|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
POETRY
TRENDWATCH 2018 by E Conner and Beck Levy |
|||||
|
 The scene opens on 2017: a putrid wasteland. Vast swaths of the U$A mainland and island territories have been disowned by the social infrastructure and languish without access to essential resources. It’s widely acknowledged that a woman from Destiny’s Child is our exalted ruler, yet somehow a bankrupt reality star has consolidated power. The center-left is mad at the actual-left for not placing all its faith on the “deep state.” Leonard Peltier is still in prison, yet Lena Dunham is free. Crimethinc is somehow not only relevant again, but actually good. Much of the year was spent debating whether or not it is permissible to punch people who espouse genocide. Though the discourse, at times, is often bleak, long past due reckonings rule the day: on race, on rape, on class. Veils are falling away. People are snitching on themselves, and everyone has receipts. Kylie Jenner was right for the second year in a row: again, this was the “year of realizing stuff.” And so we languish in what Dayna Tortorici accurately deemed “the Long 2016.” Don’t get left behind. Here’s our scoop on what’s in and what’s out for 2018. OUT: Investing in Bitcoin IN: Investing in water OUT: Socializing in the participatory radical community IN: Trying to eat and breathe clean air OUT: Glitter and septum rings IN: Human blood and N95 masks OUT: Accountability processes where the rapist ultimately gets a clean slate after being shielded by people who "hold him accountable," while the survivor runs out of money for therapy IN: Mugging your rapist, raising money for when your rapist sues you for defamation, mugging your rapist, various forms of material redistribution, and mugging your rapist OUT: Supporting small business (“shop small/shop local”) as a form of proactive, conscious, and responsible consumerism IN: Being critical of the tactics of urban settler colonialism, which often uses art, gender, and queerness to obscure violent displacement; resisting the Gallery Industrial Complex OUT: Being legally compelled to disclose your status as HIV positive when your viral load is undetectable IN: Being legally compelled to disclose your status as a pop punk fan (people have the right to know, especially prospective partners) OUT: Health goth/Identifying as witchy because you periodically tinc IN: Survivalist skill shares, stockpiling food, Narcan, anti-androgens, estrogen, and RU486 OUT: Queer sex IN: Praying mantis sex E Conner is a writer and artist from Oakland, Ca. She is currently studying un/popular resistance to urban renewal and general revenge. Beck Levy lives in New Orleans, LA. She plays in the band Hand Grenade Job. She produces work in multiples under the imprint Astropress. Her current research interests include trauma recovery, prisoner uprisings, and skincare. |
| ABOUT CONTACT CONTRIBUTORS DONATE | ||