Dear friends of COVEN, 

Well. 

Here we are, all separated out like plants sprouting from spring soil, evenly spaced from one another in a well-organized garden. 

Here we are, sensing our fresh roots as they feel their new perimeter. 

Clap your hands if you've never felt something like this before. 

Clap your hands if you'll never be able to look at a border in the same way, access to basic necessities in the same way, friendships in the same way, safety, proximity, intimacy, family. 

Clap your hands if this is familiar. 

image by Andres Aragoneses

This month, most of our announcements have to do with online activities (obviously). And we're happy to share that this feels good and right and exciting to have such reasons to devote to online content. 

The above image of two differently textured heads facing each other, probably touching, with one in front of the other, illustrates our most recently published text by Mars Dietz. Mars wrote a stunning piece on safety and proximity, the sexiness of risk, care, consent - I'm holding off from explaining the whole thing and you should just go read it. 

We were honored to publish Atalia Israeli Nevo's poetic reimagining of Ivar the Boneless - a 9th century viking leader who may have been legless or had brittle bone disease - on a sexy and spiritually enlightening journey.

Elan Fortin-Eglitis shared a zine with us about how to build a luxury post-apocalyptic self-care kit. It's hilarious and very 'of the moment'. We featured this zine in our PROBAND WERDEN exhibition last year, when people could still congregate. Good times. 

If you are less into words, we just uploaded a ton of pictures from BURLUNGIS. There are extremely cute photos of people in costume, and of the Last Joust. Were you there? Remember what that felt like?

In "A Body Turned Inside Out," we finally get some deeply desired insight into the mind and magic of Shelley Etkin. This piece is about the porosity of the body and mundane magic and knoweldge that is born from the ability to move through, listen to, and learn from the envrironment. Plus, it's studded with amazing hyperlinks that will make you smarter. 

There is a lot more coming up: texts from Pedra Costa, Louise Trueheart, Sadie Lune, and many many more. 

Our desire is to feed you as you wait in this weird limbo of a season. If you are not feeling fed, or you want to taste something different, you can always write us an email and we can talk about it. Perhaps also, you could write the piece you want to read! Reminder that everyone can submit a short pitch to the next open call on the 15th of April, and if we want to taste it too, we will pay you 50 euros brutto. 

Without further ado, I am proud to present edition 2.4 of...

“A Thing that Feels”

Dear Galen,

Anonymous


Dear Anonymous,

    Hmmm this is interesting. Five weeks of lockdown is certainly challenging, so I applaud your decision to outsource and adapt your desire to a new technological platform. 

    Like with anything new, it takes time to get to know yourself - your strengths and your weaknesses - under new circumstances. Don't panic right away if you feel like you are acting differently. You are getting to know yourself.

    I do wonder what "crazy shit" you are writing. Is it stuff you wish you could do in real life, but you are too shy? If so, then I suggest asking yourself what stops you from asking live people if they could be so kind as to fulfill your desires. You could emerge from this period a totally new person in another sense than you are implying: blossomed, expansive, with a renewed appetite for sexual adventure.

    If, however, you would truly never ever do the things you are sexting about, and this is more about seeing how far the convo can go, then I suggest re-assessing. What are you getting out of Tinder? Is it an adrenaline rush or is it a healthy challenge?  

    I don't see a problem with your virtual self having different boundaries than your physical self. We all have that, to varying degrees, in this digital age and in. no. way. does it make you a 'bad person'. It's confusing, certainly. You need to be honest with yourself if you are using tinder to grow (aka pass the time, relax, maybe learn something, laugh, masturbate, etc) or using it to escape. 
  
    Love,

    Galen 


Got a question for Galen? Send it to us and we will include one of you anonymously in the next issue!

Recommendations corner : email signatures, thought-gristle, and ways to pass the time from Harley 

I wish you all support and strength and I hope you’re receiving love—virtually or otherwise, from friends and furry creatures.

~ It is my earnest ~request~ that we all try to avoid salutations like ‘Stay healthy!’ The #gesundbleiben motto assumes that being healthy is the norm and erases chronically ill folks who were sick before this pandemic and will remain so after whatever comes next. Come up with something that suits you, like, ‘Take care!’, or, ‘Stay gorgeous!’

~ As thought-gristle to chew on: artists and organizers are offering their work online (if perhaps for the first time) to make it more accessible—but will it still be accessible in the world after corona? How can we work to ensure that it will be? 

~ The full list of recommendations and resources, which includes podcasts + music, and more 

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