NORMALnoise volume 1, issue 3 // winter 2016 2 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 3 Dear reader,

A lot has happened since a new issue of Normal Noise has seen the light of day. A year marked by drastic change and by crisis - both for the magazine and, of course, for our metro community, our county, our country, our world - has passed. Never, in my albeit short adult life has such a sense of loss, of disillusionment, of terror, of the erasure issue ecstasy, permeated our public life. The theme of this issue has taken on a new relevance and importance in light of recent events, yet its beginnings Letter(s) from the Editors 5 The Editorial Board are tied to a much smaller trial. In the spring 2016 issue, the Founding Editors included a painting by an ASU Our reflections on erasure art alumna. They saw nothing wrong with the painting. The issue was sent to the printer and six hundred copies The Devil Wears Prada, and Is 8 Hannah Gur-Arie arrived at Barrett. However, a small oversight had been made - one which, normally, would have been incon- Probably A Bit Racist, Too. sequential: the Barrett Dean had not reviewed the issue before it was printed, and he did not like the painting. The Dean’s Office refused to distribute the issue.

Chess In Decline 11 Benjamin Shindel We, the new Editorial board, convened in August with a double goal: publish a fall 2016 issue and get the spring The commodification of the chess game issue distributed to the public, painting and all. What followed was a dispute characterized by miscommunica- In Defense of The Diary 14 Carolina Marques de Mesquita tion, mis-scheduled appointments, games of phone tag, and seemingly-opposite opinions with regards to the Resisting self-censorship painting.

The Thermodynamics of Erasure 19 Cole Mathis As it turned out, we and the Dean’s Office were playing two different games. There were considerations to be had on an administrative level that had nothing to do with the artistic merit of the piece. After a long and, yes, Loose Lass 22 J.D.A. Scaven and Cecilia Nguyen heated discussion with the Dean, the Associate Dean, and our faculty advisor, we came to an agreement. The issue would be published without the painting, and the Editors agreed to foster transparency and open com- munication with the administration moving forward. Clean, Standoffish, and Slightly Uncomfortable 27 Aitana Yvette Mallarie The aesthetic of nothingness At the height of things, our fight was one against censorship, plain and simple. The theme of this issue, erasure, was born of that fight and our sentiments at that time. While we made a compromise, and one we don’t regret, we stand by the fact that we took the struggle as far as we could in the name of what we perceived to be an act of censorship, an erasure. We hope that struggle is felt throughout this issue. editor-in-chief Evan Anderson The erasure we fought against was resolved peacefully; our Deans showed understanding and compassion features editors Carolina Mesquita for what we stood for and reflected that by their willingness to compromise. Yet, it is hardly ever so simple. Amber Ellison In the coming years, it will be more important than ever to identify voices, lives, identities, realities, systems arts editor Amy Axelrod of thought, that are at risk of being erased, marginalized, destroyed. Beneath the veneer of transparency, free information, and massive communication, there is as much conflict and struggle as there ever was. design editor Kaylie Volpe

designers Cecilia Nguyen Evan Anderson, Editor-in-Chief Dempsey Wilken

faculty advisor Mina Suk, Ph.D.

Normal Noise is a semesterly magazine supported by Barrett, the Honors College at ASU. Each issue provokes conversation about the complexities of everyday life through long-form journalism and art.

Normal Noise is student-run. Views expressed in the magazine do not reflect those of the administration. Contact the editors at [email protected].

Like Normal Noise on Facebook and check out our website at normalnoise.wordpress.com.

4 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 5 As Normal Noise negotiated with administration to distribute the Play issue to our readers, our changing aesthetic was brought In “The Bluest Eye”, Toni Morrison writes, “Anger is better. There is a sense of being in anger. A reality and presence. An aware- into question. Look to the archives for our humble beginnings as the Barrett Chronicle, a newsletter written to inform students ness of worth.” Shame, by contrast, is characterized by a lack of self-worth: it arises when one is unable or unwilling to fight back, of happenings around campus. Readers who have joined us for a while know of the next three name changes. However, for the or when one accepts injustice as justified. past three semesters that I have contributed my design work to the magazine, the styles and branding have remained stable and unchanging. Morrison’s reflections on shame and anger followed me when I reread her novel earlier this semester. In October, the Phoe- nix City Council voted to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. High school football players across the country Although there are no further name changes in sight, with a new editorial board comes new tastes in style as well as visions for kneeled during the national anthem in protest of police brutality, and I watched with pride as Americans protested the construc- what the publication will bring to the community. As we explore the concept of erasure, one may ask if maturity, an evolution of tion of the Dakota Access Pipeline. At the ASU Clinton rally on November 2, I stood primarily among women of my parents’ identity, is an act of erasure against the past self. I think back to my eighth grade self’s dream of becoming a math teacher when I and grandparents’ generation – women that are frequently ignored not only because of their gender, but because their age often grew up, or even last year when I thought I was destined to be a management guru. Looking back, I laugh at who I thought I was renders them politically and socially irrelevant. and would become. I am not the same person I once was. And Normal Noise is not the same publication that it was at its birth. Regardless of our readers’ political opinion or affiliation, I believe these instances of political activism and civic engagement Despite not loving math the way I once did, and not having the “personality for management,” I know that those experiences would have been impossible had citizens succumbed to shame. Instead, they arose because citizens recognized a “sense of being” have shaped my analytical and detail-oriented personality. Having said this, I can also say that no past iteration goes without in anger: a rediscovery of their voices, an awareness of their own humanity, a desire to resist being silenced into submission. influencing the current publication. Normal Noise is multifaceted, incorporating new ideas and established traditions. The ed- itorial board loves to bring you minimalist aesthetic just as much as obscure theories of thermodynamics. Above all–and this As November progressed, I encountered many people that rolled their eyes at my worries and the worries of my peers. Our rang true with the Barrett Chronicle as well–we love to bring you the many voices of our student body and community at large. preoccupations were unnecessary, overdramatic, exaggerated. Often, I came up against the familiar flush of shame I was so sure So rest assured, dear reader, that although we may not be what we once were, our dedication to provoking intellectual thought I had forgotten. When the Normal Noise editorial board selected erasure as its theme for Fall 2016, we had little idea that its is unchanged. poignancy would only grow as the semester concluded. I once jokingly suggested we profile the 1980s synthpop duo Erasure (incidentally, if this pitch interests anyone, let me know). Yet now more than ever, I am convinced that we are most vulnerable Additionally, Helvetica Neue Bold will stick around as our subheading font of choice. to erasure when shame convinces us we are undeserving of a wish, a desire, or a will: anger, however, is productive, and in the Kaylie Volpe, Design words of Morrison, offers us a “reality and presence.”

Like many others, I have trouble conceptualizing this new future. Many have suggested to me that anger toward such ambiguity will make me cynical, but I refuse to recognize and accept such imperious remarks. As we brave this next phase of social, polit- ical, and intellectual uncertainty, I urge that we do so with anger, pride, but no shame. The pages of this issue will remind you On that Tuesday wake, I dry-heaved in a hotel bathroom recently vacated by a congresswoman. Even my hesitations in the final that words are precious. Speak with authority, write with dignity, and feel the anger that will propel you toward progress: it is our days of the election cycle about attending a results watch party hosted by the Arizona Democratic Party (instead of watching only choice. from the comfort of a coffin for one at home) paled in comparison to the reality of the night. It was like an anxiety dream mas- Carolina Marques de Mesquita, Features querading as a rooftop gala. There were catered quinoa chips and a giant screen projecting red, red, red, blue, red. The chair of the ADP’s occasional bellowing interjections (“It’s going to be a long night, everyone! Have a drink!) were followed with a moment of hushed silence and then the bubbling shrill frivolity and panicked laughter. I joked (if you can really call it that) that we were watching the hunger games from the capitol. We thank Barrett, the Honors College at ASU, for continued support. We thank our faculty advisor, Dr. Mina Suk, for provid- A few months prior to this, the Editorial Board chose the theme in the spirit of irony and personal poignancy following Not ing us with intellectual guidance. We thank Vice Provost and Dean Dr. Mark Jacobs, Associate Dean Dr. Kristen Hermann, Censorship. However, I can now say that erasure has been stoked to cataclysmic grandeur in our country. A caricature of the ul- Ashley Brand, and Kira Gatewood for their willingness to work with us and ensuring that we will have a publication that we timate Twitter troll, an incarnation of every article from The Onion, a living Boggart for our collective nightmare rose to power. can all be proud of. We thank our staff, writers, and artists for making this project possible. And, of course, we thank you, But when we step back from that cosmic darkness the nation now teeters upon, we can take a measure of the places in which reader. We hope you stay with us as we settle into things. We have big shoes to fill, but we are determined to carry the critical erasure has already made its home. This issue of Normal Noise dissects minimalism and the self-burdening commitment to the gaze of the founding editors into the darkness ahead. aesthetic of nothing, and supplies a limit to that threat of cosmic emptiness courtesy of thermodynamics. It explores the fash- ion industry as it hews to the tenet of whiteness as eternally on trend, and visits the intersection of diary writing and girlhood. Being the knowing god that you are today, you must ask yourself, reader, how you will lord over these pages in light of erasure’s national warm welcome.

After that, ahem, party ended, the crawl to the parking garage was akin to moving across the stage of a hushed and surreal Greek tragedy. A procession of couples huddled together in dark corners, haunted valets desperate to not look directly at the crying faces, and a chorus in the background chanting “HOW, HOW, HOW, HOW” next to their news vans passed by. The Electoral College bowed and welcomed us to the next era: of erasure, of rebellion, of memes desperate to capture that sense of waking fear and strokes of authoritarian jitters that we feel.

For the next four years, Normal Noise will be here. Hold our hands as we brave them together. Amber Ellison, Features

6 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 7 urge to change what was working accepted than women of a darker for them. The status quo of white, skin tone. Commonly appropriated, Commonly male leaders remained unwavering fashion is willing to accept and even until recent years, though numbers welcome black features applauded appropriated, are still infinitesimal. Decades after by mainstream media, but not black the industry formed, people of color girls. fashion is willing The Devil Wears Prada are beginning to enter the industry The Row and Junya Watanabe to accept and from the bottom and slowly, un-pro- featured no models of color in their portionally rise to the “top”. The lack shows this season. Georgian fash- even welcome and is Probably of a presence of black people in the ion designer Demna Gvasalia, head fashion industry is systematic and it of Balenciaga and Vetements, two black features sets the stage for how the industry of the biggest fashion brands at the applauded by A Little Racist, Too behaves and reacts in regards to the moment, almost completely white- presence of black people in fashion. washed his shows. Gvasalia is argu- mainstream The exclusion of black people in ably the most talked about designer Hannah Gur-Arie the fashion industry is most visually of the moment. Vetements recently media, but prominent and indubitable in cast- resurged the “anti-fashion” move- not black girls. ing of fashion shows. In the Spring/ ment in the industry, capturing the Summer 2017 fashion month, “cool kid” clientele through kitschy 10.33% of the 299 shows examined pieces like their $200 DHL shipping by The Fashion Spot’s annual diversi- shirts which capitalize on criticising ty report were black models, a gross- capitalism within fashion. The pop- ly disproportionate number to the ularity of Vetements landed Gvasalia amount of black models signed to as the new creative director of Balen- hen Jacqueline Onassis Shayne Oliver took his popular of talent and ability that black people agencies, black clients, and the gen- ciaga, the almost century year old married John F. Kennedy in “HBA” logo from a graphic t-shirt to face as successful entities in the high eral black population. This number fashion house known for its tailor- W1953, The New York Times a brand that epitomizes youth culture fashion circuit, as well as undermin- has been stagnate for years, making ing, elegance, and finding beauty in detailed the intricate tucked bod- through the androgynous, intimi- ing their efforts taken to get them in decimal points of progress, though restraint. It is hard to believe that his ice, circular patterns, and fifty feet dating, and socially challenged street this position. The majority of high the awareness surrounding this issue choice in casting is not deliberate, of ivory silk taffeta that went into style known as Hood By Air. Rouste- caliber brands do not envision black has blown up in the media; even especially for two shows with com- creating the iconic dress. This gown ing and Oliver demonstrate varieties people as their ideal clients and the Council of Fashion Designers pletely different audiences, and it became the most photographed of work in different segments of the conglomerates shake in their Gucci of America released an affirmative sends a clear message to what kind of wedding dress in American history. fashion industry, design for opposite mules at the thought of putting black action/ cry for help in September of people he intends to wear his cloth- When asked who designed it, Jac- types of clientele, and show in differ- people at their helms. These stereo- this year to advise designers to add ing. We find more cultural missteps queline Kennedy replied “A colored ent fashion weeks that take place al- types pave the way to an automatic diversity to their shows and cam- in Dolce & Gabbana’s “Slave Sandal” woman dressmaker”. Though Ann most a month apart from each other. trivialization of their presence in the paigns. (2016), following their use of Black- Lowe designed for the rich and fa- These two designers have almost fashion industry. Kanye West’s Yeezy Season came amoor earrings in their Spring 2013 mous and became known as “Soci- nothing in common, but are often Fashion, similar to other indus- out as the most racially diverse show collection presented on a show of all ety’s Best Kept Secret”, she died in found synonymous in fashion cover- tries, is widely white and male-driv- with all models casted were “mul- white models; Jeremy Scott x Adi- obscurity with almost no money or age, tokenized as the black designers en. Though the fashion industry tiracial woman only.” Though on das chain & shackle sneaker, visibly recognition. of the high fashion circuit. This seg- is fueled primarily by the habits of the surface this may look like prog- reminiscent of slavery of the Afri- Five years ago, Olivier Rousteing mentation is attributed to its roots in women, the industry is subjected ress, the controversy surrounding can American community with cuffs became the first black creative di- solidarity and the idea of “power in to a very specific male gaze. Hubert this casting of the show proved to around the ankles; and the contin- rector of Balmain and brought new numbers” to create more awareness Givenchy, Christian Dior, Yves Saint highlight the same exclusion and ual casting of white models to por- life to the previously-fading fashion and visibility for black people in po- Laurent, and Cristóbal Balenciaga problems that black people face in tray black people/ culture through house. The revival of French Couture sitions of power in fashion. The plat- are all men who took part in shaping fashion and society. The limitations blackface in ad campaigns featured in his designs makes him the most form that black designers are given the contemporary fashion industry placed on the casting required the in Vogue, Numero, L’Officiel Paris, V coveted designer in pop culture, no to be seen is diminished by the con- around the same time a little over a women to be of more than one race, Magazine, and i-D, among other fine garment complete without being stant urge to assume that they have half a century ago and have lasted the allegedly focusing the casting on curators of taste. heavily embroidered, tight, shiny, commonalities beyond their skin test of time. Other white men car- women that were of a lighter skin Black people in the context of high or all of the aforementioned. On the tone. This ill-fitting generalization ried the torch for these brands over tone, seen proportionately more in fashion are automatically associat- other side of the fashion spectrum, proves the consistent condescension the years and houses did not feel an fashion and seemingly more widely ed with street style and lower price

8 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 9 points. Recently, The Cut deemed black designer making up one half of contrivance fueling publicity and a batch of airbrushed “boardwalk” Public School, allegedly walked past purchases, the equation to “success” t-shirts “The Alexander Wangthe protests without acknowledge- in modern day high fashion. Being T-Shirt You Can’t Buy Anywhere”, ment as if he did not want to be asso- cognizant of where and when you contrary to the fact that these shirts ciated with what was happening. The see a genuine “diversification” in the can be found literally everywhere. fashion industry is able to operate in industry is more important than the The so-called exclusivity of these its own little bubble and so obviously lackluster attempts to do so. Placing Chess in Decline: custom t-shirts is ironic due that chooses when and how they recog- one model of color on a runway in they are not at all exclusive. This nize black culture on the basis of if it fear of being reviewed as the show style of shirt, popularized over the is benefitting them. It is worth not- that had none fuels the cycle of in- The Commodification of the last 30 years through facets of graf- ing that the industry acknowledged equality and the blindness towards fiti and hip hop, is synonymous with the 2015 Paris Attacks and the Pulse it. The fashion industry is unwilling blackness and urban culture. Alex- Orlando Shooting. to compromise its current state for Chess Game ander Wang identifies with neither, People in the fashion industry what is right, providing apathetic yet benefits and is even given orig- do not take responsibility for their excuses and continual denial of rac- inality points in this smudging of cultural and racial errors and ap- ism. I recognize the privilege I have Benjamin Shindel black culture. Styles including Tim- propriations. Dismissal of people of as a white person pursuing a career berlands, track suits, and Air Force color culture seen as oversensitivity in the fashion industry but refuse to 1’s can be credited as being started by fashion professionals that are not be a part of the systematic exclusiv- in black communities decades ago, black translates as a refusal to admit ity that is deeper than any editorial, yet the fashion industry dubs them their wrongs—insinuating that what campaign, or public statement that as “new trends” and the price points they are doing is not wrong, fueling tries to magically fix the discrepan- skyrocket when taken out of the con- the cycle of excluding black people cies in the industry. As insignificant text of the place where they started. and culture until they see it as trendy. as the fashion industry may seem to Designers are not blind to Not only does the fashion industry you, we are all consumers and it is n May 11, 1997, for the first artistic expression. interest in an abstruse, archaic, and se- what is going on in the world, and ignore wrongs, it defends them. our duty to be aware of what we are time, a chess computer, Deep Marcel Duchamp is perhaps the most dated game. even if sometimes contrived and Marc Jacobs presented his S/S 2017 buying into. OBlue, defeated the reigning famous surrogate for the art of chess. The last paragraph is a narrative that commercial, they react to social is- show almost in the style of a rave, world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, Duchamp was a French founder of the is far too easy to believe. But it is more sues such as feminism and home- ridden with holographic and metal- in a six game match. The significance of art school, Dada, which rejected art it- or less false. For most chess players, lessness in their designs and presen- lic outfits and mod-meets-Harajuku this event can’t be overstated. It showed self, and eventually, he rejected even the advent of computer engines did not tations (see: Maria Grazia Chiuru motifs, in an all-dreadlock runway that humans could create something that in favor of chess. “Not all artists dull the artistic beauty of a chess game. for Dior S/S 2017, Karl Lagerfeld for with primarily white casting of mod- smarter than themselves. It put a limit are chess players,” he remarked, “but Rather than destroying chess games Chanel S/S 201515, Alexander Mc- els. His response was as sloppy as the on human achievement while at the all chess players are artists.” And what with its perfect mathematical analysis, Queen F/W 1995, Rei Kawakubo for ignorant hodgepodge of cultures he same time exemplifying an outstand- would be the ultimate expression of a the computer engine uncorked the nov- Comme des Garçons F/W 2009). tried to fit in his collection- “[To] all ing one. In the world of chess, it made chess player’s art if not the chess game? elty, emotion, and human imperfection Now more than ever, these beliefs who cry ‘cultural appropriation’ or some disgusted and others excited for Deep Blue derailed this. If a machine in them. As an amateur chess player, I are shared and extremely accessible whatever nonsense about any race or the uses of new technologies that could can create a chess game as “well” as a often would plug my games into a chess due to the rise of technology in fash- skin colour wearing their hair in any assess different styles of play and chess human can, what could be artistic about engine, move by move, and marvel at ion. Designers craft their brand and particular style or manner – funny positions. Movies were made about it; a chess game? Instantly, modern chess the beautiful and elegant sequences that social media presence thoroughly how you don’t criticise women of co- Arcade Fire wrote a song about it. Most enthusiasts dove deep into the archives could have been. Garry Kasparov’s ini- and, more times than not, they are lour for straightening their hair,” the personally relevant: around this date my of famous and beautiful chess games. tial disdain for the computer wore off, not just posting about clothing. In designer retorted on Instagram. The tiny embryonic heart began to beat. Computer chess engines found faults and he (and the Russian school of chess) the wake of the shootings of Philan- same time Marc Jacobs was sending To some, Deep Blue’s most important in moves, tactics, and openings thought became one of the chess engine’s stron- do Castile and Alton Sterling, the si- dreadlocked models down the run- contribution may have been damaging. to be the pinnacle of human genius. gest advocates. Most people involved lence and failure to express any sort way claiming to be blind to color or Perhaps to them, the idea that a comput- “Games of the Century” were uncovered with the pursuit of chess recognize com- of condolence from fashion brands race and calling it fashion, a federal er could beat a human in chess deval- to be unsound and history’s most beau- puters as an artist’s tool, just as painters, was louder than any message they court ruled that you can be fired for ued the beauty of a chess game. Before tiful queen sacrifices were disproven. writers, and music artists have all fought could have shared, tweeted, or post- having dreadlocks in the workplace computers, a chess game was art. Not Since 1997, the chess world has found it- their own battles with and eventually ed. These specific shootings coincid- (see: EEOC v. Catastrophe Manage- only did the beauty and absurdity in the self pushed to the margins of societal in- embraced technology. ed with Men’s Fashion Week and si- ment Solutions). Hannah Gur-Arie is a senior studying mar- symbolism of the chess pieces and posi- terest. The Cold War over, and the speed However, if not the chess engine, what lent protests were conducted outside Fashion lives in the space between keting. Her vintage pant collection is coming tions entrance many, but the literal act of society pushing itself to neck-break- then is the cause of chess’s decline? And of the shows. Maxwell Osborne, a creativity and consumerism, with along nicely. of playing chess has been described as ing levels, Americans began to have little chess’s decline is almost self-evident.

10 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 11 er author, Vladimir Nabokov, famous- countries, bribing them with small gifts virtual reality view of the playing area, ly paired chess problems with poetry, and threatening to effectively blacklist and the ability to chat with other chess which reflects both on his synesthesia their country if they don’t vote his way. fans and grandmasters following the and the relative unmarketability of both It’s noteworthy that FIDE votes are not tournament. In previous years, all of poetry and chess. done by secret ballot, but by roll call. these services (except the virtual real- Duchamp was wrong, though. Chess In March of this year, Agon orga- ity), have been free and available on a can be commercialized. And it has nized the Candidates Tournament, a variety of chess websites. been in a particularly non-transparent tournament to determine what player As the computer analysis of chess manner. For several generations, FIDE, would get to challenge the world chess demonstrates, a chess game is quite sub- which oversees the world chess cham- champion, Magnus Carlsen, for his jective. It can mean different things to pionship and many international chess crown. Agon made a controversial an- different people at different times. And events, has funded itself by collecting nouncement: that it would not allow it is a censorship of much of this subjec- dues from national federations and, oc- other chess sites to broadcast the games tivity to limit the analysis of chess games casionally, getting sponsorships from (meaning the live moves of the players, to a single corporate entity. Ilyumzhin- companies (which mostly involves ad- not the video or audio footage), and ov’s grip on the chess world for the last vertising at international chess tourna- that it might pursue legal action against twenty years has reduced a thriving mul- ments). In 2012, FIDE made a strategic those that do. Now, this may sound rea- tinational community to a few million partnership with a mysterious new com- sonable, but this would be akin to ban- chess fans at the mercy of an increasing- pany called Agon Limited. Agon would ning any live broadcast or commentary ly corrupt FIDE. organize chess tournaments, including of the play-by-play of a baseball game. the world championship cycle, for FIDE, In chess, the way that I and millions of and would get any revenue from these chess fans around the world follow chess tournaments. A couple years later, after is by following the live games of the certain documents were leaked, it be- world’s best players. There are dozens of came apparent that Agon was secretly websites dedicated to tracking, analyz- owned by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the pres- ing, and commentating on these chess ident of FIDE. games. This is how amateur players im- First a word about Kirsan Ilyumzhi- prove their understanding of chess, and nov. He is a wildly controversial figure how many chess enthusiasts make their who, among other things, is a friend of livings. Agon has taken private own- Vladimir Putin, is accused of ordering ership of the chess games of players at the murder of an opposition journal- their tournaments. Not only does this ist, and has claimed to be abducted by make it harder for chess fans to follow aliens. He is wealthy and powerful in international tournaments, but it forces Kalmykia, a Buddhist Republic in Rus- them to follow it through Agon’s website, Chess Problem sia, and was recently sanctioned by earning money for Ilyumzhinov and his White to move and mate in four. Western powers for his involvement in cronies, who have an economic and po- the sale of oil between ISIS and the Assad litical stranglehold over a non-trivial re- regime. He ruled Kalmykia and rules gion of the world. Despite the attempts of many institu- meaning World Chess Federation) has a request for chess to never be commer- FIDE without disgression, using retal- What Agon has done is far-reaching. tions in the world of international chess, about half a million active players that cialized. Part of chess’s appeal was that it iation and bribery to curry favors and They have asserted that a chess game chess has failed to meaningfully include pay yearly membership fees. There are was seemingly removed from the mun- consolidate his power. He won the last is owned by the company running the women and people outside of the West- many millions more active chess players danity of capitalist life. Stefan Zweig’s FIDE presidential election against Garry tournament where it is held. Agon is ern world. Chess’s public image has if you include national and local chess Schachnovelle (Chess Story) tells of a Kasparov by manipulating a bizarre rule. currently charging a subscription fee, faded and its reputation fallen from the federations. Why, then, isn’t there an man who, held in solitary confinement In FIDE, every member country has an starting at $15, to view their live cov- eras of Bobby Fischer and Deep Blue. obvious public revitalization of the chess as a political prisoner by the Germans equal vote, meaning that the dozen or so erage of the 2016 World Chess Cham- And chess’s prestige and universality are community? during WW2, keeps his sanity by play- players from federations like Papua New pionship between Magnus Carlsen, the Benjamin Shindel is a sophomore major- disappearing even though the number of Perhaps Duchamp can explain part of ing out thousands of chess games in his Guinea or Sierra Leone hold as much champion, and Sergey Karjakin, a loyal ing in materials science. He likes looking chess players in the world is staggeringly the reason for chess’s malaise. “Chess head, and through some sort of chess-di- power as the tens of thousands of FIDE Putinist and the challenger to Magnus’s through microscopes and writing poetry

about his lunch. large. Some estimates put the number cannot be commercialized,” he said in alectic, achieving a mastery of the game. members in Russia or India. Ilyumzhi- title. Agon’s coverage includes com- Nc7# 4. Rxb8 Qb8+ 3.

of chess players in the world as high as 1952. I imagine he said this half as a In near-total isolation from society, the nov has used FIDE money to pay for mentary and analysis from some of the Ka8 Qxc7+ 2. Kb8 Be6+ 1.

600 million. FIDE (a French acronym statement of fact about chess, and half as purity of chess shone through. Anoth- routine visits to FIDE’s smallest member world’s best chess players, 360 degree Solution Problem

12 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 13 diaries have inspired activists and rev- Clearly the diary boasts unique ad- some spring cleaning earlier this year - olutionaries for decades, yet despite his vantages for its free-flowing and flex- buried beneath old exams and expired Marxist ideology, the devotion Guevara ible nature. Nonetheless, Ahnaf also class notes were a stack of familiar, beau- expresses toward his journals reveal acknowledged the diary’s link with femi- tifully bound journals documenting the the bourgeois Argentine upbringing he nine identity within the public discourse experiences I collected until the age of could never totally erase. For these and during our conversation. Perhaps it 17. The most complete of these diaries other men, diaries documented philo- comes as no surprise that the genre lost was a thick spiral notebook that I main- sophical and personal growth, offering serious consideration and study once it tained between 2006 and 2008 (roughly In Defense of the Diary: a space to record cerebral musings that fell into the hands of women. Yet I con- between the ages of 8 and 11), and it is might one day transform into a literary tend that perhaps there is little harm in by far the most compelling. It features Resisting Self-Censorship breakthrough or a political manifesto. carving out a literary and philosophical minutiae ranging from riveting play- Yet the diary now lies mostly outside of space specifically for women and femi- ground gossip to a list of all my Christ- the literary canon, and for that we might nine-identifying persons: certainly this mas presents back in ’07 (my favorite: blame its modern association with femi- space may never be the subject of careful Avril Lavigne’s fourth album, The Best Carolina Marques de Mesquita ninity and feminist thought. As Cynthia study or appreciation, but it will contin- Damn Thing). These nuggets make for Huff writes in “That Profoundly Female, ue to be of enormous value to women heartwarming reading. Still, perhaps the and Feminist Genre”, the diary resem- writers, students, and thinkers regard- most significant gift I received from my bles feminist criticism in that its “diver- less. diaries was a space wherein I could val- sity of approach and focus, its melding In seeking to develop a dialogue with idate my own intelligence: it was within of various disciplines, its tendency to others about the merits of keeping a diary, these diaries that I shamelessly basked mesh the inner with the outer, has been I found that many described journaling in my own genius, visualizing myself as accused of looseness and a lack of rigor”. as being fundamental to their abilities to the biggest and brightest star among dull For these reasons, the diary manifests as self-reflect or meditate on personal ex- peers. ’m 10 years old, and I’m sitting alone need anyone making fun of me for powerful boys that surround him. the “very antithesis of canonical litera- periences. When I spoke with Hannah For many young girls, the opportunity during my lunch period. My friends keeping a diary and partaking of such a A similar denigration of the diary ture and literary criticism”. Hixson, a psychology major at Universi- to profess one’s own intellect is rare, but Isit at a nearby table, but I’d rather girlish tradition. Even at the age of 10, I arises within the first season of Lena Male writers might, of course, resist ty of Illinois at Chicago, she told me that for me the diary offered endless comfort take the hour to myself. After all, writ- knew my image as a tough but refined Dunham’s post-feminist HBO series being dissuaded from journaling despite the benefits she accrued from keeping a and support, affording me a space where ing is serious business, and between intellectual might be damaged if I ap- Girls. The show’s protagonist, Hannah these contemporary derisions. Ahnaf journal were manifold: as a young girl, I could conceptualize my future, pout homework and catching up on reading peared too soft, too feminine. The diary Horvath, records her thoughts in a red Rahman, a sophomore studying bio- she sought to document her life and when I felt wronged, and begin securing The Baby-Sitters Club, I don’t have a ton could never be discovered. Moleskine notebook, and even goes medical engineering and chemistry at felt a sense of accomplishment after her my intellectual identity. Keeping a diary of spare time. I flip with satisfaction This construction of the diary - an ob- a step further than Greg in distanc- Barrett, tells me that the freeform ten- weekly journaling session. As she en- allowed me to conceive of myself as a through my diary, which features a flo- ject widely regarded as silly and infantile ing herself from journaling. When her dencies of the diary are primarily what tered university, her journaling became writer: while I journaled, I often imag- ral cover and a clever self-portrait on the - was certainly not imaginary on my part. friends find her Moleskine and refer to draws him to the practice. He describes more introspective and intimate. In our ined an older version of myself, bookish back, where I’ve also written a warning Consider, for example, the enormously it as a journal in episode 5, she quips: keeping journals on and off ever since conversation, Hannah described journ- and sophisticated, learned and smartly to any potential intruders: “This is NOT popular series Diary of a Wimpy Kid, “It’s actually not a journal, it’s a note- middle school, and being attracted to aling as an outlet free of external judge- dressed, scribbling what would become your journal. DO NOT READ. And which begins with its protagonist, Greg book. It’s notes for a book. [...] I feel like the diverse methods of self-expression ment that can help “remind yourself of the most significant contributions ever I mean it”. That should do it. The bell Heffley, clarifying to the reader: “First of ‘journal’ implies a 13-year-old girl who the diary offers. The inclusion of sketch- your own worth”. She has also observed made to American literature. I best en- rings, disrupting my train of thought. all, let me get something straight: This is rides horses and is obsessed with her es, dialogue, found objects, in addition the benefits of keeping a journal based capsulated this future for myself in De- Now my genius might never find its way a JOURNAL, not a diary. I know what it mom.” Hannah, who aspires to become to personal narration provide what he on her counseling experience, telling me cember of 2007, when I wrote: “I am onto paper. It’s okay. There’s always to- says on the cover, but when Mom went a “serious” writer, fears that a “journal” describes as the ideal platform for “help- that much of a counselor’s work involves going to be a writer, and travel the world, morrow’s lunch period. I skip back to out to buy this thing I SPECIFICALLY might threaten this future: the journal is ing me answer questions about myself guiding a client toward developing their and live to be more than 100 years old”. class, ready to multiply fractions and roll told her to get one that didn’t say ‘diary’ undignified, juvenile, and has no place and understand what type of person I own conclusions. According to her, the my eyes at Michael J.’s fart jokes. on it […] All I need is for some jerk to in the career of someone with literary am”. He has further taken advantage of journal falls perfectly in line with this Freedom to Feel Writing in a diary was a practice that catch me carrying this book around and aspirations. the diary’s intrinsic fluidity by employ- intention, and she said that she hopes to This sense of being that I captured I engaged with from the age of 7 all get the wrong idea”. What follows is an Once upon a time, the practice of ing the journaling app Day One on his recommend journaling as therapeutic in my diary - not only being, but being the way to 17, but I never shared my illustration of Greg, receiving the swift keeping a diary was a symbol of one’s iPhone to more conveniently document practice in her counseling in the future. great - was certainly not specific to me journals with anyone. Sure that people punch of a boy twice his size, who yells capacity for intellectual and reflective his experiences. Ahnaf also cites the di- alone. When I spoke to Maggie Tucker, a would laugh at me for participating in “SISSY!” as he knocks Greg off his feet. thinking: it was the habit of “refined” aries of Charles Darwin and Frederick Basking in My Own Genius political science and geography student such frivolity, I hid my diaries carefully For Greg, the practice of keeping a diary men, and such figures as John Adams Douglass as inspiration, highlighting I found Hannah’s comments about at Barrett, about what prompted her to when they were not in my grip. While I is a major blow to his masculinity, one and Ralph Waldo Emerson kept life- their ability to incorporate a variety of realizing one’s self-worth through jour- begin journaling, she began detailing knew my writings and ramblings would that not only damages his self-image, long diaries that have been the subject artistic and literary styles to pose and naling particularly resonant. I stumbled the delusions of grandeur she harbored one day be worthy of a bestseller, I didn’t but makes him vulnerable to the more of intense critical study. Che Guevara’s answer questions about the self. upon my old diaries in the midst of as a young girl. “Well,” she pauses, “not

14 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 15 delusions. I am grand!” While her moti- al forms of self-expression is something vations for keeping a journal have since that Moira still values. Her other writ- The practice of evolved, her 2nd grade self originally ings, which range from fanfiction to his- keeping a journal imagined a future of fame and celebrity, torical critique to heavy political prose, and this was her impetus for keeping a have won awards in local and regional allowed them diary. Assuming the perspective of her writing competitions, and while she no younger self, she exclaimed, “I gotta longer keeps a diary, she has found that to endure the write down my thoughts so that people the practice boosted her writing skills incidence of being can write books about me!” during her exploration of other genres Maggie further echoed this prioritiz- as well, especially within her poetry. alone, pushing ing of the self when she reflected on the Another experience that connected experience of being 17 and exercising several of the diarists I’ve spoken with them to accept her freedom to “have a moody night is the loneliness one often encounters and even relish in where I would play records in my room during adolescence. Hannah, Moira, and paint and write and feel”. For women and Maggie, for example, often found solitude. coerced into permanently expressing solace and company in the diary during happiness and contentment, the diary times they felt isolated from their peers may also provide relief by allowing her or confronted difficulty engaging with to recognize and explore her own sor- people in unfamiliar environments. The row. Indulging in melancholy is a priv- practice of keeping a journal allowed ilege rarely afforded to girls and women, them to endure the incidence of being but the keeper of a diary can do this safe- alone, pushing them to accept and even ly and free of social constraint. Maggie relish in solitude. Ellie Dries also kept a told me that this was among her favorite diary at such a time: a sophomore eco- properties of the diary: “no one force[s] nomics major at Barrett and a triplet, she you how to do it”. found herself separated from her two When I spoke to Moira (name has siblings for the first time upon her arriv- been changed to respect this student’s al at university. Being unable to rely on privacy), a highly articulate high school that natural companionship led her to junior in Phoenix, she also highlighted begin journaling, giving her “the chance the important role that the diary played to be alone and process” feelings of sad- in allowing her to explore and validate ness and withdrawal that she could not feelings of sadness or loneliness. This necessarily relay to her siblings or high was especially important to her during school friends. the depression she experienced in ju- While Ellie originally turned to her nior high. She recounts feeling alienated diary as a site of refuge or escape, she from peers whose tastes and interests gradually came to appreciate the lib- diverged sharply from her own. During eration that its privacy offered as well. our conversation, she highlighted the She told me that she often didn’t use “paradox” of experiencing low self-es- capitalization or punctuation because teem at this age, but also thinking she she found that the genre lent itself to was “better” and more intelligent than freedom from literary conventions. “I her peers. “I knew I was more mature experimented with [...] some writing than everyone else in my age group and forms I would have never been com- I couldn’t connect with them,” she told fortable presenting to people,” she told me, “but putting things down on paper me, saying that writing something that [...] made it less heavy on my mind.” is “exclusively for you” makes it much One of the most unique components “easier to incorporate nontraditional Ah-ha! of Moira’s diary concerned her inclusion ways of writing, and it also becomes so Carolina Marques de Mesquita of a song title that reflected her mood to much more expressive.” Watercolor and ink on paper, 9” x 10” 2016 conclude each entry. The diary’s promo- In regard to my own diaries, I also tion of such creativity and nontradition- recall a sense of release in being able to

16 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 17 communicate my experiences in uncon- cious 6th grader who hopes to become a democratic of all literary genres, provid- ventional ways. While a majority of my writer. In addition to being zealous and ing the writer with a rare opportunity to thoughts are representead in narrative passionate, she is also vain and proud, divulge what discomforts wider read- form, others are represented as to-do things that young girls are rarely al- ership. In the case of young girls, this lists, goals for the upcoming school year, lowed to be. In order to achieve her ca- includes reflections that exalt and value brainstorming for pieces of fiction and reer goal, she maintains a composition the self or highlight the difficulties of nonfiction, illustrations of classmates, or notebook where she documents her bru- growing up a girl. cartoons depicting my interactions with tally honest observations about friends, I stopped journaling two years ago, others. One summer, I even rejected the classmates, and neighbors. When her yet as I write this, several blank note- The Thermodynamics narrative completely, and documented friends steal her notebook and discover books occupy my bookshelf, urging me those months in a Moleskine notebook the things she’s written about them, they to put together the words that will undo through collages, illustrations, doo- abandon and bully her until she finds a this history of self-censorship. That shelf of Erasure dles, self portraits and drawings of my way to make amends. is also where I keep books by Truman siblings, and the inclusion of stickers Harriet’s honesty and pride create Capote, David Foster Wallace, and John and pages ripped from coloring books. problems for her not because they are Steinbeck – writers that I admire and Cole Mathis While this journal might more appro- innately damaging or unhealthy qual- whose work makes me feel full and new. priately be classified as a scrapbook, it ities. They merely fall out of line with Yet what I discovered as I read my own nonetheless reveals my own attempts to normative constructions of girlhood, journals was a girl equally deserving of experiment with alternative methods of and Harriet must pay the price when praise and admiration for her shame- self-representation when words failed they are exposed to the public. Given less self-reliance and fortitude. Pride is me. the danger of putting these qualities on a skill we learn when we are young, but The manifestation of these ideas and display, girls may find that journaling we often lose it along the way as we carve experiences took such forms because it is the only way to express themselves out the futures we imagined in our dia- would have been inappropriate to com- safely and without apology. Indeed, I ries. We work to recover this skill every here’s a game. In this game, you than it contained in the first place, so if substance down to absolute zero, which municate them via prose, yet they still read many young adult novels (some fa- time we put pen to paper, and our brav- cannot win. You cannot break your goal is to get useful energy out of means there’s no way out of this game. constituted a fundamental component vorites: Lily B. on the Brink of Cool and ery shows in our willingness to partake even. You cannot get out. You this game, you can’t win. Thermodynamics holds a special of my authorial identity. The medium Dear Dumb Diary) where girl diarists of this practice again and again. Eat your Tare already playing this game. It’s called The second law of thermodynamics place among all theories in physics. through which I expressed these ideas faced similar conflicts. On paper and heart out, Capote. thermodynamics and the facts it lays directly relates the useless kind of ener- Most physicists would tell you that while was just as critical as the idea itself, yet in their journals, they were intelligent bare are more certain than both death gy (heat) to entropy. Entropy is proba- Einstein’s general relativity is a spectac- the ability to mesh such methods so and thoughtful, but also pretentious and and taxes. Even if you’ve never taken a bly something you heard about in high ular theory, it will likely be replaced by seamlessly would be impossible beyond self-important. I often noticed that these single course in physics or chemistry, school or in a science fiction novel, and something slightly different in the fu- the diary. qualities, condemned when identified you’re familiar with some of the basic it has a lot of interpretations, but put ture. In one breath they’ll tell you that in young girls, did not manifest outside principles of thermodynamics. They are simply, it’s a measure of how many dif- quantum mechanics is the most success- An Awareness of One’s Own of these girls’ journals, in their fictional the reason you can’t cool your apartment ferent ways a system can be rearranged. ful theory in the history of physics and Magnificence interactions with parents, friends, and by opening your refrigerator, and they’re The second law says that entropy must in the next breath mention that it’s al- Over the course of writing this piece, peers. the reason you turn your AC off when always increase. Since entropy must al- most inevitable that another, more fun- I’ve spoken with several fellow diarists It is unfortunate that girls must con- you leave the house. They’re the reason ways increase, and it’s directly related to damental theory must be lurking, wait- that have recounted to me an awareness tinue to disguise their most authentic walking across University Ave in August the amount of useless energy in the sys- ing to be discovered. Thermodynamics of their own magnificence, which they selves from others, beginning a cycle is so much more unpleasant than walk- tem, you can’t break even in this game is different. The laws of thermodynamics first expressed in their journals. I also of self-censorship that will likely follow ing across the grass in front of Old Main. either, because the amount of useless en- are in many ways regarded as meta-laws, recall several fictional girl diarists that them for decades to come. We collec- The laws of thermodynamics are sim- ergy will always increase. which would be true regardless of any communicated this elevated sense of tively erase young girls’ voices when we ple. There is only three of them and they The third law of thermodynamics re- other theory of physics. If a new theory self in compelling ways. As an aspiring punish them for being proud and car- fit really nicely on a t-shirt- which is lates temperature and entropy, by stat- was shown to be in contradiction with young writer, I found comfort at the age rying themselves with dignity, yet the the gold standard of simplicity in phys- ing that the entropy of a system (and thermodynamics, it would be immedi- of 9, for example, in reading young adult diary may play an essential role in girls’ ics. The first law is about energy, which therefore the heat it contains) can only ately disregarded. Einstein himself said books featuring girl diarists that con- resistance of this social disciplining. As comes in different flavors, the useful be zero at zero temperature. The third that thermodynamics “is the only physi- ceptualized themselves in ways similar Huff writes, “[d]iaries connect and pro- kind which is called work and the use- law implies that if you could get your cal theory of universal content concern- to how I conceptualized myself. I read vide a symbol for us of the mystery of less kind which is called heat. The first system to absolute zero, you’d be able ing which I am convinced that within Louise Fitzhugh’s 1960 novel Harriet our silenced, buried lives”. Huff’s com- law states that while energy can be con- to get all your useful energy out and get the framework of the applicability of Carolina Marques de Mesquita is a sopho- the Spy over and over again, identifying ment evokes one component of why the more studying political science and English verted from one flavor to another, it can out of the game. However, while there’s its basic concepts, it will never be over- with its self-assured and self-involved diary might remain outside the literary literature. She takes almost everything too never be created or destroyed. You’ll no law preventing you from doing this, thrown.” protagonist, Harriet. Harriet is a preco- canon: the diary is perhaps the most seriously. never get more energy out of something scientists have never been able to get any The historical context for Einstein’s

18 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 19 statement is important. He states that channel have anything to do with that start by asking if any three letter word is of times since the 1960s, with all of the running for the works of Camus or Ki- Or was there the theory of classical thermodynam- useless kind of energy we called heat? ‘dog’ and if any food item is ‘pizza’ before experiments have confirmed the result. erkegaard. However, if you talk to people ics will never be overthrown, within It might be surprising that a formula guessing anything else. More often than There’s even a more sophisticated math- who really understand thermodynam- some kind the framework of the applicability of its can even measure the amount of infor- not you’d be right and, you’d have fewer ematical formalism that can express ics, the kind of people who study it for a basic concepts. In his day, the applicabil- mation contained in a message, but it’s questions to ask, which means you’d Landauer’s logical arguments now. The living, they’ll tell you not to despair, be- of deep ity of thermodynamics was considered actually a concept most people in the need to send less information. It would revelation that Information is physical cause the production of entropy might connection to be much narrower than today. The twenty first century are intimately famil- be more optimized communication. The totally shocked the physics community be the only reason anything happens in foundations of thermodynamics were iar with. Consider your smartphone, it subtly in Shannon’s formula is that it and grounded computer science with a the first place. Every single biochem- between developed in the late 19th century to might have something like 8 gigabytes of measures the average number of yes-or- limit from thermodynamics. ical reaction in every one of your cells understand how steam engines could storage. But what are gigabytes anyways? no questions you need to answer assum- When thermodynamics was just produces entropy. The warmth of your thermodynamics work and the limits on their efficiency. Like all measurements, the giga- prefix ing you’ve got an optimal encoding, e.g. being developed, the world was in the body is a consequence of the production and information? To this day you will still find drawings means a billion, and bytes are collections the person you’ve playing 20 questions throes of the industrial revolution. The of entropy. The formation of stars and of steam pistons and descriptions of how of 8 bits. Bits are units of information, in with knows you really, really well and is capabilities of steam engines were cre- planets produced entropy, some scien- they work in every thermodynamics the same way meters are units of space extremely clever about how they guess ating jobs, allowing for new technolo- tists even believe the origin of life can be textbook. While thermodynamics was and seconds are units of time. A typical what you’re saying. gy and improving quality of life almost attributed to the production of entropy. almost immediately and ubiquitously email is 15 kilobytes (kb) or 120000 bits, In the 1960s, despite the particular ubiquitously. In many ways the very idea In that light, the production of entropy applied to chemical systems, it was still while a typical Instagram photo is about similarity between Shannon’s formu- of steam engines held promise and hope becomes a signature of existence, and a assumed to have limited applicability. 1.17 megabytes or 9360000 bits. Shan- la and thermodynamic entropy, most for the people living through the indus- sign of progress. In the 1940s, Claude Shannon was de- non’s formula is how these numbers are scientists interested in computation, trial revolution. The development of the veloping a mathematical theory of com- determined. To understand the idea be- cryptography and the emerging field of laws of thermodynamics and the sec- munication. His theory was, like almost hind it, imagine if every time you want- information theory didn’t worry about ond law in particular constrained these all science at the time, a contribution ed to send your friend a text you had thermodynamics. They were solving possibilities. The second law explicitly to the war effort. The primary problem to play a game of 20 questions. Instead theoretical problems and the solutions forbid any kind of perpetual motion. his theory solves is, how is it possible to of just typing out what you want to say, would be implemented by engineers However, the theory of thermodynamics send a signal through a noisy channel, your friend has to guess your message who would worry about the mechani- allowed scientists to optimize and push and ensure that the receiver understands and you could only respond with yes or cal and electrical details. In the eyes of steam engines to their physical limits, to the intended message? One of the cen- no to any guess. Your friend could start these theorists and indeed most of the get the most out of the possibilities they ter pieces of this theory is a formula that with the first letter of your message by physics community, information wasn’t had to offer. Perhaps it’s not surprising is able to measure the amount of infor- asking if it’s ‘A.’ If it is they would write a physical thing. Information was a con- that in the early days of the information mation encoded in a message. When down ‘A’ and go on the next letter, if it’s struction, with no bearing on anything age, scientists turned their eyes towards Shannon first derived this formula, he not ‘A’, they’d guess ‘B’ and so on down important or real like energy. However, computation, in an attempt to find its was wondering what he should call it, the alphabet until they had your mes- in 1961 a scientist named Rolf Landauer limits. In the 21st century, when your and consulted his colleague John von sage. This would obviously take a long would claim exactly the opposite. blog can get you a job, when you can Neumann. Von Neumann responded by time, but eventually your friend would While working for IBM, Landau- become a billionaire by creating an app, saying, “You should call it entropy for get the message. One bit can be thought er imagined what it would mean for a and when machine learning is helping two reasons: first because that is what of as the answer to one yes-or-no ques- computation to be coupled to a phys- treat cancer, the promises and possi- the formula is in statistical mechanics tion, it measures how much your un- ical object. The object he considered bilities presented by computation and but second and more important, as no- certainty about a message has been re- was simply a heat bath. Physicists use information captivate our imagination. body knows what entropy is, whenever duced. That’s what Shannon’s formula the term heat bath to mean a large ob- But knowing the limits of things, wheth- you use the term you will always be at quantifies, the average number of yes or ject, which is connected to the system er they’re steam engines or computers, an advantage!” Shannon’s formula was no questions you need to answer before you care about, and has one function, makes them more real. The limits make exactly the same as one of the many your friend gets the message. staying exactly the same temperature. the possibilities they leave open more formulas used to calculate entropy in There’s only one subtlety. You may Landauer make some logical arguments accessible. thermodynamics! This analogy between have thought it was silly to start with which concluded with the claim that if a Understandably, the laws of thermo- the amount of information encoded in a the beginning of the alphabet and work computation is done at a temperature T, dynamics have been known to inspire a message and the entropy of a thermody- down, because after all, some letters are then any erasure of information would certain kind of existential despair. Being namic system spawned an entirely new more common than others. Similarly, if generate at least Tk ln2 joules of heat per presented with the fact that there’s a fi- direction of research. Was this similarity I know the previous letter was ‘Q,’ do I bit. This means that when you delete a nite amount of energy in the universe Cole Mathis is a graduate student in the just a coincidence? Or was there some even need to ask if there’s a ‘U’ coming? text from your friend or an old email, and with every action some of that ener- Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at ASU. His research interests lie at kind of deep connection between ther- Maybe your friend is like me, and most you are inevitably generating heat in the gy is being irreversibly transformed into the intersection of complex systems science modynamics and information? Why of what they talk about are dogs and process. This limit was called the Lan- a useless variety in the form of entropy, and astrobiology. He enjoys playing with should messages sent through a noisy pizza. In that case it would be clever to dauer bound, and it’s been tested dozens could send the most optimistic person dogs and trying to re-humanize science.

20 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 21 Loose Lass

J.D.A. Scaven and Cecilia Nguyen “The “loose lass” is an apostrophic form idealizing witting & unwitting loss of control. As life extends, its subjects are bound to lack. This is the self’s erasure of time, love, & pain. The photographs are a visualization of the piece, presenting a graphic interpretation of the abstract. Together they examine an exoneration of individual mimpathy; a unipathic look at the violent act of memory.”

(i)

permutation my body is a broke beautiful golden dog bashful beleaguering plentiful you thrall to drench aetherous mimicry cruising past noumenal moor

breathy wraith: a bruised cliff sur-grim lagoon folie à deux lithic clone ossein-lage encroaching lash bluster to glace/suss your crush

bogged in shouty glare the glade in tune wallows forward with glass abstrusion, an occlude carnival collect of brutal boys tendered awning puckered by fall

maple moth gone nisse-gilings engrossing my impish maw luthed in stain, spirit glitt-alluve & decently healed ah croons corrose oh excess-easey you're all pleasey in gras

you in hale a me aim to baleen shoring truculent & naughty sand-sinks you've ace 'ner mobile's craw in your vice invase, peat all freezy noise restful zealing a dream to come out punching

the erasure issue 23 (ii) gluttinous grace you fodder debase cherry-kiss jo to gorgeous 'dobe wreathing hilted revulsion close ume exulting in lions we've raw-tressing lie drunken o'er 'dele in bind jutty dry isles erupt & alone this lasting lady with her haggard curse cros-rhys past carractacan crease 'dorns delectable gewgaw clattering 'cross-wrist cripple-caught louse ravenous in the chalk your ferny lips in this cottage i've 'lectrical power blossoming peonies in the freshest green or 'dyllic reeds run 'blique to a sprawling pat-i-o for guests of all ages prude suggestion (a tactless ephebeia) bales of ballast in bells all-loft the fictile bough the augured octave ladder cresting geese preen "aleppe" thresh spine padded to roof a short evening inside cooly linoleum pleats oh balustrade attacks at ease a sheeny swan your avey torpor coring plaster cygn'osure a peripheral dislocation of who droning flighting sonation so gauzy, gory, full of light in the solarium strident figurine in fire our vigils crumble > little brilliant hermits > shoo cruce-endering risk ankh of the humming rheumes at invectivous rifts red dew drops bodil rodents bathing beneath hidden caustic grade suzy-emerald cotton breezy topaz mythic trills losey and lope sable big "angel" whiling by our accordion mirth, rhythmic knights, loamy sconce: memories a tern loess slain this desolate micropump sweet and dynamic; sunken i'm asunder sitting calm where is our desert throng, our suspended cataclysma? without need my observatory burnished in automa basal/anamnesis grand i-m simple embossed no-no lassid-lace monohymnal brume athrill in spire the portican sphere then aglow right there )for us)(we whispered( down cacchinat siezing lustrine wreathing austerity in lurid ischemal gnash

i prayed for seams with a vex a screw to seem naught bereaved godmother gauzy mimic exquisite discordiance a brand new thrum that shook rhoms hewn, a saw:

24 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 25 Clean, Standoffish, and Slightly Uncomfortable: The Aesthetic of Nothing

Aitana Yvette Mallari

here’s an account on Instagram The Fashion of Absolutely ity is the ultimate sophistication. Coco devoted to pictures of white walls Nothing Chanel used minimalism to revolution- Tand nothing else. More than 21 We spent the summer playing God ize the fashion industry, and are still the pillbug writhing in my roundel thousand people have made the con- with interior design. Our scripture was willing to pay $150 for a plain white ginny urchin smith seraphic crane scious decision to follow it. Pinterest, our prayers were prefaced T-shirt with a brand name label. With- I am one of these people. with buzzwords like “chic” and “con- out the minimalistic tenants of Steve her simpled shale to come undeserved I blame these accounts for my com- temporary” and “aesthetic” that we may Jobs, our dearly departed innovator and < placid torrence < hurt horn blistering mitment to minimalism when my sister or may not have thrown around inter- turtleneck enthusiast, how else would out rarefact in bluddy choral constance: and I moved into our first apartment. changeably. we have the technology to take photos of My old room was a museum of my life. We curated our furniture based on the our own minimalist lives? it was law in boring trade our Paintings occupied my walls. Medals social media feeds of bloggers living in and diaries were stuffed into my book- New York and Los Angeles. Did it look The Philosophy of Nothing littery ore ic chaot aqual mane shelf. Microphone wires slithered un- clean and standoffish and slightly un- Minimalism is the philosophy of less. marilouise broods desperate crosshair, derneath my desk. comfortable? Add it to the cart. Scandinavians have enjoyed minimalist a rose to arancorous fenestration -- forever yours to limn Eight months before the semester The process was surprisingly a lot design since the mid-century, branding a sickling's luce eurhythmal purs bas-psalm-nimh started, I paced around the space that I harder than we thought it would be. It themselves with clean lines, plenty of would soon occupy. A space where, for might be shocking to hear, but compa- space, and by bringing nature indoors the first time, we had full control over nies really, really like designing stuff. I via large windows and wood-fashioned now watch her perse - agnus - her lavy rei din what belonged in it. got an adrenaline rush from finally find- products. Meanwhile, Asian minimal- “So what do you have in mind?” my ing white plates that were white-white, ism has roots in the teachings of both mom asked as I brushed my hands over not cream-white (and yes, there is a dif- Buddha and Confucius. A life unbridled // the fireplace mantle. ference!). Many a time we questioned by material possessions allows an indi- “Everything has to be as simple as our decisions, especially after paying vidual to focus on intrinsic values like possible,” I said. extra for furniture that would get lost in interpersonal relationships, a core staple I didn’t notice the irony of my deci- a snow storm. in a collectivist society. j.d.a. scaven, 161113 sion until much, much later. Were we being too eccentric? Like any According to “The Minimalists,” a no-good millennial, I looked to the in- website about minimalist lifestyle by photography by Cecilia Nguyen ternet for answers. Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nico- Leonardo da Vinci said that simplic- demus, minimalists “don’t focus on

26 NORMALnoise the erasure issue 27 having less, less, less; rather, we focus versity of California Los Angeles, said ter—it’s about what you don’t have. doesn’t count as trendy. That just means and help the mind focus, which is great on making room for more: more time, that minimalism is often portrayed as an When college students desire to styl- I lack possessions. for a constantly distracted college stu- I used to erase more passion, more experiences, more excuse to be pretentious over absolutely ishly furnish a living space without In this aesthetic, necessity is the line dent. Paring down possessions to the growth, more contribution, more con- nothing. drowning in debt, there’s a certain giant between the stylish and the second-rate. essentials makes it easier to keep things these colors from tentment. More freedom. Clearing the “Some people feel like it’s a cop out,” blue shoebox of a store that accommo- The spark comes from choosing the life- in order. Minimalism, depending on clutter from life’s path helps us make that said Joseph Shelter, a minimalist artist dates these sentiments with a certain style, not the other way around. how it’s practiced, can definitely help my life in the ro om .” and ASU graduate. “But there’s mean- Swedish hospitality. For people of low income, their mini- one focus on intrinsic values and keep name of aesthetic Modern American minimalism re- ing behind it. It’s a reflection of society.” IKEA’s products are designed for life- malism will never feature on Instagram the stress of materialism at bay. But min- volves around multifunctionality. Take Shelter has been a minimalist for most styles in small spaces. The company says explore pages. Their lives are filled with imalists don’t exist on a higher intellec- commitment, but one human life and all its experienc- of his life. He grew up in Indiana under it’s due to increasing levels of urbaniza- more innovation than MacGyver, but tual plane, and non-minimalists don’t es and pack it into a small selection of an Anabaptist sect of Christianity called tion, i.e. the future of many millennials they are excluded from the movement worship at the temple of capitalism. perhaps a little items—notably tech. The smartphone Mennonitism, which focused on prag- flocking to cities or smaller houses. from the beginning. Minimalism as an art, music, and phi- color wasn’t the and computer are the new Swiss Army matism and simplicity. During the era of TV dinners and The concept of owning too much, es- losophy is still in practice. The concept knives of life. With the exponentially “You can tell by the architecture of our keeping up with the Joneses, the end pecially lower-quality goods, receives is difficult to escape having permeated worst thing in the growing list of apps and gadgets, it will churches—it’s all very plain,” he said. goal was to have a two story house with a negative connotation. If minimalists everything from movie posters to gro- only get easier to cut down on material “There’s no stained glass or gold. Every- a picket fence, 2.5 kids and a dog. There are pristine and disciplined intellectu- cery products to pop stars. Even Normal world. things and fall back on the internet so thing’s simple and nothing’s ornate.” was a separate room for each activity—a als, non-minimalists are sloppy, weak- Noise (yes, this very magazine) is mini- that even mere mortals like you and I According to Shelter, most Mennonite dining room for eating, a living room for willed, and slaves to commercialism and malist. can live our lives like Silicon Valley na- minimalist artists are potters, quilters, relaxing. While totally fine for a world flashing sales. When my sister and I finally moved in, tives. and woodworkers. Because their work is with three billion people, the current Minimalist lifestyle bloggers talk our apartment looked dipped in milk. I practical, one has to focus on the nature seven billion currently living on this pale about non-minimalists the same way used to think my stuff was the best in- Millennial Minimalism of the work and how the piece came to- blue dot are faced with the challenge of people who lost weight talk about their dicator of who I was. Moving out—my Modern minimalism isn’t motivat- gether. living a full, colorful life with substan- former selves. They are condescending personal act of erasure—allowed me ed by intrinsic values as it is a protest He said that minimalism is as much tially less. If there is a future beyond the when they see people standing outside to start anew, unanchored by the sen- against American consumer society. about the time invested and the ma- coveted “huge house in the suburbs with Wal-Mart every Black Friday, getting timentality of the past. But like sprouts After World War II, less wasn’t more. terials used as it is about the work as a everything in it” it’s a small, uncluttered two for one deals for canned soup they growing from the cracks in the sidewalk More was more. It was as if America, whole. When he worked as a museum apartment in the city. don’t really need just because they have after a rainy day, my life started to show. after years of dieting, was allowed to let guard in Washington DC, he would pa- The rise of studio apartments called a coupon. A raspberry stain punctuates a table itself go. Not only did we have time to trol the same gallery all day, always find- for more dynamic uses of the same spac- There’s something inherently sinister cloth. A warm yellow mug hides in the make more money, we had more oppor- ing something new even if he’d seen the es. Small spaces are also to blame for about force-feeding the idea of purchas- pantry. I used to erase these colors from tunities to flaunt our wealth by buying work a hundred times before. multipurpose furniture that looks exact- ing more to non-minimalists only to my life in the name of aesthetic commit- things we didn’t necessarily need just “I learned more about those paintings ly like what would happen if the worlds turn around and shame them for enjoy- ment, but perhaps a little color wasn’t because we could. Minimalism, through in two years than my entire undergrad,” of Martha Stewart and Transformers ing capitalist gluttony, especially when the worst thing in the world. I was still music, art, and design, rejected that he said. collided. those same non-minimalists practice enjoying the important things that mat- trend. Artwork became abstract, a deci- He learned to appreciate what the art- minimalism in its most authentic form. tered to me—my family, my friends, my sion met with frustration from observ- ist went through behind the scenes. It’s a The Dark Side of Minimalism By comparison, idolized minimalists future, and the chaos that comes with ers. perspective that people have yet to grasp. As a sucker for things that turn into make a colossal effort to produce and it. There’s nothing minimal about that Here’s a fun game: go to New York’s “I’d see people blow by these paintings other things, I found a chair that also sustain the shiny veneer of the desired at all. Although I willingly became part Museum of Modern Art and drop a and think ‘What are you doing?’” Shel- had the double identity of a side table. simplistic lifestyle. Any evidence of of the movement, I feel like minimalism black glove in a corner and walk away. ter said. “They don’t realize they miss so It was simple, wiry, and folded into itself living is scrubbed out. Even photos of will never fail to elude, its true nature as Chances are that people will nervously much.” like origami. bloggers enjoying breakfast are pristine abstract as the white space around me. step around it. If you’re lucky, maybe When I looked at the price tag, my and untouched. No lipstick desecrates they’ll even stay and interpret your ges- The Affordable Aesthetic bank account froze out of fear alone. the rims of cappuccinos. No fork dares ture as a testament to the duality of man Whether or not millennials use min- I came to accept that there were just disturb yolk. Hair is always perfect. They or existentialist thought while taking imalism to invoke enlightenment or some things in my life that would suffer live in a world without mess. miniscule sips of wine with names they protest materialism, one thing is certain: if I went all out with my aesthetic com- The lifestyle, at times, avoids life itself. can’t even pronounce. By the way, this it is seemingly the most affordable aes- mitment. My bank account was only one very scenario actually happened. When thetic. of them. Putting “Life” in a Lifestyle Aitana Yvette Mallari is an online media absence qualifies as substance, it seems Not everyone can afford to hang gal- There is a paradox that surrounds So is minimalism a useless endeavor? journalist who runs on caffeine and WiFi. She is studying at the Walter Cronkite as if anything goes. lery quality art in their homes or shell modern minimalism: one is only a min- Not quite. School of Journalism and Mass Communi- Robert Fink, musicology professor out the cash for a Banksy-esque security imalist when one has more to begin There are benefits to getting rid of cation and probably has a deadline to get to. and former musicality chair at the Uni- camera chandelier. But it doesn’t mat- with. Otherwise, my lack of possessions clutter. Clean spaces facilitate creativity @aitanamallari

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