Marshall McLuhan was by no means a prophet, but he was certainly a pioneer in the study of the ways electric media transform society. How are people changed by the instruments they employ? What do media do to the people who use them? These are the core questions that provide a framework for evaluating our current state of culture at large.

Taking up a recent book by Grant Havers on McLuhan for our book club session at Gray Area, we will attempt to synthesize previously explored concepts of biological feedback, external conditioning ("mind control"), cognitive liberty, and brain media with the theory of the transformation of society, applying them to thinking about the digital age. Viewing technology not as an antithesis to nature but as a second nature, we will focus on a few questions:

– how innovation leads to organized ignorance (McLuhan), or, in other words, how new devices leave those without access or knowledge behind;

– when the crisis of literacy began (in the US), and whether reading books remains relevant amid the technology-driven shift to post-literacy;

– why (if at all) digital media and ubiquitous large language models impede our capacity to think freely.

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Reading:

Havers, G. N. (2025). The Medium Is Still the Message: Marshall McLuhan for Our Time. Cornell University Press.

The book will be made accessible privately to those registered.
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William Basinski with Kelly Moran

On April 30, William Basinski brings his signature approach to experimental music to Gray Area. A classically trained composer who has worked in experimental media for over 30 years, from New York City to California, Basinski uses obsolete technology and analog tape loops to shape haunting, slow-moving soundscapes that linger on memory, impermanence, and the passage of time.

Kelly Moran is a New York-based composer and pianist who has spent her career excavating the sonic possibilities of the piano. In the past decade, Moran has released numerous acclaimed albums that have challenged the piano’s traditional, classically-imposed school of thought with a more contemporary approach. Her unique strand of experimental piano compositions, which conjure hypnotizing textures and dramatic compositional arcs, have been included on year-end lists across classical, avant-garde, and metal genres.
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