"Oculi Mortuus" by Michael Esposito and Mauricio Reyes (2022)

Note: The above photo is not of Joan Vollmer, but is frequently noted as such on the Internet — thus an easy error to make.

The following images are included in the digital documents on the flash drive; they are screenshots taken during a viewing. They are not materially included in the item.

n.p.: Telekinett and Spectral Electric (boxed set), 2022.
box: 7.75" x 5.75" x 1.125", black box with affixed collage image of Joan Vollmer, with black obi with an affixed raven feather, bound with a "Telekinett Analytical Audio Research" sticker. The inside of the box has an affixed image at the back with a pocket containing raven feathers. This box, of which roughly 30 copies were made and released, contains:

• Digital Materials: 3.125" x 4", gold metallic finish, containing a 4 GB "naked" USB Flash drive
• CD: black CD containing the audio, within a 5" x 5" CD envelope; 1:01:07 in length
• Inserts: each 7.5" x 5.375", printed on the recto only, the last with an affixed pull tab

Oculi Mortuus, a project by Michael Esposito and Mauricio Reyes, is presented as a boxed set of physical and digital visual and audio materials. Released by Telekinett and Spectral Electric (n.p.) in 2022. This project centers around a slightly longer than 1 hour audio track based on Burroughs' Naropa lectures, which includes "a tape-recorded experiment called 'Paranormal Voices,' a cut-up experiment of Brion Gysin, experiments with [Ian] Sommerville, messages from dreams, the last words of Dutch Schultz, and phrases of minimal question about internal conversations." This project investigates multiple subjects, including Konstantin Raudive and EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena), the shooting death of Joan Vollmer (Burroughs' common-law wife), death and near-death experiences, as well as Dada and the Cut-Up technique. I assisted with some minor editing and research support and am credited at the back of the digital booklet.

The box is labeled with a collage work of a common image of Joan Vollmer, and is wrapped with a black obi, which has an affixed raven feather and is joined by a Telekinett sticker. Inside are a black CD in a black envelope, a gold envelope containing a USB Flash drive with digital materials, and five card inserts, all over another image of Joan Vollmer, with a pocket containing additional raven feathers. 

The insert cards depict:

• "In memory of Joan Vollmer Burroughs" (a memorial card, with an excerpt from Christina Georgina Rossetti's poem "Let Me Go")
• An image of a woman lifting her dress with "Joan Vollmer Burroughs, 1924 – 1951" below. This image is not of Joan Vollmer, yet it is often described as her online
• A collage work of an image of Burroughs with a cigarette, along with graphic elements of a dead woman (also not Vollmer), mathematical, biological, and optical imagery
• A colophon card describing the project
• A card with the collage image of Joan Vollmer, with a pull tab to remove it and the preceding cards

This project changed over the course of its production, as Reyes and Esposito negotiated with the Estate regarding the contents, subjects, and materials used. There were some objections from the Estate as it evolved, and the scope and contents of the project were thus reduced. The booklet was eliminated as a printed project, and this project was released without the Estate's blessing. The booklet, the correspondence with the Estate, and the text of the introductory voiceover were included as PDFs on the USB drive (in a "RESEARCH" folder), with articles, photographs, EVP recordings, audio source "stems", and the full track that is on CD, as a .wav file. 

Thirty copies of the boxed sets were released. 

This was acquired directly from Mauricio Reyes and arrived with the additional gift of the Ambisonic Guild compilation 9 Beet Stretch 2.0: Meta Tones — Aural Annex.

CD Content: 

• Mauricio Reyes and Michael Esposito: "Oculi Mortuus" (1:01:07)

USB Content: 

• "AUDIO STEMS":
• "ESTRELLITA.aiff"
  
• "I AM MY FATHER'S SPIRIT.mp3"
• "VOICES.aiff"
• "AUDIO TRACK":
• "OCULI MORTUUS.wav"
• "EVPS":
• "0.06.269 Hurry.mp3"
• "0.06.903 That Is My Son Henry (rev).wav"
• "0.06.903 unknown.wav"
• "0.10.671 Hey You.wav"
• "0.10.671 We Had To kill Him (rev).mp3"
• "0.15.615 unknown (rev).wav"
• "0.23.628 Im An Asshole (rev).wav"
• "0.23.628 Whos Hailing Me.wav"
• "0.46.140 Forward unknown.mp3"
• "1.22.062 unknown.wav"
• "1.24.500 I've been In The Bad Women Thing.wav"
• "1.33.682 Do You Love Me.wav"
• "1.45.163 The Night Is Hell (rev).wav"
• "2.01.451 Get Out.mp3"
• "2.05.415 Give Me An Address.wav"
• "2.12.500 Fuck Her.wav"
• "2.24.000 unknown You Answer Me.wav"
• "2.50.252 Hopeless.wav"
• "3.09.903 Help I Cant Handle The Pain.wav"
• "3.09.903 Youre My Husband Ha (rev).mp3"
• "4.08.825 I Love You Now.wav"
• "PHOTOS":
• "BLUNT TRAUMA.png" [illustration]
• "BURROUGHS2.jpg" [Burroughs in Mexico City]
• "GINSBERG 1953.jpg" [Image by Allen Ginsberg of Burroughs at his apartment in 1953, NYC]
• "LA PRENSA, MEXICO.jpg" [the "Report of the Death of an American Citizen" for Joan Vollmer]
• "MAGAZINE DE POLICIA.jpg" [post-mortem photograph of Joan Vollmer]
• "VOLLMER 2.jpg" [post-mortem photograph of Joan Vollmer]
• "VOLLMER.jpg" [post-mortem photograph of Joan Vollmer]
• "RESEARCH":
• "BOOKLET.pdf" [The original booklet, as designed to be printed]
• "CORRESPONDENCE.pdf" [The correspondence between the artists and the Estate]
• "VOICEOVER.pdf" [The text of the voiceover from the start of the audio, with a Cut-Up poem by Sincleair Beiles]

External Links: 

• Telekinett: "Oculi Mortuus" and "Product: Oculi Mortuus"
• Spotify: "Thursday Afternoon Talks: Mauricio Reyes & Michael Esposito's 'Oculi Mortuus'"
• Discogs: "Oculi Mortuus"