For a life-changing project like Material's Seven Souls, it only seems natural, yet still astonishing, that there would be significant meaningful coincidences, ie synchronicities, continuing in effect years later.
To start: I mentioned giving Burroughs Wilson's Coincidance : A Head Test shortly before he left with Grauerholz to visit Keith Haring. Haring was dying of AIDS, at the time, and didn't have long to live. Kind of an appropriate person to visit after you've recorded material on death and the technology of immortality.
One day, a few months later, I arrived at the studio to find that entire lobby had been covered with Haring's signature graffiti art in black paint. The style resembled his famous "radiant baby" image
only less figurative and more abstract. The characters he had painted all over the walls reminded me of strange letters from an unknown alphabet. Haring hieroglyphs, if you will.
Six months or so after the Seven Souls session with William Burroughs, a new book of his arrived in Platinum Island's mail. It was called Interzone and consisted of Naked Lunch out takes. It had come to Platinum Island by mistake addressed to Haring's studio two floors above. By this time, Keith had shed his mortal coil. The studio manager picked up the book, saw that it was addressed to Haring and said to me, " He won't need this anymore. You're into Burroughs, you should have it," and then gave me the Interzone book. The upshot being that I had given WSB a book, Coincidance, and six months later a book from him came in return.
To be continued ...
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