ERASURES: Being, Seen

“Between the experience of living a normal life at this moment on the planet and the public narratives being offered to give a sense of that life, the empty space, the gap, is enormous.” – John Berger

My grandfather was incarcerated in a Russian Gulag from age 16 to 21. Once released, he sailed the world on merchant ships, and settled in a country (Germany) he had never lived in before. In and out of prison, reluctant to submit to (absolutely any kind of) authority, he became a serious alcoholic and died young. Unless drunk he never spoke, but then no one wanted to speak to him, neither his wife nor his children, themselves also damaged people. And then there was me. I was the only one he agreed to speak with, and so, while I lived with them during bouts of homelessness, I became the one through whom the others conversed.

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ISSUE is an international peer-reviewed art journal focused on exploring issues in contemporary art and culture. This annual publication is an inter- and trans-disciplinary journal that carries a curated set of scholarly articles, essays, interviews and exhibitions on disciplines ranging from contemporary art, design, film, media, performance and cultures.
This is the eighth volume of ISSUE.

Editor
Venka Purushothaman

Associate Editor
Susie Wong

Copy Editor
Jean Wong

Advisor
Milenko Prvački

Editorial Board
Professor Patrick Flores, University of the Philippines
Dr. Peter Hill, Artist and Adjunct Professor, RMIT University, Melbourne

Professor Janis Jeffries, Goldsmiths, University of London
Dr. Charles Merewether, Art Historian, Independent Researcher, Curator and Scholar

Manager
Sureni Salgadoe

Contributors
Jorella Andrews Dejan Grba
Charles Merewether Nils Plath
Sam I-shan
Clare Veal
Ian Woo
Andrea Luka Zimmerman