5/30 - mp3 files and ink
Friday’s Newsletter: niche dress codes, a death cafe, and x rated scenes
Last night I went to Damon Rush’s show. I told my friends to dress LA Goth with a touch of Tumblr and that was 100% spot on. Come to me for niche dress codes. I have a gift for naming nuanced aesthetics.
10cust was the first opener and I’ve been devouring his soundcloud this morning:
I’m hosting a froyo meetup every two weeks, the next one is June 2nd, 6 pm - RSVP!
If you want to get in on Wishlist Offline, the new project I’m launching, please fill out this form. More to come on this bbs 🫶
Thought Starters
Soundwaves and needles
*article*
Min Yu is transcribing auditory memories using code, ink, and mp3 files. She started playing the piano when she was four and as long as Min can remember, music and sound have been a part of her creative life. Her practice brings together her background in music, coding, and modern tattooing techniques to create something completely new.
“While conversations around evolving technology often pull from a place of fear, Yu offers a refreshingly open perspective on what the future holds. ‘Tattooing has always been a tool for storytelling and connection. As we integrate digital elements, it opens up new ways to share those stories,’ she says.”
“For most of my life, my interests felt like little creeks pulling in different directions. Tattooing became the glue that brought them all together.”
“Once I receive the audio, I create a visual video using it, incorporating an audio frequency analyser and custom code so that the sound frequencies directly shape the visuals in real time. Depending on the style and placement of the tattoo, clients choose one or several frames that resonate with them. I then extract elements from those selected frames and weave them together to form the final design.”
Sex scenes on the big screen
*article*
“Since 2000, sex and nudity in films have decreased by almost 40 per cent.” It’s a statistic Xuanlin Tham has been ruminating over for a while and eventually led them to write Revolutionary Desires: The Political Power of the Sex Scene. In an era of conservative pearl clutching, Xuanlin examines the complexity cinematic sex scenes are able to convey and what we lose if they go extinct.
“In their younger years, it was the lure of risqué movies that formed the bedrock of their deep love for cinema. ‘I remember flicking through red 18 [certificate] DVDs secretly at the library or at Blockbuster (RIP),’ they recall. ‘I have always been really, really drawn to things that can make me feel in a way that isn’t just about titillation but a reminder of how powerful this medium is.’”
“A lot of sex scenes that fascinate me are ones where sex is a lot more complicated, when sex is being used as a tool, explicitly or satirically, in order to show us something beyond what we’re prepared to see. I’m quite suspicious of some strands of sex positivity narratives today, where sex positivity wants to project us into an alternate universe where we’ve solved all the problems and we’re already liberated. That’s why it’s important to talk about sex scenes that are troubling and complicated.”
Identity crisis: CIA agent or Disney adult?
*article*
In 2010, the CIA stood up the website, starwarsweb.net, to communicate with international informants. During that era, the CIA created a web of covert landing pages but they lacked the technological care to mask the IP addresses, meaning if you discovered one CIA site then it exposed their entire network of sites. There was a breach at this time leading to the deaths of more than two dozen informants. While the government shut down this operation, researchers are still finding their fingerprints on the world wide web and this article explains how they’re finding them.
“‘It reveals a much larger number of websites, it gives a broader understanding of the CIA's interests at the time, including more specific democracies which may have been targeted which were not previously mentioned and also a statistical understanding of how much importance they were giving to different zones at the time, and unsurprisingly, the Middle East comes on top,’ Santilli said.”
“In November 2018, Yahoo News published a blockbuster investigation into the CIA’s covert communication channels and how they were exposed. That exposure originated in Iran before more than two dozen CIA sources died in China in 2011 and 2012, according to the report. The CIA ultimately shut down the covert communications tool.”
“About his research, Santilli said ‘At the very least the potential public benefit of enlightening history seems to be greater than that risk now.’”
Things to do
Blind Book Exchange
When: June 10, 6 - 8:30 pm
Where: Apt 5, 157 Ludlow Street
What: Your objective: “bring a book in good condition that’s touched you in one way or another.” Spend the event wrapping, writing notes, and then swapping your favorite book for a new gem.
Death Cafe
When: June 14, 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Where: Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, 455 Fifth Avenue
What: Processing life with a group of strangers is beautiful and the vulnerability needed to engage so intimately with a community feels ancestral. The Death Cafe hinges on the belief that that vulnerability will provide answers and help others heal in the midst of grief and loss.
Products
Sun Bag
*accessories*
I learned this week that Jellycat has bags and I haven’t stopped thinking about this little man.
What is it? Sun Bag
How much? $38