This is entry #81 in our ongoing 100 Philosophers, 100 Artworks, 100 Words Series.

Philosopher: Nicholas Whittaker, CUNY Graduate Center

Artwork: easyMix, EASYFUN, 2015

Words: The UK-based producer EASYFUN spins divine gold from Billboard hits with “easyMix.” Built with the precision of a Baroque sonata and the ecstasy of a High medieval motet, “easyMix” is a hallucinogenic time capsule of 2010s dance-pop as heard by an ascetic just off a three-month fast. Ariana Grande’s “Break Free” is warped and melted into a lurching Frankenstein of a choral chant, then transfixed into an ecstatic, in the most literal sense, remix of Jessie J’s “Domino.” “Divine” is no overstatement; “easyMix” descends through the clouds and makes straight the path to pop music at its most orgasmically transcendent.