I have not posted much here this month, because I’ve been posting a lot over at A Thousand And One Recaps, my close reading of The Arabian Nights.
Here are links to the recaps posted so far.
Continue readingCategory: Diary (Page 9 of 301)
Things that happen to me, or things I do
Here are two similar projects that turn on the art of collaging and remixing.
First, Austin Kelon’s flock of zines.
A zine (/zi?n/ZEEN; short for magazine or fanzine) is most commonly a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via photocopier. Usually zines are the product of a person, or of a very small group.
Last month Austin posted a tutorial on how to make an 8-page zine from a single sheet of paper. (It’s also possible to make 14-page zines too).
Continue readingDuring the COVID-19 lockdown, I’ve finally got around to a project I have mean meaning to do for a while, which I hope will prove an ongoing diversion while normal social life is on pause.
It’s called A Thousand And One Recaps.
The idea is very simple: I’m reading The Arabian Nights, or The Thousand and One Nights, the famously rich collection of stories that originate in Asia and the Middle East. Continue reading
We’re all in this together. But what happens when we’re not?
Earlier this week I posted a tweet that got plenty of attention.
I really think there is a story to be written about the unintended consequences of the antibody test. It will create two classes of citizen – those who are immune and those who are not – with different rules for each. I think it might become incredibly divisive.
— Robert Sharp रोबर्ट शार्प (@robertsharp59) April 1, 2020
When the COVID-19 antibody test becomes available, it will split the country – and the world – into two types of person: those who are immune to the virus, and those who are still susceptible.
In the long term, when we have established ‘herd immunity,’ this won’t matter.1 But in the short term it could prove incredibly divisive, and cause the disintegration of solidarity and co-operation that our country has demonstrated so far.
Continue readingThis afternoon, as I was hunched over my phone composing a draft of a tweet, I paused over what word I would use to describe the COVID-19 events of the past few weeks.
Shenanigans? Malestrom? Crisis? Hilarity? Tragedy? Nonsense? “This COVID19 business”?
I began to realise that, in our discussions about the virus, we all seem to be able to slide effortlessly between gravity and frivolity. We can at once be deeply affected and concerned by the death, illness, and risk to our frontline workers on the one hand; and sharing memes about day-drinking and homeschool #fails, on the other. We all seem to be experiencing a sort of mass cognitive dissonance. Continue reading