Based on his ventures into esotericism, occultism, meditation practice, and Bauhaus, English artist IAN WHITTLESEA has produced a series of publications over the course of the last years. The Egyptian Postures, On Colour, and, most recently, Trataka—handsomely illustrated by Whittlesea—are concerned with physical and mental techniques aiming at transcendental states of consciousness. Whittlesea’s interest, however, lies with the historical, political, and aesthetic ambivalences of these techniques, and he relies on the strategic deployment of words and gentle gestures to point to where they might fail.