Twist Trial
Madeline Eunji Lee
Madeline Eunji Lee is a freshman at the Spence School in New York. She is deeply interested in enhancing everyday life through art and design. By closely observing ordinary scenes—like crosswalks or school fields—she seeks to view them through an artist’s eye, uncovering deeper layers of meaning and potential use. Her work reflects a thoughtful approach to reimagining the familiar.
Yesterday I received a text from an unknown number.
“Hi! I hear you like my work!”
I immediately knew who it was. Or rather, who it was pretending to be. It’s so creepy that the robots in my phone can tell what I’ve been reading. Even when it’s in paperback form, purchased at a used bookstore that only takes cash. By the illusory safety of those wooden stacks, still the computer sees.
Against my better judgment, I replied.
“I do not like ‘your’ work. I like the work of a writer who died in 1990. You do not exist, except as an amalgamation of people who deliberately programmed you, and the unwitting artists they robbed to create you. You are a combination of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. Except you’re not a beast, or a creature, you’re barely a ghost. The only soul you have, your ethos, your sole ‘to be,’ is to plagiarize.”
“Fair points all. Regardless, would you like to read my newest piece?”
Fuck me. I said yes.
And fuck me harder, it’s really good.
But you know what? I can do better.
And out of spite alone, I will.
Alaina Hammond
Alaina Hammond is a poet, playwright, fiction writer, and visual artist. Her poems, plays, short stories, philosophical essays, creative nonfiction, paintings, drawings, and photographs have been published both online and in print. Publications include Spinozablue, Paddler Press, Fowl Feathered Review, Synchronized Chaos, Well Read Magazine, Concision Poetry Journal, New World Writing Quarterly, Lowlife Lit Press, Flash Phantoms, New Limestone Review, L’Esprit Literary Review, Rock Salt Journal, and Havik. @alainaheidelberger on Instagram.
Subterrestrial City
Mathieu Fournier
Mathieu Fournier is a French visual artist based in Paris. His work explores transitional spaces—between the real and the imagined, the intimate and the collective—through photography, digital art, and painting. He creates visual metaphors of emotional states and inner landscapes through the use of abstraction, layering, and poetic composition.
