ABOUT THE PROJECT
THESIS
The cultural history of metals as a means of describing the deep relationship between technology and human violence.
CORE ARGUMENTS
Technology and violence are co-constitutive
Metal technologies (weapons, tools, industry) and organized violence evolved together, each shaping the other across millennia.
Metallurgy as sacrificial practice
Mining, smelting, and metalworking carry ritual and sacrificial dimensions across cultures, from ancient forges to industrial kilns.
The metal body
From bronze armor to industrial warfare, metals reshape the human body for violence, extending and transforming our capacity to harm.
Extraction as violence
Mining and resource extraction entail violence against land, labor, and peoples, from ancient slaves to modern conflict minerals.
TEMPORAL SCOPE
The metallic complex spans human history from the first discovery of copper to contemporary conflict minerals and drone warfare.
KEY FIGURES
Theorists
- Lewis Mumford Technics, the megamachine
- Rene Girard Violence and the sacred
- Georges Bataille Expenditure, sacrifice
- Pierre Clastres Society against the state
- Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari War machine, nomadology
- Georges Dumezil Indo-European tripartition
Mythological
- Prometheus Fire-bringer, bound by Zeus
- Hephaestus/Vulcan Divine smith, lame god
- Tubal-Cain Biblical forger of bronze and iron
- Wayland the Smith Germanic craftsman-sorcerer
PARTICIPATE
The Metallic Complex is both a research project and a community. We welcome scholars, hackers, artists, and anyone interested in the deep history of technology and violence.