ABOUT

Taylor R. Genovese is a transdisciplinary philosopher, multimodal anthropologist, and filmmaker living in the Hudson Valley, New York. His work mainly focuses on nostalgia, melancholy, applied ethics, the Anthropocene, and utopia(s).He is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Dutchess Community College, as well as adjunct faculty at Marist College. He earned his Ph.D. from Arizona State University in 2023. His dissertation research took a specific look at the legacy of Russian Cosmism, a nineteenth century political theology promoting a universal human program for overcoming death, resurrecting ancestors, and traveling through the cosmos. When he was a graduate student, he had the great honor of being one of David Graeber's students and advisees until his unexpected passing in 2020. Prior to attending university as a non-traditionally aged student, he worked as an accomplished stage actor from 2005–2010 in Tucson, Arizona.Dr. Genovese is an Editor, Board member, and author at Iskra Books, a nonprofit independent scholarly publisher that releases original works of revolutionary theory, history, ecology, and art, as well as edited collections, new translations, and critical republications of older works. He also sits on the Editorial Board for Peace, Land, & Bread, a peer-reviewed print journal of revolutionary theory, practice, and arts dedicated to advancing multidisciplinary inquiry from a communist lens.As an eclectic multimodal anthropologist, he tends to work on a variety of different projects in a diversity of artistic and academic modes, using digital video, film, photography, and sound as methods and sites of inquiry for anthropological and philosophical research. He produces most of his work through the multimodal production house Kuznitsa. His work has screened widely at international film festivals and venues, such as the Arizona International Film Festival, Hudson Valley Film Festival, Ethnografilm, Grand OFF Festival, Festival Internacional de Cinema Socioambiental, Golden State Film Festival, and the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan.In his spare time, he is passionate about collecting vinyl records, works to support the Cuban Revolution, and is an avid (if sometimes inconsistent) cinephile.

ACADEMIC CV

ARTIST CV

FILMS

Filmography

The Sun Sets Like a Scar

2024, 6 mins

Stones in Cold Water

2023, 17 mins

Under the Shadow of the Wall

2022, 9 mins

Dispatches from a Simulated Warzone

2020, 5 mins

Sunny Disposition

2012, 26 mins

In Production / Upcoming

Only In Complete Silence Do You Hear The Desert

202X, Currently In Production 🎥

PHOTOGRAPHY

💼 Portfolio can be viewed here. 💼

Additional photographs can be viewed on Instagram.

Photography Projects/Books

The Land of Sunflowers and Steel (2022)

Shot in Ukraine in the Fall of 2021, THE LAND OF SUNFLOWERS AND STEEL is a visual exploration of a country on the eve of war. Divided into five thematic sections, each spread is structured as sets of diptychs or triptychs meant to generate an aesthetic narrative that blurs time and space, living and dead, progress and decay.

Under the Shadow of the Wall (2020)

UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE WALL is a visual anthropological investigation of the Sonoran Desert—and the ongoing project of a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico—in order to dissect how artifacts and environments are able to take on discrete politico-affective forms. This photography project is a companion to the film of the same name and was published as a photo essay in Visual Anthropology Review.

WORDS

Select Publications

BOOKS

2022. Art and the Working Class by Alexander Bogdanov (Translated and introduced by Taylor R. Genovese). Iskra Books. (PDF)

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES

2022. "Under the Shadow of the Wall." Visual Anthropology Review 38 (2): 280–297. (PDF)

2022. «Мультимодальные подходы к изучению музеев космоса». Этнографическое обозрение № 5: 22–40. (PDF)
[2022. "Multimodal Approaches to the Study of Space Museums." Ethnographic Review (Etnograficheskoe obozrenie) № 5: 22–40.]

2020. "The Necessity of Communist Morality." Peace, Land, and Bread 3: 19–36. (PDF)

2016. "Decolonizing Archival Methodology: Combating Hegemony and Moving Towards a Collaborative Archival Environment." AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples 12 (1): 32–42. (PDF)

EDITOR-REVIEWED ARTICLES

2017. "On Scarves, Serpents, and Solidarity." In Anthropology Matters! in Brief. Anthropology News 58 (6): e128–e130. 15 December. (PDF)

2016. "Orbiting the Imaginary." Peeps Magazine 2: 134–139.

THESES

2023. Dark Cosmism: Or, the Apophatic Specter of Russo-Soviet Techno-utopianism. PhD Dissertation. Arizona State University.

TEACHING

* = Face-to-face instruction
†= Online/hybrid instruction

AS SOLE-INSTRUCTOR OF RECORD

PHI 205: Introduction to (Environmental) Ethics
(SUNY Dutchess // Poughkeepsie, NY // Spring 2024*)
This course is designed to introduce students to the study of ethics and the nature of morality. A wide range of ethical issues will be considered, such as moral relativism, duty-based ethics, and utilitarianism. In order to pragmatically investigate these positions, we will explore them through the lens of environmental ethics. Environmental ethics is the study of ethical relationships between humans and other entities—primarily, other-than-human life. Along with studying a variety of normative ethical positions, we will also investigate theories of value—and how these theories apply to the moral relationships we construct between human and non-human life—manifested in ideas like holism and deep ecology. Finally, the study of ethics benefits strongly from the application of these theories to real world situations, so a significant portion of the course will focus on applying the ethical positions we discuss to key debates in environmental ethics, including subjects such as sustainability, animal rights, environmental justice, climate change, ecosabotage, and technological innovation. [Syllabus]PHIL 101: Philosophical Perspectives
(Marist College // Poughkeepsie, NY // Fall 2022*, Spring 2023*, Fall 2023*, Spring 2024*)
This course is an introduction to philosophy—with the key word being an. In this course, you will get an overview of various philosophical perspectives, but, as those who are interested in philosophy will notice, much of the “philosophical canon” is missing. This is a deliberate choice—but not one made out of spite, malice, or hubris. Rather, the curation of topics for this course is meant to expose you to a wide variety of philosophical traditions and/or modes of thinking, from ancient to contemporary. This class may be challenging. Some topics may require long stints of difficult reading and some topics may challenge your conceptions of how the world works (or should work). This is all done in service to the paramount goal of this course—and, consequently, one of the most difficult tasks that human beings can undertake—to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar. [Syllabus]ASB 214: Magic, Witchcraft, and Healing: An Introduction to Comparative Religion
(Chandler-Gilbert Community College // Chandler, AZ // Fall 2019*, Spring 2020*, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022)
This course provides an introduction to the basic principles of cultural anthropology with a particular anthropological focus on religion, spirituality, myth, and ritual. Anthropology is a holistic discipline that asks: who are humans? where did humans come from? what is unique about humans as a species? In order to answer these questions, many anthropologists adhere to the tenet of cultural relativism (all cultures and cultural practices are equally valid and one should not judge a culture based on the principles of another culture). In this class, we will apply this tenet to an examination of religious or spiritual behavior including: mythologies, religious symbolism, ritual, mysticism, magic, divination, and witchcraft. Because humans are unique in that we are able to think through symbolic complexities, we generate this ambiguous thing we call “culture.” An important component of culture has long been (and continues to be) religion, belief, and spirituality. In this class, we will be asking how and why religions exist; how religion intersects with other parts of human society (economy, politics, medicine, kinship/family); how worldviews are shaped by religion; and, how religions interface with natural environments. [Syllabus]

AS TEACHING ASSISTANT

FIS 305: Ways of Knowing
(Arizona State University // Tempe, AZ // Spring 2020*)
FIS 194: Future of Oceans
(Arizona State University // Tempe, AZ // Fall 2019*)
HON/REL 394: Religion, Science, & Citizenship
(Arizona State University // Tempe, AZ // Spring 2019*)
ANT 102: Exploring Cultures
(Northern Arizona University // Flagstaff, AZ // Fall 2015*, Fall 2016*, Spring 2017*)
ANT 301: Peoples of the World
(Northern Arizona University // Flagstaff, AZ // Spring 2016*)
AFAS 371: Hip Hop Cinema
(University of Arizona // Tucson, AZ // Fall 2014, Spring 2015)

AS INVITED/GUEST LECTURER

"Cryonic Assemblages: American Cosmism and the Commodification of Time." Peredelkino House of Creativity, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Human Potential, Institute of Social Sciences, The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA/РАНХиГС). October 14, 2022. Moscow, Russia."Multimodal Anthropology, Gonzo Ethnography, and Anthropology as Craft." Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis. December 10, 2020. St. Louis, MO."Anarchism, Anthropology, and Taboo." Department of Social Sciences, Arizona Western College. November 13, 2020. Yuma, AZ."Poyekhali! A Brief Primer on the Soviet Space Program." Department of Visual Arts, University of California, San Diego. January 21, 2020. San Diego, CA.

CONTACT

Currently Living and Working on Unceded, Occupied Muhheaconneok (Mohican and Munsee Lenape) Land

MAILING ADDRESS

Taylor R. Genovese
Kuznitsa Media
P.O. Box 295
Poughquag, NY 12570

EMAIL

For Academic/Intellectual Inquiries
taylor.genovese@sunydutchess.edu
For Film/Artistic Inquiries
taylor@kuznitsa.media
For Publishing/Pitch Inquiries
taylor@iskrabooks.org

WEB PRESENCE

THE SUN SETS LIKE A SCAR

2024

6 mins ፠ Digital ፠ 4K ፠ 1.33:1 ፠ Color ፠ Experimental

Engaging with the poetry of Langston Hughes, this film investigates the afterlives of Vladimir Lenin in eastern Germany.More info at KUZNITSA.Watch the TRAILER.Screenings:Golden State Film Festival // February 27, 2024 [World Premiere]

DOOM SOON

Co-directed with Hudson Genovese

202X

Digital ፠ HD ፠ 2.4:1 ፠ Color ፠ Experimental

Details TBA. Currently In Pre-Production.

ONLY IN COMPLETE SILENCE DO YOU HEAR THE DESERT

202X

Digital ፠ 4K ፠ 2.4:1 ፠ B&W ፠ Experimental

Details TBA. Currently In Production.

STONES IN COLD WATER

2023

17 mins ፠ Digital ፠ HD ፠ 1.78:1 ፠ B&W and Color ፠ Documentary, Experimental

Filmed throughout Ukraine just months before the full-scale Russian invasion, this vérité visual ethnography explores the overlaps of memory, hope, progress, and nostalgia at the scale of everyday life.More info at KUZNITSA.Watch the TRAILER.Watch an EXCERPTScreenings:Hudson Valley Film Festival // August 16, 2023

UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE WALL

2022

9 mins ፠ Digital ፠ HD ፠ 1.78:1 ፠ Color ፠ Documentary

This video essay focuses on the landscapes of the Sonoran Desert—and the project of a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico—as a way of investigating the manner in which something as seemingly generic as a wall can take on particular political and affective forms. This short provocation explores the ways that violent and distasteful objects create, and subsequently come to characterize, malevolent spectacles.More info at KUZNITSA.Watch the FILM.Read the companion PHOTO ESSAY.Screenings:Golden State Film Festival // March 1, 2022 [World Premiere]
Arizona International Film Festival // April 27, 2022
FLICKFAIR Film Festival // May 2, 2022
Cannes Independent Film Festival // May 18, 2022
Ischia Global Film Festival // July 16, 2022
Tolpuddle Radical Film Festival // July 16, 2022 [Finalist — Small Axe Radical Short Film Awards]
Hudson Valley Film Festival // August 16, 2022
Festival Internacional de Cinema Socioambiental (International Socioenvironmental Film Festival) // October 14, 2022
Grand OFF Festival // December 2, 2022 [Nominated — Best Documentary]
ProToPost Film Festival // February 22, 2023 [Winner — Best Short Documentary]
Ethnografilm // April 6, 2023

DISPATCHES FROM A SIMULATED WARZONE

2020

5 mins ፠ Digital ፠ HD ፠ 1.78:1 ፠ B&W and Color ፠ Documentary

This film was part of an experimental audiovisual presentation organized and edited by Can Tamura and Taylor Genovese for the Distribute 2020 conference. Eight filmmakers were tasked with making a five-minute film on memory and performance, broadly conceived. Films were then edited among and between one another, generating previously unseen ethnographic elements. This sensory approach—highlighting primarily the visual and the sonic—evoked a novel contextual collaboration through juxtaposition and superimposition.Watch the FILM.Screenings:Distribute 2020 // May 8, 2020
Anthro-film Laboratory // June 20, 2020

SUNNY DISPOSITION

2012

26 mins ፠ Digital ፠ HD ፠ 1.78:1 ፠ Color ፠ Narrative

What happens when a man you've spent years forgetting winds up at your doorstep? Sunny Disposition is the story of Ben, a disgruntled actor, whose desire is to live his life without becoming the father he never knew. Ben returns home after a rehearsal to find a message from a father he hasn't seen in years on his answering machine. Tension rises as Ben and his father meet face-to-face. The next few hours Ben spends with his father will forever determine their relationship. Could their father-son connection be rekindled or will it go up in smoke?Watch the TRAILER.

GROUP INSTALLATION VIEWS

Summer 2022 Show
The Curated Fridge
Somerville, MA
August 6 – October 7, 2022
Curator: Aline Smithson