8.12 (recognition)
edition #49
all or nothing #49 - how do you want to be seen?
table of contents
1.events 2.words 3.missed connections 4.horoscope 5.listen
»current
pit of desire, garden of prosperity
cometh to the hester spot to filleth your cup with the sweet nectary brew of art and imagination, curated by lauren hirshfield with the immaculate vibes from five celestially divine artists: Devra Fox, Jackie Slanley, Kat Ryals, Lauren Walkiewicz, and Rosalie G. Smith. our surrounding world mirrors our own earthly behaviors, perpetually seeking to take, take, and take some more. whether its time, energy, light, or hope, our essence is being drawn out from the fabric of our very being and, perhaps, our only remedy is to find alternative methods to replenish our souls. pit of desire, garden of prosperity is on view at our 119 hester st location till august 30th.
words
+how to unsuccessfully find context+
couple days ago, some of the all street comrades took a field trip to the stinky little amc on 19th st off union square. if you’re unfamiliar, that theater is ducking horrible - like legitimately bad. a couple years back, you may have heard about amc updating all their theaters with those plush rockers and figured all theaters were now created equally in the eyes of american multi-cinema overlord nicole kidman, but don’t believe the hype. a cushy seat can’t overcome poor layout and screens with an improper aspect ratio. What really makes a theater bad is if you have to think about your environment. a good theater lulls you with so much comfort that you’re able to forget about literally everything but what’s on the screen in front of you. so there we were, sitting in this janky theater, literally 30 minutes into the most frightening trailers i’ve ever seen, so by the time Emperor Kidman hit the screen to politely tell us all to shut the duck up I was completely numb to any potential frights. but then, the lights dimmed, the room fell silent, and the magic began. within a couple minutes, i was won over. i forgot about the weird black bars on the sides of the screen, the guiding walkway lights being way too damn bright, and the thick stickiness on my pleather arm rests. i suspended my disbelief and was transported to another world. the film was an exquisite combo of camp, quirk, jump scares, tension, heartfelt moments, hearty laughs, and general cohesive cinematic excellence. the chemistry between the two leads was truly radiating through the screen. it was almost as if they were married in real life or something. we left the movie and found ourselves standing in that obligatory post movie circle in front of the theater to compare notes and analyze what we had just experienced. despite our group being composed of some very unique personalities, everyone liked it. It’s a rare occurrence when everyone in a group perceives the same thing. there wasn’t any racist, homophobic, or sexist subtext or any other major criticism to discredit the film as junk, harmful, or problematic. it was just a genuinely enjoyable horror movie that had substance, but didn’t take itself too seriously. we parted ways, content. until the message hit the group chat that changed everything: (allegedly) “stolen!!” for the sake of not giving this extremely popular and genuinely good movie any more free press, i’m not going to name the movie but, instead name the film it was allegedly stolen from. The Better Half was an indie rom-com that hit the festival circuit around 2023. it’s about two people that, following a one night stand, wake up with their bodies fused together. the film failed to get distribution and is, unfortunately, not available to stream anywhere at the moment, making it extremely difficult for the court of public opinion to share their verdict. from some reddit deep dives, there are apparently some very concerning similarities between the two films, particularly in relation to the Spice Girls, as well as the fact that the leads of the new successful movie that shall not be named were sent the script for The Better Half in 2020. the director of the very good, allegedly stolen new film claims to have a paper trail of drafts and emails that disprove any potential claims of plagiarism, but i’m not sure how much the truth matters here. as an independent artist, i feel horrible for the makers of The Better Half, but that doesn’t change the fact i did genuinely enjoy this other film. the team behind The Better Half is suing this much bigger and more successful film for plagiarism, but there’s no way to know whether anything was stolen, and any court proceedings won’t actually prove that. best case, they get some money and a temporary ego boost, but in such a situation, context is the only legitimate factor. for the millions of people that go on to see this big new horror movie, none of them, myself included, will ever see The Better Half, let alone remember its name in a year from now.
missed connections
+8.1 dinho dinho show
you: have the aura of daddy tops
me: dance like a t-rex
description:
are you the asteroid that will bring about the dawn of civilization or the end of all things? hit dms and lmk :)
+8.7 pit of desire opening
you: a light
me: a void
description:
from the depths, you bring me to the brink, back and back again.
horoscopes
+Aries+
cellophane might be see through, but so are diamonds. so, think not about what you can see, but perhaps instead what you can’t.
+Taurus+
if views are the measure of success, then why have so many epic fail videos gone viral?
+Gemini+
the celebrated gemini proclaimed, “i know if i'm generous at heart, i don't need recognition,” and perhaps that’s true but why wage war if not seeking to be recognized as victorious?
+Cancer+
don’t be ashamed to shoegaze; sometimes the ground is more interesting than the sky.
+Leo+
does anybody ever really win a staring contest?
+Virgo+
you can’t make eye contact with a million people at once, let alone two. unless you have really wide set eyes.
+Libra+
even if they’re looking down on you, jokes on them because they’re still looking.
+Scorpio+
time to clip all the posh chat. the flowers are going straight into the bin with this one mate. count your pedals but spoiler they don’t love you, not like we do. because our love is blind. we follow our intuition; sight unseen. this is where people stop being polite and start getting real. and you best believe that here, you oughta expect the unexpected because we’re here for the right reasons. so strap in and giddyup because the tribe has spoken. the only way to be seen is first to give up on seeing. the rumors are that we all have a third eye, but that’s cap; we all have about ten eyes and the trick isn’t opening them up. the real trick is keeping them closed. but here’s a couple insider tips: for starters, never eat mayonnaise. we understand nobody likes a dry sandwich, but come on, let’s be adults. it’s not 1955 anymore. and also forks? why in the heck are we still stabbing little holes into our food like barbarians. obviously the only way to eat is with two knives, or a single spoon. those are the only civilized options. anyway, now that’s been settled, here’s your mission for the week: every time you make eye contact with someone, you must immediately close your eyes and stop moving. random eye contact with a stranger on the subway? yep, stand completely still and jam those eyelids closed. remember, invisibility is a super power - just ask sue storm or harry potter. if you can’t see them then they cant see you. so, stand perfectly still and keep your eyes shut until you’re certain the eye contact has been broken and then you may resume with your day. begin this practice immediately and report back with your results in twenty years.
+Sagittarius+
cover every mirror in your home with ornate white lace. leave the mirrors covered for three days and remove them at 3:33pm in afternoon on the third day.
+Capricorn+
perception is like a one-way mirror. somebody always has the upper hand, so which side of the mirror do you want to be on?
+Aquarius+
you’ll never know what they see when they look at you.
+Pisces+
we all see you.
playlist
+send us your writing, ideas, notes, observations or anything you want to gallery@allstnyc.com to be considered for future editions of all or nothing+
image credits
images by devra fox, currently featured in pit of desire, garden of prosperity, on view at our 119 hester street location through august 30th