![In preparation for possession by spirits [Photo: Zoe Getzels]](http://www.scope-mag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Maria-Lionza-16-e1288461863540-150x99.jpg)
The girl and the serpent
Some say she was a little girl with pale eyes, kidnapped five centuries ago by an anaconda when she wandered down to the village lake to gaze in the water at her reflection. The snake died for its sin, and…
Crazy like a hamster
As the primary author of a blog which aims to produce posts at the head-spinning rate of once every day or two (don’t take notes: this may change), and as the editor of a magazine that will produce issues once…
There is no simple
Keep it simple, stupid. “KISS” is one of the most commonly referred to principles in modern business, and its spirit permeates everything from the carefully-considered design of Apple’s sleek user interfaces to the unchecked frustration of a customer returning a…
Versatile engines for art
How to display art in a gallery, in three steps: (1) Pick a room. (2) Paint it white. (3) Hang art. (Note that for variety and dramatic effect, “black” may be substituted for “white” in Step 2.) The above instructions…
The felicitous constraints of “lean” markets
It has often been observed that poetry freed from the constraints of metre and rhyme — a form generally known as “free verse” — does not necessarily enable greater creativity in a poet, and may indeed lead to less. A…
Better living on things that float
At first glance his works appear to be related in some way to clouds, soap bubbles, or even a micro-slice of the human brain in all of its neuron-synapse complexity. To design the work shown at left, which was exhibited…
