyone else. How is this a professor if I have to teach him as I learn? This is the greatest flaw of such professors. I pay out far to much money to teach myself. Furthermore, there should not be so much abuse of a TA...used more as a leg than a crutch.

We are the keepers of the sacred words: 'Ni', 'Peng', and 'Neee-wom'!

To highlight Chu's diva status. This guy used to teach at Sci-Arc, Pratt, and Columbia...such a jet-setter.

There is more, but writing about it just makes me want to break things, and pick my nose. I don't think this is damaging as much as it being a way to show what we are spending our money, and a portion of our life, on.

ugh..Chu...hi-yah, karate chop
There might be more

...I think a poignant action that those of the GUTTER should partake of would be to take all of these...um I don't know RRUUUUSSSIIIANNN, writings and put them into the language that all of these....RRUUUSSSIIIAANNNs, apparently don't like to use. What do you think?

"You must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring!"

By whatwhat...in yo face at February 7, 2006 8:11 AM

That's it. Columbia has officially jumped the shark. Thanks, Chu!

By ando's dog at February 7, 2006 11:34 AM

We banned Chu from coming our reviews at my grad school for the reason that he is entirely full of shit.

Besides the writing, his work isn't very good either.

By Anonymous at February 7, 2006 1:21 PM

Eeeeew. Now I feel dirty.

By Steen at February 9, 2006 11:11 AM

10.

backgammon Probaly you should read this. backgammon Hope this helps. See you next life

By backgammon at March 6, 2006 1:04 PM