Blackstar Theory

<p><i>Blackstar Theory</i> takes a close look at David Bowie's ambitious last works: his surprise 'comeback' project <i>The Next Day </i>(2013) the off-Broadway musical <i>Lazarus </i>(2015) and the album that preceded the artist's death in 2016 by two days <i>Blackstar</i>. The book explores the swirl of themes that orbit and entangle these projects from a starting point in musical analysis and features new interviews with key collaborators from the period: producer Tony Visconti graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook musical director Henry Hey saxophonist Donny McCaslin and assistant sound engineer Erin Tonkon. <p/>These works tackle the biggest of ideas: identity creativity chaos transience and immortality. They enact a process of individuation for the Bowie meta-persona and invite us to consider what happens when a star dies. In our universe dying stars do not disappear - they transform into new stellar objects remnants and gravitational forces. The radical potential of the Blackstar is demonstrated in the rock star supernova that creates a singularity resulting in cultural iconicity. It is how a man approaching his own death can create art that illuminates the immortal potential of all matter in the known universe.</p>