Hi Crowd!
A friend was recently flipping through this old issue of Punk Planet and stumbled across this amusing ad tucked into the back. I don’t remember the circumstances and my first thought was that they must have offered me some extra space or something but I asked Dan and he said no this was definitely a 100% paid ad so I guess back in 2002 I thought a good use of my limited monies was shouting out a bunch of friends websites or maybe we all chipped in $50 for it or something. I don’t know.
This is especially relevant at the moment since I spent the last few days totally redoing my website. You can browse your way over to seanbonner.com to experience it in all it’s glory. Some of you might remember that I redesigned it not that long ago but I realized after I did all the work that it sucked. Well it didn’t suck so much as it was just hecka confusing with endless nested silos and it was way too easy to get lost and it didn’t really make any sense. I don’t know if this new version makes more sense, but it’s flatter and cleaner and I think it’s harder to get lost in. The fun thing about being me is that (as many of you know) I’ve never had a simple way to explain who I am and what I do so hopefully this new organization helps make that somewhat more digestible.
It felt good to publish this because I honestly I’ve been feeling like I’m not getting a lot done, or not finishing projects that I want to finish. A lot of that is in person, my music studio at home for example is a complete disaster and I’m desperately trying to pack up/get rid of things I’m not using so that I have more space (physical and mental) to focus on the ones I am. Which is a process. Anyway, working on the site was nice because redoing the “art” and “projects” sections helped me see that I’ve actually shipped a bunch of things this year even if I feel like I’ve been slacking. Those haven’t necessarily been profitable things, but they are things none the less and that’s the metric I’m using for success right now.
Speaking of shipping websites, I also just remade/relaunched safecast.live. The idea here being that Safecast has a live data feed of radiation and air quality data flowing in all day every day, and I could map those readings to a bunch of different audio samples and then essentially the environment composes this endless generative soundscape that you can just listen to forever. I recorded some of the samples myself, and used some others that were available through Creative Commons like the NIN Ghosts I-IV stems which gives it a really lovely feel. The site has some options allowing you to pick which sounds you like (I like all of them together) and also some effects (I max out the reverb and echo for super ambient washes). There’s also new visualizations to go with it which range from super literal “this data came from here” to much more arty evolving synthesis of satellite imagery that layers on and fades from the previous, playing into the idea that this data is also ephemeral and changing all the time. I need to write more about it, but I’m really really really happy with how it turned out and it’s become a constant background track for me.
Of course in share alike fashion I published it all back into Creative Commons, so if you are inspired to build anything with it please do. Back in ’21 I and a few other released the original version of this sound/art project but it died at some point and no one had the spare cycles to figure out what was needed to fix it. So this new version which includes some of what I wanted before but couldn’t manage is exciting and kind of cathartic. I also got the old one running again, so feel free to explore.
Sorry this newsletter is so me heavy but had to get that out there. There’s other non-me things going on too of course and they worth your attention. Jonathan Mann just made this really fun game called Chuck & Hakeem Won’t Leave where you (and everyone else playing) have to try to dig these guys out of the capital where they have buried themselves in order to make room for new Democratic leadership. Which is fun, but also important, and includes was to call your reps (if you have them). Less political, Jordan built a jumping running/jumping game after coming home from Marfa, Texas to help remember it all by. You can play as me by looking for the Sprite named “Sean Bonner.”
I haven’t written about it because I still need to process both my photos and my feelings, but I went to Marfa last month for the annual Art Blocks art week there and it was joy. This was pre-election and I was encouraged by the absolute overwhelming number of Talarico signs I saw on every lawn, and disgusted by the disgusting, fear-mongering Paxton ads desperately playing on repeat on every TV station. If you believed the ads I saw, anything less than a Paxton win would have meant that immigrant drag queens would be showing up at your house to steal your children and give them sex changes and then force them to play sports. Seeing how that race played out, I’m relieved the fine people of Texas didn’t fall for it.
Priyanka wrote a fantastic transhumanist piece about beauty in todays world, being less something you inheret and more something you configure. Matt wrote about the new Godzilla film (which is incredible) and how Yamazaki is bringing back the golden age of Kaiju. Trevor and Holly talk about making art with AI and what is missing from that conversation. If you are in New York this month, go see Justin Aversano’s Moments Of The Unknown: Enter Through The Thrift Shop. See if you can find the portrait of me in there and send me photos.
Sadly The Browser Company is killing Arc, which is my browser of choice and I’m livid about it. It’s seriously giving me Google Reader flashbacks. This cool thing that changed how I interacted with the web, ripped away unceremoniously. Bastards. I won’t be using their other browser and I’m currently juggling Brave, Chrome, Zen, Vivaldi, Tor, and a few others to see what, or what combo, I want to commit to before redoing my whole workflow.
I feel like there’s more I want to tell you because I haven’t told you anything in over a month, but I also feel like I’ve told you too much already. Thanks for reading, more soon.
-s