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marketingprofitmedia · 1 year ago

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How To Start Writing Career on Medium in 2023: Step by Step Beginner's Guide

In the ever-changing world of online content production, Medium is a shelter for authors seeking a worldwide audience. In 2023, Medium’s community-driven culture and reader involvement becomes even more appealing. For beginner writers and seasoned authors exploring new possibilities, this thorough book is your entryway to understanding Medium writing.

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Navigating through the digital landscape can be overwhelming, but fear not, for this step-by-step beginner’s guide will illuminate your path. From setting up your profile to honing your content and navigating the intricacies of Medium’s interface, we’ll unravel the process together. By the end of this guide, you’ll be primed and ready to craft captivating narratives that resonate with your audience while embracing the spirit of Medium’s vibrant writing community. Now let’s get started!

Step 1: Creating Your Medium Account

Starting your journey on Medium begins with creating an account. Head over to the Medium website and sign up using your Google account or email address. Once registered, take a moment to customize your profile by adding a profile picture, a bio that reflects your interests, and links to your social media handles.

Step 2: Understanding Medium’s Interface

Navigating Medium’s interface might seem overwhelming at first, but it’s designed to be user-friendly. The homepage showcases a curated feed of articles based on your interests. You can explore specific niches by following publications and tags related to those topics.

Step 3: Choosing Your Topics

When you’re just starting, it’s essential to choose topics that genuinely interest you. This will make the writing process more enjoyable and authentic. Additionally, research trending subjects within your chosen niches to ensure your content remains relevant.

Step 4: Crafting Compelling Content

The heart of Medium is its content, and crafting compelling articles is crucial to capturing readers’ attention. Your headlines should be intriguing and promise value to your audience. To maintain engagement, structure your articles with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Utilize subheadings to break down your content and enhance readability.

Step 5: Utilizing Visuals

Visual elements play a significant role in keeping readers engaged. Include relevant images, infographics, and even embedded multimedia to enhance your content. Ensure that visuals align with your written content and provide additional context.

Step 6: Engagement and Networking

Medium is a platform that encourages interaction between writers and readers. Responding to comments on your articles can foster a sense of community and help you better understand your audience. Beyond that, connect with other writers by clapping for their articles and participating in discussions.

Step 7: Publishing and Promotion

Before hitting the publish button, it’s essential to proofread and edit your work thoroughly. Correct any grammatical errors and ensure your article flows seamlessly. Once published, don’t forget to promote your work on social media platforms and engage with readers who share your content.

Step 8: Analyzing Performance

Medium provides analytics tools to help you gauge the performance of your articles. Keep an eye on metrics like views, reads, and engagement. This data can offer valuable insights into which topics resonate with your audience, allowing you to refine your content strategy.

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Creating Your Medium Account

Setting up your Medium account is the first stride towards becoming a part of the thriving writing community. To make this process seamless, consider the following tips:

Choosing Your Identity: Select a profile picture that reflects your personality or brand. It’s the first thing readers will notice, so opt for an image that resonates with your writing style and subject matter.

Crafting Your Bio: Your bio is your chance to introduce yourself to the world. Keep it concise and engaging, highlighting your interests, expertise, and what readers can expect from your articles.

Personalizing Your URL: Customize your Medium URL to something memorable and reflective of your content. A clean and concise URL is not only user-friendly but also adds a professional touch to your profile.

Linking Social Media: Link your social media accounts to your Medium profile. This allows readers to connect with you on different platforms and helps in building a broader audience base.

Setting Preferences: Adjust your notification settings to stay informed about interactions with your articles and engagement from the Medium community. This keeps you engaged and responsive to reader feedback.

By paying attention to these details, you’re not just creating an account; you’re crafting your online identity within the Medium universe. Each element contributes to your brand, making it easier for readers to connect with your work. So, put your best digital foot forward as you embark on your Medium writing journey.

Understanding Medium’s Interface

Navigating Medium’s interface is the key to making the most of your writing experience. Here are a few tips to help you navigate with ease:

Homepage Exploration: The homepage offers a curated feed of articles based on your interests. Spend time exploring different topics, authors, and publications to gain insights into what resonates with the Medium audience.

Publications and Tags: Dive into publications and follow tags that align with your writing niche. This not only helps you discover relevant content but also connects you with like-minded writers and readers.

Claps and Responses: When you read an article, you can show appreciation by clapping. This feedback is a form of engagement that encourages the author and establishes a sense of community. Additionally, responding to articles through thoughtful comments can initiate valuable discussions.

Bookmarking: Found an article you want to revisit later or reference in your own work? Bookmark it for easy access. This feature is handy for research and inspiration.

Customizing Your Feed: Medium allows you to personalize your feed by adjusting your preferences and interests. Tailor your experience by indicating which topics you’d like to see more of.

Understanding these interface elements empowers you to immerse yourself fully in the Medium ecosystem. By engaging with the platform’s features, you’ll not only enhance your own experience but also contribute to the vibrant community of writers and readers.

Choosing Your Topics

Navigating Medium’s interface is the key to unlocking its vast potential for writers. Here are some valuable tips to help you make the most of this platform:

Homepage Exploration: The homepage is your launchpad into a world of diverse content. Explore the “For You” section, which curates articles based on your interests and interactions. Engage with articles by clapping, commenting, and sharing to tailor your feed even more.

Publications and Tags: Discover specific niches by following publications and tags relevant to your interests. This allows you to immerse yourself in topics that resonate with your writing, connect with like-minded writers, and gain exposure to a wider audience.

The Power of Responses: Responses are Medium’s way of fostering engagement and interaction between writers and readers. Engage with your audience by responding to comments on your articles and participating in discussions on others’ pieces.

Bookmarking and Highlighting: While reading articles, use the bookmark and highlight features to save or emphasize sections that inspire you. This not only helps you revisit valuable insights but also contributes to your personal curation of content.

Personal Archive and Stats: Your profile menu gives you access to your personal archive of articles and your writing statistics. This is an excellent way to track your progress, reflect on your journey, and refine your content strategy based on what resonates with readers.

Understanding Medium’s interface empowers you to seamlessly navigate its features and engage meaningfully with its vibrant community. By immersing yourself in this ecosystem, you’ll discover a world of writing inspiration, networking opportunities, and potential for growth as a writer.

Crafting Compelling Content

Creating content that captivates Medium’s readers requires finesse and strategy. Here are some essential tips to help you craft articles that resonate:

Intriguing Headlines: Your headline is the gateway to your article. Craft it to be both attention-grabbing and informative. Pose a question, offer a solution, or evoke curiosity to entice readers to click.

Structured Flow: Organize your article with a clear structure — introduction, body, and conclusion. Use subheadings to break down complex ideas, making your content more scannable and reader-friendly.

Engaging Introduction: Hook readers with a compelling introduction. Pose a problem, share a personal anecdote, or present a surprising fact to pique their interest and encourage them to read further.

Storytelling Elements: Weave storytelling into your content. Share personal experiences or use relatable examples to establish an emotional connection with your readers, making your message more memorable.

Actionable Takeaways: Provide actionable insights or advice that readers can implement in their own lives. Offering value adds credibility to your writing and encourages readers to engage with your content.

Visual Enhancements: Incorporate relevant images, charts, or infographics to break up text and add visual interest. Visuals can help convey complex concepts and make your content more appealing.

Polished Editing: Before publishing, proofread your article for grammar and spelling errors. Ensure your sentences flow smoothly and your ideas are well-articulated, enhancing the overall reading experience.

By implementing these tips, you’ll not only create content that resonates with Medium’s audience but also establish yourself as a credible and engaging writer. Craft articles that provide value, spark conversations, and leave a lasting impact on your readers.

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Utilizing Visuals

Incorporating visuals into your Medium articles can significantly enhance reader engagement and comprehension. Here are some effective strategies to make the most of visuals:

Relevance Matters: Choose visuals that directly relate to your content. Images, graphs, and charts should enhance your narrative and provide additional context to your text.

Quality Over Quantity: Opt for high-quality visuals that are clear and well-composed. Blurry or pixelated images can detract from the professionalism of your article.

Infographics for Clarity: Complex concepts can be simplified using infographics. Create or source infographics that distill information into visually appealing graphics.

Break Up Text: Long blocks of text can be intimidating. Intersperse visuals strategically to break up content and make it more reader-friendly.

Consistent Formatting: Maintain a consistent style for your visuals. This includes size, alignment, and captions. Consistency adds to the overall aesthetic of your article.

Cite Sources: If you’re using visuals from external sources, remember to give proper credit. This adds credibility to your article and respects the work of others.

Accessibility: Ensure that your visuals are accessible to all readers. Use alt text to describe images and provide an equivalent experience for those with visual impairments.

By effectively utilizing visuals, you not only enhance the visual appeal of your articles but also cater to different learning styles and increase the likelihood of reader retention. A harmonious blend of textual and visual elements can create a well-rounded and engaging reading experience on Medium.

Engagement and Networking

Engaging with your readers and networking with fellow writers are essential aspects of thriving within the Medium community. Here are some valuable tips to foster meaningful connections:

Respond to Comments: Engage with readers who take the time to comment on your articles. Responding to their thoughts or questions not only shows appreciation but also encourages further discussion.

Encourage Dialogue: Pose questions or prompts within your articles to invite readers to share their perspectives. This creates a sense of community and encourages interaction.

Explore Others’ Work: Venture beyond your own articles and explore the work of other writers. Clap for pieces you enjoy and leave thoughtful comments to initiate conversations.

Connect on Social Media: Extend your Medium relationships by connecting with fellow writers on social media platforms. This allows for more personal interactions and the opportunity to share each other’s work.

Participate in Publications: Many Medium publications have active communities. Contributing to these publications not only exposes your work to a broader audience but also connects you with like-minded writers.

Join Medium Groups: Participate in Medium writing groups or communities related to your interests. These groups often host discussions, challenges, and opportunities for collaboration.

Attend Medium Events: Keep an eye out for Medium events, workshops, and webinars. These provide in-person or virtual networking opportunities and the chance to learn from experienced writers.

Engagement and networking are at the heart of Medium’s collaborative spirit. By actively participating in discussions, supporting fellow writers, and seeking out opportunities for interaction, you’ll not only enhance your own experience but also contribute to the vitality of the Medium writing community.

Publishing and Promotion

Publishing your articles on Medium is just the beginning; effectively promoting them ensures your work reaches a wider audience. Here are some strategies to consider:

Thorough Proofreading: Before hitting “publish,” thoroughly proofread your article for grammar, spelling, and formatting errors. A polished piece enhances your credibility.

Engaging Thumbnails: Choose an eye-catching thumbnail image that represents your article visually. It’s the first thing readers see and can influence their decision to click.

Social Media Sharing: Share your article on your social media platforms. Craft engaging captions that entice your followers to read, offering a snippet of what they can expect.

Medium Publications: Submit your article to relevant Medium publications. If accepted, your work gains exposure to a larger, curated audience.

Cross-Promotion: Collaborate with other Medium writers for cross-promotion. Mention each other’s articles within your work, expanding your reach to each other’s readership.

Email Subscribers: If you have an email list, share your Medium articles with your subscribers. It’s a direct way to notify your dedicated audience about your new content.

Repurposing Content: Convert your articles into different formats, such as podcasts, videos, or infographics. This allows you to share your message on diverse platforms.

By combining meticulous publishing practices with strategic promotion, you amplify your article’s visibility and impact. Remember, the journey doesn’t end at publishing; proactive promotion ensures your hard work reaches the readers who can benefit from it the most.

Analyzing Performance

Analyzing the performance of your Medium articles is crucial for refining your writing strategy and engaging effectively with your audience. Here are key insights to consider:

Reads vs. Views: Distinguish between “reads” (how many people read your article) and “views” (how many times your article was opened). A high view count might not necessarily translate to engagement.

Engagement Metrics: Pay attention to claps, highlights, and comments. These metrics indicate how readers interact with your content and offer insights into its impact.

Reading Time: Understand the average reading time of your articles. This informs you about your audience’s engagement level and whether they’re spending quality time with your content.

Audience Demographics: Medium’s analytics provide information about your audience’s location, interests, and more. Tailor your content based on this data to better resonate with your readers.

Top Performing Content: Identify your top-performing articles. Analyze what made these articles successful and apply those principles to your future work.

Referral Sources: Medium analytics reveal where your traffic is coming from, whether it’s Medium’s internal recommendations, social media, or external links. This helps you understand your promotional efforts’ effectiveness.

Experiment and Adapt: Use your analytics to experiment with different approaches. Adapt your content strategy based on what works and what doesn’t.

Analyzing your Medium performance transforms data into actionable insights. It empowers you to refine your writing style, cater to your audience’s preferences, and grow as a writer within the dynamic Medium ecosystem.

Conclusion

Starting your writing journey on Medium in 2023 is an exciting opportunity to share your unique perspective with a diverse audience. It’s a living platform where you can reach an international audience and influence change with your thoughts. You’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals if you take the time to establish a strong presence on Medium, learn its intricacies, publish great material, and interact with readers and other authors. Complete the cycle of improvement by analyzing your performance and making adjustments as necessary. Therefore, let your thoughts and ideas grow as you add to the rich tapestry of Medium’s varied user base. Best wishes with your writing!

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Source : How To Start Writing Career on Medium in 2023: Step by Step Beginner’s Guide

Thanks for reading my article on “How To Start Writing Career on Medium in 2023: Step by Step Beginner’s Guide“, hope it will help!

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gagosiangallery · 3 years ago

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Gagosian to Launch Picture Books Imprint in Collaboration with Emma Cline

Gagosian, Emma Cline, and Peter Mendelsund Collaborate on Picture Books: A Book Series That Pairs Fiction Writers with Leading Contemporary Artists Inaugural Publication Brings Together Author Ottessa Moshfegh and Artist Issy Wood; Second Book Features Author Percival Everett and Artist Richard Prince

NEW YORK, November 17, 2021—Gagosian is pleased to announce Picture Books, a new imprint launching in December that publishes fiction by leading authors alongside contributions by celebrated contemporary artists. The series was conceived by Emma Cline, author of The Girls (2016) and Daddy (2020), who has invited a number of internationally renowned fiction writers and visual artists to collaborate on individual books. Each author is paired with an artist, who is given carte blanche to create an image that is in conversation with the writer’s story. The book and image—in the form of a printed poster—are packaged together in limited hardcover editions designed by Peter Mendelsund, the renowned author, designer, and creative director of The Atlantic. The books will be available for purchase for $30 in the recently relaunched online Gagosian Shop as well as at the physical location on Madison Avenue in New York and at select bookstores. Future authors in the series will include Mary Gaitskill and Elif Batuman. Larry Gagosian commented: “My gallery has long published books on artists by celebrated writers and thinkers. When Emma Cline approached me about creating an imprint that would invite artists to create new images in response to works of literature, it immediately resonated. Bringing creators together in this unique way adds another dimension to the gallery’s innovative and expansive publishing program.” Emma Cline added: “Picture Books creates a space for a new kind of dialogue between art and fiction. While writers often engage with art and artists in the form of a catalogue essay or a critical review, there was no equivalent platform for artists to respond to a work of fiction. Gagosian was the ideal partner in bringing this project to life: the gallery has a strong appreciation for the echoes and illuminations that result from conversations between different mediums and between artists. Peter Mendelsund was another natural fit: across his fiction, nonfiction, and visual work, Peter is always thinking deeply about the interplay between words and images. It’s exciting to create the opportunity for that interplay in the form of these beautiful objects.” Peter Mendelsund said: “As someone who has spent much of his adult life making pictures and writing books, I’m naturally invested in understanding the intersection of these two media (and interested in understanding the limits of each; what can’t words show, and what can’t art say?). So, when Emma and I first started discussing the Picture Books series, in which we’d pair fiction and fine art, I found myself tickled in my sweet spot. Seeing the two forms side by side, responding to one another, will be revelatory in speaking to exactly these intersections and limits.” The Picture Books series will launch with two publications—Ottessa Moshfegh’s My New Novel (2021), matched with an artwork by Issy Wood; and Percival Everett’s Grand Canyon, Inc. (2021), accompanied by a Richard Prince artwork. Wood’s contribution is the down payment (2021), a new oil-on-linen painting; Prince presents a color photograph from his Original Cowboys series (2013). “You think everyone hates you, Jerome. It might be the one thing you’re getting right.” In Moshfegh’s acerbic narrative, My New Novel, struggling writer Jerome Littlefield trades verbal blows with his mother; his therapist; and Stacey, a pregnant stripper who responds to his appeal for an “attentive individual to sit and listen. No speaking required.” The painting that Wood produced in response portrays a weeping Jerome in the midst of what the artist calls “the most directly surreal part of the story.” The pairing of Wood and Moshfegh was an obvious one, says Cline. “Both Moshfegh and Wood share a gothic, spiky humor and an attunement to the darker currents of the world, the hidden realms where shame and desire intersect.” Everett’s Grand Canyon, Inc. relates the tragicomic tale of crack rifle shot Winchell Nathaniel “Rhino” Tanner; his sidekick Simpson Trane, aka BB (named for the BB pellet lodged inextricably in his skull); and their battle to “acquire” the Grand Canyon by constructing an amusement park on Plateau Point. Prince’s photograph, which depicts the sandstone buttes of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park on the Arizona-Utah border, sees the artist continue his long engagement with the iconography of the American West. For this series, instead of rephotographing and manipulating images clipped from magazine advertisements, as he has done before, Prince visited the area to seek out quintessential viewpoints established by preceding photographers. “Prince is so wily and wry, in ways that echo Everett,” says Emma Cline. “They are both tricksters who take a sideways look at the mythology of the West and reveal it anew.” Gagosian’s extensive in-house publishing program has produced nearly six hundred books, including catalogues raisonnés, artist monographs, scholarly exhibition catalogues, and limited-edition artist’s books. The gallery started publishing in 1985 and today its output rivals that of traditional arts trade publishers, averaging between twenty-five and forty books a year. Recent subjects include Georg Baselitz, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Helen Frankenthaler, Ellen Gallagher, Katharina Grosse, Damien Hirst, Donald Judd, Y.Z. Kami, Nam June Paik, Gerhard Richter, Jenny Saville, Mary Weatherford, and Rachel Whiteread. The gallery also produces Gagosian Quarterly, a celebrated print and online magazine, which will launch its fifth anniversary issue at the beginning of 2022. Emma Cline is a novelist from California. Her debut novel, The Girls (2016), was shortlisted for the John Leonard Prize by the National Book Critics Circle and the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize. Her stories have been published in the New Yorker, Tin House, Granta, and the Paris Review, and her short-story collection, Daddy, was released in 2020. Cline was named one of Granta’s Best of Young American Novelists and was a recipient of the Plimpton Prize for Fiction. Percival Everett is the author of twenty-two novels and four collections of stories. Among his novels are The Trees (2021), Telephone (2020), So Much Blue (2017), and Erasure (2001). He has received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation and Creative Capital. He is a distinguished professor of English at the University of Southern California and lives and works in Los Angeles. Peter Mendelsund is the author of five books: the novels Same Same (2019) and The Delivery (2021), as well the nonfiction works What We See When We Read (2014), Cover (2014), and The Look of the Book (2020). Mendelsund has been described by the New York Times as “one of the top designers at work today,” and his work has been described by the Wall Street Journal as “the most instantly recognizable and iconic.” He is creative director of The Atlantic. Ottessa Moshfegh is a novelist from New England who lives and works in Southern California. Eileen (2015), her first novel, was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize and won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction. My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018) and Death in Her Hands (2020), her second and third novels, were New York Times bestsellers. She is also the author of a novella, McGlue (2014), and the short-story collection Homesick for Another World (2017). Richard Prince is an artist who lives and works in New York. His works are in the public collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Victoria and Albert Museum, London. He has been the subject of major solo exhibitions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1992); Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel (2001, traveled to Kunsthalle Zürich, Switzerland; and Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2007, traveled to Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and Serpentine Gallery, London, through 2008); American Prayer, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (2011); Prince/Picasso, Museo Picasso Málaga, Spain (2012); and It’s a Free Concert, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2014). Issy Wood was born in the United States and lives and works in London. She graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London, with a BA in fine art and history of art in 2015, and earned an MA from the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 2018. Collections include the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris. Exhibitions include All the Rage, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art, London (2019); and Good Clean Fun, X Museum, Beijing (2020). _____ Left: Percival Everett, Grand Canyon, Inc. / Richard Prince, Untitled (Original Cowboy) (New York: Picture Books | Gagosian, 2021). Right: Ottessa Moshfegh, My New Novel / Issy Wood, the down payment (New York: Picture Books | Gagosian, 2021)

#Picture Books #Gagosian #Emma Cline #Peter Mendelsund #Ottessa Moshfegh #Richard Prince #Issy Wood

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itsarttome · 4 years ago

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Armenian Women in Visual Arts

I took a class on Armenian culture and history in university that exposed me to this beautiful country and people and opened my eyes to the undeniable tragedy of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

I’m not Armenian, but I’m Greek on my dad’s side which I found out is very similar. We both love our dolma’s and hate the Turks. But in all seriousness, we share a lot of similarities with Armenian culture, including its political history, which has helped me to further empathize with the current struggles they are facing as a country. It's heartbreaking to see that, just five years after the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Armenians appear to be facing a second genocide. Armenia’s neighboring country Azerbaijan has been ensuing deadly attacks against them for some time now with the aid of Turkey and the issue continues to be mostly ignored by the international community. Protests have been raging on both in the nation and diaspora. In no way do I consider myself to be an expert on this subject, but I feel responsible at least to educate myself and do my part as a citizen of the world.

There is no civilization in the world that, given it possess the resources and will, doesn’t have artists, doctors, lawyers, chefs, musicians, poets, farmers, accountants, etc... The meaning of this to me is that it is proof we are all valuable people, no matter where we come from or what we look like. Just think about how sand is made from millions of tiny parts but looks like one uniform blanket on the beach. If you were to put a handful of sand into a jar, and another handful into another jar, you’d find that each jar is made up of entirely different rocks. But somehow, both have all the elements needed to still look like a handful of sand. That’s how I view culture. Every culture is a handful of sand; they all have necessarily found their own way to explain the universe (religion), their own way to communicate (language), their own way to nourish themselves (diet), and so on... and each way is original and different. But somehow, all of the elements add up to create a civilization, a culture, and a people with a shared identity. The only thing that makes us different is that we’re arbitrarily placed into one jar and not another, but when you look at the big picture, we’re all the same.

As embarrassing as it is to admit, I think by human nature it’s much easier to care about someone else’s journey in life when they have something in common with you. What I love about art is that when you meet another artist, no matter who, you feel a sort of magical connection to that person and are bonded over your mutual appreciation of it. I am a woman and I am an artist, and because of that, I feel lucky and unworthy in saying I have something in common with these incredibly talented Armenian women that I’m about to share with you.

I. Zabelle Boyajian (1872-1957)

Zabelle C. Boyajian was a poet, painter and playwright of the Ottoman Empire, born in 1872 in Diyarbakir, one of the ancient Armenian capitals, ‘Tigranakert’. After the murder of her father during the Hamidian Massacres of 1895, she, her mother and her brother immigrated to London. She travelled extensively throughout her lifetime and learned to speak eight languages fluently, including Armenian, English, German, Italian, Greek, Turkish and Russian. Being skilled in so many languages, apart from the arts, she was a great contributor to the translation of many great Armenian works. For example, in 1948, she translated Avetik Isahakian’s epic poem “Abu Lala Mahari” and published it for the world to read. In 1938, thanks to her wide travels, she published several illustrations from her visit to Greece, entitled “In Greece with Pen and Palette”. Exhibitions of her art were held in London, Egypt, France, Italy, Belgium and Germany. She was close friends with Anna Raffi, the wife of the well-known Armenian novelist, Raffi. One of the leading female trailblazers of art, literature and translation, she published her first novel in 1901, entitled “Esther”. She is well known today for her gorgeous storybook illustrations.

II. Miriam Aslamazian (1907-2006)

Miriam Aslamazian, sometimes called the Armenian Frida Kahlo, was born on October 20th, 1907 in Alexandropol in the village of Bash-shirak. She was was a Soviet painter of Armenian descent recognized for her exquisite ceramic plates. In 1929, she graduated from the Yerevan Art-Industrial Technicum and later in 1933, from the Leningrad Academy of Art. In 1946, she became a member of the CPSU (the Communist Party of the Soviet Union). Her work is often described as decorative, flat still-life pieces as well as possessing dramatic, colorful themes. Many pieces of her artwork can be found today in the Aslamazian Sisters’ Museum in Gyumri. She was honored as People’s Artist of the Armenian SSR 1965 and People’s Artist of the Soviet Union in 1990.

III. Gayane Khachaturian (1942-2009)

Gayane Khachaturian, born May 9th, 1942 in Tbilisi, Georgia, was a Georgian-Armenian graphic artist and painter. She studied at the Nikoladze Art School and the Secondary School of Working Youth, where she graduated in 1960. Sergei Parajanov, who she was close friends with, was a major inspiration for her. Some of her works are permanently displayed and can be seen at the National Gallery of Armenia, the Yerevan Museum of Modern Art as well as the Sergei Parajanov Museum in Yerevan. Her works have also been purchased and are included in several private art collections. Her first informal solo exhibition was at Skvoznyachok Café in Yerevan in 1967.

IV. Sonia Balassanian

Sonia Balassanian is a mixed media artist, art curator, founder and Artistic Director of the Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art in Yerevan, Armenia. Born in Iran of Armenian descent on April 8th of 1942, Balassanian uses her artwork to advocate for human rights and women's emancipation issues. In 1970, she obtained a BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the following year worked on an independent study program at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1978, she completed her MFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. The following year, however, the 1979 events in Iran caused her to turn to “political art” as self expression. She is also a skilled writer, publishing several works, including, “There Might Have Been An Insane Heart” (1982), composed of selected poems written in the Armenian language, “Portraits” published in New York in 1983 and “Two Books” (2006), a publication of two books of poems in one combined.

V. Nora Chavashian

Nora Chavashian is an award-winning production designer, art director and set decorator, recognized for her sculptural stage sets, born in Philadelphia, PA on October 25th, 1953. OMG we have the same birthday, no wonder I like her! There, she studied sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 1974, Chayashian graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI). In 1984, she married Joe Morton, an American actor, director, writer, singer and songwriter, with whom she has three children, Hopi, Seta and Ara, and one grandson, Moses. In 1988, she and her family relocated to the East Coast. Her sculptures often have organic shapes and are reminiscent of nature.

VI. Anush Yeghiazaryan

Anush Yeghiazaryan is a painter, weaver and professor born on June 15th, 1965 in Yerevan, Armenia, known for her stunning tapestry creations. Hailing from the family of Karapet Yeghizaryan, patriarch of the Armenian school of art weaving, she has held up the traditional weaving techniques of her ancestors. From 1984 to 1990, she studied graphic design at the Yerevan State Fine Arts Academy. From 1991 to 1994, she worked on obtaining her PhD from the State Armenian Pedagogical University. In 1996, she became a member of the Armenian Union of Artists. In 2010, Yeghiazaryan joined the Pan-Armenian Painting Association. She has had her work presented in exhibitions around the world, from Yerevan to Paris, Moscow, Sankt Petersburg, Bouve, Plovdil, Tehran, Italy and Praha. Quoted for saying, “I have not chosen art, it’s in my blood. It’s my lifestyle and I love it up to sublimation degree”. Some of her pieces displaying masterful weaving techniques include,“If you live, create” (1998), “Once Upon a Time in Paris” (2003), and “Urbanization” (2006).

VII. Taleen Berberian

Taleen Berberian is a modern Armenian visual artist, specializing in mixed mediums, crafted fabric, clay sculptures, drawing and the use of the traditional Armenian sewing, embroidery and crochet techniques in unconventional ways. She is especially recognized for her famous sculptures of shoes. Berberian has been on the forefront of women’s issues, a theme that can be seen through her artwork. She is an active participant in both Los Angeles and New York’s art communities. In 1995, she obtained a BFA in Sculpture from the California College of the Arts in Oakland, California and in 1998 she continued on to achieve a MFA in Studio Art and Art Education from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. In 2009, she received her Initial Teachers’ Certification in Visual Art for grades K-12 and currently serves as a quilting and ceramics instructor.

VIII. Joanne Julian

Found out artist Joanne Julian and I are both CSUN alum and native Angelenos! Julian, who is of Armenian ancestry, says she has been highly influenced by her travels to Asia and thus became skilled in certain Asian techniques, such as mono printing and the “flung ink” or “Haboku” style. Her pieces possess a “Zen quality” to them, as portrayed in her “Zen Circle” series, illuminating the Yin and Yang of Taoist painting. She received her Bachelor’s of Arts and her Masters in sculpture and printmaking from California State University, Northridge. She later received her MFA from the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design. She has participated in over sixty group exhibitions and twenty solo exhibitions nation-wide. Since 1973, Julian has served as the Chair of the Fine Arts Department and Gallery Director at the College of Canyons in Valencia, California. In 2008, from January 25th to February 23rd, she held an exhibition at CSUN’s Art Gallery entitled, “Counterpoints”.

All of the female artists I mentioned have given people a better look into what it means to be Armenian and how the community and its diaspora are trying to solidify the Armenian identity to enable its rich heritage and traditions to live on. And they are just a few of the proud Armenians who have helped raise awareness of the issues Armenians face, as well as give Armenians their due respect in the realm of International Art. And to go one step further, my deepest hope is that one day, art will overcome the war.

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y2a · 4 years ago

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Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman

Important. Such an important read that it needs to be bolded and put in 100pt font and a museum in a glass case or something.

This is a small think-piece from me about this book that sparked so many fireflies of thought. It's kinda short, maybe a little fragmented, and not that organized, but I managed to capture through my net some words from my thoughts, of which I find kinda hard for me to do. I had so many more quotes to implement in this but y'know what I already wrote all the ones I found resonance in a notebook so fuck it, I'm not doing it again (because it was a LOT). @_@

"The problem is not that television presents us with entertaining subject matter but that all subject matter is presented as entertaining, which is another issue altogether."

I should precede that not at all in which is this a book that condemns modern media entirely. Go ahead and watch that teen show about vampires but please don't have Twitter be your version of the New York Times day-to-day lol. Moreso, it condemns the crucial things that need to be discussed in our world that is sensationalized through the intent of entertainment. It isn't wrong to joke about all the super serious stuff that goes on on this floating rock that we inhabit, but it does invoke this question: Does the meme-y, viral understanding from Instagram precede the serious, factual understanding from a valid news source? Does the serious, factual understanding ever occur at all?

Modern media in comparison to the past has become quite trivial, instantaneous, a fleeting thought for the mind. Our minds are in peril the more the world shifts its mediums of information — a digital dystopia. The way you ponder over words in your mind, using your mind to imagine and reflect elicits far more thinking than the way a TV show would or a news broadcast (for me at least). It feels all too passive to simply watch **and it's easy to not question what we watch. Largely due to the fact that everything we watch needs viewers and to gain viewers is to give the people "what they want and not what they need" as stated by Postman. The ideas presented through the medium of television and now more currently, the internet, are now accentuated with "beauty and community." Whereas with the printed word, it is bare and of bones and it's up to the mind and intellect of the reader alone to dissect its anatomy.

"It is serious because meaning demands to be understood. A written sentence calls upon its author to say something, upon its reader to know the import of what is said. And when an author and reader are struggling with semantic meaning, they are engaged in the most serious challenge to the intellect. This is especially the case with the act of reading, for authors are not always trustworthy. They lie, they come confused, they over-generalize, they abuse logic and, sometimes common sense. The reader must come armed, in a serious state of intellectual readiness. This is not easy because he comes to the text alone. In reading, one's responses are isolated, one's intellect thrown back on its own resources. To be confronted by the cold abstraction of printed sentences is to look upon language bare, without the assistance of either beauty o community. Thus, reading is by nature a serious business. It is also, of course, an esentially rational activity."

One of the plethora of things to take away from this book is to seriously fact-check and delve into deeper with information on your own rather than to take everything presented as fact or is always that simply put. Not even the printed word is always trusted. Thus we can transform that thought into our current prominent medium that are the illuminated screens that are always on in our daily lives. Postman states better than I can that:

"In a culture dominated by print, public discourse tends to be characterized by a coherent, orderly arrangement of facts and ideas. The public for whom it is intended is generally competent to manage such discourse. In a print culture, writers make mistakes when they lie, contradict themselves, fail to support their generalizations, try to enforce illogical connections. In a print culture, readers make mistakes when they don't notice, or even worse, don't care."

To have access to public knowledge, hopefully everyone is doing what they can to stay knowledgeable and well-informed. It's something I want to strive for, to uphold opinions and understandings of my own that is backed by and based off of fact and distant from emotion that is so easily tangled and manipulated but rather tethered to logic and rationality. Learning from the works of the greats and even those that are not-even of the past is what I want to spend my time with, to tribute those who have passed and gave a capsule, a melancholic treasure of their time to learn in ours that is soon too, going to pass, even at this very moment. To have knowledge is to actually know, and in ode to Haruki Murakami, he says "only through knowing could a person become strong." In our realm of abundant information, it's now become even more obscure as to what's actually important information that has been put through the trials of thought and time. Though, I hope that that information that has, stays enriched and ever-so enchanted in the minds of those who has treated it as sacred.

"For in the end, he was trying to tell us that what afflicted the people in Brave New World was not that the were laughing instead of thinking, but that they did not know what they were laughing about and why they had stopped thinking."

#book review #glo'd up from aesthetic blogging to actually blogging yeh #wordpress too clunky for me fr #have not used this site in AGES though omg

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fanbun · 4 years ago

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Seuss Tales: From Page To Screen

Below the cut is an essay I wrote about Dr. Seuss adaptations after I was inspired by watching Green Eggs and Ham on Netflix. In the essay I examine the changes that adaptations have made to the original stories and how they have evolved over time. If you’re interested, please give it a read! :D

The tone of a Dr. Seuss book has proven particularly difficult to reproduce in any lengthened retelling. It is much like attempting to expand a poem into a novel. Somewhere during development, the original form will fall away to fit the new medium. And while artifacts of the original may still be present in the final product, such as a line or two, it is likely that those artifacts will feel disconnected from the product as a whole. In terms of Seuss, this is usually classic rhymes from the original stories that the audience expects to be included in the adaptation. Even if an audience member has had little exposure to the source material, they can usually identify these moments when a character starts rhyming for no particular reason. Of course, it must be said that some adaptations mimic the original tone better than others, and in those cases the product feels much more cohesive.

Since it is so difficult to expand a short story, the safest decision when making an adaptation is simply to be faithful. In the past, Seuss adaptations stuck much closer to the source material. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) set the standard for the many Seuss TV specials that came after it. These specials utilized a narrator that would read the book nearly word-for-word and had an animation style that stuck as close to the original illustrations as possible. Where padding was necessary to extend the run-time, it was usually done by including songs and extra animation sequences. This form of padding didn’t typically disrupt the flow of the story since the songs featured rhyming in them as well, and the added animations were used to bring Seuss’s world to life. Dr. Seuss himself even wrote the lyrics to many of the songs. Thus these first Seuss TV specials were as close to direct adaptations as the public was ever given.

So when did the trend change? Well Seuss died in 1991 and in the year 2000, a live action comedy film starring Jim Carrey was released based off of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Ironically, the very same title that started the initial animated Seuss renaissance. It was not only the first feature length film based on a Dr. Seuss property, but it was also a major financial success as it offered a new take on the familiar story. After all, the original animated special was already so beloved. The producers had to try something new to entice people to go see it. So what was created was a movie about the character of the Grinch, that followed the general story of the Grinch, but was entirely divorced from the classic tone and presentation of a Dr. Seuss book. Additionally, it made alterations to the characters and plot in an attempt to add depth and expand upon the story. This live action Seuss trend didn’t last for long, however, and it came to an end after The Cat in The Hat (2003) left a poor taste in the public’s mouth.

Jim Carrey would later return to voice the quirky titular elephant of Blue Sky’s Horton Hears a Who in 2008. This time animation was back in the form of trendy CG. The humor was modern but not quite as edgy as in the live action movies, and the trailers promised a more authentic Seuss experience for the youth at the time. Though the age of CG animated movies was an attempt to return to form, they couldn’t escape the adaptational dilemma of trying to stretch short stories into full movies. Horton Hears a Who (2008) remained faithful to the book’s plot but was padded with plenty of gags that tended to outstay their welcome. In contrast, Illumination’s The Lorax (2012) padded its run-time by expanding on the Onceler’s character and introducing new characters, including an all new antagonist. This, although showing clear ambition, ended up being a controversial decision as many viewed it as obscuring the book’s intended message.

Interestingly, Netflix’s Green Eggs and Ham series (2019) is mostly padding. In fact, there is hardly anything in the show that resembles the original book aside from the two main characters, Sam-I-Am and “Guy”, and the aforementioned Sam’s affinity for green eggs and ham. And yet it manages to feel more like a Seuss story than many of the adaptations that have come before it. No doubt this is partly due to its traditional 2D animation style, though the inclusion of many Seussian creatures and contraptions should not be overlooked as an important factor. It is terrible as a direct adaptation, but as an expanded retelling it is brilliant. The writers were given a book so simplistic, with such a straightforward moral, that they only needed to follow it loosely to deliver on its message. They took a couple characters, a handful of words, and rewrote it almost entirely. And really, that was the only smart choice for a series that spans 6 1/2 hours in total.

One of the most drastic departures from the book was the decision to make the plot revolve around Guy and Sam smuggling an exotic animal (named Mr. Jenkins) in a briefcase to return it to the wild. This concept alone turns it into a completely different story. So much so that I’d argue the title of “Green Eggs and Ham” hardly fits as a descriptor. Still, the theme of animal protection is entirely in line with the types of morals found in Dr. Seuss books. This recurring message is made even more evident since the villains work for a serial animal abuser who keeps live animals on display as status symbols. I could have easily imagined that a separate Dr. Seuss story existed with this same plot.

But what is perhaps most interesting to me about the rewrite is that, along with convincingly portraying a story based on Dr. Seuss, it also adds its own modern sensibilities into the mix. Not merely by way of adding humor and references like some adaptations before it, but through the story’s structure itself. First of all, it is a multi-episode animated series with emphasis on continuity. Secondly, it fleshes out the personalities and backstories of the characters over time. And thirdly, it at once represents and transforms the source material in something of a metatextual exercise. The narrator’s tendency of breaking the fourth wall is a perfect example of this. He even acts as an audience stand-in at times, commenting that he wasn’t expecting to see the events that occur during the opening scene from a Seuss adaptation. Or at another point humorously asking “Was this in the book?” This brand of meta comedy made me take note of the more daring writing choices like the shocking reveals about Sam and the B.A.D.G.U.Y.S. toward the end of the season. Once again, the writers deliberately added complexity where there was originally very little.

Crucially for fans of the book, the rewrite doesn’t betray the original moral of Green Eggs and Ham. Rather it adds a layer of depth to that moral’s execution. In the book, the plate of green eggs and ham represents the characters’ willingness to try new things. It is the same in the series, however the unexpected journey the two leads embark on is what is given the most narrative focus. After leaving his comfort zone, Guy’s emotional attachment to Sam is what makes him finally try the green eggs and ham. It is a symbolic gesture of how far his character has come from the beginning of the show. He initially wanted nothing to do with Sam or Mr. Jenkins, but then he got to know them and discovered how much he cared.

So although it is risky to create an adaptation that changes much of the source material, it can absolutely be worth the risk. There is boundless creative potential to be found in transformative works, and that potential may be realized if given the right amount of passion and dedication. Sure, it might upset the purist in us, but the original already exists. Why not make something new out of it? Cut up pieces of the poem. Rearrange the words and add a new perspective. Some people will always consider doing so to be ruining a classic, but others might view it as a masterpiece all on its own. In the end it is up to personal opinion whether an adaptation is good or not, but nonetheless I think we should celebrate the cultural significance of these stories that leads us to recreate and retell them time and time again.

#Dr Seuss #Green Eggs and Ham #geah #The Lorax #The Grinch #dr. seuss #analysis #essay #my writing

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hg80summer-blog · 4 years ago

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Untitled or (The flute of Azathoth)

(This story is conceived and finished during the Fall of 2018)

Newspapers as a dying medium had struggled for a while by now, and the descent into the complete and utter abyss of extinction seemed to be accelerating in a jaw-dropping velocity. There was no wonder why her press was struggling financially, every newspaper outlet was, hers was just more severe. She was now standing in the line, waiting for her coffee, and that bastard of a teenager standing in front of her was texting on his phone while blasting loud and obnoxious music out of that headset around his neck, which kinda defeats the purpose of a headset. She was beyond annoyed, of course.

“Kid.”

The kid raised his head up, saw this middle aged red-haired woman standing right in front of him.

“What?”

“Would you mind turning off the music.” She said, tried to be as kind as possible, “This is a coffee shop, not a public park, nor it is the subway, though you really shouldn’t be doing this kind of stuff in those places either.”

The kid turned off the music, visibly fuming, but didn’t say a word.

She smiled. Proud of her own work, of talking a kid out of his annoying and selfish behavior. The line before her had shrunk, and now finally after a 20 mins long wait, which for sure would be the reason that she would be late for work again today, it was her turn to order the coffee.

The guy behind the counter was visually disgusting. Obviously of his teenage, pimples and blemishes were all over his cheeks, two bloodshot eyes suggested an intense binge the night before, or the influences of pots. Droopy nose, dull gazes, and a messily worn uniform, all permeated the sense of purposelessness and a faineant. She chuckled to herself, found that description of the cashier formed by her own head to be extremely amusing.

“Miss!” The teen was almost shouting at that point. “What can I help you with today?”

“Um...” She came back from her daze, “A cup of coffee will do. Lots of cream lots of sugar.”

As she held the hot coffee with both of her hands to help combat the chilling weather of the recent days, the front door was pushed open and a gust of breeze rushed into the store. Then the door just stayed open, and the cold air just kept pestering her scarfed neck. Finally, after a few moments of tolerance, she turned her head to see who was so irresponsible to not even close the door on their way in.

It was a sickly obese man sitting in a wheelchair, trying to get through the narrow doorway of the coffee store. The staff came to his help, but his scooter was just way too big to fit in. His oily face was filled with anger and the expression of dissatisfaction and discontent, his floppy arms were flying in the air, and his mouth was uttering the voice of complaint. Those who had suffered greater for a better cause, and now there is this fat guy standing in front of the coffee place wailing at the waiter because the door was too small for him and his enormous scooter. She tittered at the concept, took another sip of the coffee.

They didn’t put enough cream in it. It was bitter.

* * *

“So. Are you free tomorrow?”

She raised her head.

“Hilbert.” She sighed.

“Are you that disappointed to see me?” The man languidly leaning on the glass panel of her cubicle was wearing a grey sweater, and always had been wearing a grey sweater. Ever since the first day she met him, he was wearing a grey sweater. He pushed his glasses up with the back of his hand, “What are you working on right now?”

“Editing the report of that one ghetto.”

“How is it.”

“It’s um… it’s alright.”

“It’s interesting. It’s not… great?”

“Well, you know.” She turned her gaze back onto the screen.

“Listen, you care for a drink?”

The blue light illuminated her face, drenched her expressionless features with a somber tone. The cubicles of their publishing house were all so small and squishy, and dark as well for some reason, the light just couldn’t reach here it seemed. She often compared this place to that torture chamber in Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, where a pendulum axe was hanging above the stomach of the tortured inmate, and as time run off it would slowly descent and brings the inevitable doom to the poor soul, presenting the most gruesome death to any spectator too sick to not turn their eyes away. Weren’t they the readers? The idea popped up in her head just as her gaze locked on the statistics provided in the article that she was editing. The article was riddled with grammatical errors and faulty statistics, to the point of near incoherence. The writer of the piece was this overweight old fart, who practically lived in the publishing house since he owned no property whatsoever besides all his stationeries, the old fashioned typewriter of his and a seldom working printer, along with all those borderline trash hoarded in his own dorm room. He divorced a decade ago, lost his house to his wife, estranged with his son and daughter, and had been diagnosed to be severely diabetic. Though he had one thing to be proud of -- being the oldest employee of this publishing house, working here for at least twenty-something years. She found that funny, very funny. The old fart had lost all his abilities to write an adequate article for the press, but the house would never fire him just because he was the most senior member of them all. The reader was the sick one. She realized. When the reader read that short story, they were the one expecting the axe to cut the man in two, and even though in that story of Poe’s, the man escaped, but if theoretically the axe did come down and the man did got split into two parts, the reader would not turn away from the gore, because they yearned for it.

“I presumed you don’t have anything to do this afternoon.”

“No.” She then realized he was still there. “I am free.”

“Care for a drink in my place?”

“How is your work?”

“It’s um… it’s alright. I need to review a play before I could go any further though, so that is bummer.”

“Tea?” She pulled out her draw, “Got some bags here. I could get you a cup if you want.”

“No thanks… listen…”

“Ey.” The receptionist, April, walked to her cubicle, with a commanding tone of voice and an everlasting despise on her face, “Someone was at the door. He said he came to see you.”

Obsequious sycophant, the harlot blew our boss under the desk. But it was rather a pleasant surprise. She had no relatives around this state, let alone with this city, nor did she have any friends laying around, so someone coming to visit her during work was actually a change of pace that she was not expecting.

“He said his name was John.”

The bench in the front door bore quite a bit of history actually. This press house was fairly old after all, but before its time, the building was actually a police station for the local towns. The bench was there for those who were arrested to have a rest before being dragged into whatever room that was needed for them to be dragged into. Unlike those things, the bench remained.

“I got you some tea.” She said.

He took the cup with the coaster, took a sip, and an expression of disgust emerged on his face.

“You never liked my tea, uh?” She said. “You never liked it, not even for a day.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You said that quite often, actually.” She sat down on the other end of the bench, “How is ma?”

He frowned at the question, took another sip of the tea. It was bitter. She knew it. She made it that way, and she wanted to say she made it that way unconsciously, but it really was not that convincing, not even to herself.

“She was feeling better.” He said. “She is feeling better.”

“Like how? Has she gone back home yet?”

“She is feeling better.”

“Is she still in the hospital?”

“You should be asking her that instead of me.”

“What do you mean I should be asking her?” She said, unintentionally raising and heating up her voice.

“I mean you should go ask her how she is.” He said, then he took a huge gulp of the tea, swallowing it with a painful and totally not exaggerated countenance.

“You do not like the tea. I see.”

“I did not say that.”

“You did.” Anger brewed within her, and slowly but surely she was edging on the cliff of an outburst. “You hate my tea. You always had. Now stop jumping all over the place. I know how much of a busy gentleman you are, and coming to visit me was merely the byproduct of a trip or something. How is ma doing? Answer me!”

“DON’T YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!” He suddenly yelled out, almost spilling the rest of the tea, “I AM YOUR BROTHER!” Acerbate, his eyes bloodshot, and veins walled off his forehead like the defense lines from the battle of Stalingrad. He composed himself in mere seconds though, then made a deep breath, “Do not raise your voice at me.” He said, trying to be as calm as possible.

Silence dawned.

She stared out the front door. The long cold breeze blew through the empty but littered street. The press house located at the unheeded corner of the city, so of course vacancy and dead silences were the prevalent frequenter. The winter was longer than before, and harsher. The blanket in her house couldn’t even provide enough warmth for her to fall asleep without being bedeviled by nightmares and long dreams, which was why she was planning to go shopping for a quilt this afternoon to get her through the winter.

“Have you cleared the payment of your house?” He suddenly asked.

“Yes.” She said, still gazing at the street.

“So you own a house now.”

“An apartment, to be exact.”

“How is it?”

“It’s um… it’s alright.”

“It’s interesting. It’s not… great?”

She turned her gaze at him, and didn't answer.

A short pause. He looked at his watch, “Shoot, gonna go. The plane is flying in two.” He stood up. “Thanks for the tea.”

“You are welcome.”

He walked out of the building with festinate steps.

She picked up the cup he left behind, not a drop of tea was left behind.

As she was walking back to her office, or cubicle, she was stopped by the receptionist sitting at the front desk, once again.

“Ron wants to see you. Like right now.”

She definitely swallows. She thought to herself.

“Thanks, April.” She said with a smile on her face. “I am going, right now.”

When she came back from her boss’s office, she saw Hilbert was still standing around her cubicle.

“Why are you still here?”

“Tea break. Where else can I go in this dreadful place.”

Truly it is a dreadful place. Not just this place. The city in general. What a hell hole. What an absolute hellhole. A place where gun shooting can happen so regularly it became one of the mundane. A place where sunlight was toxic and rains were acidic, umbrellas became a necessity on every day of the year. A place where morality is nothing but a piece of shredded newspaper flying across the empty blocks, so the homeless people will stab those who offer alms and helping hand, and bosses will force their female, or male who give a rat crap, force their female employees to suck their phallic one, and fat people would roam around the street while someone else starve to their lurid death. This place is dreadful. Truly dreadful. She could feel her spine split open from the middle, and raised into the sky like the skeleton of the birds' wings, so she could crash through the window of their press and leave this place once and for all.

“It’s alright.” She said, sat back down in her cubicle, and started to pack things up. “I need to finish my work now, you should get going as well.”

“Yeah… yeah… of course.” He said. After a small pause, he turned and about to leave.

“Hey. Hilbert.” She stopped him.

“Yes?”

“Where are we gonna meet for the drinks this afternoon?”

* * *

His house was as dilapidated as ever, with its shoddy door frame and chintzy carpets, molded corners and peeled off ceilings. Just like before.

"Is Bourbons on rocks okay with you?" He pulled out some glasswares and a bottle of Bourbons, cheap.

"I am alright. I don't drink no more."

He was pouring the liquor, and her words paused him, "When did that happen?"

"Happened a long time ago."

He resumed pouring a glass, clearly for himself, "Well, what can I help you with then?"

"A cup of hot coffee will be alright."

"Sugar and cream."

"Yeah."

The backyard still had that one tree in the middle. It had shed all its leaves, and what remained of it was only a wizen skeletal contour of its former self. There was a working table right underneath it, clearly, a birdhouse was in the making.

"Dickinson kept bugging me about this birdhouse. Really don't know where the obsession for birds came from." He said, walked up to the table. "It's almost finished by now."

"I can give a hand." She really did not want to, but the fact that he brought up Dickinson and the birdhouse kinda made it no longer a viable option.

"That would be so nice of you."

The squirrel on the street looked anemic, lack of food source might have already taken a toll on it. What a pathetic sight. It just oozed with dreariness, which made it quite fitting for this place. This abhorrent city, abhorrent place, where the winter is so goddamn long.

“Someone is getting laid off, let me tell you that.” He said, cutting down the pine board as he was speaking. “Someone is gone, that is all I know. The house was not profitable, they had to kick someone off. For sure wouldn’t be that geezer sitting in the back of the office all the time being as unproductive as possible. Bunch of schmucks, am I right?”

She didn’t answer. She simply helped him attach the board onto the tree with some deck screws, then she just stood aside, watching him nailing down every single one of those holes.

“I need to visit ma.” She uttered.

“Oh? You planning to take out the rest of your yearly vacation leave already?” He said, “You know there is still Christmas.”

“I don’t need to take out anything.”

Just as he finished cutting the corner of the birdhouse floor, he realized. “Oh my lord…” He moaned, then he drank all the remaining Bourbon in the glass in one gulp, “What have they done? How could they…”

“I need to visit ma.” She interrupted him, calmly, “Would you be so kind and drive me to the airport this Sunday?”

“Sure, when are you gonna be back?”

She handed him a bunch of finishing nails, “Nail them.”

He did. Then he just stood there, looking at her. She remained unmoved, stared back at him with a gaze just as bleak as ever. “Are you serious?” He asked.

She handed him the last bit of nails.

“You are for real. Are you just gonna leave all these behinds?”

“Like what? What will I be leaving behind, Hilbert.” She raised her voice ever so slightly, and the tone of anger would not go unnoticed.

He still seemed determined to convince her, but after a ponder or two, he stayed silent. He couldn’t even come up with an excuse. The sheer incompetence of it bemused her.

There was no proper answer besides silence, so he nailed down the floorboard with the rest of the nails.

“Would you hand me the roof?”

She did. He put the roof to the side with some more deck screws.

The birdhouse was finished. They stepped back a little, observing their work.

“Well, you would at least be leaving something behind now.” He said, tittered.

She found that humorous. She truly did, but she didn’t laugh, not even a chuckle.

On their way out, Hilbert invited her to dinner, and a play. It was the play he was supposed to do a review on, and it would be performed in the local theatre on Thursday night. He said he got two tickets from the press, but he had no one to go with, so he was thinking of selling that ticket to earn some extra cash. Now that she was leaving, he wanted this to be to their farewell event. As she was imaging burning the theatre down, she accepted the offer.

The play’s name was John.

* * *

She walked out of the theatre with a face of complete shock. It was a mind contorting catharsis. She felt sick, so she bent down and tried to puke out whatever the dirt and smut that was in her, but she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday, so she gagged on dirty airs, and choked on her own cold dark pride. Now she felt better, and her eyesight was now expanded for at least thirty degrees more than normal. Limbs felt duplicated, like many copies of them were behind each and every single move she made, shadowing her actual limbs with poor imitations. The play resonated. She could feel the play, and the storyline was giving her romantic kisses on her cheek along with the winter wind like she was being loved in the most intimate way that was possible. Making love. The play had made love with her.

She stood straight. The street was clean, people were walking out of the theatre, discussing the masterpiece they just saw.

Hilbert was standing next to her.

“Wow.” He said, seemed to be dazed by what he just saw.

“Indeed.” She answered. “I felt kinda sick.”

“Oh… I am so sorry.”

“In a good way.”

“Oh. It’s… alright.”

It's not alright, it’s great! She screamed in her heart.

“You need to head home then if you are feeling sick.”

“I will. Thanks for the play and dinner.”

“You are welcome. You have a way back right?”

“Yeah… buses.”

“I will see you around…”

She lolloped along the street for a bit, then she called a cap. Dragging herself onto the car became a harsh and relentless mission, but she did succeed at it. The taxi driver was this benign old man, with a green cap and a grey sweater on. He asked her if she was alright because she looked pale and sick. His face was furrowed beyond belief, but his voice was so mellow and chummy, and his expression so elder and kind. Befuddled by the nice old man, she told him the destination and closed her eyes shut pretending to be asleep. When the taxi got to her house, and as her feet were stepping out of her car, the driver gave her his blessing by telling her to have a good one, even though it was already two in the morning.

She got home, poured herself a glass of whiskey, and laid down her bed staring right at the ceiling. The alcohol ran through her throat like a double-decker bus operated by an inebriated Scottish man, and they burnt. She felt enlightened. The play she just saw sang songs within her head, and her mind became its backup singer. She had never felt so understood, no one had ever given her this feeling of absolute empathy, like the one who wrote this play actually knew her personally and knew her entire life up until this point. She gave a standing ovation when the curtain was drawn, and even now when she was already on her bed in her own soon to be former house, she still wanted to give the play another standing ovation. The script of the play had literally zero paid off, but the sense of loss and bloatedness and purposelessness and loneliness of life it had provided literally synchronized with her most inner emotions, like two magnets left near each other would just crash into each other with full forces, or two teens in their nonage with their unhinged hormones sucking each other’s face off in their embrace, or that one meteoroid leaped into earth during the extinction of dinosaurs.

She was drunk. She knew that, because she could see her own pallid volitant soul gyrated to the ceiling, ululating the sound of liberation. It flew all over the place, every corner of the room, and even tripped over the glass which still had some remaining whiskey in it. Elated by its presence, she cackled, then burst out in braying laughter. She would continue to lay on her bed, downing glasses after glasses of whiskey, and laugh and cry herself into sleep. She would do that because, for the first time of her life, she felt understood.

* * *

April looked just as beautiful as ever, with all the makeup and ludicrously expensive headgears. She was so young, and the blossoming youth could be seen from her ample bosom and ripe torso. She still got such a bright future ahead of her. She thought, so she walked up to the front desk. April saw her walking towards her, and gave her a giant PR smile. She smiled back, and thanked her for all the help she offered all these years.

As she cleaned out all of her belongings and cleared out her cubicle, sentimentality flooded her mind. She would miss this job, no matter how bad it may be from time to time, maybe she would miss this city as well. This job, this press house, was the epitome of a good chunk of her life, pleasant or not. Life was just too floaty and vacuous for one to insist it to be something enjoyable. All the bitterness she had gone through in this less than six feet square cubicle, now only amounts to a faint, lingering sweetness aloft her tongue. She smiled at the past, put the last of her possession, a Japanese peace Lily, into the cardboard box.

She was about to turn off the computer, and leave this house for one last time, but then she decided to read the newest draft of their newspaper, to see her final contribution to this press house. The last of her presence in this place that represented so much for her.

There was her work. The report about a slump near this area, written by that well-respected senior, edited by her.

Then she scrolled down a bit. Another article emerged.

The Cynical Banality -- A Critique of John

by Hilbert Johnson

The latest trend among the circle of artsy, pretentious writers had slipped further into the depth of inanity it seems. The newest sensation, John, by Annie Baker, was truly the greatest piece of theatre work I have ever seen, due to how revealing it is, that through simply watching the play we can truly and intimately feel the cynicism of those writers and how little respect they held for both writing and the art form of theatre.

The play followed a vacation of a damaged couple, and through piles amongst piles of useless dialogues and set up, we got to an ending that is so shocking, the only proper emotional response I can contribute is a simple sigh and a “meh” if I was having a good day. This is probably the most time-wasting theatre experience I have ever been through, and with my whole heart and with all my respect to anything holy above, I mustered all of my strength just to not walk out in the mid-act, and after the play had ended, I wish I could scorn myself for holding up the integrity of being an audience, because clearly, the creator of the thing has no intention of holding up anything.

Anton Chekhov’s principle of firing a gun in the third act if the gun was presented in the first act, had been defenestrated in the most violent way that is possible. The number of guns this play had thrown out was truly mind-boggling, and of course, none of them even made a spark by the end of the play, let alone firing any of it. The amount of subverted expectations become mere statistical numbers by the second act, and none of them can induce any emotional response besides simple ennui. Set up led to nothing, and half of the stuff the script had offered was useless beyond belief. The story threw out countless dots to encourage the readers to connect them by themselves, but by the end none of them had any pay-off and audiences and readers just left wondering why they wasted their time with it. It was like if there is this breadcrumbs trail in the forest, it is interesting so you follow it, and the trails just lead you to more forest, and more forest, and finally the end of the trail is just more forest and nothing else. It is an infuriating experience.

Besides the problem of having no paid off, the story was also clogged with useless assets that have no use whatsoever. To demonstrate the point, there is this entire scene in the play dedicated to a reading of the work from HP Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu, with no particular reasons and contributed nothing to the story. Why Lovecraft? Why not Edgar Allen Poe? Why The Call of Cthulhu, why not The Shunned House? No one would know the answer to those questions, because it doesn’t matter. It is like the writer just put some useless trash in between the actual story, just so it is different than the “normal” and “mundane” stories of the others. The play felt wider than an ocean but shallower than a piss creak, but somehow those high tier critiques now consider that quality of one that is a compliment. Maybe I am too stupid to realize the symbolism these informations, but isn’t it equally problematic when your play had nothing but symbolism?

Which leads me here. Not only the content I must criticize, but I also need to criticize the mentality of it as well. Critics say the play had perfectly captured the nature of human life, and the loneliness it had offered, praised it to be one of the best plays that year had to offer. How the play subverted the expectations of the audiences, bringing them to an emotional rollercoaster. How the play successfully captured human’s inner nihilism.

If such a story and writing concept were executed in a short story, I would not even have said a thing. But to put it in such a drag out script, was truly an insult. The play felt like it was written to subvert the audience’s expectation, for the sake of subverting the audience's expectation. It was breaking the golden rules of storytelling, for the sake of breaking the gold rules of storytelling. It was being special, for the sake of being special. It has this immunity of criticism since whenever anyone points out the flaws within the story of the storytelling techniques, it could be brushed under the rug by simply saying it was the intention of the script so it could mimic the meaninglessness of real life. It failed at every level of providing a joyful or anything remotely close to an enjoyable experience for the audience, then turned its head and said it was doing so intentionally. It felt like a work created by the most high-end writer, just so he or she could break more new ground and receive more praise from all of her also high-end colleagues, the top five percent of the population. But this play was also genius enough to pander to the bottom five percent of the population, by presenting nihilism as its topmost quality. According to anecdote, when the play premiered at Paris, viewed by normal theatre-goers, all of them walked out in protest, but when the play was put on the San Francisco Prison, all of the prisoners gave it a stand-up ovation for how close and real the play had represented life itself.

How benevolent of an idea. In that case, whenever criticisms was brought up, this anecdote would just be the last nail of the coffin for the critique. Who you would want to side with, the poor and oppressed prisoners from San Francisco, or the smug, overprivileged theatre-goers from Paris? Case closed.

Truly cynical. To make a play so intentionally abhorrent for any normal viewer, and so pandering to those who are the most vulnerable along with those who are on the very top. It is truly disgusting to see the current mentality of creating art had regressed to a point where a Pulitzer Award-winning writer would write something like this, just to poke and enrage the normal viewers, then slap them across the face and scorn them for not understanding true hardship of human life, and being a privileged arse.

Art is based on real life, and above it. Imitating real life with art in this fashion, truly could only be described as pathetic.

If I am being as cynical as the writer, I would answer the previously asked question like this:

Who actually, wholeheartedly, wants to side, or go along with the prisoners in San Francisco, rather than those so-called fancy theatre attendees from Paris. Sure, everyone would say they would go for the prisoners, and condemn how privileged those theatre-goers are, but are we honest to ourselves? Between the Id, ego, and superego, which part of us is speaking when we said we would side with the prisoners?

I don’t want to be so cynical, I truly don’t. But when faced with a play created for the top five percent and the bottom five percent of the population and no one else, created to break all the established rules for the sake of breaking established rules instead of breaking traditions because it would help the storytelling or the style of the work, created not to express a message to or provide any entertainment to the public but rather to scorn and educate them for being one of the mundane, created to be as artsy as possible and as high end as possible, I don’t really know the way to keep my cynicism in check. I am just a mundane guy, who went to a theatre expecting something, anything that is not a cynical piece of esoteric mock, and before I can do anything about it, my money and my time were wasted into the thin air in return of absolutely nothing.

I still haven’t mentioned how western-centric this play is, how any other culture that values practicalism and collectivism instead of romanticism and individualism of the westerners would despise this play with their most core value, and how racially insensitive it is for it to be exclusively enjoyed and judged by western audiences, but I have had enough. If I keep talking about this thing, the seed of migraine in my head will be out of control.

This is true cynicism.

It has some terrific writing techniques, and the restraint and subtlety of the writing were all beautiful, but it can’t amount to all the other issues I have with the script, not even close.

I gave it a strong two to a light three, out of ten.

John, by Annie Baker, 3/10

By Hilbert Johnson

* * *

Look at this fat bastard. Oily and greasy, how in all the bloody but holy hell can he get a job? She thought to herself, as the waiter standing in front of her was waiting for her to order something. What a waste of resources. Truly morality had got itself into some sort of unremitting horror, just so this creature can serve in an overpriced airport cafe.

“Nothing. Thanks.” She said.

“What you two want for drinks then?” The waiter asked, clearly empty-minded at this moment.

“Uh I would want some sweet tea, and for the lady here, a cup of hot coffee, lots…”

“Black.”

Hilbert paused for a second. “Make it black then.”

The waiter walked off, and a cup of sweet tea and coffee were put on the table.

“So that’s it.” Hilbert said, taking a sip of the sweet tea, “No way to convince you.”

“You do not have to. Nor is there a necessity for you to do so.” She said, took a sip of the coffee.

Bitter.

“How about the apartment? You just clear your debt for it.”

“Sell it. Or rent it. You don’t have to worry.”

“You sure you don’t want to eat anything before you got on the plane?”

“No. I am fine. You can get something to eat if you want.”

“No.”

“Then we can just have a drink can’t we?”

Pause. Silence. Just the noise of her sipping her coffee.

“I want to apologize.” He finally spoke.

“Not necessary.” She then followed it up with: “For what?”

“I am so sorry about that play that night. It was truly not my intention… I don’t know better.”

“It was a pleasant night.”

“It was truly awful to waste our time like that. I don’t know what the play was about. I should’ve done some more research on it before inviting you…”

“I am actually kind of hungry.” She suddenly uttered. She waved for the waiter, this time the waiter was no longer fat and ugly, but still possessed the same uninvested attitude and disgusting demeanor for a waiter to have. “May I have a slice of the cheesecake, the plain one.”

“Yea, and what the good sir wants?”

“Huh… refill my tea.”

The cheesecake tasted like anesthetic, and it was also bitter.

“I just want you to know, I did not intend for the play to be that... indescribable.”

“It is alright.” She said, finishing the cheesecake with her fork.

“So uh… this will probably be the last time we have a meal together, in a very long time.”

“You want some cheesecake as well?”

“No… thanks.”

“The play was very good.”

“You really don’t have to say that… I felt guilty enough as it is…”

“My plane is almost here.”

“I will walk you to the…”

“You still have work, Hilbert. Thanks for all these years.”

“For sure.”

“Take care.”

“Yea.”

She left, leaving him alone, sitting in the airport cafe.

The cup of black coffee she ordered was not finished.

* * *

The old man laying on the bed looking unfamiliar and strange, elder as well, like some kind of eldritch monster. The bed was made with a clean white sheet, and the flowers next to the bed were all withered and shriveled. The Filipino nurse came in and took those flowers out of the vase, and replaced it with fresh white lilies. That corner of the room looked so clean compared to the rest like it was just created out of thin air minutes ago, like no one had ever walked into that corner of the room ever before. She walked around the room, confused, walked back to the front desk. The receptionist there looked like even more of a whore than April, which was quite an achievement considering the environment they were now in was not the most casual place for one to be working in, she was expecting some kind of professionalism at the very least. The nurse pushed her away because she was blocking the hallway, she stepped back a little, asked the receptionist, who was also a nurse.

The receptionist spent forever going through her computer, then she pulled out a bunch of paperwork and asked her to sign.

She was confused, she asked her the question again. The nurse stared back at her with the most intense gaze like she had just accused her of murder.

Murder.

Like an unclogged sink, she now realized why.

* * *

Rustling leaves and moaning sky, darkening the land with argentine clouds, screaming winds and blinding rainstorm. Somehow the moving company was still working even under such harsh conditions. Laborers and workers carried out those old familiar pieces of furniture and threw them onto the truck with the most apathetic attitude one could have ever have, but who could blame them, not a single person would be glad to work amidst an incoming storm, but uncultured man do uncultured job, who could blame anyone for it? She walked past those people, walked directly into the house. One of the workers stopped her, said the house was under construction and unrelated personnel should stay away, she said I am more related to this house than I would ever want to admit to myself and the police would be on their way if you keep blocking my way. The worker, of course, stepped back.

He was sitting on one of the wooden antique chairs of theirs, in the middle of a practically empty living room, seemed like the movers were doing their job quite efficiently. He was reading a book. Atlas shrugged. What a surprise. Men love it. They goddamn love it. Hilbert once read that book as well, and he wouldn’t shut up about it for the next three months. Truly one has to treat themselves with godhood to think of themselves worthy of the position of Atlas where he could have just shrugged away all of his weight. She had never read the book.

He rose his head and saw her standing at the door, with a black bedraggled umbrella on her hand.

“Holy moly! Why are you here?”

“Why did you lie to me?”

“When are you back? You should have told me about it.”

“Why did you not tell me?”

“Why would you be here anyway? I really didn’t expect you to come.”

“Answer me.”

“You want some tea?”

“John.” She was gnashing. “Answer me.”

“There is still some coffee lying around.”

A short silence.

“A cup of coffee would be nice.”

“I don’t have much sugar though, and I think those creams have certainly expired…”

“Black.”

There were two wooden antique chairs in the living room now, and a small wooden teapoy between the two. A cup of coffee and a cup of sweet tea were placed on the teapoy, along with the book Atlas shrugged.

“When was ma gone?”

“Two weeks ago.” He took a sip of the tea. “Ah… perfect for a rainy day like this. A cup of hot sweet tea.”

“Why did you not tell me?”

“Do you know ma was extremely proud of us?”

She didn’t answer.

“Of course you don’t. Why would you? She kept telling me not to bother you. She didn’t want to bother you. She said to me, don’t bother her because her job working for that international trading company must be straining.”

“Why did you not tell me?”

“She said not to bother you.”

“What?” Truly enraged, she was progressively getting angrier as the conversation continued, “You didn’t tell me ma is gone, because she told you not to bother me?”

“Well, she didn’t want to bother you! You have a busy job.”

“So you didn’t tell me my mom is dead!? When exactly did she die again?”

“Uh… the funeral was this Monday…”

“Funeral? What funeral?”

“Funeral for ma. Everyone was there…”

“And you didn’t tell me my ma is dead! And you didn’t tell me about the funeral?”

“She said not to bother you… I listened to her.”

“What are you, mad?” She stood up in rage. “You didn’t tell me my mom is goddamn dead because she told you not to bother me?”

“Yes exactly!” He was vexed as well, for some reason, he was clearly in the wrong here so god knows what could possibly be fueling his fury. “Exactly, I didn’t tell you ma is dead because she told me not to! And by god! It took some amount of repetition to get this across that thick goddamn skull of yours!”

“We met on Tuesdays! We talked in the press house! And even then you still lied right to my face!”

“I didn’t lie to you. She told me not to bother…”

“You lied to me! You sultry little squid piss lied! You told me…”

“I DIDN’T LIE TO YOU! SHE WAS FEELING BETTER! SHE IN ALL HELL GODDAMN WAS!”

The scream was ugly, intense, and truly horrifying. Every other screams before this one shivered in its presence.

“I couldn’t drink tea no more.” He sat back down. “They all tasted bitter.”

“Me neither. I couldn’t drink coffee, because sugar and cream just make it more bitter…” She sat back down also.

Silence. The storm outside bellowed.

“I enjoyed some theatre art recently.” He suddenly voiced. “Have you heard of a play called ‘John’?”

Just when she was about to answer, a mover walked in.

“Sir, the furniture is all loaded on the truck now.”

“Sure, have a break, wait till the storm blows over.”

The worker gave her a gaze, then walked out of the house.

What a fat piece of trash. She thought.

The End

#short story #literature #theatre #play script

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mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog · 1 month ago

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Look What Aiden Found Today — Episode #245

Curated Collection and Daily Updates Favorite stories I read plus community-nominated pieces tailored for avid readers of ILLUMINATION Publications on Medium Thank you for subscribing to Technology, Gaming, Movies, and Social Media Dear writers and readers! Thank you for checking out my collection and daily publication updates. I found some eclectic stories from my reading and nominations of…

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giphantie · 5 years ago

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Photography as Symptom

Photographers and those who’ve written on the subject have had a problem; one could say this problem haunts the medium. This problem is seeing photography as a medium to be addressed within a relative vacuum.

Not necessarily culturally or socially, as many projects’ main focus today is to escape the tropes laid out in the late 20th century. Even NGOs have strict Stalinist-like guidelines and approval processes to make sure that images are both respectful to the subjects and ‘on-brand’. It’s not social and cultural issues, but larger ones. Photography faces a problem of ignoring the larger networks that photography exists under, specifically capitalism, neoliberalism, and post-fordism. This is exacerbated by the lack of writers on the topic in general, As Alan Trachtenberg observes in the introduction to Classic Essays on Photography, 1980:

A common lament among photographers and their admirers is that the medium lacks a critical tradition, a tradition of serious writing. It is true that photography has seemed to inspire as much foolishness in words as banalities in pictures, and especially true that we cannot name a single writer of significance who has devoted himself or herself entirely to photographic criticism and theory.

Even for those who have written on the topic, the primary focus has been dissecting the medium without confronting it as a symptom. Why is this the case? The why is a matter of ideology, however, what is missing will be summarized in this article.

While photography is its own network with elements existing under it (what most photo theory encompasses, although addressing of course the relation to things like art and technology), it’s more importantly an element within larger networks, such as the news media industry, photography industry, the tech industry, and larger networks like post-fordism, neoliberalism, and capitalism. To speculate on the current and future states of the medium, recognizing the medium as a symptom is essential.

To expose photography as an element within a network is to reveal the transcendence of the medium. Photography as a commodity (as Walter Benjamin claimed) displays what Marx called the fetishism of commodity (the process of a commodity disclosing the networks involved in its production and distribution). Like a commodity, the processes that bring this medium to the point in which it can be criticized and theorized are there even if there’s little acknowledgment of them. The obvious example is the photo and tech industry. Obviously the camera you shoot with was made by low paid workers in factories throughout Asia, then the people in companies that make decisions about labor and tech are at the mercy of the market and competition, the market and competition are dependant on consumers and investors, as photography shifts towards including smart phone images, it of course includes the practices of Apple/Amazon/Google etc…

Looking specifically at photojournalists, if they hope to make a living shooting images of current events, they are of course at the mercy of news media platforms who are of course also driven by the market. The current state of the news media industry exists as a product of neoliberalism (implemented by Reagan/Thatcher era deregulation) that led to the acceleration of globalized and hypermarketized news media companies. Neoliberalism’s not only a series of policies enacted by Reagan’s administration, but a global consensus, a hegemony, that the free market can solve problems and the government only disrupts prosperity (unless of course bailing out private institutions).

As full-time photojournalists continue to be laid off, the overall trend can be observed as a symptom of multiple factors: technology and the overabundance of images/events that implode the meaning and monetization of photography, news media losing money and influence, but also the evolution of the workplace, from fordism (working in a factory, but being paid a living wage) to post-fordism (the ‘gig economy’/’be your own boss’, low wages, less full-time jobs, less benefits). This is easily seen in photography as there’s a predicted continued decrease in employed photographers and an increase in self-employed, outlining the current and future state of the field¹.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that major news companies, after becoming the giants that they are, would be challenged and replaced by something new. This is of course an essential aspect of a market based system, summed up in the famous 1848 pamphlet by Marx and Engels:

All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify… All old-established national industries have been destroyed or are daily being destroyed. They are dislodged by new industries, whose introduction becomes a life and death question for all civilized nations… (Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 1848 p 63).

This is illuminated in most industries today as the rate of technological advancements and automation threatens every industry when automation becomes the more profitable alternative to human labor, echoing the industrial revolutions. As Uber and Lyft drivers protest for higher wages and benefits, Uber is becoming closer to replacing drivers altogether with self driving cars. High quality phone cameras and dslrs have demonetized the career photojournalists. Small online news platforms are doing the same to larger news media companies. None of this technology would necessarily force industries to die if it were not for the larger networks it exists under.

The news media, a form of presentation which has caused a desensitization, a ‘war fatigue’ that spreads to all current events, has led many to believe that the medium as a vesille for change has lost its place altogether. However, there are many artists and photographers today who attempt to bypass the ineffective aspects of the news media through new processes, most of which are illuminated in Fred Ritchin’s books. Although Ritchin might not specifically address photography as a symptom of these larger networks in his writings, the projects he lists nonetheless illuminate an implicit intent to bypass profitability to spark change. Although they are subject to their own forms of market drives (most try to get the images posted on publications and displayed in galleries), specific projects seemed to have realistic goals set and their effectiveness seemed to be greater, especially with a lack of profitability.

One of the projects Ritchin lists is the project Basetrack in which a team of photojournalists and artists followed the deployment of 1/8 – 1st Battalion, Eighth Marines, during their deployment in southern Afghanistan, posting iPhone images on a Facebook group where the public and family members could engage. The photojournalist Teru Kuwayama describes his frustration with the military, who needed to approve and censor all posts, and the media who wouldn’t feature the images or project:

It wasn’t just the military that was discouraging us from making meaningful pictures... The magazines we worked for - or gave our pictures to - clearly didn’t want them, either. We would come back from an embed, where we’d been in the fight of our lives, and we would get these absurd reasons about how that wasn’t interesting enough to publish or wasn’t right for that week. p64

Ritchin goes on to say that while the media and military weren’t receptive - the military uninvited the team before the end of the tour - family members of the soldiers deployed or elsewhere in the military engaged with the project on an impactful way. One mother saying “It has truly saved me from a devastating depression and uncontrollable anxiety after my son deployed. Having this common ground with other moms helped me so much and gives me encouragement each day.”

Although Ritchin’s point is that maybe larger news companies should implement these alternative forms of presentation that utilize technology to more effectively illuminate current events and news, contributing their lack of implementation to publication’s taste (“The reluctance of other media outlets to contrast photographs in a similar manner may be a sign of a limited taste for visual adventure in the press, or a sign that such juxtapositions may be considered too politically charged…”), their implementation could warrant the opposite of what’s necessary for utilizing photography as a medium for change. Ritchin brings to light many of the issues and potential steps to solutions for reigniting the medium through utilizing technology, even if not acknowledging why. If we acknowledge where photography stands as a symptom, it’s clear that offering a new form of presentation to be exploited either by big companies or by becoming the new popular form of media presentation, this isn’t necessarily as glamorous as it sounds. These alternative forms of presentation would quickly become the ‘new meat’ which would quickly be commercialized and dried out just like the newest meme trend. More importantly these effects should be seen through this wider lens enveloping the larger networks such as the market driven news media whose place is a product of neoliberalism and whose future will be challenged by demonetized forms of presentation, just as photojournalism is now.

If there’s any solution to be formulated, perhaps acknowledging photography as a symptom is the first step. The medium is trapped in a bubble of the observer as Sontag prescribes: “Marx reproached philosophy for only trying to understand the world rather than trying to change it. Photographers... suggest the vanity of even trying to understand the world and instead propose that we collect it.” The essential second step would be to implement this acknowledgement of symptom into action. This would be through the way in which photographers and writers on photography go about engaging with the medium. Experimenting with projects which don’t aspire to be picked up by media outlets or publications, looking to fulfill specific realistic goals outside of market drives and larger audiences. Confronting the interaction, perhaps by attempting to avoid the larger networks, or exploiting them as a direct means of the aim of the project. Instead of simply acknowledging afterwards that “Yes, I am apart of the machine that delegitimize the impact of events on the public, but I’m just trying to do my part”, striving to experiment in ways that directly address the goals set. Instead of making the goal ‘exposure’ of an issue, which is inherent in every project that’s posted on as many publications as possible, try creating a form of realistic hyperintent (for example JR’s images printed on waterproof material used as roofs for the subjects being photographed). However, one should be careful in a misplaced optimism under these networks, as escaping them might be harder than it seems and photography, if utilized locally with hyperintent, will do little to nothing to change the larger networks. However, by acknowledging photography as a symptom, photographers can navigate the landscape of capitalist modes of photography and move towards a new future.

#photography #photo theory #capitalism

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libramonthlyhoroscope1 · 2 years ago

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Example of journalistic text

The editorial texts They are those that are distributed in the media, whether they are magazines, papers or news entrances.

Its primary capacity is to illuminate, remark on or investigate an issue that is of significance to residents. As per its configuration, augmentation and way to deal with the subject, there are different editorial types like news, annals or meetings.

Editorial sorts The news. It is a short text, written in an impartial tone that means to illuminate about some new and pertinent reality. The story ought to respond to the inquiries: What? When? Where? How? Why? By and large, these inquiries ought to be responded to in the principal section of the text, with the goal that the peruser can find out about the news occasion. The publication. It is a text wherein the editorial medium communicates its situation on a specific issue, which is generally essential for the day's plan. Similar to the place of the medium and not of a specific columnist, it never bears a mark.

The assessment piece. Dissimilar to the publication, the assessment article generally bears a mark since in this text a columnist communicates his situation, presenting information and contentions on a specific point. For the planning of these articles, the medium priority gave an account of the subject being referred to, so the peruser has their own apparatuses to differ or not with the assessments of the writer.

The meeting. It is a discussion (a restricted between a columnist to clarifying some things) and an interviewee (who is restricted to replying). The members of a meeting don't trade jobs: what makes a difference is what the interviewee needs to say, either on the grounds that he is a pertinent character, in view of his insight, thoughts or experience. For the most part, these texts are written being referred to answer design and contain a presentation where the writer makes a concise survey of the figure, contextualizes and gives his impressions about the interviewee. On different events, the reactions of the interviewee are blended with passages in which the writer presents pertinent or hued information, notwithstanding their impressions and contextualizations.

The persistent. "Account" comes from chronos, and that signifies "time." These texts sequentially describe occasions that occurred over the long haul and are portrayed by being broad, with specific abstract turns and bountiful depictions, in which the writer presents individual evaluations and discernments in regards to the occasions described.

The report. A text manages a particular theme in a profound manner. It requires a significant fundamental exploration work and the arrangement of meetings with various individuals engaged with the subject. This content should be reflected in the text, which is generally lengthy and composed with specific abstract assets so it is alluring to the peruser. Furthermore, reports frequently incorporate photos that supplement the data. Analysis. It is a text where the writer offers his viewpoint, through esteem decisions, in regards to some creative work. Notwithstanding the investigation made by the writer, these texts should incorporate explanatory data about the work being examined.

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psychoetry · 3 years ago

Text

hey systems!

it's been awhile, i know.

we have been undergoing alot it kind of feels like but not at the same time.

*good news*

WE FINALLY FOUND OUR PERFECT MED COCKTAIL!!!!!!!!!!!

i never thought i would live to see this day.

i cleaned, like with 409 all purpose cleaner, cleaned my kitchen and floors.

i also am an editor for Illumination publications on medium--AND THEY CURATED MY FIRST SUBMISSION! [linked below]

i officially am an editor for six publications and counting now, but both Illumination and Be Open [also linked below!] are incredible publications.

i have never felt like i belong more than i do with these publications and communities of talented and kind-spirited writers/editors that i have the pleasure of connecting and working with. <3

as far as mental health and the system front [tee hee ;)], its been...

I DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON

I DONT KNOW WHO I AM

I DONT FEEL COMFORTABLE JOURNALING

I HATE FEELINGS

I DONT LIKE EMOTIONS

I AM CRAWLING OUT OF MY HOST'S SKIN FEELING HELLA UNCOMFORTABLE

what is wrong with us.

--lilith//samantha suicidee

1 note · View note

karingudino · 4 years ago

Text

SETI Institute in the News – Media Roundup. February 16 – February 28, 2021

Darkish streaks on Mars could also be brought on by salts and melting ice

Janice Bishop, senior analysis scientist on the SETI Institute and lead of a research about Recurring Slope Lineae formation on Mars, is “excited concerning the prospect of microscale liquid water on Mars in near-surface environments the place ice and salts are blended with the soil. This might revolutionize our perspective on lively chemistry slightly below the floor on Mars in the present day.”

Researchers on the SETI Institute say that mysterious darkish streaks on sun-facing slopes on Mars, debated about for years, could also be small landslides brought on by a mixture of salts and melting ice slightly below the floor.

A brand new concept by a workforce of researchers from the SETI Institute’s NASA Astrobiology Institute means that the mechanism of the streaks is small-scale ice melting in a free blanket of mud, damaged rocks, and different supplies close to the Martian floor. (EarthSky)

Planetary protection plan activated: Astronomers attraction to watch Apophis asteroid, which can graze Earth in 2029 and 2068

Anticipated to cross dangerously near Earth in coming years, the Apophis asteroid was the current goal of citizen astronomer observations. Utilizing the eVscope, developed by Unistellar for handy use from residence, citizen astronomers responded to a problem to watch the Apophis asteroid because it handed by a vibrant star.

“One of many nice mysteries about Apophis is how its orbit adjustments when the asteroid is illuminated by the Solar; this Yarkovsky impact could be very troublesome to simulate, so direct commentary of an occultation – the asteroid passes in entrance of a star – will give us larger precision of the asteroid’s place,” defined Franck Marchis, senior astronomer on the SETI Institute (USA) and chief scientist at Unistellar.” (Enterprise Insider)

How you can form a productive scientist-artist collaboration

Xin Liu, an artist-in-residence on the SETI Institute and humanities curator within the MIT Media Lab’s Area Exploration Initiative displays, together with different scientists and artists, on the artist-scientist partnerships that result in mutual respect and inspiration. The collaborations additionally create a deeper understanding of science for broader public audiences.

Artwork could be a highly effective medium for exploring the deeper which means of scientific endeavours. Collaborations between scientists and artists are beneath manner around the globe, and each day postings to social media with the #SciArt hashtag counsel that the often-disparate domains are merging in recent and thrilling methods. Though many such collaborations purpose primarily to have interaction and educate most people about science, scientists and artists are recognizing that inventive partnerships can flip science into charming artwork.(Nature)

Laptop Simulations Recommend Martian Moons Have been Separated at Beginning Extra Than a Billion Years In the past

Researchers are totally different explanations for the way the tiny moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, have been created. Based mostly on operating laptop simulations backwards, a brand new research in Nature Astronomy means that the Martian moons are the product of an historic collision. Matija Ćuk, a analysis scientist on the SETI Institute, gives some push again on the findings.

One other chance is that the 2 moons are the shattered remnants of an historic collision, a speculation thought of by Amirhossein Bagheri, a doctoral scholar at ETH Zurich and the lead writer of a brand new Nature Astronomy paper on the topic.

Whereas the research gives an intriguing have a look at the moons’ historical past, Matija Ćuk, a analysis scientist on the SETI Institute, wasn’t satisfied by the findings. (Gizmodo)

The Curious Coincidences of Alpha Centauri

Some say tales of alien visitations relationship from the center of the final century to this decade will be attributed to our neighboring star system Alpha Centauri. Will the invention of latest planets in that area of area together with an attention-grabbing “second Wow!” sign spur extra alien fascination and folklore, or change hypothesis to actuality?

Prima facie, it’s simply our obsession with the alien mysteries to which Alpha Centauri performs an enabling host — too far to go to but shut sufficient to make up tales. For some time, the absence of any recognized planets within the system ensured the hoax stayed simply that. However now we all know of not less than two planets within the system with one having some potential for all times. The current discovery of a “perhaps” planet round Alpha Centauri additionally provides to this. Is it in any case potential there’s somebody there? (Medium)

SETI Institute and NASA workforce as much as deliver NASA science into the nation’s neighborhood faculties

The NASA Group Faculty Community is an progressive program designed to deliver NASA subject material consultants, analysis findings and academic sources into neighborhood faculty science school rooms throughout the nation.

“NASA’s Science Activation program brings the unequalled STEM sources of NASA to colleges, libraries and communities throughout the USA.,” mentioned Dr. Simon Metal, NCCN Principal Investigator. “NCCN will amplify this attain into America’s neighborhood faculties the place many college students from underserved teams begin their greater training.” (Scienmag)

Scientists uncover new proof of liveable water ocean beneath Jupiter’s moon Europa

After reevaluating information collected by the Galileo obiter, scientists uncovered new proof of vaper plumes stemming from a potential ocean beneath the icy floor of Jupiter’s moon Europa that would probably help life.

…a brand new NASA mannequin now helps the idea that the inside ocean in Jupiter’s moon Europa would be capable of maintain life. They discovered that Europa may truly be the perfect place to search for alien life inside our Photo voltaic System.

NASA scientists calculated the quantity of water they believed to be an ocean beneath the floor ice shell, which may have been fashioned by the breakdown of water-containing minerals as a result of both tidal forces or radioactive decay.

…Jia’s workforce was impressed to dive again into the Galileo information by Melissa McGrath of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. A member of the Europa Clipper science workforce, McGrath delivered a presentation to fellow workforce scientists, highlighting different Hubble observations of Europa. (Tech Startups)

What would a martian appear to be?

Now that the Perseverance Rover is difficult at work trying to find indicators of life on Mars, scientists are weighing in on expectations of what proof of life on Mars may appear to be.

This can be disappointing to people who find themselves hoping to seek out extra superior civilizations. But Dr. Seth Shostak, a senior astronomer on the SETI [Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence] Institute, instructed Salon that on the subject of Mars, “you may safely assume it by no means bought previous the stage of constructing micro organism — single-celled organisms.”

Why?

“The meals provide was most likely not satisfactory and there wasn’t sufficient time,” Shostak defined. “Mars went unhealthy moderately rapidly. Inside a billion years after the delivery of Mars, Mars was most likely not an ideal place to stay until you have been a micro organism.” These organisms, in the event that they did stay on Mars, “may need been within the lakes and rivers, and even the ocean that we expect coated Mars was three and a half to 4 billion years in the past.” (AlterNet)

Utah lecturers chosen for NASA flight to the stratosphere

Native college students are sharing within the pleasure of two Utah lecturers chosen to be amongst 30 lecturers from 10 states participating on this 12 months’s Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors (AAAs), a program bringing NASA science into school rooms. The AAA program, initially designed for highschool lecturers, has now been expanded to incorporate center college and neighborhood faculty lecturers.

Castleton’s college students simply realized that their robotics trainer might be taking a flight that almost reaches outer area.

Sophomore Brayden Bacigalupo talked concerning the enjoyable information that got here on the heels of the NASA Mars Perseverance Rover efficiently touchdown on the Purple Planet.

“Simply amazed that we have been in a position to get one thing from NASA,” he mentioned.

It is a dream that Castleton defined he is been working to pursue for eight years.

Castleton and Nook Canyon Excessive trainer Milo Maughan have been two of 30 lecturers chosen from candidates throughout the nation for the Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program.

Maughan described how, as a part of this system, they are going to spend the summer time finishing distant trainings and webinars with NASA. Then this fall, they’re going to immerse themselves at a NASA astronomy analysis facility for every week.

As a part of that journey, they’re going to fly on a NASA airplane known as SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy). Maughan defined that SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP modified to hold a large infrared telescope within the again. (Fox 13 Salt Lake Metropolis)

Canadian Tech Calling: Moon and Mars and Cellular Telephones

With a watch on the Moon, Mars and past, researchers proceed to make strides in increasing mobile and Wi-Fi networks.

A workforce of researchers at Simon Fraser College is working to make LTE/4G and Wi-Fi communications techniques on the Moon a actuality, together with others within the U.S. and Canada, beneath the umbrella of the Artemis Program at NASA.

…Braham and affiliate professor Peter Anderson, who directs the SFU Telematics Analysis Laboratory that features PolyLAB, each have in depth monitor information engaged on communication techniques for NASA and the Canadian Area Company (CSA).

It contains in depth analysis on very early mobile and Wi-Fi networks within the Canadian Excessive Arctic, the place superior subject communications techniques have been set as much as help the SETI Institute and Mars Institute-lead NASA Haughton-Mars Venture (HMP) up on Devon Island. (WhatsYourTech.ca)

The Seek for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Ever since our historic ancestors gazed into the night time skies to take a look at stars, and different celestial objects, people have questioned if we’re alone within the cosmos. Seth Shostak, senior astronomer on the SETI Institute joins Rick Pantaleo on the Science Version of Press Convention USA to speak concerning the seek for extraterrestrial intelligence. (Participant FM)

Huge Image Science

Creature Discomforts

Okay you animals, line up: stoned sloths, playful pandas, baleful bovines, and vile vultures. We’ve bought you guys pegged, because of central casting.

Or will we? Our usually simplistic view of animals ignores their outstanding adaptive talents. Stumbly sloths are actually remarkably agile and a vulture’s tips for thermoregulation can’t be present in an outdoor retailer.

Our ignorance about some animals may even result in their struggling and to seemingly intractable issues. The South American nutria was dropped at Louisiana to provide the fur market. However the species bought free and tens of thousands and thousands of those rodents are destroying the setting. It actually has a bounty on its tail.

Hear about analysis that corrects a menagerie of misunderstandings about our fellow furry, feathered, and scaly animals, and the way getting over ourselves to know them higher can have sensible advantages. Will you continue to recoil from termites when you be taught that they’re related to the way forward for robots, international warming, and sensible design?

Be part of friends Lucy Cooke, Chris Metzler and Lisa Margonelli for a have a look at how understanding animals higher will be mutually helpful in Creature Discomforts.

For extra data and the archive of previous exhibits, go to the Big Picture Science website.

SETI Dwell

Latest SETI Dwell episodes embody:

Mars 2020 – The Perseverance Rover Touchdown! NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, together with the Perseverance rover, is about to succeed in its vacation spot: The Jezero crater on Mars.

Be part of us stay on February 18 between 11:15am and 12:45pm PST to observe the touchdown and listen to from engineers and scientists instantly concerned within the mission. Franck Marchis, a senior astronomer on the SETI Institute, and Beth Johnson, a social media knowledgeable on the SETI Institute, will host this particular SETI Dwell.

Scheduled Company: Adrian Brown, NASA HQ, Deputy Program Scientist, Mars 2020 Janice Bishop, SETI Institute, Senior Analysis Scientist Elena Amador-French, JPL, Methods Engineer and Planetary Scientist David Deamer, UCSC, Analysis Professor Bruce Damer, UCSC, Analysis Affiliate Joby Hollis, JPL, Postdoctoral Scholar Pascal Lee, SETI Institute, Planetary Scientist Casey Moore, Maxar Area Robotics, Area environments specialist Stephan Hunker, Maxar Area Robotics, Mechanical engineering supervisor Troy Hudson, JPL, Instrument System Engineer David Stafford, JPL, Mechanical Integration Engineer Invoice Diamond, SETI Institute, CEO Nathalie Cabrol, SETI Institute, Director of the Carl Sagan Heart

Company will focus on their roles with Mars 2020 and Perseverance. These embody the positioning choice, the objective of the mission, a number of the devices onboard the rover, and naturally the way forward for Mars exploration. Bear in mind, touchdown on Mars is difficult, so we want your help.

Franck Marchis was hosted at The Archery, a shared workspace within the mission district of San Francisco that homes a public cafe, an exhibition area and helps a neighborhood of entrepreneurs, makers and artists. Particular because of our manufacturing members, Pocket Photos for A/V help.

What to anticipate: Perseverance is scheduled to the touch down on Mars on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, at roughly 12:55 p.m. PST (3:55 p.m. EST). Throughout touchdown, the rover plunges via the skinny Martian environment, with the warmth defend first, at a pace of over 12,000 mph (about 20,000 kph). A parachute and powered descent gradual the rover all the way down to about 2 mph (three-fourths of a meter per second) – that is typically known as “7 minutes of terror.” A big sky crane then lowers the rover on three bridle cords to land softly on six wheels. Touchdown on Mars is difficult!

In the course of the touchdown, we are going to share NASA’s stream so we are able to all watch collectively.

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeli…

As all the time, movies of all previous Fb Dwell occasions will be discovered on our Fb web page: https://www.facebook.com/SETIInstitute/ Or on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/SETIInstitute

Source link

source https://fikiss.net/seti-institute-in-the-news-media-roundup-february-16-february-28-2021/ SETI Institute in the News – Media Roundup. February 16 – February 28, 2021 published first on https://fikiss.net/ from Karin Gudino https://karingudino.blogspot.com/2021/04/seti-institute-in-news-media-roundup.html

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