Issue 7: Existence

On hearing that our seventh print issue of Forecast was on the topic of Existence, we found ourselves half bemused and half terrified. It was as if the guardrails had come off—we could write about anything, yet somehow we had to encompass everything? For some artists, this level of creative freedom is thrilling; for others, it’s more like a noose tightening around the neck. Our team fell into both camps, alternately inspired and stymied by the task.

As artists, the search for meaning is the perpetual heartbeat in the body of our work. Yet these explorations tend to be silent, infused throughout the process and operating behind the veil of consciousness. To seek concretely—to attempt finite statements about infinite questions—further compounded the weight of the topic. The resulting issue is a testament to the value of art, its power to unite us and to challenge our perceptions of what it means to be a human in this world today—as an individual, as a member of a species, as a creature from this planet, as a part of this universe.

Issue 7 spans three main realms: physics, psychology, and philosophy. What we are, who we are, and why we are; the external world, the internal world, and the universal. Empirical truths: what we know; logical truths: what we understand; and invisible truths: what we cannot prove. The written editorials attempt to access parts of the consciousness we tend not to visit, while the images are an appeal to beauty, however that manifests in the eye of the artist, as a tool to communicate what language cannot.

If we know anything about the nature of existence, it’s that the topic incites questions— many, many questions—and we submerged ourselves in a fair amount of them. Issue 7 thus investigates the following:

Am I evil? Am I authentic? Are our choices our own to make? Who, or what, is in control? Did we invent god, or did god invent us? Can drugs bring me closer to god? Can dreams bring me closer to myself? Can we contact the dead? Why do we kill each other? Is AI going to kill us? Are aliens trying to communicate with us? Can we save our planet? What is freedom? What are we afraid of? What is nothing? What is real? Can you prove it? Are you worth it? Do you have questions? Do you have answers?

These questions often overlap, so, unsurprisingly, you will find many recurrent themes in the editorials that follow. In Issue 7, we don’t presume to answer the queries we pose—only to explore their richness.

Finally, we’d be remiss if we did not express our deepest affection and appreciation for everyone who contributed to this particularly intimate issue. It is only through the willingness of each artist and contributor to examine these complex, mystifying, and delicate concepts with such tenderness and rigor that this publication exists.

And to the reader, thank you for your support and for being part of our collective family. We sincerely hope that in reading Issue 7, you will feel as painfully enlightened and delightfully confused as we have. But more than anything, we are glad you exist.