Fantasy, sci-fi, and speculative fiction in general are often considered niche genres that are of limited interest to a wider readership. The benefit of this perception is that there is little pressure for speculative authors to conform their writing to the expectations of a general reader and rather values complex world building with elaborate systems […]
Painting is usually something that happens in the studio, away from the eyes of the audience that will eventually gaze on the finished work. However, in the history of modern art through the contemporary moment there have been artists who choose to present their painting practice as a performance which can then be recorded on […]
Despite the fact that I have been a university student for the past eight years, staring down the reading list for my PhD comprehensive exam is the first time I have felt truly overwhelmed by the literary task set in front of me. I am starting a PhD in Theory and Criticism this fall, the […]
The beaten and bloodied sole survivor traversing a field of dust is replaced by a smiling monk riding down a forested path. This calmer scene is the vision of the future that Becky Chambers presents in her novella A Psalm for the Wild Built and its sequel A Prayer for the Crown Shy which follow […]
As the fields of art and science each rely on increasingly specialized bodies of knowledge, effective communication with a wider public grows in both challenge and importance. A collaborative approach, together with exhibitions in art gallery spaces, has the potential to disrupt spaces that the public often has little access to. Such exhibitions invite visitors […]
Discussion of the artistic process and the activities that practitioners undertake are usually confined to the studio and made visible occasionally through artist talks or a behind the scenes Instagram photo. However, in the multi-artist show Process, curator Avalon Mott shares a selection of works with close ties to studio residencies as a part of […]
I always find reading Billy-Ray Belcourt challenging, his work pulls at the threads of hidden assumption in my thinking about the world while also creating a space where I feel seen, and held with a level of care and compassion that is so often lacking in the wider world. In particular, his debut novel A […]
With fashion resurgences and a 2012 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby captures not just a period of time, the 1920s in America, but a lifestyle that seems to be perennially fascinating to a wide audience. However, it is very much a product of its time and lacks representations of […]
I find critical theory deeply fascinating and enjoyable to read. Partially because I like the challenge of dense texts that build up specialized vocabularies to try, and partially because, for me at least, they create a space to unpack the affective experiences of culture. Despite my personal love of theory, I am also very aware […]
I am fascinated by the process of making things, the working out not just of what a person wants the finished product to look like, but the ways in which creators think through the actions and strategies that will allow them to bring that vision into reality. I think that perhaps some of this interest […]
Res Gestae 