Darmon

The moon reflects on a frozen lake in Sweden.

The same lake, still frozen, with yellow sunrise light.

Dusk / Dawn

Oh my gods!

Kate! What have you wrought!?

🤣💀

Gothenburg harbour - ships and cranes frame an industrial-picturesque view, with sea birds riding by on drifting ice floes.

Good morning from a boat-hotel in Gothenburg harbour.

Oh, thank you! ☺️ That may be one of my favourite things I've ever written.

If you'd be happy to, I would really appreciate that – thanks! I've already written a couple of papers on the intersection of heritage and games, and it's an area that really appeals for me.

sure, completely understood. I'll use your site as my point of reference then!

Thank you Xander! That means a lot. :) Let's see, I have a good feeling about 2026...

Okay, I just found you on ResearchGate – this is brilliant. And so close to my own interests too, so I'm gonna dive in and start reading. Very glad to be in touch!

Coming at this from the perspective of urban game design feels really valuable too. Have you published on this? I'd love to read that.

Also, just looking through your website now – what a fantastic studio space!

Thank you so much for this. Yes – Debord was a biggie for me, a whole chapter of my thesis was basically using Society of the Spectacle to define a mode of sense-led academic enquiry. (That was right before I fell down the Deleuze rabbit hole.)

Thank you so much!! And yes – the UE/ND thing. It seems so obvious to me, but no one in academia appears to have made that connection before. Which may speak to how few ND folks are represented there? 🤔 Anyway, I feel it's a really important conversation & it's giving me a renewed sense of purpose.

Firing On All Cylinders A re-introduction & plans for 2026

So I've decided to rejoin the land of the living. It's been a rough few years but I'm taking 2026 head-on and I'm cautiously optimistic that some very good things are coming.

I also updated my Substack, for the first time in ages:

darmon.substack.com/p/firing-on-...

Love to you all!

the cat has his face all the way into my glass of water. He is very handsome though, in his defence.

Small crimes are occurring

😂

Had a real treat at the weekend – 

Dubioza Kolektiv at the Exeter Phoenix.

I am, yes. And gradually coming to terms with that. 😅

Thank you, yeah - had a lot to deal with lately but now cautiously edging back! Lots of new things to process now, new home and all the rest, but feel I'm in a good place to finally get some big interesting projects finished and released to the world...

YouTube video by Telepathic Instruments "How to Orchid" by Telepathic Instruments

“Matt Berry advertises synths now” are words that my bank account never wanted to hear.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbO1...

I'm working on lots – getting back on my feet after the big visa mess has taken a while, but I've been scribbling bits of fiction, non-fiction, music, ideas for tours... my plan now is to try and push a few things over the finish line before next year.

How about you?

I just really struggle there now, the world is depressing enough as it is without all the sewage 'X' pushes at me.

That's very kind of you. :) And I'm pretty sure I also use social media wrongly..

Good to know!

This is a photo of a golden cat called Hinko. He is very fluffy, and he has curled up to have a nap in the sun.

In the process of digging myself out of a bit of a hole. Are people mostly here these days? The online landscape feels so fragmented now, it's disorientating.

Here is a photo of my cat.

Well done, I’m sure you’ll do brilliantly at this!

Bulgarian Industrial Aesthetics & Decorative Arts A sprawling archive of socialist-era art and design magazines.

darmon.substack.com/p/bulgarian-...

The cover of Българско Фото 1984-10 features the striking Modernist design of a nuclear power plant control room.

Bulgarian socialist monuments and mosaics are frequently featured, often including design sketches and artist interviews.

Various issues of Радио (Radio) magazine from the 1960s-1980s.

My quality control manager (an absolutely beautiful golden cat named Hinko) sleeps on a stack of magazines in the sun.

This week I'm back in Bulgaria & doing some serious work cataloguing an archive of art & design magazines published from 1960-1990.

There are just under 1000 in total, mostly Bulgarian, but also from Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and the USSR.

More details / photos in the article below.

6am, pre-dawn, and a thick layer of snow lays over the neighbourhood.

Later, in daylight, the wind blows eddies of snowflakes around the space between concrete housing blocks.

Over on the main street, cars drive with headlights on through the driving snow. Parked cars beside the road are layered with heavy white blankets.

Didn't have a freak snow storm on my bingo card for April.

A very old Soviet joke, from an especially dark time:

Foxes are fleeing the USSR in droves.
Q: Why are you running away?
Fox: The Soviets passed a new law that they’re going to arrest all camels.
Q: But you’re foxes!
Fox: Yeah, why don’t *you* try proving to the NKVD that you’re not a camel.

Heartbreaking to see the destruction in Myanmar. This is Mandalay Palace – my photo from 2017, and now.

THE BLACK TOWER (1987): Channel 4 aired John Smith's stunning 'architectural horror' short about a mysterious black building which follows a man wherever he goes. A metaphor for depression, it's in the same 'once seen, never forgotten' category as La Cabina.