Thoughts
ought to be
reliable allies
winning over
to feelings and
melancholy
This summer
the people were fun
jovial cheering to enjoyment
Young men do a shot
record a message
“I don’t want to”
Thoughts
ought to be
reliable allies
winning over
to feelings and
melancholy
This summer
the people were fun
jovial cheering to enjoyment
Young men do a shot
record a message
“I don’t want to”
Helga Feddersen (ja, die Wanne ist voll), erzählt über ihren Anfang als Fernsehautorin, und über das Schreiben:
Morgens am Frühstückstisch, wenn ich so dachte: »Jetzt könnt’ Götz doch eigentlich so ’ne kleine Bemerkung machen, »wie lieb du ausschaust«, oder »wie lieb du bist«. Dann ließ er mich immer erzählen und sagte: »Du sprichst so anschaulich. Du könntest sicher Dialoge schreiben. Schreib doch mal ’n Fernsehspiel!« Und das fand ich so grässlich, dass ich da mit dem liebevollen Herzen nichts weiter zu hören kriege als »Schreib doch mal ’n Stück«. Und eigentlich nur um Ruhe zu haben, hab ich gesagt: »Du scheiß Intellektueller, jetzt donner ich dir ’n Stück hin, denn hab ich Ruhe!«
Und dann saß ich da vor den leeren Seiten und wusste eigentlich gar nichts. Dann hab’ ich gesagt: »Ach Götz, sag doch mal, wie fängt man das denn an?« »Ja«, sagt er, »mit Seite Eins fängt immer alles an.«
Dass sie als öffentliche Person immer die Ulknudel war, immer nur witzig und klamaukig, und hinter der Kamera doch so bedacht und sorgsam und präzise, davon erzählt die NDR Doku HELGA – Die zwei Gesichter der Feddersen. Ich hatte sie bisher tatsächlich so gar nicht auf dem Schirm; natürlich, den Song mit der Wanne, den kannte ich, aber sonst? Der Dokufilm zeigt schöne, bedachte und melancholische Perspektiven aus ihrem Leben, und hat mich sehr abgeholt. Noch bis 2024 in der ARD Mediathek.
I never really knew how to talk to dogs. They never seemed to get me, either. And they often felt a bit gross and dirty to me. I was a cat person. Cats are gentle and soft and calm, they don’t smell and they move quietly; always cautious, always in control.
But a while ago, a dog came into my life. She was young and nervous and constantly moving and breathing and freaking me out. She made me nervous, too. There was no calming purring sound, and I missed the soft fur of the cats I was used to.
Over the last months though, we got used to each other. We shared the nervousness, and I know how to talk to her now. I know that she doesn’t really care for my gentle words—she wants to run and play and she wants to chew on rough toys.
As I met a friend’s cat the other day, I noticed a difference. I lost my gentleness, I touched the cat too aggressively, I was—quite frankly—shocked about my interaction with her. It took me a while to slow down again. To be calm, to listen, to await the cat’s next move. But then I heard the soft purring, felt the soft fur against my hands, and it put me at ease again.
I’m teaching that to the dog now. If she wants us to get along, she needs to deal with quietness from time to time. And I need to deal with action from time to time. We’re both getting better at it.
Neues aus dem Hause PC Music: Am 7. Juli erscheint das Mini-Album First Love der Singer-Songwriterin Astra King. Dass unter A. G. Cook und seinem Label seit mehreren Jahren die mitunter spannendste Popmusik veröffentlicht wird: eh klar, und Astra Kings Single-Auskopplung Make Me Cry ist ein schöner, mit Synths aufgeladener Gegenpol zum Hyperpop-Genre. Besonders toll: Das Album-Artwork, das sie im Stil eines Kinder-Lexikons zeigt. Diese Art Direction kam mir bekannt vor, und dann fiel es mir wieder ein: Der Visual Researcher Evan Collins sammelt unter dem Begriff »Utopian Scholastic« seit einiger Zeit Beispiele und beschreibt die Bildwelt treffend:
In some ways this aesthetic is the ‘kids version’ of Frasurbane, with an emphasis on scholastic endeavors, ‘edutainment’, and an ‘end-of-history’ approach to learning. It uses the same classical and ‘timeless’ typography and imagery with Frasurbane, adding in the aesthetic of ’stock photography collage’ depicting the most basic and identifiable depictions of forms and concepts for quick comprehension. This reliance on this style of collage is predicated on two factors in the era; the proliferation of stock photography collections, and the development of desktop publishing & graphics-editing software in the 1980s. Images of flora & fauna connect this aesthetic to the second wave of environmentalism in the late 80s-late 90s.
Das Cover stammt aus der Feder von Remote Channels, zu denen ich online absolut nichts finde. In Anbetracht der Tatsache, dass viele der PC-Music-Veröffentlichungen eine sehr klare und polierte visuelle Sprache haben, könnte Timothy Luke dahinter stecken, der auch jahrelang für die ausufernde Creative Direction von Charli XCX zuständig war (oder es immer noch ist).
Astra King: First Love erscheint am 7. Juli 2023. Man kann es auf Bandcamp vorbestellen.
I’m currently on a train back to Berlin. My sparse data plan is already used up, and as the train’s wifi is not working, I am treating myself to five hours of flight mode. Over the past months or maybe even years, I became extremely sloppy with answering text messages. The little red badges on my phone’s apps kept multiplying exorbitantly—until I finally deactivated them. I used to be on top of my game and very active on social media, eager to connect to people and keep digital conversations going. I found it exciting, and I gained energy from the digital exchange. But looking at those 15 unread WhatsApp messages, 10 long Instagram direct messages awaiting a reply, and an email app very far away from “inbox zero”, I have to admit that I am not that person on top of their game anymore. I can’t keep up.
But I also have to say: I don’t want any of it. I want to be at the bottom of things. Endless conversation streams are almost as exhausting as endless meetings, endless classical concerts, and endless scrollable feeds. I prefer things to have a beginning and an end. A narrative, so to speak.
Just as I struggle with keeping a tidy inbox, I feel exhausted keeping up with current debates on technology. After Elon Musk bought Twitter and sent it down its hell ride, I basically left the platform. I do not miss it; those timelines and “digital products” in general have lost their joy and meaning for me. Therefore, I missed most of the early and heated debate on ChatGPT. I do find its rise interesting, to some extent. But I do not care about computer-generated vocals, or artificial radio hosts, or machine-written movies. There’s no joy in that; we’ll get bored by it quickly. I am more curious about how people and states will learn to live with these inflammatory tools, and I want to see them bring an actual positive impact to the world. Haven’t read much about that yet. Until then, I’ll mute the buzzwords. We still are in control of who and what we pay attention to—at least for now we are.
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On dogs. When spending time with the dog, I remembered the On Being podcast episode with artist and illustrator Maira Kalman. She describes dogs in the most beautiful way: “They’re heroic, and they’re comic at the same time, which I guess is my favourite way of looking at things.” In her book Beloved Dog, she writes: “They are constant reminders that life reveals the best of itself when we live fully in the moment and extend our unconditional love.”
On beans. I’ve been enjoying Kerry Cunningham’s newsletter Circle Back so much recently! She’s so funny! I loved this issue about Anish Kapoor’s new and sad Bean sculpture in New York from a while ago. Subscribe here.
On the blog: I keep writing my monthly lists. They’re a good processor of life’s events. Read all lists, or specifically January 23, February 23, March 23, April 23.
Briefly noted: My friend/colleague/accomplice Sonja and I will host our annual Writing = Design workshop at University of the Arts in Berlin this summer. It’s one week (August 7 – 11) of writing and exploring text, and if this sounds like it could be something for you: It is! English language, everyone is welcome, find all the details here.
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I hope you had a great start into the year and are enjoying some of the much needed spring sun that has been appearing every once in a while recently. Watch out for big red notification badges, turn them off, even, and go for a little walk. Greetings from within flight mode.
(If you enjoy content like this: I send it out as an irregular newsletter called Christel’s Corner. Sign up for it here.)