Mark Pilkington (born 26 February 1973) is a writer, publisher, curator and musician with particular interest in the fringes of knowledge, culture and belief.
Career
He has written two books, ''Mirage Men'' (2010) and ''Far Out: 101 Strange Tales from Science's Outer Edge'' (2007). The latter collects the ''Far Out'' science articles Pilkington wrote for
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
newspaper between 2003 and 2005.
For ''Mirage Men'' (premiered at the Sheffield Doc / Fest in 2013) Pilkington and
John Lundberg travelled to America in search of the truth behind the UFO enigma. As they spoke to intelligence agents, disinformation specialists and UFO hunters the pair began to suspect that instead of covering-up stories of crashed spacecraft, alien contacts and secret underground bases for the past 60 years, the US intelligence agencies had been promoting them all along, as part of
Cold War psychological warfare and counter-intelligence programmes.
Pilkington's writing has also been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including ''
The Anomalist'', ''
Fortean Times
''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (2005 t ...
'',
''Frieze'', ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'',
''The Wire'', the ''Time Out Book of London Walks Vol.2'' and ''London Noir''
He has broadcast on
Resonance FM
Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and ...
, both as a guest, hosting ''Strange Attractor On Air'', and
DJing
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...
for the Kosmische Club. He has also given presentations to groups, conventions and festivals including
Fortean Times Unconvention
''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (2005 to ...
,
Supersonic Festival, London Lore Conference, Litro and
Skeptics in the Pub
Skeptics in the Pub (abbreviated SITP) is an informal social event designed to promote fellowship and social networking among skeptics, critical thinkers, freethinkers, rationalists and other like-minded individuals. It provides an opportunity ...
.
Pilkington runs Strange Attractor Press and edits its anthology, ''Strange Attractor Journal''. Other books published by SAP include ''Medical London'' by Richard Barnett and Mike Jay, ''Welcome to Mars'' by
Ken Hollings, ''
Austin Osman Spare
Austin Osman Spare (30 December 1886 – 15 May 1956) was an English artist and occultism, occultist who worked as both a draughtsman and a painter. Influenced by Symbolism (arts), symbolism and art nouveau his art was known for its clear use o ...
'' by Phil Baker and ''The Field Guide'' by Rob Irving and
John Lundberg.
As a curator Pilkington has organised events at London venues including the
Horse Hospital, the
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century C ...
,
Conway Hall
The Conway Hall Ethical Society, formerly the South Place Ethical Society, based in London at Conway Hall, is thought to be the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world and is the only remaining ethical society in the United Kin ...
and
Barnes Wetland Centre. As well as numerous Strange Attractor events from 2001 (initially with
John Lundberg) to 2004, he has collaborated on larger projects including
Pestival (2006, with Bridget Nicholls) and
Megalithomania (2002, with Neil Mortimer of ''
Third Stone Magazine''). In 2010 Pilkington curated the ''Strange Attractor Salon'' at
Viktor Wynd Fine Art in London, an exhibition involving over twenty artists and a programme of talks, performance, music and film.
Pilkington has also played electronics and synthesisers with improvising and experimental musical groups including Rucksack, Raagnagrok, Disinformation, Urthona, The Stargazer's Assistant, High Mountain Tempel, The Stëllä Märis Drönë Örchësträ, Yan Gant y Tan, Indigo Octagon and solo as The Asterism. He has appeared on two CDs by High Mountain Tempel, ''The Glass Bead Game'' and ''Pilgrimage to Thunderbolt Pagoda'', ''Circuit Blasting'' by Strange Attractor vs Disinformation and ''Murmurations'' by Urthona and the Asterism.
In 2012 he appeared in an episode of the second series of '' Stargazing Live'', a BBC 2 series about astronomy.
References
External links
Strange Attractor Press
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilkington, Mark
Living people
1973 births
British non-fiction writers
British male writers
Male non-fiction writers