According to recent journalistic reports, totems are on the rise: 'These spiritual sculptures have taken prime position in the art market,' says the Financial Times. Firmly anchored in an otherwise indeterminate space, the totem seems to express a yearning for transcultural commonality.
We are initiated into a world in which historically accurate foodstuffs can be ordered online a half oyster shell, the exposed flesh shining as if with the freshest brine, is 31.25 for a single piece and begin to understand one of the most striking things about this novel: its insistence upon detail, its utter specificity, set against a deliberate lack of specificity regarding the larger details that the reader's mind naturally itches to fill in.
We're living through an era of accelerated change, and leaders feel it every day. In five years, we've experienced the impacts of Covid and how it rebooted the norms we took for granted in how we work; the advent of gen AI and the reckoning with its massive impact on business as usual; and high geopolitical instability and its paralyzing effects on business decisions.
"In my mind, I always try to start from scratch in order to avoid lapsing into a completely pre-established harmony by creating something based on a prior intention or plan," he has said. "Surprise is a necessity when making art. I welcome unforeseen accidents that transcend my imagination and let myself go with the flow. Mistakes are also welcome: failure breeds success."
