Tides are destructive. Beyond aquatic interventions, they bear the weight of bodies that remain to be seen. They are carriers of invisible and interminable forces. We heed that which has not yet come, that to be, a chronic fear, the disease of chronos. Still, the real disease is myopic. Those familiar with translucent movements felt or heard benefit from their investment and belief in what they know without seeing. They deal in the currency of survival.

This issue of 20 Seconds Magazine looks into the cyclical nature of social and political movements. In order to do so we take inspiration from our often seemingly lunar obtuseness and incapacity to deal with the errors our planet’s inhabitants continue to make. There is little to say that has not been said, or eroded, after years of Russia waging war on Ukraine, Israel committing genocide on the Palestinian people, and now bombing Lebanon, funded by the US, Germany, and many others; fascism soaring in the polls and warming the seats of leaders in so many countries we’re beginning to lose count.

Still, we rely on our notions of publishing, of speaking and writing resistance, even as governments continue to abuse the activists doing so on the streets. For the artists in 20 Seconds Issue 8, the tide is something to be challenged, of which to be conscious, a malleable energy to be harnessed, in the form of pain, or even trauma.

Featuring: Daniel Falb, Eric Maltz, Garth Erasmus, Ilona Witkowska, Rewinding Boalândia, Nour Ouayda, Rosanna Marie Pondorf, Sokołowsko, Stefanos Levidis, Thandiwe Msebenzi, Zakirah Rabaney