What is FORM & VOID?
The eternal question. 🧐🌌
As we’re preparing to transition this Substack from The Dread Eclipse alone to the more inclusive FORM & VOID, I imagine some of our newer subscribers might be wondering…
…the fuck is FORM & VOID??
The straightforward answer is that Form and Void was the original title of Mabel’s and my first collaborative work, an epic switchblade-and-sorcery novel we started writing in 2016.
We swiped the title Form and Void from an episode of True Detective season one. The phrase “form and void” derives from the Christian Bible, Genesis Chapter 1, Verse 2: “…the earth was without form and void,” which describes the state of creation before God said, “Let there be light.”
For us, “form and void” captured a pulse—a certain theme we noticed weaving through our work. In our first novel, one of the main antagonists is a cult who believe the world is hopelessly miscreated, a place of inescapable horror and suffering. They’re willing to violently destroy everything that exists in order to restore the universe to its original state of formless perfection.
In 2019, we abandoned that novel and started writing what is now The Dread Eclipse under the same title. When we eventually decided to revive the original novel, both works got new titles, and FORM & VOID became the larger multiverse in which both existed.
Some of you probably remember the original novel by its later title, Those Who Create and Destroy.
(And for those who’ve wondered, this is why some characters from TWCAD and The Dread Eclipse [namely, Jules and Ash] share a number of awfully specific characteristics, and why even a certain distinct passage of writing appears word-for-word in both works.)
So, there you have the history of the name itself.
But what is FORM & VOID now—as in, what can you expect from this Substack and its sister Patreon going forward?
I’m hesitant to try too hard to define that, and I’ll share some recent thoughts in an effort to communicate why:
In a world where utilitarian things are increasingly provided very effectively by machines, believe it or not, artists are uniquely well-positioned for what comes next. Under capitalism, artists have felt compelled to make “art” to order. But that’s never been the true purpose of art. The true purpose of art is to transmit what can’t be quantified or categorized, much less predicted or prescribed. Real art can’t be made to order because it can’t be summed up in something as banal as a prompt. Real art, while it always takes inspiration from things that came before, is itself something original; unforeseen and unforeseeable; a surprise to both artist and audience. Real art is a literal miracle: an injection of disruptive creative essence into a world that thinks it knows what’s coming next.
AI can make art to order, and do it scarily well. But it can’t make what only your unique soul can make…
…because real art is the spontaneous expression of a living being who has never existed before or outside their exact time and place, and will never exist again.
Having shared this, I can only answer the question, “What is FORM & VOID?” by saying:
It’s us.
The spontaneous expression of our beings.
When you step into FORM & VOID, you’re joining Mabel and me in our inner worlds.
Here we’ll continue sharing our fiction and visual art, as well as essays and God-only-knows what other forms of expression of ourselves and our experiences (maybe including a podcast!), as we feel so moved.
For my own part, since November I’ve been in a necessary, almost involuntary process of stripping down every last “should” in my life to make space for present creative truth to come through. This pruning has included The Dread Eclipse for the time being, but I do hope and expect to resume it in the not-too-distant future.
For now, another creative working has been coming in hot, which I’m very excited to announce to you all when the time’s right. (Part of me’s chomping at the bit to share it with you now, but I don’t wanna jinx its looming completion by creating a projected expectation, like I’ve done many-a-time in the past. 🙃)
If you’re here and paying specifically because we promised you an early episode of The Dread Eclipse every other week, please know that we’ll understand completely if you choose to discontinue your paying subscription at this time. (I do recommend at least hanging onto your free subscription, since The Dread Eclipse, when it resumes, will be available to free subscribers.)
Going forward, paying subscribers will continue to have access to all extended content, including episode commentaries, as well as sharings of a more intimate personal nature. Some essays and podcast episodes will likely be reserved for paying subscribers, as will previews of in-progress works. We may also share other finished fictional works (👀 !!!) with paying subscribers only, before making them available for purchase by the general public.
Whether you’re supporting us with $$$ or simply here to bear witness, please know that we continue to be so grateful for you, and we’re excited to keep sharing the journey. ❤️
(P.S. If you really-really want access to all our sharings and are just plain too financially strapped to upgrade, reach out to one of us and request a comp. We give ’em out like candy. 😁 Ask and you shall receive. 🧚✨)