The Struggle for Authenticity in Art I want to speak today about authenticity . And about what we quietly give up to be accepted. We’re told that contemporary political art values autonomy . That artists are free. That inquiry sits at the centre of practice. But autonomy, in reality, is often something we *perform*— not something we’re allowed to exercise. Freedom is celebrated rhetorically, while legitimacy is granted only when work conforms to approved languages , approved theories , approved causes . Autonomy isn’t denied outright. It’s curated. This system doesn’t fail artists by accident. It functions mechanically. It rewards work that aligns with predetermined frameworks and filters out work that doesn’t speak the sanctioned dialect. Many voices are excluded not because they lack skill or meaning, but because they refuse to translate their experience into institutionally legible language. I’m not saying all excluded work is good. I am saying much of it is never heard. And ...
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Time is a luxury we no longer possess
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Space Tourism Chronicles
The Slingshot Saga
Time is a luxury we no longer possess
Our battered Subi spacecraft, a relic in the night Flickering erratic, its core a dying light On Primary Trade Lane Delta-Nine, a river of light so grand But cycles bled away, draining across the land BK slumped, pale and strained, JB with eyes closed in despair Time a luxury we no longer possessed, consumed by cosmic air.
Transcript from the Slingshot Saga - Time is a luxury we no longer possess
No "stop and revive" in this perilous, uncharted space. The Rumour Mill's comfort is a memory, lost to time and trace. The exorbitant demand is a punch right to the gut. Our savings drained, our journey's hope, behind a costly shut.
Transcript from the Slingshot Saga - No stopping in uncharted space
Coming to a complete stop in the heart of uncharted space? Absolutely not! There’s no “pause and reboot” functionality available in this terrifying, vast void that feels like it stretches into eternity. The once-cozy Rumour Mill? That sweet little sanctuary has transformed into nothing more than a haunting ghost story, vanished without a trace, leaving us to grapple with the chilling emptiness around us.
The demands we face are crashing into us like a freight train on steroids, relentlessly draining every last cent we had carefully stashed away for a rainy day. Yet, amidst this chaos, we stand resolute, tougher than nails and ignited by a fierce, unstoppable hope that illuminates the surrounding darkness like a brilliant supernova.
No matter how overwhelming the cost may be, we are hurtling headfirst into the unknown, driven by a fierce determination—because quitting? That word doesn't even exist in our lexicon.
Slingshot into an anomaly
But Katcha's mind intertwined with Subi, a final desperate plea, "A predictive model for a slingshot to the anomaly!" "Best case, worst case": a gamble to save everything we hold dear, with a 45% chance of structural damage, battling hope and fear. To that faint, almost imperceptible energy signature, we must fly, A needle in a cosmic haystack, beneath this silent sky.
Transcript from the Slingshot Saga - Slingshot into an anomaly
In his final, desperate moments, Katcha's thoughts inextricably linked with Subi's, a fervent whisper echoing in the vast emptiness: "We need a predictive model for a slingshot maneuver towards the anomaly!" This was it, their last resort, a calculated risk that weighed the best possible outcome against the direst consequences.
The odds were against them, a precarious 45% chance of severe structural damage to their vessel, a chilling statistic that battled fiercely with the burning ember of hope within their hearts.
Their target: a faint, almost imperceptible energy signature, a solitary beacon in the cosmic void. They had to reach it, a daunting task akin to finding a needle in an impossibly vast, cosmic haystack, all beneath the silent, indifferent gaze of the endless sky.
The Necropolis Corridor
The Necropolis Corridor, a black scar across the vast space Dense fields of derelict ship hulls, a haunting, grave-like place Rogue asteroids, pockets of temporal distortion, where systems interfere "Where All Machines Must Die", the chilling truth, draws ever near Uncharted Space, a labyrinth of hazards, dark and cold Careful, manual course adjustments, stories yet untold.
Our bio-engineered companion
Katcha hunched at the nav-console, her fingers flying across holographic displays Her iridescent blue furcatching light, through the critical days "Scan Delta-Nine traffic" for an escape, a way to break free For our bio-engineered companion, integral to mission, is she "Subi, it's unstable," the AI rasped, its voice now almost gone This detour of boundless curiosity, pushing us till the dawn.
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The Situation - Red Alert JB , a middle-aged mail spaceship pilot . Starship piloting JB is held not by ropes, but by the cryo-unit's nanoweave swaddle —a tight, absolute embrace mimicking paranoiac wrappings. This material presses against him, preventing his shivering flesh from flying apart under the centrifugal force of his panic. He feels a cold burn and constant helplessness sinking in. His anxiety is a crimson klaxon , a "relentless tempest" of warring thoughts. He is mentally back in the cockpit, but the instruments scream in an alien language; every light and warning signifies impending failure. His pure instinct screams ABORT , yet there is no escape route. Confrontation Rising JB is shown the war of impulses tearing him apart—the "lunge and the retreat". His existence is reduced to the strained gasp: "I live for fucks sake, I don't know.” Full Assault a Violet Firestorm JB responds with explosive, automatic violence, his lungs burning from ...
Puppet Master The narrow, high-walled passage swallowed the sound of my boot scraping a broken cobblestone, the echo sharp in the dry air. Above, a sliver of unforgiving sunlight cut down, carving deep shadows where the damp, mossy scent of the gully was now replaced by the smell of dust and ancient stone. I paused, looking not just at my gloved hand—the leather scuffed from my descent, but at what was attached to it. Thin, nearly invisible lines, like high-tensile wires , stretched from the articulated cuff on my wrist and disappeared into the air above the path. I tracked them with my eyes until they converged on a small, stone figure standing motionless in the centre of the walkway. It was a crude marionette , barely a foot tall, carved from the same pale, cracked stone as the surrounding walls. Dressed in a simple tunic, its blank, oval face held a radiating sense of expectant waiting. Its arms were held out, palms up. I held the strings. Yet, the feeling was not one of cont...
The hand that holds the glamour Between the flick of a lighter and the curl of smoke lies a story told in two parts: the hand that holds the glamor, Between the flick of a lighter and the curl of smoke lies a story told in two parts: the hand that holds the glamor, and the eye that chooses to believe it. The art of the obscure and meaningless In the realm of modernist art , exemplified by Eddie's deliberate embrace of abstraction and mystery , artists have increasingly surrendered their authoritative power of intent to a veil of meaningless vagueness, compelling viewers to co-create meaning from fragmented suggestions rather than receiving a clear, directive vision. Her scalpel-wielded dissections—such as her perforated self-portraits or obscured war images—eschew explicit communication in favour of elusive hints, as she professed a desire to remain "mysterious" and avoid revelation, thereby shifting the burden of interpretation onto the audience in a pseudo-spiritual a...
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