The loose theme on Spike this month is collaboration. It’s an appropriate concept given that we have a range of new voices on the site, beginning new conversations and new lines of exploration. We put the call out for contributors in February and couldn’t be more pleased with the response. We had hoped for five new writers but ended up with four times the number. It’s been an exciting month, getting to know everyone and discussing ideas. I have thoroughly enjoyed each contributor’s essays and interviews, and trust readers will too.
Collaboration comes in many guises. Spike looks at Brazil’s Phonobase Music Services and their innovative peer-to-peer distribution system. We talk to Twisted Spoon in Prague about the process of translating books. Woman works with machine in Thyrza Nichols Goodeve’s essay on Mariko Mori’s Cyborg Surrealism. There’s more android action as Tina Bexson asks Rutger Hauer and Daryl Hannah about their input to Blade Runner. Kevin Fitzgerald finds identity is something of a collaborative fiction in Joan Didion’s novels. Jooz Denby’s new imprint Ignite Books makes use of collective media to speak directly to audiences, whilst Robert O’Connor talks to jazz improv trio Fat Kid Wednesdays about the collaborative act of making music. There are also two features on perhaps the most collective notion of all – Marxism. Jonathan Reynolds assesses what the Frankfurt School can offer society today and Jacob Knowles-Smith reviews Eric Hobsbawm’s recent collection of essays.
We begin April with a leader on collaborative communities and efforts by governments to turn cities into ‘creative hubs’. This is followed by a week of ‘soundbites’, short articles profiling cultural events, people and artefacts from six different continents, before moving onto the main course of the month. Spike focuses on five areas: Art, Books, Film, Ideas, and Music. Each of these has two main features and another gaggle of soundbites. Finally, there are a series of columns of the cultural aspect of different issues, including the creative industries, media and tech, and gender. We round off the month with a handful of letters from correspondents around the world. The whole is designed to be read like a magazine. A full list of contents can be found here. Links will activate as the articles go live.
Spike is always open to different kinds of collaboration. We love to hear about events and projects, to discuss ideas, and we like to get involved where we can. Please get in touch via the contact page. You can also add to the conversation by leaving comments, although be sure to contribute – abuse is not welcome. We want Spike to remain a sane corner of the internet. We are particularly keen to hear from illustrators at the moment and to see examples of your work.