Last summer just after the release of Issue 7 with the Pandemic freshly lifted, I freed my heart and body by going to tons of awesome outdoor parties. I suppose that’s also around when I suddenly began to ask myself just how much I can be my true self, or if I can be entirely honest in my words. While I may not have as many situations that call upon proper social intercourse as the average person, at times where I’m in the mix speaking with lots of people or being on my best manners for work, I sometimes find myself putting on a fake smile without knowing it, reading the room in ways I normally couldn’t, and coming up with meaningless small talk. I probably think I'm doing the right thing in the moment, but these forced gestures don’t actually make anything better. I finally realized that.

Silence terrifies me, maybe because I’m shy at heart, and I have a tendency to scrabble for some kind of chatter to fill it. But that kind of interaction just makes things awkward, shallow, and without any depth. So long as I remain wrapped in this facade, I’m not going to see the real version of whoever it is I’m talking with. Honest conversation should be the most comfortable option for both parties, and meaningful connection begins with revealing one’s unadulterated self. Silence is another form of conversation, so it’s best to not force yourself to speak but instead say what you say with sincerity when it feels natural. This applies not just to talking, but to emotions and other expressions as well.

Back when I was young and exploring my future, from time to time I’d wonder what kind of person I wanted to be, how I wanted to exist. But thinking back on it, I’d say a considerable part of that was self-consciousness, my concern with how I wanted to be seen. Once I’d decided on my path, that tendency faded as I began to value how I felt more. When dealing with artwork or interviewees in particular, I put excess concern to one side, also drawing a line at those effects like influence from others or societal trends that we as people naturally experience. Instead, I began to focus on the mood that arises in the moment in one-on-one interactions along with what I felt at that moment. And now, I’ve added the question how unaffected can I be to that list. The uneasy I feel, the more I stress over this unnecessarily.

That said, during those times in the past where I stepped away from editing, I could feel my sense growing dull. I don’t mean just my interviewing skills or writing ability, but also my ability to feel things as a whole. The keen realization of how easily a person’s sensations or sensitivity can fade frightened me. Neglect the inquisitiveness to seek out things to feel, bury yourself in manufactured data from a screen, and let other people or AI dictate the music you listen to and the things you watch, and your sense will inevitably become cloudy and the poorer for it. Sensitivity and imagination are precious natural faculties for us human beings, and while they do dull, they can also be purified and nurtured, if only we strip away the facade and actively get out there and feel things as our raw selves. So I hope all of you readers out there will start by poring over the works and words of the four artists in this issue with pure, unaffected sense.

In closing, I’d like to express my heartfelt respect and gratitude to the artists for agreeing to be interviewed.