A systematic philosophy treatise envisioning a total work of art for the Information Age at the intersection of Christianity and critical theory, composed by the woman behind the band Liturgy
The System of Transcendental Qabala is Hunter Hunt-Hendrix’s debut philosophical treatise. It examines theology, metaphysics, aesthetics and other topics in a series of meditation mapped to the liturgical year. Culminating in a vision of the total work of art in the age of contemporary technology, the text draws from psychoanalysis, German Idealism, Jewish Kabbalah and Orthodox Christanity. A key thesis is that philosophy can’t exist separately from art, music and politics. Another is that modernity has disguised the fundamentally religious nature of all of these disciplines to a degree that is no longer beneficial to civilization, but that its transcendental incision into the real has also unlocked new resources for spiritual and creative synthesis.
Haela Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix (b. 1985, NYC). A composer, musician, artist and philosopher, Hunt-Hendrix seeks to combine these practices in synthetic unity with the Christian faith. Her musical project Liturgy, started while she was studying philosophy and avant-garde composition at Columbia, made waves with their 2011 album Aesthethica for introducing the style of black metal into the world of experimental art rock. Her essay "Transcendental Black Metal: A Vision of Apocalyptic Humanism" has remained controversial in the metal and theory worlds since it first appeared in 2009. She wrote, directed, edited and stars in the operatic film Origin of the Alimonies, which premiered in 2022 at Roadburn Festival with a live score performed by Liturgy, and she has presented two solo sculpture exhibitions in New York, during summer 2022 at Gern en Regalia and fall of 2023 at Triest. Liturgys 6th studio album 93696 was released in 2023 followed by an extensive world tour.
