Do you ever feel like you’re not quite getting it? We live in a time of missed connections expressed through misunderstandings, dropped calls and glitches. In this episode of Constellations, sit with us in an attempt to express the inexpressible. Oh, and a quack or two.
Poor Connection
they say the context is collapsing. seems true. coherence is buried under an oil slick. narrative, a zillion pieces of space trash.
why are you here? how much of you is here? where is the rest of you?what does your brain feel like while you're scrolling? mine feels like a bowl of marbles?
what does it mean that CONtent and conTENT are the same in sound and opposite in meaning?
also: where did your body go? i am thumb. nub.
Things that inspired this piece:
1. Neil Postman — Amusing Ourselves to Death
i excerpt Postman twice in the piece I believe. My high school English teacher—"Mr. H"—handed me the book one day after class with a gesture I interpreted as 'this will help you understand our fucked up world'. my 15-year-old brain understood like a quarter of it, but 10 years later, it's bubbled back up to the surface.
(2) Beatriz Ferreyra — Echos+
listening to Ferreyra is for me like dropping down Alice's hole. how does she conjure and contort sound? "Echos" specifically, the way she cuts up the voice, destroys the ostensible meaning, is for me, a portal into quieter, hidden meanings lurking beneath the surface.
(3) Jenny Odell — How To Do Nothing
Echoing Quack
From Mike Williams:
‘Echoing quack’ provides a unique perspective into an alternative universe where audio makers ask bigger questions — some are even up to two paragraphs long. Listeners are both challenged and comforted by the blending of the natural and the imagined. The vision is sharp but the impact unravels gently, as time, emotion and intellect dance. Listeners are left with something both challenging and comforting, we realise we already mentioned this but we thought it should be emphasised.
Yardain Amron is an aspiring middle child, freelance journalist, editor and producer, brother and experiential educator. Find him on Twitter @yardain.