Well, it’s January. The start of a new year and my birthday month. That combination has traditionally made January a good month for me to try to create new habits, restart old routines, and decide on new directions. But this year it has been exceptionally hard. Usually my  new year’s motivation will carry me into March, when the second half of the semester starts dragging me down and the end of winter won’t come soon enough. But in 2022, I can already feel the effort. Which isn’t a great sign.

I think I skipped last year’s ‘new me’ phase altogether. Which maybe means I’m doing a little better. On the other hand, a year ago I was completely caught up in the latter stages of the Corona Lectures, in which I was fully engaged. 

Right now, I’m trying to get a new project off the ground. It’s called The Omicron Oracles. I’m slowly reaching out to artists and thinkers I know seeking their participation, but understandably, it’s hard to get a commitment. Everyone’s exhausted everywhere.

The commitment I’m asking for is the following:

• Employing the chance operations of the Virus Machine to guide the contribution

• Finding or creating sound, visuals, or both of no more than five minutes in length that I will edit into a final video

• Finding someone else who will contribute material to the same video.

Each Omicron Oracle will have six contributors total. In addition to what I wrote above, the first contributor will work with me to come up with an inquiry for the Oracle. Only after all six contributions have been made can the Oracle be interpreted. The interpretation will be shared with the contributors. The edited video will be generally available.

If you’re at all interested in the Omicron Oracles, please get in touch - DM me or email AnthelionProjects@gmail.com. I can send you more information about it. And if you’re worried that your contribution won’t be of high enough quality, or professional enough, or you don’t know what to do, put that worry aside. Three minutes of the sun setting, or the sound of ice cracking, or the buzz of conversation on a busy street could all be great contributions. So could music or a poem you wrote, or a dance you choreographed. I’m truly open to all sorts of possibilities - as long as they adhere to the Virus Machine’s guidance.