My newest zine is almost ready…
The working title, as I developed it over the last year, was The Circular Life and Death of Images (sometimes I added ‘:Colour‘). Just before Peckham24, I hoped it would be ready in time to share there, but I pulled it at the last moment, as I was not happy with how it was looking. Thank goodness, I did. The extra time has resulted in a stronger piece of work. After an invaluable chat with Maria Ahmed (with whom I produced In Pursuit of an Apparition Hands Can Miss the Object last year), I am now ready to send the zine to print, having seen a proof this week. One of the main changes I have made following Maria’s feedback is to the title. The Circular Life and Death of Images remains as a section heading, but I have now used one of the ‘text-image’ titles as the overall name of the zine. Thanks, Maria, for the nudge in that direction. I am about to press GO! on the order, and I look forward to sharing the zine very soon (and selling it – after all, it is an exploration of commodification!)
I very much hope and plan for it to be one of three in a set; the other two will be based on my Sense and Reason project and a new piece I am working on around the concept of obsolescence. That’s the plan anyway… let’s see how things pan out.
About the zine:
Orpheus in Homebase and Other Images features a collection of text-images that explore the cyclical nature of existence, desire and recognition amid the overwhelming and relentless commodification of everything. Drawing on images and texts created over the last decade, some of which are transformed through generative processes and some of which are placed in relation, the work begins with its titular poem, where the mythic figure of Orpheus (or is it someone else?) materialises in a South London DIY store, simultaneously infecting and enchanting consumer encounters – manifesting in moments of longing, (mis)connection and fantasy. Blending the mythological with the quotidian, the project creates a space in which a pair of kitsch secateurs carries the same emotional weight as ancient lyre songs, and where the fluorescent-lit aisles of retail spaces are a place for jouissance in the mundane. Where, ultimately, all that we can ever know is what has been brought to the delirious Deleuzian recording surface that forms modern existence.
Self-published booklet (zine), 60pp inc covers. Inner pages 115gsm gloss, outer pages 350gsm Colorplan. Includes text and image sequences. Edition of 25.
A few copies will be available to purchase with separate prints included.
In other news, I very much enjoyed a podcast about Michael Young on meritocracy earlier this week in which David Runciman speaks with Ben Jackson. I had forgotten that Michael Young was the founder of the Open University of the Arts (OCA) (and The Open University). Embarking on a degree with the OCA (which I had never intended to finish when I began) was one of the best decisions I ever made. However, in terms of the work I have been doing, Young completely predicted the kind of rancour between groups we are familiar with today. From the podcast’s show page, “Young foresaw a populist revolt against the meritocratic elite in the year 2034. Was his vision prophetic? Why did politicians like Tony Blair embrace a concept that Young thought was antithetical to a fair and just society? And who are the winners and losers from meritocracy today?” In a society which continues to perpetuate myths around meritocracy, Young’s analysis seems like it could be incredibly valuable, despite, say Runciman and Jackson, some dated areas. Definitely worth a listen and perhaps another book to add to my increasingly long list of ‘must reads’.
While my mind remains focused on commodification and populism, an article in The Guardian by Yanis Varoufakis titled In an age of failing economies and a populist backlash, I’ll tell you what we need – Marxism prompted me to go ahead and purchase Technofeudalism (2023). I’d obviously seen it around and had wondered, do I really need to add that to the already-too-long list? I am pleased I opted to do so. It won’t take long, and even within the first few pages, I have been able to connect some of Varoufakis’ ideas to concepts explored by Günther Anders whom I wrote about last week. For instance, Varoufakis (2023; 34) writes Big Business were concerned that TV and Radio would at first distract the masses from buying ‘stuff’, but they got over their concerns “… once they realised that the programme was not the commodity: it was the attention of the people watching it. By broadcasting the programme for free, they could secure the audience’s attention allowing them then to sell it – in the form of advertisement breaks.” Since Anders and his analysis of TV and radio informs the aforementioned project about obsolescence, this looks like a potentially fruitful connection..
In the meantime, Orpheus in Homebase will be on my website soon. Look out for future posts about it and the other planned zines in the not-too-distant future….
Refs:
Runciman, D. and Jackson, B. (2024) ‘Michael Young and the Rise of the Meritocracy’, Past Present Future, 27 June. Available at: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/past-present-future/id1682047968?i=1000714981051 (Accessed: 5 July 2025).
Varoufakis, Y. (2023) Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism. London: Penguin.
Varoufakis, Y. (2025) ‘In an age of failing economies and a populist backlash, I’ll tell you what we need – Marxism’, The Guardian, 3 July. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/03/marxism-economy-populism-tech-karl-marx (Accessed: 5 July 2025).