On Connection

by Kae Tempest

Reading and re-reading the same passage ten times, the reader gives up on the book. They keep finding the text interrupted by their own thoughts. They read to access their own experience, to recall their past, consider their relationships or establish their own views more firmly. They are unable to read others without primarily reading themselves. They drop the book into their lap and go back to their phone. Meanwhile, across town, a person is listening to music while they go about the business of clearing up their flat, ordering something from the internet and arranging a birthday drink with a group of friends. Multiple distractions need their attention and the music is an aide to staying focused on these other things. They listen to a playlist organised by an algorithm and only notice what’s playing when they realise they don’t like a song and have to skip it. Later, they work out in their bedroom to an upbeat gym playlist, and then they spend the evening studying at the kitchen table to a generic piano playlist. Any composer, any year, any player. Just select chill piano for concentration. Music for mood. Everything’s yours. Take what you want. Get what you can. In an upstairs classroom a student is learning to read without their creative energies roused, to better prepare them for life in the workplace; they are taught not to respond energetically to text but instead to remain distant, to take from rather than be a part of the experience. They annotate, discuss, questi...