science fiction is not pretend

RA Walden

Visual References

Collection of RA Walden's visual references for 'Science fiction is not pretend'

my grandson bought an acre of land farmed
by ants ranching aphids
12
wrangling the beasts for honeydew

A gif of around ten brown and white horses galloping in a pack across a wide open plane. The landscape is green and beige, with a flat ridge on the horizon and a blue sky dotted with pale white clouds.
A gif shot vertically on an iphone. The camera is unsteady. A close up of green leaves and stems of a plant dappled with sunlight. The stems of the plant are covered with tiny aphids both dead and alive. The camera zooms in to show black ants farming the aphids, approaching each one and sucking up the honeydew that it produces.

massive tax hikes and uninsurable wine cellars1

i saw a lake burning1

bodies boiling in the water

how can i make you feel better about myself?12

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unknown author

Unknown author. The meme is split into a grid of 4 sections.  In the top left section, two glove puppets are looking sad, and text reads “NOOOOOPE NOPE NOPE”. In the top right section, text reads “Succumbing to alienation under capitalism concluding that the world is empty and meaningless” In the bottom right section, the same two glove puppets have their mouths open as if in astonishment, they are blurred as if they may be in the middle of nodding, and text reads “YUP YUP YUUUP YUP”. In the bottom right section, text reads “Building caring long-lasting relationships with chosen friends and family and collectively cultivating our visions of a just world”

at some point you either have to get on board
or get gone
12

what is your Big Vision for your life?1

make a list of 5 small tasks

you can accomplish today

take that list shove it in your mouth and swallow1

wash it down with vitamin water2

donate my body to science1

all of the scientists
drowning in wastewater
1

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“Pareidolia (Vaccinate Now)” by Brothers Sick (Ezra and Noah Benus)

An image with 2 sets of silhouettes of a face, torso, and a hand holding a syringe, one in black and one in white mirroring each other against a grayscale pixelated background. On top are two upside down silhouettes sitting atop of the same image flipped over horizontally. The silhouettes point to one another, as if in a whisper with the syringe, needle tipped as a vector towards the center of the image. The negative space In the center of the photograph, is similar to an ink blot pattern. The text in the center in the largest font says “Vaccinate Now” in metallic black, white, and gray variants, sandwiching another smaller text in between the two words, reads ”Global Inoculation Against Viral Fascism”. Text on top of the image reads “Stop Rationing Care” “Stop Medical Apartheid”, and on the bottom of the image text reads “End Eugenics” “End Vaccine Hoarding”. The layout of words and silhouettes create a contour of an hourglass shape, connoting time is of the essence.

all of the experts
waiting to be published
1

stop apologising and get busy stockpiling your
basement with beans
12

i swallowed the cannon and never got up again1
it ripped through my deck and my feet
touched the lava and I ran out of lives

come hither and take me into your mouth1

i am host virus vessel void1
don’t worry it’s not contagious2

the lake is boiling again
1000 years of fog
osmoting into the future1

we are not united in the hating of the enemy
if that enemy is my body
1

i did all my gratitudes and i can still smell the
smoke
123

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‘Toxic King’ on twitter

A screenshot of a twitter post by ‘Toxic King’, handle @777jorgeivan, shared by Saar Shemesh. White text on a black background reads: 'First I was born without my permission, now my future is in my hands wtf'
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@justeveilfishposts on instagram

A screen shot posted by instagram account @justeveilfishposts. The image is of a google search for the question 'how many days just in general'
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‘doctor peanut’ on twitter

A screenshot of a twitter post by ‘doctor peanut’, handle @NINETIREDBUGS Black text on a white background reads 'so fucked to look at a baby and know that someday they too will have an email address'

there’s only so much you can ask a person
to let go of
1

who is living inside you?12

grow your own specialist12
be your only believer3456

rejoice! rejoice! the tragedy is over1
we can breathe on each other’s birthday cakes
Again
2

A gif shows a homevideo from the 70s or 80s of three white skinned children aged around 8 or 9 sitting at a table for a birthday party. Two of the children blow out the candles on a huge rectangular birthday cake. Smoke rises from the blown out candles and a third child fans the smoke away with their hand.

as we all eat each other i’ll be hungry on the
sidelines
1
waiting for my turn to be
consumed by the great wisdom of the age
23

the body is also embodied1

you don’t need to make a big fuss12

just haul yourself up the steps with your hands34

or
here
we can carry you
5

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meme by invalid__art

A bear in a small rowing boat. The water is a little choppy and there is a tree line in the distance that suggests this is a lake. The boat is blueish grey on the outside and white inside. The oars have blue paddles. The sky is blue with low whispy stratus clouds. Mary has added a label to the bear and the boat that says 'me and my medical ptsd off to try a new medical thing' The implication in the picture is that it's not likely to go very well because bears don't know how to use rowing boats.
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meme from @aborteddreams.

A meme from @aborteddreams. Rover the blue fluffy character from Sesame Street with a round pink nose is smiling and waving in the middle of the image, dressed in surgical gear including plastic gloves and protective headwear and a mask pulled down around their neck. In the background there are a lot of medical apparatus and machinery giving the impression that we are in a hospital operating room. The background is bright yellow. Black text across the top right reads 'I’m sorry you can’t afford to be alive and other stories of America'
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A screenshot of a twitter post by ‘woo woo woo’, handle @McgarrDana

A screenshot of a twitter post by ‘woo woo woo’, handle @McgarrDana Black text on a white background reads 'accessibility isn’t more work, you were just cutting corners before. The work was incomplete

don’t worry they’re not looking at you,
it’s just that you remind them of death1
they are looking at their own death

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perfect lovers by Félix González-Torres

Image of the artwork ‘perfect lovers’ by Félix González-Torres. Two analogue wall clocks are placed side by side on a white wall so they are pressed against eachother. Both the clocks are set to the time 5:52. As the artwork progresses, durationally, the clocks will eventually fall out of synch with each other.

hug your children tighter12

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a working definition by Talila 'TL' Lewis*: ABLEISM a·ble·ism \ ˈābə-ˌli-zəm \ noun A system that places value on people’s bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normality, intelligence, excellence, desirability, and productivity. These constructed ideas are deeply rooted in anti-Blackness, eugenics, misogyny, colonialism, imperialism and capitalism. This form of systemic oppression leads to people and society determining who is valuable and worthy based on a person’s language, appearance, religion and/or their ability to satisfactorily [re]produce, excel and "behave.' You do not have to be disabled to experience ableism.

Deep purple and blue gradient background with the following words: ABLEISM a·ble·ism \ ˈābə-ˌli-zəm \ noun A system that places value on people’s bodies and minds based on societally constructed ideas of normality, intelligence, excellence, desirability, and productivity. These constructed ideas are deeply rooted in anti-Blackness, eugenics, misogyny, colonialism, imperialism and capitalism. This form of systemic oppression leads to people and society determining who is valuable and worthy based on a person’s language, appearance, religion and/or their ability to satisfactorily [re]produce, excel and "behave.' You do not have to be disabled to experience ableism. a working definition by Talila 'TL' Lewis*; updated January 2021 *developed in community with Disabled Black and other negatively racialized people, especially Dustin Gibson

i hope you feel invigorated1

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meme by invalid__art

photograph taken with a macro lens shows a dung beetle pushing a perfectly spherical ball of tongue towards a camels head. The camel is lying down on the sand and the macro lens and Low perspective of the photographer almost makes the camel appear to be a giant. Mary has added text over the photograph. Above the camel's head Mary has added a label that says 'the abled gaze TM' which is a term that some disabled people use to describe how nondisabled people and society view and portray disabled people, it is a semi humorous phrase which pokes at the deeply harmful impact in of a more powerful group being in control of the portrayal and narratives around the experiences of a more oppressed group (so I think it's important to state here that I do not believe that oppression is ever binary and flat, it is always complicated and nuanced for every single individual). Below that label Mary has added some pretend Quotes as if implying that they have come out of the mouth of the camel 'If I was you I would just end it all' 'heartbreaking' 'inspirational' 'I don't know how you do it'. next to the dung beetle Mary has added a label that says 'a disabled person just existing' This photo was taken from a feed on my [Mary’s] explore page and a page called Macro Turkey.

carpe fucking dm
i’m grateful for your legs

the only kind of porn i’m into is inspiration porn
here i am baby
ready to be your top dollar money maker
dick in hand
12

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jar of packers

Photo of a transparent plastic bucket with a metal lid and metal handle. Inside the bucket, various bright pink and brown plastic penises and pressed together. Image care of Alx Velozo.
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meme by @RelaxDaww

A meme from @RelaxDaww. There is text above a photograph. The text reads “DOCTORS SAID I HAVE A DISABILITY (cringe emoji) I TOLD HIM YOUR [sic] RIGHT, DIS ABILITY TO GET BREAD (steam coming out of nose emoji)(crying laughing emoji)(two money with wings emojis). The photograph shows a person with brown hair and brown skin wearing a cap, a white shirt and black trousers. They are holding a stack of dollar bills in their hand. They are sitting in an electric wheelchair. Their chin is lifted and they are smirking as if to say “and what??”. They are in what looks like a home environment with pictures hanging on the wall and a christmas tree in the background.

my lake is on fire12

i visualise the 5th dimension12

i hold my own hand1

make the most of that dark room
channel that pain into your art
this lack of productivity can make your product
incredibly powerful
12

CAPITALISM WILL FIND YOU IN THE END12

where is the mother now?1

did you see the burning?1
or were you tucked up in bed?

i heard your protest
walk by me
from my sickbed
you all sounded great
congrats123456