dermografia XI - what happens to the heart
Hello friend,
When I’m pulling these letters together, typing into the little WYSIWYG (God I hate that acronym) box, I’m often thinking about hope and despair. You’ve probably noticed there’s more than a hint of the apocalyptic in the reading, art and links that are shared in here. And I think the whole reason I started these was a need for hope and connection and highlighting the beauty and wonder still available in our world.
The run up to this general election feels like the ultimate exercise in hope & despair as contradictory, complementary partners. The news each day is a perfect/terrible mix of both. I daren’t hope too much right now. But overdoing the despair can stop you taking action. Balance.
It’ll all be done by the end of the week won’t it? Deep breaths.
//happening
Wrapping up for the festive season and the year end - I’ll take a break from these letters until January now I think. I hope you all have a brilliant christmas, however you celebrate. And that we all start the new year recharged and ready.
Oh and I found out that I can now add instagram and twitter posts directly into these emails now. So I might do that occasionally. Here’s one that got me thinking, as an artist/audience/producer today (Thanks @Adam_Y)
The artist/audience divide is an illusion. Artists and creators are the biggest consumers of other people's work, and like-wise most audiences are, by the nature of being interested in the arts, creative practitioners themselves. Dismantle the hierarchies in your heads.
— Adam York Gregory (@Adam_Y) December 10, 2019
//read
++ In Wild Air was a gorgeous newsletter project where Heath Killen asked interesting people to share 6 interesting things. The breadth and variety of ‘things’ made it fascinating. The project has now ended and the full archives are now available for your reading pleasure.
++ One to watch, rather than read, but here’s a charming animation about optimistic nihilism. It’s just the right mix of positivity and existential dread - ‘If the universe has no purpose, then we get to dictate what its purpose is’.
++ End of year lists are going to be everywhere now, but this is a genuinely interesting list of things learnt in 2019. Like ‘Since the 1960s, British motorways have been deliberately designed by computer as series of long curves, rather than straight lines. This is done for both safety (less hypnotic) and aesthetic (“sculpture on an exciting, grand scale”) reasons.’
++ Apocalypse decorations at Tate Britain because I just had to get one reference to the end of the world in this weeks email.
++ Karen Finley’s ArtistsAnonymous just sounds fun, can we try a version over here please?
Stay warm, have fun, don’t vote Tory.... and I’ll be back after the break.
//Hellen