Death to Realism! 020
Death to Realism! 020
Greetings and happy February. Month of romance and also the shortest... cute? If you need a refresher on the origin & nature of these bi-weekly updates, check out the first issue before reading on.
What's New?
I will be formally announcing it and making it listed on itch.io tomorrow, but the theme for the forthcoming sixth(!!) annual writing is... UNDO! You can check out the jam page now for a clearer idea of what I'm getting at with the theme, and I also reccomend consulting the Lost Histories and Speculation jams especially for inspiration. In the description, I give a hat-tip to Jaroslav Svelch's Gaming the Iron Curtain, which really got me thinking on the topic of how changeable our ideas of a games industry or culture in general really are, with the insights he pulls together on an almost entirely unofficial and non-professionalized context for games.
The jam submission period will run from the 14th to the 20th, so plenty of time to get something together, and I'm also not too strict on working only within the jam period. I'm happy to give submission links out after the deadline as well. Basically I started these events as something chilled out and fun to do when I was single on Valentine's Day. Six years later I am happily attached but am still glad to keep it up in the hope that more people will find something interesting and/or love, which is what I hope for all who write experimental criticism... 0:)
Coming Soon
Obviously alongside my existing long term writing and revising projects, I'm also going to mostly be thinking about and handling Undo Jam stuff over the next few weeks, and rumor has it there may be another Domino Club drop a bit after that. The beginning of the year through April has often been a period of just getting my bearings for the year ahead so I hope I'll gradually have more concrete things to report on!
The Rec Room
Speaking of unofficial gaming culture the Goblet Grotto remaster has a few new time saving features for the practical retro-gamer...
I have been enjoying the first few bits of Personal Rocket, and the puzzles may even convince me to start actually learning Linux CLI...
Earlier this week I was also revisiting some of the work of self-taught artist Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, both his more famous sci-fi paintings and his lesser known soft-erotic photography. This is a great introductory selection.
And I was recently struck on a zone re-watch with how good Moonstruck really is. Cher does it all. So imo, watch that.
I've Been Reading
As I've been revising my novel, I've been revisiting bits of Kathy Acker's Great Expectations, which is so exciting to dip in and out of, and thoroughly dog-ear. I've also been pouring over some of Clarice Lispector's other work, like the short story "The Egg and The Chicken," which is available online here.
As for articles, this analysis of sci-fi classic Roadside Picnic drawing from anti-colonial perspectives on pollution is really fascinating. I also liked this story about the unanticipated collaboration between the developers of Casio keyboards in Japan and Jamaican reggae artists. This essay is a thought-provoking critique of the limitations and tropes of the personal mode in critical writing, and this investigation into the photos excluded from the famous FSA archive, from what is often cited as a golden age of American arts funding, so much as such a thing can be said to exist, complicates the construction of major archives.
I think that's all I have this bi-week! For new subscribers who have signed on since the last newsletter, you can check out the archive of past issues at any time! And I hope you all had a nice holiday and are doing well in the new year.
Thank you again for your support,
Emilie