Burroughs was living in Tangier and had become friendly with a local fisherman by the name of Captain Clark. One morning Captain Clark was boasting to Burroughs that in 23 years of being a fisherman he had never had an accident. Later that day he found out that Captain Clark's ship had been in an accident killing all that had been aboard. While he was ruminating on the days events a news bulletin came on saying that there had been an airplane crash in Florida, that the plane had been piloted by another Captain Clark, the number of the flight being 23. Thus the 23 enigma as it were, was birthed into our cultural consciousness.
I have no idea if the above story is true but it has inspired many thoughts and feedback loops in my life over the last 10 years. The easiest way that I can relate my thoughts on this idea to anyone is like this: the number 23 is a symbol for me, a mental shortcut for my brain to conjure up or expedite to my conscious mind from my subconscious mind, a certain set of ideas that will bring up any number of sensations, images, and what-have-you's that I choose to assign to it. Our brains do this naturally, but it is the idea of willfully assigning meaning to it over the knee jerk subconscious reaction that makes it significant. This is an extension of some of the ideas of my favorite occultists, linguists, psycho-analysts, historians and artists.
I choose to use the number 23 as a symbol for the coincidences that seemingly weave their way into our lives, to inspire us and help to define our experiences as humans. A symbol for the way that random chance can seem so divinely inspired. Because of the way our brains are wired you may inadvertently find yourself thinking about the number 23 in some capacity as a link to your own personal coincidences over the next few days, months, and years. Our brains have been shaped through thousands of years of evolutionary trial and error to search out and find patterns in the unrelenting static of daily existence. Confirmation bias can also be defined as "hell to pay" because of this. This being said it shouldn't deter you from observing the seemingly random chance that slithers under the surface of our daily existence; spend some time day dreaming about the possibilities.
My hope is that when I bring a piece of music into the world under the moniker of 23 or with the other musicians in the twenty-three ensemble it's that it is a positive moment in which people can simply enjoy or escape into for the time that they are experiencing it. An experience that helps to exorcise some of the demons of modern existence, to help us to not feel so alone in our own skin, and damn it, to have fun. Or to quote the late, great Glenn Spearman, "...it's one continuous push to bring beauty into a world of madness and frustration."
- Kiv
