Flash of the Spirit

Thompson maps how five African civilizations shaped the Afro-Atlantic aesthetic systems we now call cool. Àshe is the vital force that turns command into action. Itutu is mystic coolness — composure under pressure. Iwà is character, the maker’s hand visible in the made thing.

The book runs underneath every name in SoftMachine’s lineage: Chtcheglov, Warhol, Virgil, and the salons themselves.

Read it for the cosmograms. Stay for the flash.