Zoe Williams writes for The Guardian: You might get lucky with what they call “compressed morbidity”, a very short period of illness before you die, but you probably won’t. You might, in the event, find the suffering less awful than it looks, in which case you will, of course, retain the right to die in … Read more“Assisted dying is on nobody’s bucket list – but preventing it is deeply unjust”
I came across this small vernacular shrine dedicated to those lost to the Covid pandemic on my riverside walk this evening. The shrine features simple dedication messages in English and Spanish as well as bouquets of flowers, scatterings of flower petals and some candle jars.
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In this episode of the Imaginary Worlds podcast, host Eric Molinsky and his guests ponder various personifications of Death in fantasy fiction: Sometimes Death is portrayed as a Grim Reaper, but Death doesn’t have to be grim. Death can be compassionate, and even funny. And more often in recent years, Death has been depicted as … Read more“Befriend the Reaper”
Ed Simon writes for Aeon on the subject of Paganism: Of course, humanity will be long extinct, our most enduring contribution to the geological record a precipitous rise in carbon dioxide and perhaps a narrow band of plastic threaded through the strata. Bertrand Russell, the great philosophical freethinker who forthrightly admitted to trembling at the thought … Read more“A New Paganism”
My new art project, the Omar’s Rubaiyat Contemplation Cards deck, is now available. Oh, come with old Khayyám, and leave the Wise To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies; One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies; The Flower that once has blown for ever dies. ― Attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) … Read moreOmar’s Rubaiyat Contemplation Cards
Worker THX-1138 confesses to the prophet OMM in this scene from George Lucas’s 1971 dystopian science fiction movie THX-1138. The Amazen Kiosk, a very widely lampooned 2021 publicity stunt mental health initiative from Amazon.com, Inc.
Writing for Active History, Daniel Ross offers a concise history of the die-in as a form of social protest: The fact is, by the mid-1970s the die-in was an established part of the repertoire of non-violent action used by social movements across North America and, to a lesser extent, in Europe. Local groups learned about … Read moreA Social History of the Die-In
Mywindpone.com offers resources for creating and locating wind telephones inspired by Itaru Sasaki’s original concept: I read about Itaru Sasaki and his Phone Booth of the Wind. I imagined sitting in his white phone booth surrounded by Itaru’s beautiful garden, holding the phone to my ear, dialing Emily’s number, and listening as the rotary dial … Read moreMy Wind Phone: Let the Wind Take Your Words
In this new exhibit by artist Shaun Gladwell, participants can experience a simulation of death via VR and medical technologies: Passing Electrical Storms is a participatory XR experience with a deeply affecting, ‘out-of-body’ nature. Gladwell simulates the experience of dying through XR and medical technologies. At once meditative and unsettling, this interactive work guides participants through … Read more“Passing Electrical Storms”: New Extended Reality Art Experience Simulates the End of Life