7/2/2023 0 Comments Binfer slows computerWe assumed a contradictory stance: embrace the era’s technology, but hold it at arm’s length. Our shift from print to online publishing couldn’t be smooth we had to anticipate, even instigate, some violence in the transfer. (One editor’s note in tracked changes registers discomfort with the term: “‘Lackeys’ might not work for everyone, but ‘workers’ has a nice doubleness?” Fair enough, but often it’s the accuracy of a word that engenders uneasiness.) We still subscribed, so to speak, to the notion that a true reading experience depended on the material substrate of a page. In a draft of a letter soliciting contributions, we identified ourselves as print’s lackeys. Many of us were fledgling contributors, fact-checkers, editors for publications ranging from Cabinet to the heavyweights at Condé Nast. The internet was the air we breathed, but print paid the bills. For starters: though we all spent hours each day scanning screens for information, what on the internet did we actually read? But no sooner had we arrived at consensus than the quandaries presented themselves. Online, of course! It was hardly a discussion. No printers, distributors, or post-office officials to wrangle with, only collaborators. No time spent amassing capital, only submissions. A magazine devoid of commercial ambitions but prone to literary pretensions no longer needed a George Plimpton to cut a check covering each month’s shortfall. Plus, financially speaking, it remained-and remains, for now-a wheat-paste endeavor: nine dollars a month to hold down a domain name. We came of age with the medium, it was our generation’s default. It’s up to them to discover what they’re being made to serve.Īt first a convenience, then quickly a conundrum: Of course we would publish on the internet. Many young people strangely boast of being “motivated” they re-request apprenticeships and permanent training. (11.4 x 15.2 x 16.5 cm), edition of 5 (artwork © Josh Kline photograph by Joerg Lohse, provided by 47 Canal, New York) Lackeys Josh Kline, Photographer’s Hand with Digital Camera (Marcelo Gomes), 2011, pigmented silicone, 4½ x 6 x 6½ in.
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