Contradictions
I've been thinking about contradictions in relation to the work I do. Back last year, during one of the Poetic Computation sessions, one of the participants said something about hypocrisy in relation to working with technology. I think this comment was specifically framed as working amongst the poetic & handmade web. She said that whilst we are making work that is imbued with a set of ideals, the tools we use to build (and share) that work are still part of an extractive amalgamation of tools, platforms, and companies. This hypocrisy, she said, is even more prolific now with the integration of AI tools into almost everything that we do relating to code.
Someone who I was leading the session with said that she didn't like the word hypocrisy. Whilst she agreed with the idea that there is not necessarily a pure way to go about making things with digital technology, but the idea of hypocrisy created a feeling of guilt. She said that guilt was unproductive and that she preferred to think through these contrasting ideals as contradictions that we all carry. A contradiction, as long as it's something we recognise, feels like something we can reconcile with and explore in a healthier manner.
Yesterday, I was listening to a Adam Buxton's podcast in which he interviewed the author Zadie Smith. In it they're talking about being selfish and making ethical decisions. Zadie talks about how life is full of compromise but the place she feels she must be most honest is in her writing.
Today I read through the latest SomeTimes made by two of my fellow Varia members. I read through the colophon which is this eclectic mix of tools, typefaces and software (most of which is open source) to design this publication. It could have been created with one or two proprietary tools but they didn't and I am glad that they didn't because the colophon feels alive, the whole publication feels alive. I feel like there is an honesty in this way of working, the same honest that Zadie Smith is alluding to.
At the moment I'm going through the process of migrating my notes and project management processes from Notion to Obsidian. I have grown tired of Notion's clunky interface and the heaviness that comes with the software (not to mention the increasingly unnecessary addition of AI). I want to prioritise lightness, locality and simplicity. I know Obsidian and use it regularly but have never got it up and running as something I use on a daily basis. I know this small step won't produce profound changes to my work but I hope that one step at a time I can begin to grapple with my own contradictions in a healthy way.