From the artsy to the creepy, this week’s staff recommendations are a HOOT.
Shiloh’s Pick:
I’ve always been fascinated by the ways in which we, as a species, handle our post-death rituals. This mushroom death-suit offers a creepy-yet-sophisticated solution to the problem of what to do with our bodies after we die. The inventor, Jae Rhim Lee, describes her approach as follows:
I am interested in cultural death denial, and why we are so distanced from our bodies, and especially how death denial leads to funeral practices that harm the environment-using formaldehyde and pink make-up and all that to make your loved one look vibrant and alive, so that you can imagine they’re just sleeping rather than actually dead. The US government recently upgraded formaldehyde from a probable carcinogen to a known carcinogen, so by trying to preserve the body we poison the living.
So I was thinking, what is the antidote to that? For me the answer was this mushroom.
Check out the link to read more about Lee’s creation and to contemplate your own future decomposition.
Daniel’s Pick:
Megan Baker captures stunning images of derelict buildings and rural structures. Check out her two major series, “Little Boxes” and “Decampment.” Baker will be revealing her upcoming work, “Places That Don’t Exist,” later this year in our winter issue, V3I1.
Gwynne’s Pick:
The X-Files (1993-2002). During the 90s, this show fed my insatiable need to reconcile Dark Romanticism and Transcendentalism. (Insert nerd snort here.) With catch phrases such as “The Truth is Out There,” “I Want to Believe,” and “Believe the Lie,” I could always count on a weekly WWF-style smack down starring the philosophical likes of Melville and Emerson. If you only have time for a few episodes, though, Season One’s “Jersey Devil” and Season Three’s “Quagmire” will get you in the Precipitate Halloween spirit.
“Jersey Devil,” set in the woods outside my favorite East Coast city, Atlantic City, features a naked wild woman willing to rip out your throat if you get in the way of her dumpster diving. “Quagmire” takes place in a fictional Georgia town, where a mysterious prehistoric lake serpent akin to Loch Ness is literally taking a bite out of the town’s population.
Side note: If you’re a hale and hearty flora taxonomist, you’ll want to suspend your disbelief when it comes to setting, as these episodes are filmed in and around Vancouver, B.C.
Josh’s Pick:
Earlier this month I received the first issue of HOOT, the new postcard review of mini-poetry and -prose. I am a huge fan of the USPS, and I’m grateful to HOOT editors Amanda and Dorian for giving me one more reason to engage the services of my local postmaster. How a subscription works is, each month for twelve months you receive a cool-looking postcard with new literature on it. The first issue, pictured here, features the wit-work of J. Bradley. Of course, you can always impress recipients with your own words on the back of the card. Go HOOT!