What is this latest iteration of Fresh & New all about?

An experiment in fast writing. Thinking in progress about technology, design, heritage, music and sound - and where they all intersect. Precursors to fully formed ideas and projects. A notebook in progress in the form of a newsletter by Seb Chan.

This began in 2019 as an escape from the writer’s block of longer form ‘public’ pieces. It is my semi-private way of sharing thoughts and ideas in a range of interconnected fields with a close knit community of readers without the all-seeing eye of social media.

Think of it as an art project, or a diary of ideas related to my thinking across many domains. It is not an extension of my ‘work’ - topics will vary and intersect.

Free vs paid subscription/patron?

The free email sign up will mean you never miss a missive from me. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox. Occasionally posts may stay up online publicly for a few days, but more often than not, they won’t - they are meant to be somewhat ephemeral - and the only way to get them in full is via email.

Or become a paid/patron subscriber to get full access to the historical archives along with, possibly, a few other paid subscriber-only goodies and art experiments. The amount charged is in US dollars.

Elsewhere?

You can find some of the longer pieces I’ve written on Medium, at freshandnew.org (mostly museum-related, 2005-2015), and Cyclic Defrost (mostly music-related, 1999-now). There’s a bunch of other places too but those are the main three for uncommissioned pieces. You can also find me at @saturation.social/@sebchan on Mastodon or on Bluesky.

Fresh & New

101. Adventures in Michigan

Reflecting on my last week at visiting University of Michigan