Galatea’s Pants 2000-2010
Lauren has been publishing Galatea’s Pants for over a
decade. Previous issues that I’ve read were brimming with progressive thought,
a panacea for consumerist / capitalist / fucked up culture. This issue, not so
much.
Much of this issue is taken up with interviews. First,
Lauren interviews Nishta Mehra about her food oriented blog. Then Aisha Sloan
discusses her Detroit
based artists colony. Here’s an except from Lauren’s interview with Melanie
Cervantes, an artist / activist / printmaker: “…from 6:30 pm until about midnight we read and respond to email, do
some social networking, write blogs, read multiple online newspapers, websites
… on a good day we’ll get some time to draw or work on a design.” . This is
followed up with an interview with Anna Pulley who, when asked about her
writing process, explains “Usually I’ll
write a few sentences then go check Facebook. Then I’ll read a blog post …and
write another sentence before deciding to browse OK Cupid…”
It feels like what is being celebrated here is the shallow
end of the pool … not what unites us in any real, tangible way. I’m unconvinced
that the internet and social networking are contributing to the social
well-being of community, in fact, Facebook, etc may be fracturing our attention
and our relationships. As we become more insular, we actually communicate less
and create less change … we become hypnotized by screens, complacent and comfortable with our cliques and
cocoons. Even you are reading this blog, I am always considering unplugging completely from the
internet to focus on reality – not virtual reality. These interviews didn't speak to me in any way, though I’m sure that my “demographic” is not the
intended audience.
The opening and closing articles are the real
substance and heart of Galatea’s Pants 2000-2010 in which Lauren not only bares
her process of approaching this anniversary interview, but also has a dialogue
with her wise and inspired 16 year old self. It’s these moments that make
Lauren’s zine a joy to read, and the rest found me yawning.
