Life is a big fat fucking joke. Nothing seems to ever go right, and the only thing I can do is cry and laugh. I unfortunately have a habit of laughing when something terrible happens to me, as a means of protecting myself from reality. Out-of-pocket dental care? Cry-laugh. My parents are homophobic? Cry-laugh. Relationship ended? Cry-laugh. Another relative died? Cry-laugh.
Much of the institutional structures embedded within our society are corrupted from its conception. It’s important to bring these things to light, to criticise and pull apart, but I believe it important as well to poke fun at and giggle at these terrible things to keep us from spiralling into depths of anger and vexation. So much of life is theatrical, performative, and silly; both optimistically and nihilistically, especially politics.
The feature, written by William Winter on page 12 explores how politics has elements of theatre and performance embedded in it. Using crisp analogies that reveal the conservative magician’s tricks and tactics, leading us to see how ironic and camp conservative figures are. Will knows how to look camp right in the eye.
The cover art is inspired by an old habit my friend and I would partake in. Isabel and I used to do weekly fortune cookie readings. At the end of the week, before we would crack a new cookie, we would revisit our tiny strip of paper and evaluate the accuracy of the miniscule printed sentence. It was silly, but it was our routine. Eventually, a deck of tarot cards ended up in our home. From then we had started attempting to give each other readings on our months ahead or gaining any other clarity on questions we possessed.
The Fool is my second favourite tarot card, after Death. The Fool upright represents the beginning of new adventures, infinite potential, freedom, and optimism. However, in reverse, the Fool can mean risks of irrational and impulsive decisions, lack of focus, and warns us to not be afraid of growth. The cover art was made in collaboration with my dear friend Long Huynh. His talent and creativity impresses me daily, continuing to produce work that astonish and amaze. Thank you to Miles for keeping the tarot theme when I started to stray, which makes sense given his favourite card is Justice.
Isa’s favourite card was The High Priestess, representing knowledge, inner strength, and reflection. Qualities I believe Isabel herself held. Qualities of hers I hope one day I am able to replicate. But for me to get there, I have to move forward naively and optimistically, like The Fool.
