Post 001: Post Scarcity
I. Pre
I pulled myself away from sleep to write the title of this newsletter. Eyes half-open, blue light on my phone too-bright. I had been flirting with the idea of a newsletter for some time and this repeated homonym was irresistible.
Occasionally, I’ll refer to the pre-pandemic period as “before-times,” often with a now familiar longing. We’re all negotiating a sought-after “after” that is becoming further, fraught, and in some ways, an impossibility. This before/after (non-)binary and the functions of post as prefix, verb, and noun is what I’m interested in this newsletter.
Each will begin with a “pre” (preamble, preparation, maybe even prediction), then consider a “post,” and finally conclude with a “re-post” of updates and sharing.
Thank you for joining me in this new endeavor, which hopefully becomes a respite in your Sunday inbox.
II. Post
Like the artist, Bix Archer’s painting Post Scarcity (2020) is good company.
It leans on the shelf beside my desk alongside my pink-striped plant and a postcard with the Holzer truism “WORDS TEND TO BE INADEQUATE” (of course); very often the highlight of my Zoom background. Atop the painting’s tan and red-checkered background (picnic blanket?) is a book, notebook, and matchbook. The book’s cover shows a line of green windmills and a bar code. On the blue-lined notebook, a phone number is scribbled. I haven’t yet called (Should I, Bix?). The matchbook bares a red and yellow flame on its cover and, in the middle of the painting is a small house on a patch of grass. The two remind me of Wojnarowicz’s flaming imagery, and of course our own world on fire.
There’s a sense of the almost in the scene—of the just-before and just-after. The matches (if there are any left) are still in the box, the paperclip beside the notebook is no longer (or not yet) holding anything together, the phone number is already or not-yet dialed.
Bix’s composition and broader practice is tender and everyday. It shuffles the mundane and surreal, refusing too much of a distinction between the two. The painting’s title reminds me to imagine and enact versions of the world beyond and after capitalist and neoliberal delusions of scarcity, ones that often create false competition and devalue our collective power. (Bix used some of the proceeds from this painting for mutual aid groceries in her neighborhood.) I’m grateful to see it so often reflected in my video square, but even more so to look over my shoulder see it a physical object containing so much possibility.
II. Re-Post
The international fundraising collective Body Hack has been one of the most life-giving examples of radical mutual aid, abundance, and joy. Their Hack-A-Thon this past month was one of the Zoom rooms I was most glad to be (and dance) in and their twelve fundraisers this month have been inspiring. Support and boost if you can!
I recently previewed Billie Zangewa’s New York debut at Lehmann Maupin for Hyperallergic and hope to catch the artist’s tender silk collages in person before it closes on November 7.
Check out the very impressive undertaking The Immigrant Artist Biennial: Here, Together, which recently launched its multi-exhibition project virtually in addition to their in-person shows and performance series, through December 18th. Part of their programming includes a performance at Green-Wood Cemetery with Iván Sikic today (November 1st) from 12-4. Also, special shoutout to Kevin Quiles Bonilla’s brilliant performance video, Presidential Alert (America, Lip-synch for your life) (2020)!