I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I think I’m getting \u201cscreen fatigue.\u201d Does such a thing exist? Who would want to be a graphic designer \/ web designer \/ data entry clerk ? Every day facing the same flickering frame, this universal tool which enables everything we do and then traps us into a heavily dependent relationship. I’m with them Plymouth Brethren down in Cunderdin: no computers, no phones, no faxes. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll give up. Return to a simpler life. But I’ve just gotta send off this one email first…<\/p>\n
Of course, writing this blog each day is not a strain at all. In fact, it’s a pleasure to sit and think about yesterday. To give yesterday one last chance to live again before it disappears forever.
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\nAnd so…<\/p>\n
I had to wake up early to submit my pages to the Pipeline, as it was deadline day. This time I pushed it, and produced two pages filled with writing. Donna Mak, the Medical Students’ Supervisor, had told me (through a comment on this blog) that Pallas and Jan were going to be writing a report for the Pipeline about their experience here a few weeks ago. She suggested that I might like to make a report about my experience of their experience. In fact, why not include my thoughts on the anthropologists who were here to do a survey on the med students’ visit… So I did just that. I submitted my (largely unedited) blog entry from April 30<\/a>, as well as Donna’s suggestion<\/a> itself.<\/p>\n I arrived at the Pipeline office fairly early this time, so there was no problem with squeezing in my pages. The Pipeline crew was completely different this time \u2013 I didn’t recognise anyone. For some reason I felt nervous. Umm, I stammered, talking to the first lady I saw, I’ve got some pages, I’m an artist from the art space… Oh, she, replied \u2013 you should talk to Eva, she’s the editor. Eva accepted the pages without even scanning their contents. She just wanted to make sure that the margins were wide enough so that the binding staple wouldn’t obscure the text. <\/p>\n And that is the beauty of the Pipeline. Freedom of the Press. You write something, you type it up, you do the layout, you hand it in, you help with compiling and stapling, and you take responsibility for the effects of your writing in the world. Unlike Bob Skinner’s Bandicoot Express from neighboring Cunderdin (which admittedly is a handsome and tidy volume), there is no overarching editorial or design policy, which makes the Pipeline an anarchic and living newsletter. <\/p>\n I first saw the Pipeline when I visited Keller in January to help hang Husein’s pictures. It reminded me of a Fluxus publication, or one of the artist\/poet compilations produced by the Sydney Poets Union in the 1970s, where every page has been assembled and designed by a different person. For one thing, it’s fresh to look at. <\/p>\n But even more importantly, this model is very low maintenance. Deadline is 10am Monday morning. Whatever is handed in by this time makes the cut. 360 copies of every page are made. At 2pm, half a dozen volunteers arrive and form an assembly line to compile and staple the pages. By 3pm, the Pipeline hits the streets \u2013 boxfuls are delivered to the Tea Rooms, Newsagency, Hospital, etc etc. And that’s it til next time.<\/p>\n