Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1506906
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 SEPTEMBER 2023 6 ALMANAC My essentials LISA GWEN 41, independent writer & curator, Maker & designer She is a curator of words and an editor of spaces. Her work and projects are the outcomes of these often overlapping and interchangeable roles which deal with space and its distribution; with aesthetics and design; interpretation and experience. One focuses on words and type, the other on artworks and installations. Both create images and visuals; both deal with narratives. 4 5 1. Book 2. TV 3. Internet 4. Music 5. Place I don't watch TV, at all. I don't have cable; haven't for years, actually. The internet, on the other hand is a bit of a monster. An endless pit of everything and nothing, all at once. But it is a tool that I use and navigate, considerably. Essentially, it provides me with: 1) platforms to publish photos in a quasi-visual di- ary format 2) copious visual stimuli 3) access to research (I will always prefer books) 4) a means to connect / engage / debate 5) access to news, op- portunities (when you know where to look) MUSIC transports me. It calms me. It often has a therapeutic effect. Different phases 'dictate' different gen- res, tracks, intensities. My go-tos are often movie scores or soundtracks. Perhaps be- cause I always say that my life has an ongoing soundtrack in the background – one which changes daily. The Pulp Fic- tion soundtrack remains an all-time favourite. Then again, I listen to a lot of Cho- pin (I adore piano music; es- pecially his Ballad No. 1 in G Minor), as well as Max Rich- ter (November). Plus, I'm a big Kate Bush fan; this Wom- an's Work really resonates with me. THIS is an impossible question to answer. 'Favourites' change according to one's state of mind, emotion… today it could be Johnny's Bar, in Hamrun. In Gozo, it's Glen Eagles in Mgarr or Coney Island Bar in Victoria. In Valletta, it would have been Prego or City Lights Cinema – both places now a distant recol- lection. The sense of place, and the emotion attached to it, are intimately linked to memory, to shared experiences, to sound, smell… senses become alight when a place leaves its mark on you. THE book that resonated the most would be: The Cat and the City, which is a debut nov- el by Nick Bradley. I picked up this book during my last trip to London, from a tiny new bookshop just off Brick Lane. I'm a 'cat lady', so the title im- mediately appealed to me. Set in Tokyo, the book follows the viewpoint of a calico cat and the lives of various figures, seemingly disparate at first, which are slowly interwoven and reveal themselves to the reader. GENERALLY, if I must think about something like this for too long, it means nothing has really struck a chord. I haven't watched a (bloody) good film in ages! Even Wes Anderson's As- teroid City fell short of expec- tations. Instead, I'll mention a couple of TV shows – Russian Doll which I adored, although I might be biased because I'm a huge Natasha Lyonne fan; and The Serpent or even Pain Kill- er. I love short or limited series which are based on facts or true stories. 2 Compiled by Laura Calleja suggestions by email lcalleja@mediatoday.com 1 3