Issue Two of New Escapologist (pictured) is now available. Buy your copy here.
The theme for the issue is ‘War Against Cliche’ and features work from David Miller, Dickon Edwards, Neil Scott, Samara Leibner and is edited by Robert Wringham. Typography by Timothy Eyre.
Back in 2002, the Adam Curtis film Century of the Self opened my eyes to the horrible world of PR brought about by Edward Bernays’ application of Freud.
Today I finally got around to watching Curtis’ 2007 documentary, The Trap and found that it’s devastatingly applicable to us as escapologists.
The series details “how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today’s idea of freedom.”
I’ll probably write something based around its tenets for the magazine but in the meantime, here’s the first part of the documentary (with the rest available for free at Google video):
A trivial thought occurs. When I leave Glasgow in a few weeks, I will have no keys.
I’ll surrender my house keys to the letting agent and return my drinking club key to the proprietor. All I’ll have left is a pocketful of fluff.
No keys! No security. No commitments. Nothing worth locking up.
Issue 2 is selling so well that we had to request a second run from our printers.
Huge thanks to everyone who bought a copy. You’ve secured the making of Issue 3.
The reprint has some tiny differences to the original run: a slightly different cover and a bookish inside title page. These were last-second fixes and will now be present on any future prints. If you have an original version, you’ve got yourself a limited edition and evidence that you supported New Escapologist at the beginning.
In other news, the official launch party will be at the Glasgow CCA on 7th July at 8pm. Come along for a free glass of wine and some jolly banter.
After two years of working in an office, I have handed in my notice. There are six more weeks before I actually have to clear my desk but already the sense of pending freedom is exhilarating.
It will be a three-month mini-retirement. I will travel, write and spend a not inconsiderable stretch of time in Montreal with my girlfriend. Together we’ll live the lives of Haruki Murakami characters: luxurious unemployment.
Two years work to earn three months of freedom is still a horrible injustice but I’m confident that this is just the beginning of a much longer escape plan and that eventually I’ll turn that ratio on its head. I’ll report back through these pages.
Colleagues have asked me how I feel. Do I feel anxious? Do I worry that I won’t be able to find another job when I get back?
The answer to both questions is a resounding No. As to how I feel, I feel great. I feel defiant, autonomous and (I’m sorry) slightly smug.
