ABSOLUTE PROXIMITY

The people and things we want feel very far away. Everything else feels far too near. Daily life is incorrectly calibrated. This is causing many of us to simply withdraw from the public sphere, wandering off into our own private worlds. Those who remain are struggling to maintain the illusion of critical mass. In reality, politics, culture, commerce and social media have all lost their drive, falling forward on inertia alone. Everyone wants the same thing. We all crave spaciousness. We all feel too close, without any closeness. This paradoxical sensation of claustrophobia and isolation is a condition of "absolute proximity".

Have we changed? We interview archaeologist DAVID WENGROW on the dawn of everything. Philosophers SLAVOJ ZIZEK and TIMOTHY MORTON agree about the future of humans on planet Earth. Design studio METAHAVEN contribute an insert on the stuff of experience and sensation. Photographer TACITA DEAN captures a boat abandoned at sea. An essay by URSULA K. LE GUIN reviews the Hero narrative, with photography by MAGALI REUS. Film curator RÓISÍN TAPPONI reviews fake nails, while JACK SELF reviews lateral flow tests and mindfulness, plus much more.