"My Favourite Cryptid Is The Loveland Frogman" Günseli Yalcinkaya

Artist Take with Günseli Yalcinkaya

HIGH WEIRDNESS, ERIK DAVIS

I don't believe in gatekeeping so, in case you ever need a comprehensive history of weirdness, Erik Davis is your guy. He's the same author who wrote Tech Gnosis, another one of my favourite books of all time, but this book in particular really hits for reasons that will begin to feel self-explanatory the further down you get in this list. I love ED because he gives off major oracle energy in his writing, but his physical vibe is giving Californian pothead. I like this juxtaposition when it comes to writers, anyone who's too polished clearly hasn't lived. Besides, I love a freak who's done their research.

PAREIDOLIA (aka seeing faces in inanimate objects)

Me and my friend Dan have a running chat where we will send each other random objects that appear to have faces, because they're funny. I read somewhere that pareidolia was once considered a symptom of madness, but that doesn't really work in the digital age when most of us find it easier to tap away at little screens than to have a normal human conversation. Also, the tendency to find patterns in random data makes us adopt a similar role to the shaman way back when people observed symbols to better infer the spirit realm, which I enjoy because it forces you into an animist pov. With AI and robots, we're coming back full circle, it seems.

THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982) JIM HENSON

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--0xBC0SotY

Anyone who knows me knows that I fucking love puppets, they're magical as hell. I particularly like The Dark Crystal because I read somewhere that Jim Henson spent his entire career making Sesame Street and The Muppets so he could make enough money to fund his first feature length film. When he finally did it, some of the executives walked out of the screening room, which I find very sad. Sometimes, I think about how the same guy who dreamed up The Dark Crystal was also behind Kermit's 'It's Not Easy Being Green' solo in Sesame Street... Anyway, I rewatched TDC a few months back and I don't really get what's going on, but that's not the point. The animatronics go hard, so do Brian Froud's character designs. According to co-director Frank Oz, Henson's intention was to "get back to the darkness of the original Grimms' Fairy Tales", as he believed that it was unhealthy for children to never be afraid. Makes you think.

THE HEDGEHOG SONG (1967) THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bogz2xZy-bo

Love this song. It's about a guy who doesn't have a girl to love and feels all depressed when suddenly he meets a funny little hedgehog, who sings him a song – it all sounds very happy, but it's a bit sad, too, and timeless.

THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997) LUC BESSON

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnTE2h0ZY74

One of the best films on (or off) this planet. I have a weird nostalgic connection to this film, which extends to memories of being a child visiting family in Istanbul and staying up late, being transfixed by the sight of the alien singing opera on the space cruise. Now that I think about it, Milla Jovovich as Leeloo was probably one of my biggest influences growing up, along with Brian Molko from Placebo. Plus, the John Paul Gautier fashion is insane, I love all the costumes with a passion.

CRYPTIDS

Image of the Loveland Frogman

Trevor Paglen once told me that cryptids are to me what aliens are to him and he's totally right. I've written about cryptids more than probably anything else, so I'll spare you the details here. To me, they're the perfect gateway to exploring some of my favourite research topics – fictioning, reality constructs, government disinformation, control systems, medieval bestiaries... all the good stuff. My favourite cryptid is the Loveland Frogman for no reason other than the fact that he looks all tiny and pixelated in most of the 'sightings', it's very cute. Besides, I used to be a people pleaser until I realised that being a cryptid is way better.