Mole
Dear friend,
It’s day two for me at SXSW LONDON.
I’m taking some time out in Hoxton Square, on the grass beneath the great London plane trees.
I’m with Luke, who’s sitting on a sign that says SXSW in 3-D letters.
Someone’s having a photo shoot on the other side of the sign.
They can’t see me down here.
The sun is streaming in, still high above the rooftops.
Now there are three people on the other side of the installation.
They’re laughing and joking, getting the camera person to make fake shutter sounds so they know when to switch poses.
A young guy nearby is on the phone, smoking pot.
Minutes later, he’s lying in the sun, barefoot, arms wide open to the sky.
Mobile phone resting in one upturned palm.
We listened to Marina Abramović speaking about legacy and collaborating with technology.
She’s created an AI avatar of herself that will continue to interact with people once she’s gone.
It’s a strange feeling.
Marina’s work inspired me to begin writing like this—her endurance performances.
And now she’s raising the bar again.
She talks about her AI avatar performing and connecting and collaborating in ways she never could as a human being.
She’ll die.
Her work will reverberate for centuries.
Patrick forwarded me a Hopi creation myth.
The Creator calls the animals together. They want to hide from humans the truth—that we create the world through our creative consciousness.
The Creator agrees, saying we’re not ready.
Eagle says, “Give it to me, I will hide it on the moon.”
“No,” says the Creator, “they’ll go there and find it.”
Others offer their hiding places:
The bottom of the sea, deep beneath the earth.
But the Creator sees we’ll go there too.
Until finally, Mole—who has no physical sight but is guided by spirit—says,
“Hide it inside them.”
When they’re ready.
That’s where we find ourselves to be one.
Till tomorrow
Love
Mikey