TERSE. Journal

Final Spin: A Review By T.S. McNeil

There is nothing new under the sun, every story a take on an already established theme. Sometimes an excuse for the uncreative, this is mostly true. Combining sources and influences in a new way is where true originality comes, often reverse-engineering that which already exists, taking it down to brass tacks. One person who combines…
Broader Depictions– The Art of Wes Bishop: an Interview by Mauve Perle Tahat

What are your thoughts on being a self-taught artist? It’s something I am a bit self-conscious of actually. I started off in college as an artist, wanting to become a studio artist and to have my “paying job” be a graphic artist/cartoonist. That was kind of my thinking through much of my high school years.…
War, We Choose You!:Khaled Akil by Jason Collins

Khaled Akil is a Syrian-born artist who is best known for his photography series called Pokemon Go, which is set in Syria. Akil is a self-taught artist and photographer but comes from an artistic background, with his father being a political artist. Akil is currently based in Istanbul, Turkey, where he creates his unique artworks…
Braving the Days: And then there were five by Jordannah Elizabeth

I am the youngest of six of my father’s children. There was a balance that was so precise, it could cause one to think of divine alignment in precedence of considering coincidence; scientifically, there are minimal variables regarding the combination of genders (with respect to nonbinary and trans human beings). Therefore, numbers could minimize the…
Vivid Reflections by T.S. Mcneil

Painting is not photography and photography is not painting. Both with their limitations, painting not reaching the clarity of photography and photography lacking the lushness possible with the brush. This has been a notion basically segregating the two since roughly the 1940’s. Though if it is assumed to be true, someone might want to tell…
365 Books in 365 Days – Episode 133 by Annie Walton Doyle

Is Mother Dead? By Vigdis Hjorth “Every mother in every childhood represents madness … your mother is and always will be the strangest person you will ever meet.” Is Mother Dead follows Johanna, a Norwegian artist who returns to Oslo for a high-profile retrospective of her work. And though her work has garnered her much…
III Poems by Kashiana Singh

Can Chat GPT make butter? I asked them about making butter They judged my question, a smirk Then asked me a reverse question Do you want a poem? Want me to do haiku? Shakespearean sonnet? Or do you want to butter someone As in trying to ass lick, coexistence Is it about the…
Very Cold People: A Review by T.S. McNeil

The rich rule everything, everyone knows that. The ‘great and the good’ can do whatever they want with little risk, even from the law. There is little anyone else can do but try and survive, and woe betide those who do not ‘fit.’ This is the starting point of Sarah Manguo’s most recent novel, Very…
365 Books in 365 Days – Episode 124 by Annie Walton Doyle

Fight Night by Miriam Toews “We need tragedy, which is the need to love and the need … not just the need, the imperative, the human imperative … to experience joy. To find joy and to create joy. All through the night. The fight night.” Swiv, the child narrator of Miriam Toews’ most recent novel,…
Complicated Simplicity: Maya Lin by Jason Collins

Maya Ying Lin is an American artist and sculptor who is best known for winning a national design competition. The competition had artists design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that is in Washington, D.C. Lin’s best-known artworks are often linked with historical importance, such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Civil Rights Memorial. Lin’s artwork…