Creativity means change by nature, and change is something we in Britain are becoming all too familiar with. A new creative force is taking shape in our political culture; one that has divided, accelerated, and reshaped the landscape in ways that feel permanent. The pace of our national story has quickened, and the old timetables of stability are giving way to something more fluid, more volatile, and unmistakably more modern. 
 
Most of us remember or at least carry narrative memories of Margaret Thatcher. The last instalment of the analogue culture and the first figure of the colour‑media age, her auburn hair and vivid skirt suits made an impression on the entire nation. Her tenure was famously long, eleven years in total. Ever since her time, the length of a Prime Minister’s stay in office has steadily shortened. Tony Blair reached ten years, but no one has since come close. 
 
What is causing this rapid turnover of faces, voices, and leaders? Why has our society drifted away from the familiar stability of the status quo and moved towards snap elections, reshuffles, and resignations? 
 
An emergent quality of our modern society is the sheer acceleration of the cultural narrative. As the pace quickens, we find ourselves surrounded by a vastly more populous library of ideas, motives, and interpretations, each competing for attention; each granted an almost equal claim to validity and scope across the public table. 
 
In the way Neo of the Matrix trilogy learned to become the architect of his own culture, Western society has adapted too. We are no longer bound to a handful of channels, scheduled bulletins, or rare glimpses into government machinery. With publishing power extended to everyone, a fast‑throttle news feed, endless channel choices, and every kind of opinion, true or false, available for instant consumption, the stability politicians once enjoyed and relied upon has been profoundly undermined. 
 
The diversification of perspective and the spread of anti‑government sentiment have both contributed to falling party memberships and lower voter turnout. Fewer people feel inclined to pay for party affiliation, and many feel less motivated to vote at all. Each election cycle brings a wave of cynical tropes, claims that voting is “choosing your master” or “consenting to enslavement”, and while these ideas are fringe, they do have a real effect on public mood. Yet for most of us, deciding our national direction is not an act of submission; it is one of participation. The problem is not the vote itself, but the cultural fatigue surrounding it. 
 
Much of our cultural fatigue is self‑inflicted. We consume more ideas and information than at any point in history, and both are available almost everywhere. The wheels of opinion, narrative, commentary, and speculation never stop turning — and there are more of them than ever before. As we become increasingly overwhelmed by the volume of input, we lose the ability to focus on what matters and are swept along by the shifting tides of agenda and reaction. 
 
With people more likely to hold alternative views and contrary opinions, the one‑size‑fits‑all political parties are suffering. Paid memberships continue to decline as more people choose to remain independent and vote according to their mood at the moment. Big issues, Brexit, the environment, defence, welfare, immigration, housing, all compete for attention, and moral divides now run straight through the centre of the main parties. Their rhetorical pulling power has weakened. With a broader narrative landscape than ever before, the public is naturally more inclined to hold divergent views. 
 
The rules that once kept party leaders secure have also changed since Thatcher’s day. Both Labour and the Conservatives have rewritten their leadership systems, making contests easier to trigger and giving more people a vote in the outcome. This means leaders are far less safe in post than in previous administrations. Combined with the micro‑cultures that exist within each broad church, each with its own figureheads and internal loyalties, the struggle for the top job in both government and opposition has become a constant, rolling battle. 
 
This continual churn of leaders, policies, and complaints has fostered a kind of apathy and mistrust in the public. What was intended to make British politics fairer, more accountable, and more democratic has instead produced a system that disposes of leaders and ideas at the whim of social‑media dynamics and the voting impulses of people who may not have a formal background in politics. The result is a political landscape that feels unstable not because of any single decision, but because the entire culture now moves faster than the institutions built to contain it. 
 
We are now living between two kinds of organisation: the fast‑paced, disposable media culture that endlessly produces new and opposing ideas, and the slow, procedural machinery of state power. As the inner workings of government become more visible, the missteps, the falters, the bad decisions, each leader is exposed to far more scrutiny and verbal attack than in any previous era. We are trying to reconcile the glacial pace of governance with the rapid spectacle of modern media, all while more people than ever have the means to make their voices heard. The stability that once defined our political system is now being tested by the sheer speed and volume of the culture surrounding it. 
 
The Creator archetype has stepped down from the mythic realm and taken up residence among us. Its gifts are vast, but so are their weight. When everyone becomes a maker of meaning, the world is filled with more stories than any institution can hold. The creative force liberates us, but it also floods us. We are learning, in real time, how to stand upright in the moving tide.

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A talented US painter had his work defaced recently while on display at the Houston Museum of African American Culture. The work, called Man in the Garden by Clarence Heyward, pictures the artist in vivid green, wearing the colours of the United States and military style khaki around his bald and bearded head. To me, it shows the natural affiliation with the land we feel when working on it. Our home turf, our sense of self-empowerment, our oneness with the landscape, it’s all there in growing carrots. The colour green echoes of the natural man or the folkloric Green Man, who has unity with all surroundings. It has deep ancestral echoes that reverberate in nearly every culture.  
 
Two museum goers were recently seen making an obscene gesture at the painting before leaving the museum abruptly. Because the cameras in the direct vicinity were booked for repairs, it’s officially unclear if they were the vandals. However, after they left what appeared like a hole and a gash had been put into the self-portrait. The artist presumes that the damage was racially motivated, although why they chose his work over the rest of the African American art in the museum dedicated to the subject is unknown.  
 
Although due to be repaired, Clarence Heyward had an intriguing idea. He decided to stop the work and put the image back on display defacement and all. Why do you think this was a great idea? If we celebrate racism, does it not encourage it? That is one way of looking at it, although I am also reminded of being at school. Sometimes the teacher would deliberately highlight wrong answers for the comedic effect. It was a horrible experience. Another teacher once rolled someone out in front of everyone for serious misconduct. That must also have been an experience to remember, and it certainly drove home the seriousness of the issue to the rest of us.  
 
By making a public example of the wrong thing to do, the idea is not to celebrate it or reward the culprit, but to highlight the need for change. The necessity to take someone and put them in the front and say look at this lesson of right and wrong could not have been clearer. It’s just a painting, no one was hurt, but property is property after all, and it has both cash and sentimental value. With a stroke of selflessness from the artist, the painting has perhaps been made even more valuable with an extra layer of narrative that will last forever. 

​Via Art News

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Introducing the latest book to be released on the Homunculus Media label. Seven Centuries of Secrets a History of Baphomet by Rowan B. Colver.

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Misunderstood, forbidden, reclaimed. Seven Centuries of Secrets traces Baphomet’s rise from heresy to icon, revealing how a once‑feared symbol became a modern emblem of autonomy, resistance, and the right to self‑define.

​From medieval trials to modern identity politics, Seven Centuries of Secrets uncovers the extraordinary evolution of Baphomet; a symbol shaped by fear, reclaimed through rebellion, and reborn in the age of self‑authorship. Moving through heresy, occultism, counterculture, and digital mythology, this book reveals how a once‑forbidden figure became a global icon of autonomy and defiance. Rich, provocative, and meticulously researched, it exposes the hidden currents that transform the forbidden into the iconic — and shows why Baphomet’s story is ultimately a story about us.

​Seven Centuries of Secrets is a sweeping cultural history of one of the world’s most misunderstood icons. From its first appearance in the trials of the Knights Templar to its modern role in civil‑rights activism, Baphomet has travelled through myth, panic, philosophy, and politics — reshaped by every era it survived.
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In this bold and illuminating study, cultural historian Rowan B. Colver traces the symbol’s extraordinary evolution: from medieval accusation to occult curiosity, from countercultural emblem to a legal instrument capable of challenging state power. Along the way, Colver reveals how Baphomet became woven into the fabric of modern identity — embraced by artists, activists, and communities seeking autonomy in an age of self‑authorship.

Drawing on psychology, sociology, religious history, and contemporary digital culture, Seven Centuries of Secrets shows how a once‑forbidden image escaped the grottos of esoteric tradition and entered the global imagination. Today, the goat‑and‑pentagram figure stands not as a relic of fear, but as a symbol of personal freedom, pluralism, and the right to define one’s own path.

Richly researched and written with clarity and insight, this book offers the definitive account of Baphomet’s journey — a story of reinvention, resistance, and the enduring power of symbols to shape the world around us.
A compelling, provocative, and timely work, Seven Centuries of Secrets is essential reading for anyone interested in mythology, modern identity, and the cultural forces that transform the forbidden into the iconic.

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The popular series Black Mirror has inspired millions of viewers the world over to contemplate the future of AI, digitisation, and the power of global techno-corps. Mapping the potential underworld that lays within the boundary of human and machine, Black Mirror asks important questions and gives an often entertaining narrative to keep the mind busy. How do we view ourselves and other people in an age where representation is more digital than ever before?  
 
Running co-currently in New York and Madrid, the US exhibit can be found at The Shed in Hudson Yards. The space, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is known the nation over for its incorporated installations that fully immerse visitors in a grand experience. From its artworld debut at the recent film festival in Cannes, the exhibit has been shipped to America for the premium visitor attraction. Replicated and erected in Spain, visitors in Europe can also get their slice of the action. 
 
By blurring the divisions between uncanny and familiar, Black Mirror invites us to have our comfort zones tested with strange changes and systems that we can imagine humanity falling into.  Created by the French entertainment company Banijay Live Studio, the Augmented Reality experience teamed with Univrse who provided more than adequate technology, allowing the team to recreate their ideas with maximum effect. By rooting a virtual experience in a physical space, visitors get the best of both worlds and can enjoy a two-fold application of prompt and position. 
 
As the show ensues, 6 participants are given their own digital avatar and unique voice, then the story begins. The full experience runs for over an hour and requires full interaction from the participant.  This is no browsing museum exhibit; you’ll be expected to apply mind and body to the entire piece. Having been celebrated for its beautiful craftsmanship and its use of the Black Mirror narrative to create an artistic venue, the show is no-doubt only the beginning of this new style of all-in entertainment.

​Via Artnet
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