Seven years ago, on February 15, 2018, at 4:05 pm, the moment of the New Moon, the first post appeared on Antimony. Further posts, each one including a painting and a poem, appeared according to the lunar calendar, at the exact minute of each new moon, full moon, or quarter moon, over the following seven years, finally amounting to 360 pieces as of February 2025.
I have long been a believer in regularity of practice in creative pursuits. I like having deadlines. The works in Antimony are surely not all of equal quality, but in all these years I never missed a scheduled post. I hope this collection captures something of the process of my feeling and philosophical mind in a certain phase of my existence.
My own life has been fairly stable during this period, as I have attained a certain maturity and secure employment. I am well set in my eccentric, mostly solitary ways. This historical period has been a time of peak capitalism and climate chaos, with extreme cultural polarization and a mental health crisis engendered by the algorithmic manipulation of people online. My own stability has allowed me to observe this tumultuous era with a certain Taoist detachment, but I’m not sure I can maintain that coolness going forward.
We have entered a new moment, potentially dire and assuredly chaotic. A weird coalition of religious authoritarians and objectivist tech execs has seized power, just now that all of us have already become fully inured to being tracked and manipulated by all-seeing machines. Is the internet our greatest organizing tool, or their greatest surveillance tool? Probably both, but we can no longer be so nonchalant about online media.
So, as I have done with previous online projects including Drawing Life (2009-14), Inklings (2014-19), and my Instagram feed (2018-24 – terminated when hacked), I bring Antimony to a close. It has 360 posts; it has come full circle. I have other projects I am already working on – they may not be for the internet, though.
Antimony, all 360 posts, will remain online here at fredhatt.com/antimony/. Under the Links tab you can find all my other online publications. I may occasionally send newsletters or announcements about exhibitions, publications, or other events to those on my email list. Go to the Subscribe tab to add your address if you haven’t already done so.
May we learn how to survive and to thrive and to build a better society, from the grass roots up, with Earth the bottom line. Thank you for accompanying me on this leg of the Journey.