Welcome. You’ve reached the website of Jean-Paul Martinon. I am a writer based in London. I am currently Emeritus Reader in the Department of Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

Writing

This website is part of a writing project consisting in sketching a body of thought in a situation whereby the course of this sketch is never determined in advance. As such, there’s nothing for sale on this website: neither product nor key-concept, neither thrill nor soundbite. It is devised and developed to simply reflect and record an itinerary of thought which encompasses both philosophy and creative works. This itinerary is succinctly summarised across all its pages, and specifically with regards to time, in Schemes.

African Thought

Part of this project also consist in supporting and promoting the work of lesser known African thinkers who, against all forms of adversity, have stalwartly created bodies of work that challenge conventional western paradigms. This part of the website is intended to reflect a discussion amongst like-minded supporters and advocates of this African challenge. If you want to be a part of it, please contact me.

Academia

Writing never takes places in a vacuum. It is also above all a practice of sharing the excitement of discovering new ideas, unexpected perspectives, and challenging thoughts in seminars or lectures. As such, this website is a testament and an indebtedness to the many students and colleagues who have helped me and others push thought where it would have never dared to venture.

Rationale

Nothing in my hands, nothing in my pockets, I write to safeguard myself from madness, from the irrationality (or is it the rationality?) of life and its inescapable conditions. This, by no means, constitutes a form salvation, not even an aspiration for one. Writing and websites save nothing and nobody. They don’t even justify. For good or bad, writing is just a necessary habit, the daily evidence of an uncalled for passing—I’m not dead yet. Nulla dies sine linea.