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response : ten london minutes
Meet the Editor of Anxiety Culture
At londonlostandfound we bring you the best of what’s
going on in London, but we also want to suggest things you might not have
heard of, or know about, or thought of doing. But we are not alone in
our mission to put a different perspective on life in a big city; there
are other alternative magazines out there. The first in our five part
series on alternative magazines is an interview with Brian Dean, Editor
of the website Anxiety Culture.
Can you briefly describe Anxiety Culture?
Anxiety Culture (www.anxietyculture.com)
is about the fear/paranoia behind the smiling mask of "normal"
society; it's about psychological gimmicks and economic taboos (welfare,
laziness, poverty, etc). It's about subversion of bureaucratic authority
and work-obsessed corporate craziness.
Pranksterism is an important element - but not in the sense of throwing
eggs at rich people. The aim is to stop people in their tracks through
irony, satire, etc - using as much intelligence as we can muster.
What inspired you to start the website?
I was originally motivated by frustration with my job (and jobs in general),
dissatisfaction with the media, dislike of the paranoid-competitive business
world. The idea of an "anxiety culture" taps into a rich vein
of ideas and seems to strike a chord with people. It's a good way to approach
the mass neurosis that people call "meritocracy".
What has been the most bizarre thing you have been
sent?
A page from a garden/seed catalogue. Perfectly normal - except for a caption
in a box, next to a picture of flowers, which says: "DO NOT FALL
OVER".
What has been you favourite feature?
The "Phone in sick" page.
Where do you see the website in 5 years?
There's a book in the works. Plus an online database called "Memory
Lapse", containing material (news stories, etc) which subverts the
"mainstream" view of the world. And more of the same, but hopefully
with a bigger audience.
What is your favourite thing about London?
The bookshops in the vicinity of Charing Cross Road.
What do you hate about London?
The scale of poverty and homelessness.
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