The Blur Known as 2023
by John Amen
2023 felt like passing through a local subway station on the express train, strange, funny, disturbing, contorted snatches, swatches, tableaux appearing & disappearing. It was January, it was December. Moments seemed protracted, yet time overall flew by. Micro-slow, macro-fast. A picture of a friend who committed suicide this year flashed on my phone, then poof, I spent half an hour looking for it, never could retrieve it. In some weird way, I’m still lost in this dream, looking for it.
I appreciated BPM’s 2023 aoty & soty lists, though perhaps even more, BPM’s honorable mentions list, where you can encounter projects that didn’t get as much attention as they might’ve deserved.
A few 2023 releases that I would’ve liked to see more fully lauded: Kali Malone’s Does Spring Hide Its Joy, Terraplana’s olhar pra trás, Lauren Bousfield’s Salesforce, Lucy Liyou’s Dog Dreams, Empty Country’s Empty Country II, Jaimee Harris’s Boomerang Town, Sexores’ Marl del Sur, Martyna Basta’s Slowly Forgetting, Barely Remembering, Rắn Cạp Đuôi’s *1, & Hilary Woods’ Acts of Light.
The last 25 years or so have highlighted that groupthink & trickledown are as defunct as typewriters, 8-track tapes, & giving directions. Individuals change things … gradually, persistently, interactively. Cumulatively. An older friend of mine who is now gone said years ago, “well, let’s keep doing our best & see what happens.”
Blessings on this exploding globe. May all beings be safe from inner & outer harm. May all beings be free.
Best wishes for an inspired 2024,
John Amen
12/18/23
