Money Is No Subject
We convene at the maypole for the rites of spring. Here’s the Potpourri.
Here Come the Warm Jets
At time of writing it’s a comfortable 56°F, but it’s supposed to get up to 80 in Seattle this weekend. I haven’t experienced warmth like that in about 8 months, so I’m curious how my body will react to it.
Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy
Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) is one of my favorite album titles, from the epochal electronic wizard Brian Eno. I later discovered that he yoinked this name from a Cultural Revolution–era Chinese opera. It is a truth universally acknowledged that Chinese operas have great names, even the agitprop ones.
A Chaos of Hydrangeas
I try to frame my photos deliberately, but the chaos of this one appealed to me. My eye can’t find a shape to hold onto; it looks like innumerable birds, each trying to out-wing the others.
Money Is No Subject
Studying Marxism and postmodernism enabled me to conceive of money (that is, capital)—and therefore of culture—as a subject unto itself. DeLillo crystallized this idea perfectly in Cosmopolis:
“Money has lost its narrative quality the way painting did once upon a time. Money is talking to itself.”
Steve Albini’s Blues
A giant of the music world has gone on ahead at the tender age of 61. Albini produced some of the major albums of my early art life, including Songs: Ohia’s Didn’t It Rain and Joanna Newsom’s Ys. These are only a drop in his vast bucket. May he rest in peace and good company.
—Dara Khan