issue 29 - reflections on an unintentional three day fast

paradigm shifts on physical self care, a creativity workout with Turtle's Pace, M83 vs EDM, a throwback to Coachella 2015, new chain bling and more

hello from FRESH HQ, reporting once again from the weekly Sunday speedwriting session in bed - this week, it’s menstrual cramps that are thoroughly kicking my butt. March has been hitting me hard and fast with a whole spectrum of physical ailments, perhaps a not-so gentle reminder for me to really put effort and intention into properly resting my body. which brings us into our main theme this issue:

FRESH: self + health

Reflections on an Unintentional Three Day Fast (Almost)

(TW: nausea, throwing up)

your local B.R.A.T. family

a couple days ago, i woke up with some of the worst nausea i have ever experienced to date. that went onto throwing up my breakfast, then passing out on and off for a good 24 hours from exhaustion. i had zero appetite, and didn’t force myself to eat or drink out of fear i’d throw it back up again. a day or two later, the nausea has thankfully passed, yet my stomach remains incredibly sensitive to anything and my appetite hasn’t quite made a return yet. thus came about my first unintentional, almost-fast in a long time.

i’ve had the idea of fasting in my mind for some time, yet didn’t have a good enough reason to, or talked myself out of it by doubting whether i could actually go through with it. plus, who was i to ignore my body’s signals telling me to eat?

this time, i think my body decided it was time and chose to do it on my behalf, which made the process much smoother even though it was ‘forced’. i listened to my stomach telling me “no”, and the mental side of things could not argue with that, despite all the arguments of being dehydrated, malnourished… i actually haven’t felt either of those sensations in the past few days. i feel more in tune with my physical self than i have for a long time, and operating in tandem with it instead of resisting or protesting against it.

it’s quite a simple formula: when i feel hunger, i eat or drink; when i don’t, i let my system rest. it’s been a paradigm shift to see the physical, lived evidence that i don’t need 8 cups of water a day, or a complete diet that hits all the nutritional requirements of however many milligrams of iron or protein per day. i think it’s easing a lot of fear i didn’t realize i held about not ‘properly’ fueling my system, according to societal constructs and not my body’s own gauge. it comes down to trust, of trusting yourself to know best what you need at any point, regardless of what research or anyone else says.

a quick Google search put me onto the B.R.A.T diet for sensitive stomachs: bananas, rice, apples and toast - my version of that which my digestive system can currently tolerate is a couple spoonfuls of plain congee, mini Japanese rice crackers, a fresh apple, sliced wholemeal bread, plus kids-sized juice boxes and a sip or two of water or ginger tea here and there. it’s the least i’ve ever eaten over three days in a ridiculously long time, and i surprisingly feel very okay about it, both physically and mentally. (for context, i usually eat a good 4-5 small meals a day as i have lightning-quick metabolism.)

an extra side bonus i’ve had from resting so much is a heightened meditative state - closing my eyes and lying down yet staying conscious has amplified sounds around me and made them feel as vivid as seeing colors. my mental space has, for the most part, remained blissfully free of negative self-talk, and becomes a more peaceful place to be the more i rest.

i’m still not sure what caused the initial nausea; perhaps PMS, a bad sandwich or the lingerings of my flu symptoms - but i don’t think that is what’s ultimately important, nor something i care to figure out. the main takeaway has been the experience of life with minimal food and drink, and it’s not such a bad one after all.

FRESH: events and happenings

another exciting collaboration in the books - this is a piece on Justin's wonderful publication

Turtle's Pace

that we co-wrote together, centered around a few fun creativity 'workout' exercises! click through for great insights from Justin about divergent thinking, snippets of both our inner worlds and lots of circles:

Po

one takeaway that came from the discussion was Justin’s idea of doing a bling by wing centric issue of FRESH, doing a deep dive into the brand, its values and aesthetics. that is in the brainstorming pipeline for sure, so stay tuned for that - plus a GUESTFRESH from Justin himself here soon!

FRESH: new music

Fantasy - M83

we promised you the album writeup last issue, and here it is - Fantasy is Frenchman M83’s latest album offering since 2019’s DSVII.

it’s quite a shame that the anticipation and release of this album was soured just this week by interviews and statements from Anthony Gonzalez himself; essentially throwing shade on the general EDM scene for musically appropriating his viral 2011 track Midnight City without Gonzalez’s express permission first, and calling DJs who only do so-called button-pressing “disrespectful and gross”.

Gonzalez brings up a complex situation in modern music culture, and the wider creative scene - what happens when a creation you put out into the world gets received as something completely different from what you intended it to be? from his statements, it seems like he never intended for Midnight City to be an international smash-hit on every EDM DJ’s thumb drive, and only as a personal expression of emotion. from this angle, every creative can empathize with the frustrating notion of not having your art be fully understood by an audience, or even misinterpreted and misused in this case, and losing agency over your creation.

that said, the situation still doesn’t warrant Gonzalez’s blatant hate and shunning of the entire culture of EDM, one that he doesn’t seem to understand the nuance and diversity of. yes, there are DJs who do just press buttons and make prerecorded sets, yet there are so many more who don’t, are incredibly skilled and truly respect it as the art form that it is. reducing an art form to the outliers and its stereotypes is a disrespect in itself, and isn’t something i expected of Gonzalez as a musician and artist himself. this closed-minded perspective from Gonzalez is making it difficult to appreciate Fantasy as the wonderful body of work it is, knowing that its creator openly hates something that i still love.

taking all cultural context out for a second: Amnesia, Deceiver and Sunny Boy truly are beautiful tracks that harken back to the whimsical sounds of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming and Saturdays = Youth.

• also don’t miss Eprom’s fantastic new single, Untitled Emotional Acid - exactly as advertised on the label.

FRESH: live sets

Madeon Live at Coachella 2015

let’s wind it back to April 2015 for a minute - Madeon’s debut album Adventure has just been released, and he’s brought the Adventure Live show to Indio for his debut Coachella set at the ripe old age of 20! i vividly remember this being the perhaps the first Coachella i intentionally sat down to watch the livestream of, one of the main reasons being this set. seeing one of my already favorite albums come to life and reimagined was priceless, and at Coachella nonetheless.

to my despair, there had been no video recording of the livestream for years - up until recently, this video popped up out of nowhere on Youtube! rewatching this for the first time in eight years was so surreal, as i had quite resigned to never seeing footage from this livestream ever again. perhaps i’ll save the next rewatch for another eight years time!

• DJ NOT PORTER ROBINSON made a surprise appearance at Mogra’s Music Unity event last night at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport of all places - keep your ears peeled for that Beings (Porter Robinson Shelter Live Edit) in the middle of the set!

FRESH: bling

the IRIDESCENT WATERFALL: MYSTIC TOPAZ necklace

blingbywing

A post shared by ✨bling by wing✨ (@blingbywing)

hurray, a new restock of necklaces! this baby is a special reimagination of our classic IRIDESCENT WATERFALL wire-braided design, woven through chunky silver chain. i have lovingly dubbed this one the Nerds Rope necklace in my head, and i think it shall stay that way.

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thank you for spending a little of your time here today with me! i’m back off to rest and recuperate, especially for a very exciting April ahead… more news on that later!

love and congee spoonfuls,

wing

alright, over to you now - hit up the comments section, or reply to this email with your thoughts! if you enjoy a little prompting:

• what has your experience been like with fasting?

• is anything particularly sparking your creativity this week?

• where do you stand on the art vs artist dilemma? can we fully separate the two? does art belong to the public community once it is out in the world? how much weight should we put on the artist’s original intention, versus our personal response and interpretation as a viewer?

• what is your most vivid livestream memory?

head over to freshbywing.com to catch up on past issues of FRESH, and find us on instagram!