Separation
Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with its color.
—W. S. Merwin
—from The Second Four Books of Poems
kipple
kipple /KIP-əl/. noun. Useless, multiplying junk, dross, rubbish. A word that seems particularly useful in our age of endless digital detritus and debris. Commonly attributed to speculative fiction author Philip K. Dick as a coinage in his 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, this is probably incorrect. It is likely Dick took it from the title of 60s sci-fi fanzine Kipple, a title one less charitable reader had mockingly re-defined as “useless junk.” And that magazine’s editor had himself appropriated the word from an old joke: “Do you like Kipling? I don’t know, I’ve never kippled.” A joke Dick would re-tell in a later novel (Galactic Pot-Healer).
[Read more…]Links: March 17, 2019
- Birding bop. Should I bird or should I go? You get the idea… → Welcome to Birdpunk
- I think I meant to share this a few years ago but forgot… → Why forgetting is really important for memory: U of T research ※ Also: How the Brain Creates a Timeline of the Past. ※ But, and, because I’m feeling sprawly this morning, “You will not own what you think you will own. You will borrow it. That is raw and beautiful, right now. It’s not sad and hollow.”
- Check out Raija Jokinen’s wonderful art, created using a technique that fuses “painting, drawing, papermaking, embroidery and textiles [to] explore the borderlines of physical and immaterial feelings.” → Raija Jokinen Works.
- Thich Nhat Hanh’s final mindfulness lesson: how to die peacefully
- It seems like it should go without saying that ending an addiction (or addictive behavior) is the first part of a process, not a meaningful activity in itself? → Why beating your phone addiction may come at a cost
- “According to Elgammal, ordinary observers can’t tell the difference between an AI-generated image and a ‘normal’ one in the context of a gallery or an art fair.” → The AI-Art Gold Rush Is Here ※ Pairs directly with A philosopher argues that an AI can’t be an artist and tastily with The Human Brain Is a Time Traveler.
- De-platforming was a thing long before social media… → Auden on No-Platforming Pound
- “Why so many men online love to use ‘logic’ to win an argument, and then disappear before they can find out they’re wrong.” → The magical thinking of guys who love logic
- Paper(y)(ish) art links, in no particular order: Vox Poplar (a generative, collaborative project), Chie Hitotsuyama’s stunning art made of rolled and twisted ropes of wet newspaper, Tiffany Miller Russell’s molded, layered paper scenes and portraits, and Calvin Nicholls paper sculptures.
- Today in 1958, The Champs’ song “Tequila” hits #1 on the US Billboard pop chart. It would be The Champs’—in reality the Danny Flores Trio, who only concocted a name for themselves, inspired by Gene Autry’s horse Champion, after the recording session—only hit. Written by “Chuck Rio” (actually Danny Flores, who used a pseudonym because he was under contract to a different record label at the time), who also shouted the song’s one-word lyric, tequila!, and recorded the memorable saxophone solo, the song was a B-side of an album that had little success and only saw the light of day thanks to a Cleveland DJ.
The Future is Handmade
“A Dutch archaeologist finds artisans and thought leaders who are redefining craft, skill and, ultimately, the real meaning of a knowledge economy.” → ► The Future Is Handmade ※ See also, from the same series: ► The Tale of a Women’s Coup, ► The Pen Shaper, ► Mike Snowden builds and plays a cigar box guitar, ► Anthony Bourdain visits Arion Press, and much more.
[Found via The Craftsmanship Initiative, which aims to “shine a light on those reclaiming craftsmanship’s principles of excellence and durability as a pathway to a better world” by highlighting masters at work, facilitating workshops, and producing a quarterly multimedia magazine. A treasure trove!]