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

Pilkington 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. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

newspaper between 2003 and 2005. For ''Mirage Men'' (premiered at the Sheffield Doc / Fest in 2013) Pilkington and

John Lundberg John Lundberg (born 5 December 1968) is an English artist and documentary filmmaker. His work is concerned with Ostensive definition#Ostension in folklore, ostension. Underpinning all of his work is an interest in how myth and artifice can sh ...

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 (from 2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (from ...

'', ''Frieze'', ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...

'', ''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 two permanent staff members, including Chief Executive Officer Peter Lance ...

, 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 personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

for the Kosmische Club. He has also given presentations to groups, conventions and festivals including Fortean Times Unconvention, 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 opportunit ...

. 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

. As a curator Pilkington has organised events at London venues including the

Horse Hospital The Horse Hospital is a Grade II listed not for profit, independent arts venue at Colonnade, Bloomsbury, central London. Its curatorial focus is on counter-cultural histories, sub-cultures, outsiders and emerging artists. It organizes undergroun ...

, the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society is the organizational body of Theosophy, an esoteric new religious movement. It was founded in New York City, U.S.A. in 1875. Among its founders were Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and the principal thinker of the ...

Conway Hall Conway Hall in Red Lion Square, London, is the headquarters of the Conway Hall Ethical Society. It is a Grade II listed building. History The building was commissioned by the South Place Ethical Society, which had previously been accommodated ...

and Barnes Wetland Centre. As well as numerous Strange Attractor events from 2001 (initially with

) 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 ''Stargazing Live'' is a British live television programme on astronomy that was broadcast yearly on BBC Two over three nights every winter from 2011 to 2017. The series was primarily presented by scientist Brian Cox and comedian and amateur ...

'', 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 British male non-fiction writers