'We Watch From Telescopic Desks Places That Have Not Yet Been Destroyed'
Illustration not-yet-published novel We Watch From Telescopic Desks Places That Have Not Yet Been Destroyed
@hi_crockett
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The future: nightlife hanging in containers in the sky from cranes
Arden: a city made of trash and enclosed by a seal
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The desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with our desire to stay sane.
Everyday from all our devices we handle data, how does that affect us interpersonally?
Everyday from all our devices we handle data, how does that affect us interpersonally?
"Too much mental pollution can cause what I call climate change of the mind. There's a reason that humans stick to habit and have narrow ways of thinking. The world is too complex, with too many variables."
A speculative novel about projection, perception and awareness in the only safe place left in the world: Arden, a city made of trash. Refugees come to its shores with memories of diseases and disasters they've survived. The memories buffer the system with useful physical data, preventing destruction and civilization is also perpetuated, constantly shared everywhere: ceilings, walls, floors, every single object, and also Ner.
Ner isn't a refugee. He doesn't have any memories before Arden; he was born here. Ner is like a blank canvas. He re-embodies 'lost loved ones' in exchange for a bed and a meal; so subsumed by others' stories, that he’s not sure who he is or what he feels.
Then, he has to pretend to be the most important person in Arden, the Founder. The Founder disappeared and has a disease that spreads through awareness. Is Ner immune, or will he stay hooked to the telescopic desks, watching places that have not yet been destroyed?
This narrative may bring to mind Dave Eggers' ‘The Circle’ or a futuristic Hamlet set in ‘Ready Player One’, but takes place in a wholly imaginative microcosm, with an exploration of meaning and purpose in today’s globalism.
Ner isn't a refugee. He doesn't have any memories before Arden; he was born here. Ner is like a blank canvas. He re-embodies 'lost loved ones' in exchange for a bed and a meal; so subsumed by others' stories, that he’s not sure who he is or what he feels.
Then, he has to pretend to be the most important person in Arden, the Founder. The Founder disappeared and has a disease that spreads through awareness. Is Ner immune, or will he stay hooked to the telescopic desks, watching places that have not yet been destroyed?
This narrative may bring to mind Dave Eggers' ‘The Circle’ or a futuristic Hamlet set in ‘Ready Player One’, but takes place in a wholly imaginative microcosm, with an exploration of meaning and purpose in today’s globalism.
'The Real Slim Shady'
Still image from 'The Real Slim Shady', 7 minute film
Real Slim Shady from Mel Rey on Vimeo.
'Fame Reducer'
Still image from 'The Real Slim Shady', 7 minute film
Fame Reducer: Episode 1 from Mel Rey on Vimeo.
