LOST FUTURES VOLUME 3: MEANWHILE

TITLE - LOST FUTURES VOLUME 3: MEANWHILE 

EDITED BY - KIERAN CUTTING 

GENRE - HAUNTOLOGY / LOST FUTURES / URBAN WYRD / POETRY / BRUTALISM / TWIN PEAKS-INSPIRED 

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN - UNITED KINGDOM

A5/64 PAGES/FULL-COLOUR/PERFECT BOUND 

PRICE - FROM £2.00 - £13.00, OPTIONS INCLUDE DIGITAL, PRINT, BUNDLES & SOLIDARITY RATE, FROM EXIT PRESS WEBSITE

“Lost Futures Volume 3 - meanwhile…” takes its name from Laura Palmer’s final word at the close of the second season of Twin Peaks, as she informs Agent Dale Cooper that she’ll see him in 25 years. Prose, poetry, art, photography and more, provided by contributors, explore the concept of “meanwhile", both metaphorically, in the gaps between moments when we wait for the next turn of our lives, and literally, evoking places like waiting rooms. Much of the content deals with loss of one form or another, not least in Rupert Lally’s “the lost places” about a dream of the lost buildings of his hometown, something we can all relate to. General themes explored include the usual brew of hauntology, urban wyrd, old TV programmes etc, and is very much post-pandemic. 

At a broader level, the zine’s name refers to the “lost futures” explored in concepts such as hauntology. Paul Watson’s insightful piece “dare to dream of the spring” opens the zine, exploring his art project “Renaissance: Albion’s True Standard Advanced” which aims to “rebirth” these lost futures in the hope that one of them will work for everyone. He quotes Mark Fisher’s concept of “capitalist realism” which postulates that society has reached the point where it has become impossible to imagine an alternative to capitalism.

In what I assume is a regular feature in the zine, there is another excerpt from Daniel Bristow-Bailey’s ongoing story “the wholeness” entitled “Maggie and Anti-Maggie”. It recounts a psychotic episode experienced by the author’s mother which caused her to believe she had to assassinate Margaret Thatcher who she thought was her evil twin. It is a poignant and timely study of mental-health and our reaction to it.

The content is pleasingly (and challengingly) diverse: from QI codes for digital art, vivid poetry and visceral interludes, such as the angry and cryptic “gan radge”, a very “now” art piece about releasing pent-up rage; to the art-gallery horror story “jennifer’s dream”; and an electric trip into the spaces between spaces in J. Simpson’s “the digital liminal”, which offers an insight into creators involved in making music for empty liminal spaces, which could be described as the opposite of Vaporwave, as well as the concept itself. This is an intelligent and knowledgeable article that touches not only on the digital realm but also our magickal ancestry and the recurring theme of capitalism, and is one of my favourite pieces in the zine.

“Lost Futures” is in full-colour throughout and has high production values with glossy pages and a tight spine. The print resembles newspaper clippings pasted onto a page, or text highlighted on a computer screen; I don’t know if this is a regular feature or just for this issue, but it feels apt. A full list of contributors with their social media links is included at the back.

In a postscript to the earlier article by Paul Watson, editor Kieran Cutting closes the zine by posing a question to the reader - “what do we do?” - as a challenge to fans who are into hauntology and the kind of stuff that actually forms the content of the zine. How do we create the future we all want? It turns the whole idea of the zine’s existence on its head, which is awesome. It is a “call to arms” and displays a reluctance by the zine’s creators to rest on their laurels - it should all mean something other than just romanticising the past. A bold mission statement for a humble zine, but as Cutting states, the current boom in zines can be used as a platform for change. If this comes to fruition, it will be exciting to see where “Lost Futures” goes from here.