To pretend means to "lay claim" – to stretch forward and take hold of what we want, as if it already existed, or were already ours. To pretend is thus to call forth another reality…
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To pretend means to "lay claim" – to stretch forward and take hold of what we want, as if it already existed, or were already ours. To pretend is thus to call forth another reality and create truth through the power of conviction alone. It is fashionable to ridicule performative gestures as ineffective posturing. Yet this is literally the only way that new societies come into being.
This issue of Real Review is dedicated to the current mood of Pretending the World.
In this issue we feature PETRO CHEKAL's photo "There Is," an interview with MEREDITH WHITTAKER, a photo essay and interview with ALVARO FERNANDEZ-PULPEIRO on Petro Futures, with further contributions by GÜNSELI YALÇINKAYA on Reality Shifting, JACK SELF on Retrocausality, ANA NICOLAESCU on Slopwork or the Work of Slop, IVAN SELF on Larping an Empire, TYLER MITCHELL, RUTH SCHWARTZ COWAN on More Work for Mother, PIERCE MYERS on Mesoeconomy of Fire, KWAN QUEENI LI on Weeds, JENNY BARCELOS on Careless Whisper, 1999, JESSICA BURBANK on Syndicates of Capital, SUMAYYA VALLY speaks with SHUMON BASAR on the spaces of other worlds, JAMES BRIDLE on There Is No Off Grid, GUY MACKINNON-LITTLE on A World That Is Also A Demon, ELMER BLÅVARG on Para Neo Realism and finally the RR MEMBERS contribute through the groupchat in our contribution space.
Real Review is a contemporary culture magazine. Through engaging analysis, evaluation and enquiry, the Real Review pursues what it means to live today. Each issue tracks our ever-changing zeitgeist through a current mood. Using the review format, Real Review explores power relations through a close analysis of the material world. Real Review is a perpetual attempt at describing reality as it might actually exist, and reality as we experience it. Real Review is dedicated to the promotion of democracy, inclusivity and equalities of many kinds. It is a non-commercial publication and contains no advertising. It is funded by sales and its Members, and is editorially independent.
