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Sublime Nothing Vol. 3
Ed Cheverton

📡 Spring 2024
📅 15.03.24 // 12:00 - 13:00
📍️ Bristol UK

Sublime Nothing 3 Tourguide Transcript

  1. Welcome to our third tour of the Sublime Nothing. If you joined us last time, you will remember we joined a school bus tour through the distant cosmos and are on our way to explore a new system. The sense of wonder here is palpable, there is real optimism we will find the true Sublime Nothing on this leg of our adventure. I have been considering what we have seen thus far on our explorations, and think I can sum up our experiences thusly; the great cosmos is neither bad nor good, it is in harmony with itself in every possible way. Great explosions of light, life and vitality erupt almost constantly, whilst destruction, desolation and oblivion likewise occur at a matching rate.

  2. We are beginning to enter this new system. Oh! It has a large concentration of water based planets. This is exciting, it is well known that water is an essential component for the development of life. So many orbs, brimming with moisture, are dotting our field of view. They seem almost glistening with light reflected from the star. How charming!

  3. Let’s explore one of these planets more closely. The school bus is staying in orbit for a lesson, so we will depart them now and dive into the atmosphere. Ah yes, this planet is dense with rich and fluffy clouds. The air is steaming with mist and other vapours, observe the light bouncing off the water molecules. It is a Planet of Rainbows. I think the atmosphere may be too dense with water for some lifeforms to survive on the surface, but our instruments are detecting a stunning array of plantlife, flora and fauna.

  4. I think we should investigate the single moon around this planet. It is quite stark in comparison. The Planet of Rainbows was thick with clouds and its atmosphere dense with moisture, the moon however is entirely dry. Yet it is still glistening in the starlight. Let's land on its surface. I see, there’s no atmosphere, the sky is in fact the pitch black cosmos. But the ground seems to be made of some interesting rock formations. No, not rocks! Crystals of every kind imaginable. This moon is very minerally rich. Quartz, Amethyst, Diamonds, Topaz. A wonderful array of colours and shapes. Back in our home world this place would be next to priceless.

  5. I think I can see a structure over there on the horizon. A looming tower, flat and uncompromising amongst the crystalline ground. There are other structures too…I see movement. I think this is a Mine. You see that great swathe of dull ground around it, they appear to be harvesting the crystals that form this moon. How sad, if this continues someday this moon will simply cease to be. We should report this to someone, it must be stopped. I detected a planet nearby with signs of life, let's go there next and hope we can find someone to help stop this mining.

  6. We’ve landed! What a wonderful planet, there are cities and settlements built on great platforms coming out of the vast oceans that cover the surface. Some people are coming, let's see what we can do. Oh, how interesting. It seems their language is entirely made up of narratives. Communication is conveyed through story and prose, rather than direct messaging. I think I have the basics. I’ve told them about the destructive mining on the nearby moon. They seem very concerned and have said they will go to stop it immediately.

  7. Whilst they go and halt the mining, let’s explore this society some more. Something I think I am beginning to expect about the true Sublime Nothing is that it cannot be just one thing. It could be made up from a rich blend of elements, all working in harmony. Take this settlement we are currently in for example. It seems that many groups of people make up the society. There isn’t a hierarchy, everyone appears to be a truly equal citizen here. Balance is essential in the cosmos, and it seems that balance must form the true Sublime Nothing as well. I wonder how they manage to maintain the balance here without anyone trying to gain supremacy. There appears to be an arts centre over there.

  8. Oh this makes sense now! They use their creativity to express any issues they have with their world. Emotions are allowed to be presented and explored in music, dance, visual arts, and….. it seems, cooking?! Some of this might not appeal to everyone, or to some of us who aren’t from this society, but that doesn’t matter - creativity is an emotional outlet for the creator.

  9. There’s a shuttle port here, let’s take a trip to another planet in this system. What a great experience, they’ve managed to make interplanetary travel so seamless and pleasant. Public transportation for this society just works well.

  10. This planet, like most in the system, is largely made up by grand oceans, it looks like most of the inhabitants live in cities underwater. Our shuttle is taking us to one at great depths, which means we have a chance to observe some of the marine life in this world. It’s incredible how much life can thrive underwater. That fish has scales as big as me! That mollusc seems to be entirely legs, I can’t even see a head. Life adapts so well to different environments. As we get deeper and deeper we are seeing fish that create their own light with glowing scales and fins. I wonder what life we will find at the bottom?

  11. Oh goodness, this is incredible. There seems to be more life on the bottom of the ocean than anywhere else. Vast corals teeming with fish of every colour. Light from the star seems to be reflected from tiny fish throughout the ocean that have entirely reflective scales. It’s not bright but it’s enough to illuminate the ocean floor. Oh, a submarine is approaching us. No, not a submarine, it’s a whale! They are greeting us and guiding our shuttle into the city nearby. The marine life seems to live in harmony with the city, once again balanced at work. I think I’m beginning to truly understand the Sublime Nothing.

  12. We’re in the city now. I don’t understand. Where the ocean was filled with colour and life, this place seems cold and grey. The structures are harsh, imposing, impossibly solid.  It almost feels like there is no beauty here. Someone is approaching us, dressed in black and grey hoods. Oh! They’re lovely. I was too quick to judge. It seems my initial judgement is very common, they are judged often for their lack of colour and brutally unattractive architecture. They say the city is built for strength and resilience to the ocean, not for beauty. There is enough beauty in the ocean and they don’t feel the need to compete with it. Once again balance is present here. I just didn’t see it.

  13. I think it is time for us to leave this system. We have learnt a lot here. We may still not know the true Sublime Nothing but we have found that at its core there must be balance, even if it isn’t immediately obvious. As we leave this system, I see the glistening planets of clouds and rainbows and the moons of crystal. The moon being mined is safe again. In the city where communication is made with stories, a musician is creating an opera about our visit and the miners. The ocean planet is still filled with beautiful life and the staunch city stands proud on the ocean floor. All this rich diversity, perfectly balanced with itself, in a single system. As we get further and further away that system appears only as a single dot in the universe - one of uncountable systems of balance and harmony. I wonder what we will discover next?
–EC


Wieder Ja ! – Heimat // Taking Flight – Resavoir, Brandee Younger // Images of Tecopa – Les Halles // George Smiley – Alberto Iglesias // Title – Disasterpeace // Tiger is Coming – LEENALCHI // Tinariwen – Group Anmataff // Inexhaustible Carnality Defiling The Malformed Homunculi With Surreal Dismemberment – Scathetoma // Mario Kart 8, Sunshine Airport – Arcade Player // Dangay Kotyo – Mamman Sani // (flake) – Jameszoo, Metropole Orkest, Jules Buckley // I Was Ignored. And Judged. And Cast Down. – Thou // Old Melody – Beverley Glenn-Copeland ︎