Spiral
When we met with the team on videochat to pick a title for this year’s issue, Spiral struck a chord with everyone in the call. We wanted to touch on the chaotic shitstorm that’s been the last year, while keeping the theme light-hearted and architectural: broad enough to encourage a wide range of submissions, but specific enough to capture our shared sense of dread, frustration, and exhaustion.
The isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic paired with the interconnectivity of the Age of Information ignited an era of oversaturation. Media, politics, the planet, and everything as personal to us as our own identities and relationships with each other was insatiably broadcasted day in and day out. The result was a soup of information in a bowl so big we couldn’t see the edges. And we were given a fork to eat it.
From micro to macro (identities and interpersonal relationships, policies and politics, systems and services, media and microcosms) every aspect of the human experience suddenly felt contrived and questionable. The result was an era of awakening, and while we were scared of the Spiral, we discovered a sense of urgency, hope, and transformation. From political critique of American society, to poetic play with the human sense of the unknown, to architectural analysis of funky forms, we hope you can join us in our exploration into the theme of Spiral.
Grab a spoon, and let’s enjoy some soup together.
CONTENTS
RoBot Arm
by Nick Licausi
Homosapien Folly
by Jameson Chorao
Observatory Stair
by Lindsey Compeaux
Oh, Darling
by Lizzie Bateman
Blood on the Leaves
by Joanitah Nakiggwe
Generative Spirals
by Jesse Toohey
The Conundrum
by Lizzie Bateman
Nothing
by Connor Little
CREDITS
Editors
Seth Laskin Connor Little
Design Team
Alex Satre Amanda Bond Avery Moultrie Charlotte Kelley Delaney Smith Jo Herman
