The Tongue Machine

forthcoming 12 March 2026, Schism Neuronics

The Tongue Machine front cover

Recalling years of careful study into the phenomenon of glossolalia or speaking in tongues, an anthropologist acquires the ability to transubstantiate and travel from one glossolalist to another, hundreds of miles apart. He sees the world from the vantage of the mouth and takes possession of the world as the tongue would have it. Employing a mechanism that can be made from almost any scraps and remainders of human industry, the tongue-traveller repeatedly de-materialises and materialises around the world, a victim to his invention, and a conduit for the last remnants of a disturbed and pinched quest for understanding.

Anatomical model of human tongue, made of China, on plaster base. European, for hanging

Wellcome Collection
Anatomical model of human tongue, for hanging. Wellcome Collection