“From that historically brief quite opaque moment..."

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“From that historically brief quite opaque moment, came the chaos of our material history, an anarchy of chronology, of mismatched remnants…” ―China Miéville, The City & the City

In this in-between place, the two cities are others. Where the times you bade farewell to are still in your mind – fluid and else – and the reality of your new circumstances is changing rapidly by the day. There is no turning back once you apply brakes, hard brakes, to slow the transmission. Must close. Stem the inflow. Stop unseeing and unhearing. Stop uncontrolled answers and solutions, because the situation is so uncertain. Stop undetected chains, hidden cases, potential non-essential travel. Otherwise, please stay at home. Restrict spikes, without either a sharp peak or long tail. Restrict down. This is down. We must all hunker down and listen to the tales from a tiny room. Ringfence close contacts promptly. As impossible as it may sound, we have to try our best to do what we mean by a circuit breaker. A critical circuit breaker. We need so. Prevent new clusters from forming and bursting out to send a strong signal to those who are egregious in flouting, as soon as possible. Restrict distance between ourselves and others. We need to close the emotional distance between here and elsewhere. We are on this track. We cannot afford to be complacent. We must press on. Or measures. We are your mind – almost real. Yet everything conceals something else. This is clear anime and control. They make for interference patterns, harder to read and with deceitful perspectives. The thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd. Quarantine them, defer them as they fully sink in. Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if perhaps you are everywhere and nowhere. We are on. In other words, we channel cross infection in both directions. We do not know how long the pandemic will last. We are not out of the woods yet. Sir, let me conclude. You cannot train yourself to solution the distance between us. We are islands but the sea is whole.

Words by Agnes Chew, Alvin Pang, China Miéville, Gan Kim Yong (25 March & 7 April 2020), Italo Calvino, Lee Hsien Loong (3 April & 21 April 2020), and Wayne Ree as learnt and repeated by a textgenrnn Neural Network.

credits

Digital album, released June 5, 2020

Sound design and artwork by FoAM (Nik Gaffney & Maja Kuzmanovic)
Mastering by Frederic Stader @ MusicMattersMastering

Recorded and resynthesised between 17th March 2020 and 17th May 2020, with the cityscapes and inhabitants of the Circuit Breaker, Singapore.

All proceeds from this release will be donated to HOME (Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics) supporting and empowering migrant workers who suffer abuse and exploitation.

Thanks to all the animate, inanimate and partially animate participants in the field recordings. Thanks to the cicadas, crickets, herons, nightjars, kingfishers, crows, roosters, walkers, workers and construction equipment of LNR. Thanks to the frogs of pancur larangan and the frogs of SBG. Thanks to everyone in the supermarket listening to the PM's announcement at 4pm on the 3rd of April 2020. Thanks to the Pasir Panjang ferry, Singapore Airlines, the PWS and everyone involved in the "Whole-of Government Response" to COVID-19. Thanks to the human and arboreal participants in the Heritage Tree Scheme, the Rain Trees, Tembusus, Angsanas, vigorous flowering plants, vines and ferns of the Park Connector Network. Thanks to the thunder and electrical storms. To the drizzle, showers and torrential downpours. Thanks to the Metaphysics Consultancy, BTRT, Tippling Club, Appetite and the Adriatic Pantry for sustenance and supplies and Nouri for reminding us that "Culture is Not Cancelled" and "Love is Not Lost". Most importantly to the social fabric, enduring friendship and support provided by Honor, K, Penny, Elim, Ruth, Hendrik, and to human solidarity, crisis management and compassion in general.