tsBN 978-0-81 66-7 822-8

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VnMPYRoTEUTHISINFERNALIS

A Treatise, with a Report by the InstitutScientitique de Recherche Paranaturaliste

VrlÉivr Fr-ussBnand

Lours Brc

Translated by Valentine A. Pakis

posthumanltles 23

Uniaersity of Mi.nnesota Press

Mi.nneaþolis

Lond,on

tYlINNEso1A

originalty publisbed as vomþyroteuthi.s i.nfernoli.s: Bi.ne abhønd.Iung sømt

Befund. d.es Insti.tut Sci.enti.fique d.e R.echerche PøranøturøIi.súe. Copyright

1987 European Photography, Andreas Müller-Pohle, P. O. Box o8 oz 2 7,D-tooo2Berlin, Germany. www.equivalence.com. Edition Flusser, volume vI (zooos).

Copyright zon by rJte Regents of the University of Minnesota

All rights reserved. No part of ttris publication may be reproduced, stored in

a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, rêcording, or otlerwise, without the prior written

permission of the publisher.

Published by the University of Minnesota Press

r r r Third Avenue South, Suite z9o

Minneapolis, MN 554or-z5zohttp://www.upress.umn.edu

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION CATA

Flusser, Vilém, rgzo-r99r.

lVampyroteuthis infernalis. English]

vampyroteuthis infernalis : a treatise : with a report by the Institut scienti-

fique de recherche paranaturaliste / Vilém Flusser and Louis Bec ; translated

by Valentine A. Pakis.(Posthumanities; z3)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

rsBN 978-o-8r 66-782t-r (hc : alk. paper)

rsBN 978-G8r 66-7822-8 (pb : alk' paper)

1. Vampire squid. L Bec, Louis, rg3ó-. II. Institut scientifique de recherche

paranaturaliste. Itr. Title.

QL43o.3.v35F5813 zorz

594'.58-lcz3zorzooSrgg

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

The university of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer.

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CONTENTS

THE TREATISE

I. Octopoda

II. Genealogy. . -

The Phylurn MolluscaThe Class Cephalopoda

T h e S p e cie s Vampyroteuthis infernalis giovanni

III. The Vampyroteuthic WorldIts Mod.el

The Abyss

VamþyroteuthicDasein

IV. Vampyroteuthic CultureIts ThinÞing

Its Social LifeIts Art

V. Its Emergence

REPORT BY THE INSTITUT SCIENTIFIQUE DERECHERCHE PARANATURALISTE

5

II

27

45

6g

IVVAMPYROTEUTHIC CULTURE

Its ThinkingTrrr vronB wE LEARN ABour rHoucHT pRocESSES, THEmore mysterious they become. How are we able to control, asthough from the outside, our inner thoughts? How and wheredo our brain and central nervous system process data? It seemsabsurd to locate this function exclusively inside the brain it-self, as though a computer programmer can be found insidea computer. Yet it seems just as absurd to locate this functionelsewhere, for instance in the Cartesian pineal gland. To do sowould be to renew the vain search for the ,,seat of the soul."Several mental processes-perception, symbolic understand-ing, imagination, learning, reading and writing, rememberingand forgetting, for example-are fairly well understood by neu-rophysiologists. Their centers have been identifred within thebrain, and many other thought processes are, without a doubt,just as analyzable- But it is precisely thanks to such scientificadvances that our ability to access these processes from the out-side-to step outside of ourselves, so to speak-has become allthe more uncanny. That is to say, the traditional concepts of"Geist" and ('soul" have become more and more aberrant. Thisaberrance is in no way diminished if, for ,,soul,', we substitute"reflection" (Nachdenken). There can be no doubt that thevampyroteuthis reflects.

45

46

Its sensory organs transmit bits of information to its brain thatare no less complex than those transmitted to ours. Its brainmust, therefore, process this data with methods that are accord-

ingly complex. It could not survive, any less than we could, with-out having control over these processes. If we-momentarilyleaving aside the 5sul-\Ã/g¡s to replace the term "reflection" with"philosophizirtg," then we would have to concede that, no less

than we could, the vampyroteuthis could not survive withoutphilosophy. We should thus be able to compare vampyroteuthicwith human philosophy (and with the sciences that have derivedfrom it).

There is nothing, however, that could possibly be called "hu-man philosophy." There are only different methods of reflection,

and the sum total of these methods is far too paltry to be calledphilosophy. Luckily enough, this problem can be circumvented.In the West, where the present fable is being written, "philoso-phy" has a fairly clear meaning: it is a mode of reflection thatwas devised, not too long ago, by a handful of Greeks. This is, ofcourse, an embarrassing reality. The vampyroteuthis would rollwith laughter upon learning that the methodological reflection

of "Homo saþiens saþiens," a millennia-old species, had been

developed only in a few European villages, and so late at that.Nevertheless, we have no other option than to compare vampyr-

oteuthic philosophy with this rather undeveloped method of hu-

man reflection.Reflection is the process by which reason (nous) penetrates

behind appearances (þhainomena) in order to be able to thinkabout them. Reflection is thus preliminary to thinking. The role

of reason in this process is that of a scalpel: it dissects phenom-

ena into discernible rations. This rationalizing allows us to lookthrough phenomena, to look through the gaps between the ra-

tions: this is "theory." And it also allows us to manipulate these

rations: this is "praxis." Finally, rationalization serves to circum-scribe future thoughts and manipulations by providing flxed

Varnþyroteuthic Culture 47

standards that can be applied to what is thought and manipu_lated. To reflect as a human, in the end, is to wield a knife, andthe stone knives of the Paleolithic era-the earliest human in-struments-indicate when it was that we began to reflect.

We trace our fingers along the dissected rations of phenom_ena in order to comprehend and define their contours. With atheoretical gaze) we then disassociate these defrned contoursfrom the dissected phenomenon, at which point we are holdingan empty husk. We call this empty husk a,,concept," and we useit to collect other rations of phenomena that have not yet beenfully defrned. We use concepts as models. In doing so, v/e createa mêlée between dissected appearances and empty concepts-between phenomena and models. The unfortunate outcome ofthis conflict is that we can no longer discern any phenomena forwhich we have not already established a model. Since we can nolonger apprehend model-less phenomena, we therefore brandishthe scalpel of reason simply to tailor phenomena to our models.Human reflection, in other words, is the act of constricting thefeedback loop between models and phenomena.

The vampyroteuthis, on the other hand, has no knife, no needfor human reason. fts çh¡o_m_qtopho¡es_ e¡4!! cones of light thatdelineate the darkness into ration s before they are conceived. rtireason is therefore preconceptual. rt perceives things rationallyin order to comp,reþend tÞem; its tg4!qc_199 [gllq_U-ttrçqg ç94e_s- of_!!g!t only to comprehend what this light-reason has already ra-tionalized. Since its tentacles are equipped with sexual orlans,

-

the concepts that it abstracts from these illuminated cones of rea-.o¡-r(pur€ reason," as we would say-are sexually laden: Thereare male and female concepts. when the male rationally illumi-nates a female to grasp (comprehend) its abdomen, and whenthe female responds by rationally illuminating the male to grasp(comprehend) its penis, what occurs is the masculine compre-hension of feminine concepts and the feminine comprehensionof masculine concepts. Masculine and feminine concepts, thatis, are synthesized during copulation, and these synthesized con-cepts can then be used as models for phenomena-phenomena as

Vamþ y r o t eut hi c C ultur e

{<i<*

l.

48 Varnþyroteuthic Culture

simple as the stones on the seabed. It follows that human reason,

which slices and dissec{s, corresponds in the vampyroteuthis tocoitus and orgasm, which domprehend. Its concepts are gener-

ated by orgasms, and its philosophy is synonymous with copu-lation.

Iluman coitus has no clear place or function in refl.ection, andthis is because it remains undetermined whether our coitus is apublic or private act. Vampyroteuthic coitus, on the contrary', isthe ultimate political event. It corresponds to something like theacademy or to the agora of Greek cities. It is the ultimate politicalevent not only because it is responsible for the regeneration of so-

ciety but also because everything it conceives in the world is im-pregnated-given life-by means of copulation. Its every ontol-ogy is an analysis of sex, an effort to differentiate between maleand female being. The rules of its reflection are sexual rules. Thelogic of sex governs the slmtax of its language (the colorationsand illuminations of its skin). If, while philosophizing, the vam-pyroteuthis is able to abstract these sexual rules from phenom-

ena-if it manages to practice pure science-then it will beholdthe structure of pure sex. This theoretical insight causes it to cli-max.

Its very frrst philosophical inquiry is concerned with sex, andall others come later. The aim of this initial inquiry approximatesthat of what we might call psychoanalysis, and it is with thisphilosophical foundation that it goes on to analyze everythingelse, even things repressed and unsexual. In the end, and aftermuch intellectual labor, it is compelled to plunge into those deep

regions of thought where we practice analytic geometry. That is,

the history of vampyroteuthic philosophy resembles ours, onll'in reverse. Its most archaic achievement is something like that ofFreud, its most advanced like that of þthagoras.

The vampyroteuthis is indeed a historical being, but we willhave to reformulate the term "history" before it can be properlvapplied to it. For us, history designates the process that allowsus to record acquired information, and it has two distinguish-able phases: "prehistory" during which information is simpll'

Varnþyroteuthic Culture 49

recorded, and "history in the strict sense," during which the re-cording of information is deliberate and intended. As far as thevampyroteuthis is concerned, this is an inadequate formulation,and we should tìerefore allow it a brief opportunity to criticizethe human conception of history:

Homo sapiens sapiens is a rnarnmal that, ha,ing uþlifted. itsbody carriage from the ground, has freely d.angting forerimbs.As is the case with allmamrnals, its eyes refract rays of the sun,and the data that it acquires in this uay are transrnitted.fromthe brain to the hands. Its hands, in turn, transrnit this infor-rnation to its enaironment by handting it. Thus the human isa sort of feedbacÞ looþ through whi.ch d.ata, gathered.from outof the world, can re-enter into the ztorld.. But since the hu-rnan organism (esþecially its brain) is comþlex, informationis distorted during this feedbøck þrocess. It is þrocessed bythe brøin, which coordinates i.t refi,exiaely and. transmits it ina reconfi'gured form to the hand, by which it is retransmitted,onto the world. In thi.s sense, the data that humans cast backinto the world reþresent new i.nformation. This neut informa-tion is liþ,ewise þerceiaed by the eyes, þrocessed. by the brain,and returned to the world in a restructured.form. It is throughthis þrocess that the human transforms both its environmentand itself. In short: human history.

To understand this historyfurther, it is necessary to þnowthat t_he existentialfocus of mammals is the stomach. The hu-rnan, no exceþtion, is motiaated to transform the world. and. i.t_self by its stomach. Human history has economic infrastruc_tures that are þhenomenologically cleør to see: The objects ofthe world that are altered by human hand^ are meønt, in thebroadest sense, to sente di,gestion. These same objects haaehardly any sexual d.imension. Infact, humøn sexual behaaiorhas scarcely changed oaer the course of its history. It has re-rn ain e d þ r a c t i c ally an irn ali s ti c an d. ah i s t o ri c al.

This anomaly, this suþþression of the sexual aþþaratusby the digestiae, cannot be ad.equately erþIained. by biotogy

!

50 Varnþyroteuthic Culture

alone. It cannot be exþlained, for instance, as an evolutionarytrend. in the deaeloþment of chordate intestines. On the con-

trary, this anomaly has rnainly historical roots. The human

male is somewhat larger than the fernale. Since the beginningof history, it seems as though the male has oþþressed the fe-male and høs liaed, eaer since, infear offemale rebellion' Thus

haae humans managed to lose the entire dimension of femølethought and actiuity. We aamþyroteuthes are left tttith aratherþathological imþression of human history, one that can be un-derstood in terms of the reþression of sexuality for fear of the

female. Human history is a history of aff iction.Hurnans are surrou,nded by a mixture of gases called "air"

Most inhabitants of the air þossess an organ that can co.use

this gas to resonate. Amonghurnans, these resonances are cod-

ifi.ed and used, like our chrornatoþhoric emissions, to transmitintrasþecif,c information. Human mernory is consequently d,e-

signed to store information that is transmitted in this way-

Cornþared to ou.rs, howeaer, its rnemory seems rudirnentary,

for the hurnan is continuously reaching out for mnemonic

crutches. It channels the majority of what it wants to com-

municate onto inanirnate objects, zøhich exist in Large nurn-

ber on the relatively infertile continents, and these newly

"(in)forrned" objects are meant to serz¡e as rnnenxonic aids.

A peculiar consequence of this blunder is that human his-tory, in contrast to a genuine history such as ou.rs, can be as-

certained objectiaely-it can be established on the basis ofthese "(in)forrned" objects. Not only zue uamþyroteuthes but

euen & aisitor from Mars could reconstruct hurnan history

from these entities. Since it is soaked uþ by objectiae matter,

hurnan history is not þroþerly intersubjectiae. It is an utter

failure.

From the foregoing cultural critique we are able to reconstruct

certain aspects of the vampyroteuthic conception of history. Atthe heart of this history lies a process of storing intersubjectivelycommunicated information, and therefore the central question

Vamþyroteuthic Culture 5r

concerns the intersubjective media by which information istransmitted. These media are glands: vampyroteuthic history isa glandular history, a history of secretions.

In this respect. the most important of its are the chro-matophores, the original function of which was of a sexual na_ture: its colorations were meant to attract a sexual partner. It isknown, however, that these displays of color give outward ex-pression to the inner thoughts of the organism-that chromaticsecretions serve to articulate its volatile immanence. These dis-plays are coordinated to the extent that every chromatophoreis singly controlled by the brain, and the individual glandularcontractions can be synchronized. Their chromatic language isintraspecific. What remains unknown is whether the code haschanged throughout history.

A second type of gland secretes a gelatinogs compound, therelease of which renders the entire body virtually transparent.Physiologically, the function of this gland is to release bodilypressure; it enables the vampyroteuthis to ascend to shallowerquarters of the sea. It should be noted that lesser octopods em-ploy this gland to conceal themselves from enemies. In the caseof the vampyroteuthis, however, it enables the sender of chro-matic information to become invisible to its receiver. rn that theyconceal the messenger, the messages are abstract. We would saythat this gland facilitates lying.

A third type of gland, located in the mouth, secretes a para-lyzing poison. The original function of this secretion, which par-alyzes but does not kill, was of course to assist in the capture ofprey. For the vampyroteuthis, however, it serves the additionalfunction of arresting the form of incoming information, makingit intelligible. This gland is an epistemological organ; it convertsmental impressions into processed bits of data that can be com-municated later on.-- Yet another gland used to convey history is the diverticulum,

the cavity that discharges sepia into the surrounding area. Ac-cording to popular opinion, octopuses deploy this floating cloudof ink, which they shape into their own image, simply to mislead

\

52 Vamþyroteuthic Culture

their enemies, but there is more to the story. Closer observationof the vampyroteuthis's relatives has revealed that the act ofsculpting the sepia cloud has nothing to do with their enemies

and that, beyond self-portraits, they fabricate countless otherforms that are indecipherable to us. We have to assume, then,

that the vampyroteuthis broadcasts information in sepia clouds.

For two reasons, however, its manipulation of this cloudy mate-

rial is incomparable to our own production of cultural artifacts.The frrst is simply the ephemerality of the sepia cloud. Its edges

dissipate too quickly for it to serve as a (relatively) permanent

store of information. The second reason is that the informationcommunicated with these clouds is exclusively intended to mis-

lead its receiver. These nebulous manipulations are meant to de-

ceive. We would say that this gland, too, facilitates þing.So far so good. Our appraisal of vampyroteuthic history and

culture has begun to take shape. Like us, it gathers information.This it does by emitting a cone of light into the world, by extract-ing units of information out of this light with its tentacles, and

by paralyzing these units into data. Having arrived in the cen-

tral nervous system, information is processed, compared to thatwhich is already stored there, and then sent in an intraspecificcode-by means of glands-to other vampyroteuthes, which inturn store it in their memories. Thus there emerges an ongoing

dialogue between vampyroteuthes, the nature of which ensures

that the sum of available information will only and ever increase.

That is vampyroteuthic history.It must be kept in mind. however, that all of this has the char-

acter of a conspiracy. The spirit of their dialogue is perfidious,

for the transmitted data is meant to deceive: they are lies. As a

species, the vampyroteuthis deludes all other species, and every

group of vampyroteuthes deludes every other group; the individ-ual deceives all others in the group, and every vampyroteuthisdeceives all others. The vampyroteuthic code is a peculiar typeof cryptography that is not meant to be decrypted, or rather, itsdecryption yields further deceptive encryptions. The underlyingpurpose of all vampyroteuthic communication is to deceive the

Vamþyroteuthic Culture 53

other in orQer_tg_dçy_oyr it. Its_is a çlfltgre_€d_eç_e_i!,_p_Ig!e_4se, a-nd

f4lgehood. Broadly speaking, one could even call it a culture ofart-

This cultural critique of the vampyroteuthis raises a Darwinianquestion: What is the evolutionary function of its culture? Well,the deception of all other species promotes the survival of thespecies vampyroteuthis, the deception (seduction) of sexual part-ners promotes reproduction, and the de__ce-ption of all other vam_pyroteuthes promotes the survival of the individual. It would notbe outlandish to claim that this is the most sophisticated strategythat evolution has ever devised. But how can t-his Darwinian,sociobiological explanation of vampyroteuthic culture be recon-ciled with its orgasmic, orphic, and artistic character? A Scho-penhauerian answer comes to mind: vampyroteuthic culture isa display of light and color, an exhibition, which works to maskthe demonic predator's will to porÄ/er. During our examinationof this culture, we too were entranced (swindled) by its beauty:it is a seductive culture of colors, lights, forms, and caresses thatleads---on all levels of. Dasein-to o--rgasm. And y_et it_diqg¡1 sestbe will to death. (Does not our own culture, albeit with differentmethods, go out of its way to disguise death?)

The vampyroteuthis is a myt_hom4lrlqqa! d$_giver. For it, theopposite of truth is not falsehood but dishonesty. Whereas wephilosophize in order to proceed from falsehood to truth, it phi-losophizes in order to lie ever more completely. As it seems, thesetwo philosophical conventions are worlds apart.

Its Social LifeTrrB por,r-owrNc CoNSTDERATToNS ARE BASED oN THEpresupposition that what we call ,,evolution,, is, essentially, thetendency of life toward socialization. Life is made up of cells.They are the building blocks, the ',atoms," of life. From a pre-biological perspective, of course, cells are complex structures in

a

54 Vam,þyroteuthic Culture

themselves, but they are regarded as the fundamental elements

of biology proper. It is possible, in fact, to understand life on

earth as nothing more than the shuffling of individual, isolated

cells-like the tiles of a mosaic in progress-in such a way thatthe cells divide and multiply without dying in the process. For an

idea of this teeming and immortal mosaic of life, simply considerthe current population of protozoa, the single-celled life-formsthat still constitute the great majority of biomass on earth.

The tendency to live together arose at a very early stage inthe development of life. Oddly enough, this tendency can also be

regarded as a tendency toward death. This is because an organi-zation of cells, a cellular.community, cannot divide itself-as an

individual cell can-without losing its embodied information.When an organization of cells divides, its information decom-poses, and the decomposition of information is precisely whatis meant by "death." Surely there are numerous causal explana-tions-biochemical, for instance-for this death drive in life, bulthese are of little concern to this fable. The goal here is ratherto relocate the discourse concerned with the tendency of life to-

ward socialization. To be precise, the aim is to transplant thisdiscourse from the optimistic perspective of "progressive" think-ing into the more sobering perspective of the post-Auschwitz.thermonuclear era.

The earliest communities of cells, those of the mesozoa andparazoa, are colonies in which the individual cells have retained

their individuality. As organizations, they are thus reminiscent ofhuman society: each member lives for itself in collaboration vvith

others. From this stage, evolution then leaped to that of meta-

zoa) a truly startling transition. At this stage, cells forsake theirindividuality and live only as a function of society: they become

specialized functionaries. What is more, a hierarchy of functionsemerges that resembles human bureaucracies. The lowest level

of this hierarchy is represented by cell tissue, the next by organs,

and the highest by organisms. Individual cells work in the ser-

vice of tissues, which work in the service of the organs, which in

Vamþyroteuthic Culture 55

turn serve organisms (by which I mean something like the hu_man body, not a totalitarian state). Certain cells, however, havemanaged to evade this process of specialization and have thus re-tained their individuality, namely, gametes-)-Ova and spermato- 'zoa behave like protozoa; being immortal, they hold organismsin contempt.

Yet we have not fully appreciated the evolutionary transitioninto metazoic life, for organisms---complex organizations of cel-lular hierarchies-come to acquire an individuality of their own,an "indivisibility" (as etymology implies). Such is the perverseoutcome of cellular socialization. An organism is not a society ofcells but rather an individual; it is like an individual cell, only ona higher level. It should come as no surprise, then, that the sametendency toward socialization and death that manifests itself inindividual cells is observable in organisms as weil. rndividualorganisms of the same type are inclined to live together, and itis this inclination that leads to the formation of such groups asherds, packs, and human society. Though on a higher level, suchgroups are analogous to the loose societies of mesozoa and para_zoa: they are porous and poorly established organizations.

In the case of insects, however, and especially Hymenoptera,evolution leaped from its metazoic stage to an even higher level ofsocialization. Supersocieties developed (anthills and beehives), inwhich individual organisms acquired specialized functions andsacrifrced their organic individuality to perform them (as queens,drones, workers, and so on). Such a novgl process of socializationwarrants critical attention, if for no other reason than it mightprovide a model for the future of human interaction.

Though often highly cerebralized organisms, insects sufferfrom a major design flaw, namely, their exoskeleton. This has tobe shed from time to time as insects grow, leaving them periodi-cally vulnerable. Moreover, if they were comparable in size to us,insects would be crushed to death by their own weight. As indi-vidual organisms, insects are thus condemned to be very small.The purpose of the superorganism is to overcome this design

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56 Vamþyroteuthic Culture

flaw. Superorganisms have a tessellated brain, the capacity ofwhich rivals our own. It is for this reason that ants, for instance,

are capable of challenging our putative dominion over the conti-nents. That matter aside, what is essential about a society of ants

is the following: It is an individual, albeit on a higher level than

that of an individual organism. The functions of the individualants are not social but biological. The queen ant does not behave

toward a worker ant as a general does toward a common soldier,

no-their relationship is rather like that between a stomach and

a liver. The society of an anthill operates according to biologicalrather than political rules. If myrmecological politics can be said

to exist, it would come into play only between one anthill and an-

other, never between individual ants.

To speak of politics is to speak of freedom. As part of a super-

organism, ants have sacriflced their freedom; as part of an organ-

ism, cells have done the same. A consequence of this sacrifice is

the creation of a new freedom, namely, that of the superorganism

and the organism. This new freedom is created because the pre-

ceding and sacrifrced freedom was biologized. Put another way,

freedom exists where biological rules (regulations) have not fullyencroached upon life. Freedom is a provisional stage in the ten-

dency of evolution toward socialization and death. Those who

explain þuman life as a function of biology-this would include

economic explanations, since the economy is a digestive func-

tion-are "progressivel': They are wallowing in the evolutionary

tendency toward socialization and death and are thereby contrib-uting to the abolishment of freedom. Those who champion free-

dom, on the other hand, are "reactionary": they are attempting to

resist the biological tendency toward socialization and death inorder to conserve space for a fleeting, provisional condition.

Unlike ants and bees, vampyroteuthes and humans are individ-ual organisms that live in poorly organized societies. They are,

as organisms, free individuals, but their freedom is threatened

by their societies, which are becoming ever better organized and

thus ever more conscious of biological regulations. They are in

Varn.þyroteuthic Culture 57

danger of becoming, sooner or later, like ants or bees. Like hu-mans, that is, the vampyroteuthis is also confronted with theproblem of freedom in the form of an antibiological struggle, butat the bottom of the sea this conflict manifests itself in an entirelydifferent way. Let us then make an effort to extract the politi-cal engagements of the vampyroteuthis from the darkness of itsabyss.

We know the following facts about the social life of the vam-pyroteuthis: the female lays its eggs in clusters; both the maleand the female protect the eggs: the hatched young arrangethemselves into groups according to these clusters; the vampyro-teuthis is inclined toward suicide and cannibalism; it communi-cates in intraspecific codes. For now we will have to be contentwith these few details.

The central social phenomenon is the clustered configurationof the oviposited eggs, just as the central social phenomenon ofhumans, by way of analogy, is the structure of the family. Eachegg cluster contains a group of "twins,' (simultaneously hatchedindividuals) that are interrelated according to a genetically pre-determined hierarchy. Iluman siblings are also hierarchized-afact that explains the great discrepancy between our conceptionsof fraternity and equality-but our fraternal hierarchies are, forthe most part, culturally determined. The hierarchical structuresin African tribes, for instance, can differ from those in China orthe West. If we were to advocate, that is, for equality and againstfraternity (or vice versa), we would be agitating for or againsthistorical contingencies. If the vampyroteuthis, on the contraryshould take the side of equality over fraternity, it would be agi-tating against its own biological condition.

For the vampyroteuthis, fraternity is synonymous with so-ciety; vampyroteuthes live in clusters of twins. If, in the nameof equality, the vampyroteuthis were to settle against fraternity,this settlement would not only be antibiological but also anti-social. If we are to understand political activity as the attemptto change the structure of society, then vampyroteuthic ,,politics,'

would represent the attempt to abolish, outright, its iniquitous

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53 Vamþyroteuthic Culture

social structure. In other u/ords, its "politics" is s¡monymous withanarchy. Because the hierarchy of the ovular clusters is biologi-cally determined, there can be no other social structure, and thus

the political ideal of the vampyroteuthis is anarchic, fraternalstrife. Of course, fraternity has lost some of its shine for us, too, atleast since Freud shared his thoughts about brotherly hatred-or, perhaps, ever since there have been Big Brothers. To some de-

gree, at least, we can relate to the vampyroteuthic struggle.

In comparing its political activity to ours, we recognize atonce that the tension underlying its efforts is far more taut and

volatile than that which drives our own. It is true that all of ourpolitical activity is likerryise directed against our biological condi-tion, against biologically predetermined inequalities. The differ-ence is that our biologically predetermined inequalities also have

a large and overlying cultural component. Our political struggles

are thus against this cultural superstructure, which we strive torebuild. Moreove¡ we are able to imagine cultural structures("Utopias") in which even our biological constraints are done

away with. The vampyroteuthis cannot fathom Utopias, for the

structure of its society is not a cultural product (it is not a"fac-tum") but rather a biological given (a "datum"). When it engages

in politics, it does so against its own ((¡¿fs¡s"-it commits a vio-lent act against itself. In the end, however, is not all human po-

litical activity contra nature? Are not those who defend n¿fu¡s-those who defend such natural "realities" as race, the dominionof mankind, even ecological balance-somehow betrayers of the

human Geist?For us, political activity is a question of freedom that poses it-

self dialectically: as the self-assertion of an individual within so-

ciety, on the one hand, and as the individual acknowledgementof other humans, on the other. Over time we have tried, withnegligible success, to overcome this inherent contradiction. Forthe vampyroteuthis there is no dialectic of political freedom. Itis biologically necessitated to recognize the hierarchical rank ofits brother, and it can only become free if it disposes of this ne-

cessity. For it, then, freedom is cannibalism-the right to devour

Varnþyroteuthic Culture 59

its kin. Although the vampyroteuthic and the liberal conceptionsof freedom have unmistakable similarities, their origins differ.The vampyroteuthis derives from animals that would developinto ants, and so the inclination to form an antlike society is in-grained in its "collective unconscious." Much more than we do,it feels threatened by the anthill-that is, by absolute socializa-tion-and its political activity is, therefore, fàr more antisocialistthan ours. Hardly a Utopia, its liberalism is ràther the ãenialofits biological condition.

It could even be said that its cannibalistic antisocialism rep-resents a "hate movement," whereas our hymenopteric social-ism represents a "love movement." Its political liberation comesin the form of brotherly hatred, ours as a sacrifice of individ-ual freedom to our beloved brother-an anthropomorphizing er-ror on its part, a myrmecomorphizing error on ours. So much ofvampyroteuthic behavior (its copulation, monogamous frdelity,brood care) reveals it to be a lovable and loving being. An exam-ination of our society, however, reveals hardly any evidence ofhuman lovability. If anything, the following is true: For the vam-

_pyroteuthis, it is precisely love, the recognition g{ gtþgls. a¡d or-g,asm that constitute the natural state of its Dasein. The nãiuial-state of human Dasein, on the contrary is defrned by univer-sal hatred, by the universal struggle for survival----one againstall. By overcoming its animality, therefore, the vampyroteuthislearns to hate; by overcoming ours, we learn to love. This over-coming can be called "spirit" ("Geist"), and it expresses itself inthe vampyroteuthis as hatred and in us as love. In Judeo-Chris-tian terms, vampyroteuthic behavior might be said to approxi-mate "sins against the spirit" ( Sünde wider den Geist).

The foregoing discussion, in a word, has been about,,hell," aboutGeist and freedom as sins. In this regard we should not forgetthat the vampyroteuthis stands on its head: its hell is our heaven,its heaven our hell. For us, its murderous and suicidal anarchywould be an infernal society, and yet, to it, such anarchy rep-resents an inaccessible heaven of freedom. Loving and socialist

rl

6o Varnpyroteuthic Culture

collaboration and cohabitation represent, to us, an inaccessible

and heavenly Utopia, a messianic state of being, to it nothingmore than a hellish anthill. Is there not a third possibility, a mid-dle road, atertius gaudens? Can an "absolute good" and an "ab-solute evil" really be said to exist?

There is indeed a third possibility, however unappealing itmay be: there is, namely, a Geist that is both human and vam-pyroteuthic, and it is not diffrcult to frnd. For there is somethingof the vampyroteuthis in each of us, otherwise we would notbe able to recognize aspects of its heaven and hell. And there is

something of the human Geist in each vampyroteuthis. For us,

too, hell is the company of other s ( I' infer, c e s o nt le s autre s ) ; and

for us, too, freedom is the opportunity-ever at hand-to com-mit suicide. The vampyroteuthis is the reverse side of our ownGeist, and if we could encounter both sides simultaneously, thequestion of heaven and hell, of good and evil, would be no more.In fact, it is likely that no questions would remain at all, for thisencounter would mark the end of Geist. That is the risk we take

when we face the vampyroteuthis eye to eye. What we would be-_

hold would be our own reflection, above all the reflection of ourgrotesque political folly.

Its ArtBoTH VAMPYRoTEUTHES AND HUMANS ACQUIRE INFOR_

mation in order to disseminate it to others, and this practice is

not unique to us. In several other ofthe so-called higher species-mammals and birds, for instance----certain behavioral models,

such as hunting and flying, are passed along from a mother to

her young. However, the case of humans and vampyroteuthes issomewhat different. Unlike other animals, both of us endeavorto preserve information in our respective memories, to saturatethese memories with more and more new information, and toimpart them-thus enriched-to others. In the case of humansand vampyroteuthes, that is, the transmission of information is

Vamþyroteuthic Culture 6r

a cumulative process. fn other words, humans and vampyro_teuthes are historical animals, animals that have overcome theiranimality.

rt is a biological function to pass along genetic information,from one generation to the next, by way of gametes. During thisprocess, the transmitted genetic constitution coincidentally mu-tates (on account of transmission errors), and such mutationslead to the formation of new genetic information. rt is a super-biological function, however, to transmit acquired informationby means of conventional codes, to mutate this information in-tentionally-over and over again-and even to mutate the codesthemselves. This is superbiological because, in addition to ge_netic evolution, there is now an overlying process of historicalevolution, one that is not governed by chance but rather by in-tention (an admittedly nebulous term).

The central problem of historical evolution is that of mem_ory. Animals perpetuate transmitted information in gametes.The latter are practically eternal memories: they will persevereas long as there is life on earth. To transmit their acquired infor-mation, however, humans make use of artificial memories suchas books, buildings, and images. Because these are far less per-manent than eggs or sperm, humans are therefore always in pur_suit of more durable memories: &ere þerennius (more everlast-ing than bronze). They are aware that, after all of their artifrcialmemories-all of their cultural artifacts-will have faded intooblivion, their genetic information, preserved in gametes andperhaps mutated by chance, will still remain. The biological ismore permanent than the superbiological, and this truth is dif-frcult for humans to accept. rt is diffrcult because it is not as ani-mals, but as superanimals, that humans want to achieve ,,im_

mortality." Memory the central problem of historical evolution,is also the central problem of art, which is essentially a method offabricating artifi cial memories.

From the perspective of the vampyroteuthis, all of this hasthe look of a laughable error. How foolish can humans be to en-trust their acquired information to lifeless objects such as paper

t_

6z Vømþyroteuthic Culture

or stone? It is well known, after all, that these objects are subject

to the second law of thermodynamics, that they will decay and

necessarily be forgotten. In the vampyroteuthic abyss, where allis strewn with sedimentation and bathed in fluidity, the unreli-able impermanence of lifeless objects is far more obvious than itis on the relatively dead surfaces of the continents, where sun-

bleached bones can endure for millennia. And yet the laughable

error that is human art should not simply be laughed ¿f-¿55um-ing the vampyroteuthis is capable of laughter-but scrutinized

as well.

When we attempt to express a novel experience or thought-when we aspire to render the unspoken speakable and the un-

heard audible-we do so as functions of artifrcial memory,

as functions of lifeless objects. That is, our experiences and

thoughts assimilate with lifeless objects to form inextricable uni-ties. We experience and think, for example, as functions of mar-

ble, frlm strips, or the letters of written language. It is not the case

that we first experience or think something and, subsequently,

scour the vicinity for an object with which to record it. Rather, itis already as sculptors, frlmmakers, authors-as artists-that we

begin to experience and think. Material, lifeless objects (stones,

bones, letters, numbers, musical notes) shape all of human expe-

rience and thought.All objects are stubborn; being inert, they resist our attempts

to "(in)form" them. Yet every object is stubborn in its own par-

ticular way: Stones shatter when chiseled; cotton slackens when

stretched; written language deforms thoughts with the strin-gency of its rules. To (in)form objects and transform them intomemories, art engages in a constant struggle against the resis-

tance of the objects themselves. During this struggle, humans

have experienced and come to know the essence of certain ob-jects (stones, cotton, language, for instance). Of course, this veryexperience provides us with even more new sets of informationthat, in their turn, come to be recorded in other artificial memo-

ries. Thus an ever-expanding feedback loop has developed, and

Vamþyroteuthic Culture 63

continues to develop, between objects and humans-in otherwords, "art history."

The stubborn resistance of objects is aggravating to humans.It is as though humans are called from above to (in)form a specificobject. There are humans whose calling it is to (in)form stones,others whose calling it is to (in)form language, and those whohave missed their calling seem to be leading a false existence, af.alse Dosein. For the feedback loop-the relationshipbetweena specific object and a specifrc human is finely tuned and, overthe course of its development, this relationship changes both theobject and the human. To repeat, humans live as functions oftheir objects. Because of this fact, we tend to forget the purposeof art, which is to transform objects into memories from whichother humans can extract information. Forgetting that they areengaged in the transmission of acquired information to other hu-mans, artists allow the objects themselves to preoccupy and ab-sorb all of their attention. It is typical of humans to allow objectsto absorb their existential interests. The result of this is a workethic that threatens (si.c!) to turn objects not into communica-tive media but into the opposite, namely, barriers that restricthuman communication. The creation of communicative barriersi,sr_in the end, thebased. Thanks to of the vampyroteuthis, it has fi-nally come to our attention.

By observing the vampyroteuthis ï/e are able to recognize an artof a different sort, one that is not burdened by the resistance ofobjects-by our error-but is rather intersubjective and imma-terial. Its art does not involve the production of artificial memo-ries (artwork) but rather the immediate inculcation of data intothe brains of those that perceive it. In short, the difference be-tween our art and that of the vampyroteuthis is this: whereaswe have to struggle against the stubbornness of our materials, ithas to struggle against the stubbornness of its fellow vampyro-teuthes. Just as our artists carve marble, vampyroteuthic artistscarve the brains of their audience. Their art is not objective but

the

64 Varnþyroteuthic Culture

intersubjective: it is not in artifacts but in the memories of others

that it hopes to become immortal.The production and dissemination of vampyroteuthic art-its

epidermal painting, for instance<an be described as follows: Itexperiences something new and attempts to store this novelty inits memory, that is, to allot space for it among the other informa-tion stored in its brain. It then realizes that this novelty is incon-gruous with its mnemonic structure, that it somehow does not frt.

The vampyroteuthis is thus forced to reorganize its memory inorder to accommodate it, and so its memory, shocked by this new

information, begins to process it (what we humans call "creativeactivity'). This creative shock permeates its entire body, over-

whelming it, and the chromatophores on the surface of its skinbegin to contract and emit colored secretions. At this moment itexperiences an artistic orgasm, during which its colorful ejacu-

lations are encrypted into vampyroteuthic code. This exhibitioncaptures the attention of its mate, whetting the latter's curiosityabout the articulated novelty. Thus the mate is lured into copu-

lation, which becomes a sort of conversation. During the course

of this conversation, the novelty is inculcated into the partner's

memory in order to be stored in its brain. Exactþ how it spreads

from there to other vampyroteuthes-how it manages to inf,l-trate the common vampyroteuthic conversation-<annot be ac-

counted for here. In any case, that is precisely what happens: thenewly acquired information is now a part of the vampyroteuthicconversation, and as long as vampyroteuthes exist, it will existalong with them.

The creative process of vampyroteuthic art consists, as we

have seen, of two phases. The first involves the processing ofdata by the artist itself: that which has remained unspoken orunheard is now articulated as ejaculations during orgasm. The

second phase involves the seduction of a sexual partner: an ar-

tistic expression brings the latter to climax, enabling the newlyarticulated information to be stored in its memory. Artistic cre-

4!ion iç thqrefore both an oulw4td expression by an artist and

an inward impression upon the seduced. It is an act of raping

Vamþyroteuthic Culture 65

another vampyroteuthis in an effort to become immort¿l in the

þody of the victim. Its art is a mode of rape and hatred---of de-ception, flction, and lies; it is a delusive affectation, that is to say,it is "beauty. " It is all of this, oddly enough, in the spirit of orgasm.

In the depiction of vampyroteuthic art presented above, \Me areable to recognize-it cannot be denied+lements of our own.Nothing about this creative and orgasmic deceit is alien to us.Not only is it not alien to us, but we have even begun to vampyr-oteuthize our qr!. We have begun, in other words, to stand defl-ant against the fundamental error of our art, to overcome our

{_epe4d_e¡¡ge_ gL1nalgli{ gþjects-, to renounce artifacts for an im-material and intersubjective art form. Having lost faith in mate-rial objects as artifrcial memories, we have begun to fashion newtypes of artificial enable intersubjective and im-material communication. These new communicative media mavnot be bioluminescent organs, but they are similarly electromag-netic. A vampyroteuthic revolution is underway.

As a model, vamp¡rroteuthic art can perhaps help us to makesense of our current cultural revolution. The history of humanart can be divided into three periods of uneven length: the frrst isthe period before the Industrial Revolution, the second coincidedwith the duration of industrial society, and the thirdinitiated by the information revolution (the second industrialrevolutionFis_ a!y4qc!n g into an unforeseeable future. Duringthe frrst period, the production of art (techne, ars) was the prac-tice of impressing information upon objects (stone, leather, iron,language), and thus builders, cobblers, blacksmiths, and authorswere considered artists. The modern distinction between art andcraft did not exist. With the advent of steel instruments (parts,tools) and machinery during the industrial age, artists \Mere nolonger needed to (in)form stone, leather, and iron. Objects suchas these rvere now (in)formed mechanically. Builders, cobblers,and blacksmiths were thus rendered superfluous, and the actof (in)forming the objects of their respective trades was no lon-ger considered to be art. Designers and engineers supplanted

66 VarnþYroteuthic Culture

craftsmen-pre-industrial artists-as the true creators of infor-

mation. Of course, the pre-industrial (nonmechanical) manner

of (in)forming objects did not disappear entirely. Archaic relics

continued to be produced. Labeled works of "art" by bourgeois-

industrial society, they were removed from everyday life to be

ensconced in museums and other glorifred ghettos-

Before the Industrial Revolution, an informed object did not

readily betray the precise source of its information-its potenti-

ality. This potential information originated, rather vaguely, in an

artist's "head," where it remained hidden until it was impressed

upon one object or another. With the invention of steel instru-

ments and machines, however, the potentiality of information

became visible and tangible: we know precisely what informa-

tion they are made to produce. Modern industrial technology did

not entail-as did premodern art-the impression of informa-

tion upon objects by artists; rather, it entailed the processing of

potential information by engineers, who designed tools and ma-

chines, and then the impression of this information upon objects

by these very tools and machines. Industrial technology, in other

words, removed humans a step away from the objects that thel'

had once (in)formed directþ As a consequence, human existen-

tial interest shifted away from (in)formed objects, which were

becoming ever more inexpensive to produce, toward the pro-

cessing of potential information, which was becoming ever more

expensive. By making this shift away from objects, humans be-

came more vampyroteuthic, and the Information Age began to

dawn.Another shift has since taken place. Potential information is

no longer embodied in the form of steel instruments. It is nou'

the case that such information is, first of {.1, symbolicall¡z and

immaterially processed with the help of artificial intelligences-computers. It is then programmed into automated machines,

the purpose of which is to produce steel parts' These steel parts

are assembled into other automated machines which, in turn,(in)form objects.Iluman Dasein has thus been altered- Ilumans

no longer realize their creative potential by struggling against

Vamþyroteuthi.c Culture 67

the resistance of stubborn objects, for this struggle has been dele-gated to machines. Iluman labor has become superfluous. Fromnow on, humans can realize their creative potential only by pro-cessing new and immaterial information, that is, by participatingin the activity that has come to be called "software processing."In this context, there can be no doubt that "soft" alludes to mol-lusks ("soft animals").

The vampyroteuthis is a mollusk of such complexity that itmanaged to appropriate, by developing a skull, an evolutionarystrategy of vertebrates. We are vertebrates of such complexitythat we managed to appropriate, by developing an immaterialatt, an evolutionary strategy of mollusks. As our interest in ob-jects began to wane, y^9 cleaj.ed ¡n_edia th4t ha¡qe e_4aþ!ed.gs torape human brains, forcing them to store immaterial informa-Tion. pe have built chromatophores of su¡ etrr/¡-felevisions,videos, and computer monitors that display synthetic images-with whose help broadcasters of information can mendaciously

ædgç their audiences. In time, this communicative strategy willsurely come to be known as ((art" (assuming that the term willnot have lost its currency).

The glorification of art, artificiality, and other seductive mea-sures should have no place in the encroaching future. To cele-brate such things would be to ennoble the vampyroteuthis. And

_yet, as animals that have prevailed over our animality---or atleast presume to have done so-we are compelled, like the vam-pyroteuthis, to pursue immortality in the minds of others. We areobliged, that is, to create art, and it is on account of this obliga-tion that the vampyroteuthis wells within us. We are becomingincreasingly vampyroteuthic.

\

REPORT BY THE INSTITUTSCIENTIFIQUE DE RECHERCHE

PARANATURALISTE

October 12, rg87

Louis BecZoosystémicienPresident, Institute Scientifique de Recherche Paranaturaliste

To: Mr. Andreas Müller-PohleDr. Volker RapschImmatrix Publications

Re: Vampyroteuthis infernalisA,z.lto. Ref. r8or.

Dear Sirs,

We are now in a position to share our initial ñndings concerningaamþyroteuthis infernali; g. Investigations were undertaken by a teamof zoosystematicians and teuthologists from the Institut Scientifiquede Recherche Paranaturaliste (ISRP), directed by Professor Louis Bec.

These studies would not have been possible without the groundbreakingand irreplaceable work of Professor Vilém Flusser. A number of newobservations and analyses, however, were brought to light within thelaboratory facilities of the ISRP.

The conclusions reached by our investigations will be sent to you shortly',for we are convinced, as you will be, of their zoological, epistemological,and aesthetic signifi cance.

Sincerely,

Louis Bec (signed)

President, ISRP

b.

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slightest vibrationalinternalized by wayølf. ctsts at its prey, the eispnothereute.

used to transport the prey to the manducatory organs. sses' These are later

LUMANTER PHUSAGRION

.Lê Lurliî1?Ea 4tSeeúoX APeAa?'Eilt a L',oÊrac Ò4-yAraølAchêatl+ Þtstrq!¿ê' OAtrt urr¡ sutst^tcâ Qtia

È¡fG r. ¿ A etLortotloaÊ, aÔ 1 utllmaa tar tía 6alot l'ìuÞ t tatrt aa.¡es tltS¿ ttot¿tø ocÀê A u¡t oQadt PQofultê*¿G øfoE¡tE-Pioil,

.þfl Arlìttoí (tnø.rcãart ta tÊ,.Aã¡¡rstg tu2ùa ,úet ¿âs þaâas

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The Lumanter þhusagrion belongs to the order Vampgomorpha. Concealed by a substance that itemits, the chromohyrdre, Jhe Lurnanler þhusagrion swoops violently on its prey by means of a propul-sive organ, the phonikapion. Its behavioral attitude manifests itself in the systematic destruction-notnecessarily for nutritional ends---of all life forms that encroach on its bioideological space.

LUMANTER PHUSAGRION

rosac O'vd audcqaodaífoaa ãèntatrtæs tÆcaLêt atØr¡o oú.4tet ae t'ßa t .ê'e't3tl¿.f tø4ìtar cnt\u'q tn aô qakoþ t¿ôuc2tciltrs .

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(uþþer left) A diagram showing the helidrusic structure of the branchial system.(uþþer righl') A cross section of a lunochromahydre showing where the ascouiobolic saccules producevenom before it is emitted by the ducts of the slenopsusiste.

(center) The chromohydre is secreted by the mimeshyrdric vacuoles.

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fo?4c,9t¡Ctìarú^ffiÎ á,bi olttcútßlici¡r,¡3 svñdJtirÊrö ô!Âr?tnct oordlc?i5t¡QgC!.ê¡s-cl tdr ñcnoa¡¡desøÈr¡ L3r ÈÌllEttßs ,u ¡is -ifrùrú af isstír36lt s.ctãrËr Þt ,arirl], ga:t ?llu!-Lclrt¡E!- âoGt Frit zcô'. -xiorìquit v¡a¡ D'AurüsvrL{F,&oncl?ia.

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The Vomþyroteuþis uþomeneþisteme belongsto the order Vampyromorpha. Especially eager to con-sume biotekmeriones, it synthesizes dolotrophesic substances. These are fixed in ils memory by meansof the plistenes of tÌ¡e mnemoteukte and transmitted to other vampyromorpha in the form of capsules,the phullokartes, for zoosemiotic purposes.

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VAMPYROPTUSSEPOiKILONE

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, 4.sr qü,eÐN¡q.s.4Þj-JCr dc t}traa¡ün tq ?aa.rtÐ -.ã/lttoi êu ta l .ta cr sa aE éraaf

cã tc acruqrî. ¿atæjÚß .ì*-4 .tì âJutñfr oJ naaNL

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The Vørnþyroþtusse þoïkilone belongs to the order Vampyromorpha. It is morphodrophasic and pos-sesses the ability to transform in a variety of ways, namely, by folding, bending, and retracting into it-self. This diversity of appearances allows it to erase all signs of its permanence and zoological identity.Its zoosemiotic morphologr remains to be studied at length.

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VAMPYROPELIDEKAMPTE

Le Vþûv@ÞELìÉ tc¿ní Po1¿¡m¡

^ L'caoc oB Vl^eYbÅ*aal^,tL è3È EaaoatìO E ÊNec oaÈt

vd AìL¡ay ,,þal.ot tÌ tc&/r9airPaa L. aettòrlú .H.i¡ø;e tj SatîÒtr7.tæt-

Sèe ârM e'üce er P*trt47i4psoo â EA ¡ca?aob¡ì¡ oî ¿t¡l¿&cl a,at æ e n) stt*¡ ¡c¡nticS¿ls 1ac.:ôr. 42r*þd t 5xa.¿7FFtl*tkêèJ e,tt tE! lrt+z;nqttlp lcÀtr C"r4ß^ ,esQe't O3t s*ato' a uìo n ¿¿q¡o.lt s æ¿ì F ¡ uè ujs.

Àngt ahà ÈtE e4r7n ùt 2iteL¿S mañr?tj î4! têrt? v,Ë.s0€ t-e.,) satattailêt ø.L t^ 6tè-hltxecz¿ote .r¿a s r¡re4 ta4ß.tt-lbtcs.

The Vømþyroþelide þørnþté belongs to the order Vampyromorpha. A barophile that inhabits thehadopelagic zone, it locomotes by means of the caterpillar-track reptation of its tentacles. Its pallid andghostly appearance (highly characteristic of its catenated morphology) teta¡izes its prey. Sãme crea-tures seem fascinated by its appearance to such ari extent that they commit various forms of sacrifrcialautomutilation. Having been captured by the matixtes, such prey are emptied of their innards by thestomakmudzaole and the phulakemneustones.

VAMPYROPELIDEKAMPTE

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LALOKAMESEMAPHOROïDE

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LE ¿^Lot<^A€ Sa4le\orzi¡oear*anaG ã4êæ Dn vaA.efaox{,ea,Oaese¡ ost ots PrêÊdrdt*taafìcuuLt S (o44a o¡srMl.o nÉù N¡ ¿ a7o¿ a€' à snæ erDrt ÆsûcaÍ at&o4;daqàrlaaur8ûs,oes ?curuo z.osctl.Òî¿êEùtÍÞffiñ ÞE 0JcE'.1 Gtl€t-s4E,G go¡ vîìLìtêãì ¿7rt¡ûliqDtEr tt I e ût. lâ a, / o¡tnc taa Foø Lî e.ktøîêned" L.Hitlg,.êdt Oa ê€tìlrìds èaó.í€tâtEe bbaaftod! E" ¡a"¿xtì-?èt uratrtLit -

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The Laloþøme settuoþhoroïde belongs to tl¡e order Vampyromorpha. Like communication towerswithin their particular preferenda, they emit complex bioluminescent messages. Teuthozoosemioti-cians have attempted to decode these messages (produced in varying colorations and intensities by der-maì iridescence) by radiation or by the luminescent flashes of certain organs.

VAMPYROTEUTHIS INFERNALIS G.

ORMETAÍRE TAPAKEGENONË

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The Varnpyroteuthis infernalis g. and the Ormetaire taþaÞ,egenone belong to the order Vampyro-morpha. Barophiles both, they inhabit tìe hadopelagic zone. I-n the act of cõpulation, the Ormàtâ¡retaþaÞegenone adopts a behavioral attitude of complãte submissiveness. The provocative diversity ofits sexual appeal and the particular development ofits sexual organs enable it io maæ with any þpe ofvampyromorphic partner.

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B6 LES BIOTEKMERIONES

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DOlOleÉEOUI?

The biotekmeriones are organisms that serve the nutritional needs of Vanþyromorpha uþokri-notnenes.By mea.ns of dolotrophesis, they alter the morpholog¡r, physiology, metabolism, and behaviorof certain Vampyromorpha.

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vrLÉM FLUSSER (tgzo-rggr) was born in Prague. He emigratedto Brazil, where he taught philosophy and wrote a daily newspapercolumn in São Paulo, then later moved to France. He wrote severalbooks in Portuguese and German. Writings (zoo4), Into the Universeof Technical Inages (zor r), and, Does Writing Hazte a Future? (zort)have been published in English by the University of Minnesota Press,

and.The Shaþe of Things, Toward a Philosophy of Photograþhy, andThe Freedom of the Migrønt have also been translated into English.

LoUIS BEc lives in Sorgues, France. His artwork explores the connec-tions between art and science. His search for neïy zoomorphic types andforms of communication between artifrcial and natural species led tohis founding of the Institut Scientifrque de Recherche Paranaturaliste.

vAL E NT INE A. PAKI S teaches German at the University of St. Thomasin St. Paul, Minnesota.