Issue 1, August 2021
The pieces in this issue were created over the course of late 2020 and early 2021. The theme was: please, do anything you want (i.e. no theme). So, driven by the whims of our genius contributers, this free-for-all first issue of Layabout covers chess, pedophiles, soap, beetles, concrete, Skinny Bitch, texture, perception and compassion. Enjoy!
> Poetry Unity Ecstasy Love
Multimedia artist Aubrielle Hvolboll’s video invites us to grip tightly onto Dr. Bronner’s soft, clean hand and take a step into the feverish void of his soap-making empire.![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d7f2bc04de5d6ba3bfde926365c629d7fdb5660183fe943a3646c208325f9e39/bronners-pic-new.jpeg)
See more work at her website.
> The Queen’s Gambit: chess as an ideological battleground
In this article, Jack Wareham takes a critical look at Netflix’s hit show, The Queen’s Gambit, and its pop-feminist and anti-Soviet mythmaking.![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ed22f984c4c002c888a63c60da73d18e6cb5c315fccdb2b2d9fbad004b66b48/phpSq2aG4.png)
Read Jack’s work for The Daily Californian and CounterPunch.
> En abyme (In an abyss)
Claire Hannon’s sequence of poetry and prose fragments explores the slippery nature of love, memory and truth(s).> Architecture Review: The Elrod House
In this piece of short fiction, Evelyn Everlane reflects on her time working for a faux-Italian porn producer with a prediliction for concrete.> che la mia ferita sia mortale (may all my wounds be fatal) and jazz for your soul
Multidisciplinary artist Hee Joon Youn created two pieces for the exhibition ‘these are a few of my favourite things’, shown Trocadero Art Space in February 2021.![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b30c63f751cc83e5e187f4ebc60a2d674c415ef033df3ebffe71465437652824/166187044_2869419340044020_2650471212569680281_n.jpg)
See more work at her website.
> Skin
Photographer and director Caitlin Wong plays with bodies to create a sea of sumptuous textures, begging you to reach out and touch.See more work at her website.
> Pedophile Hauntology
Dylan Burgoon’s article weds philosophy and online culture to analyse the chilling spectre of the celebrity pedophile. Read Dylan’s work for The LA Review of Books and CounterPunch.