about the cassette

I bathe in the lake and walk through the forest in the rain. Sleeping outdoors, I feel as though I’m closer to the Earth. How do we maintain connection with each other? How do we communicate in ways that transcend language? I often reflect that so many of us are trapped in our own cultures and contexts.

As a species, we have collapsed physical distance, and yet psychological distance and cultural distance remain. To understand the world, we instinctively reduce its complexity in our minds. We organize and categorize. How quick we are to reduce the complexity of others as well. Everyone has their own sacred places, lost memories, and persistent hopes. Why do we have such trouble recognizing these in others? And why is it so difficult to express our own?

I travel across the land, by foot and by train. Perhaps by covering some distance, by coming into physical contact with others, I can somehow reduce the real distance between us. And yet, this is but a hope.

— Zefan Sramek
Myoko Kogen, September 15, 2023