Midnight Snacks
Kakakompyutermoyan, HEART, and Special.fish
Dear reader,
Two thin strings swirl around Uno’s wrist. One red for sun-kissed cheeks, one white for purity. Together, they are meant to protect him from the sun as winter turns to spring.
Kaelan asked me: what is your favorite midnight snack?
I’m rarely awake at midnight. By the time the sun sets, I’m half-asleep. I’ve always gone to bed early, but this winter, my bedtime was exceptionally early. It was colder and cloudier. Everything inside and outside of me called for hibernation. Warming bottles, blankets, books, candles, dried fruits, and no blue light from the screens. It was lovely for a while, but halfway through February, I longed for spring, Earth’s annual gift of energy.
**
Tomorrow we’ll walk up Philopappos Hill, which rises from our backyard. It’s Clean Monday, a public holiday here in Greece where people of all ages fly kites. Some say the tradition symbolizes resurrection; others say it’s an effort to reach the divine. Either way, it’s my favourite holiday tradition, marking the unofficial beginning of spring.
We’re also stepping into my favourite internet season. Max and Shelby should soon be ready with the next The HTML Review, the greatest publication for contemporary web art and thinking. Meg and the Naive Yearly speakers are finishing essays adapted from their talks in September. I can’t wait for them to live online and see how they expand our conversation about the internet. Later this month, Elliott and I’ll print the first issue of the Internet Phone Book when he visits Athens. It’s been nearly a year in the making, but it’s worth it. Its bright yellow cover could represent a tiny sun for someone’s shelf, coffee table, bag, or spring transition?
Another new sun in the internet sky is Kakakompyutermoyan, a Philippine internet karaoke party. It is a massive undertaking by Chia Amisola and the most significant recent internet exhibition born outside the English-first norm. I wish curators invite the exhibition into their spaces so the project can continue for years, inspiring more multilingual internet projects.
**
Uno will wear his bracelet until the end of March. Then the tradition says we should hang the strings on a tree for the birds to weave into their nests.
With care,
Kristoffer
Wayside flowers
https://play.kakakompyutermoyan.com/
https://bits.ashleyblewer.com/please-please-please/
https://time-gradient.vercel.app/
Field notes
I’m a fan of Maya Man’s work — and I’m a fan of how she is transforming her New York studio into HEART, a vibrant space for software and internet art. Her curatorial approach is full of care, curiosity, and courage. Maya explains it as selfish, but I’d argue it is generous to put your idols in conversations with each other and a wider public.
2.
»Computers, like other feminized technologies, are often invisibilized, designed for unobtrusiveness and serving in silence. Mary is no different in her maternity, so embedded into domesticity that her nurturing of the divine has led to her infrastructuring. A subtle disappearance that comes with all that carry.«
— Chia Amisola in Documenting the Divine
3.
Memory Sites.
Elliott Cost writes about how he uses a site as his memory container, the practice of pinning worthy moments, and why he is not looking to join another social media platform. I share his sentiment. Maybe we should support and develop other ways of being social online? Maybe something centered around something different than ourselves?
4.
Calls for Participation: NEW INC is open for applications (3/3), Blackbird is looking for AUS/NZ aged 18-25 (5/3), Onassis AiR is open for applications (7/3), Spam Zine is open for submissions (Due 12/3), Whole Earth Redux is accepting pitches (14/3), Robida is open for submissions (31/3), Shed of the year (31/3), and Ensemble Park is open for submissions (Due 2/4).
Collections
Please keep sending questions to kristoffer@naiveweekly.com. I enjoy getting to know you :)
Last email was sent to 4065 inboxes. Logo by Dreamsâ„¢. Photograph by Ana Å antl. And you can reach me at kristoffer@naiveweekly.com.