y separately published work icon Griffith Review periodical issue  
Alternative title: The Leisure Principle
Issue Details: First known date: 2023... no. 81 1 August 2023 of Griffith Review est. 2003- Griffith Review
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In 1930, John Maynard Keynes spelt out a vision of the impending utopia. Work, he said, will become a thing of the past. ‘For the first time since creation,’ he predicted, ‘man will be faced with his real, his permanent problem – how to occupy the leisure which science…will have won for him.’ 

'So where did this vision of future past go? Like baco-foil suits and meals of protein pills, it proved to be a concept that withered on the vine. Instead of an excess of free time to be enjoyed at leisure, a radically different regime now dominates the developed nations: the leisure principle. 

'The leisure principle is one of work hard to play hard, a rigorous pursuit of monetarised hedonism: YOLO, live your best life, have a good time all the time

'From the ecstasy of the digital to the monied spectacle that is sport, the gamification of everyday life to the flourishing hierarchy of influencers, Griffith Review 81: The Leisure Principle sets out to scrutinise the terms and conditions of this contemporary compact and consider how we came to cede so much just to amuse ourselves to death.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Only literary material within AustLit's scope individually indexed. Other material in this issue includes: 

    The defence : Chess v. artificial intelligence by Richard King 

    We will never be modern : Blurring the lines between life and work by Yassmin Abdel-Magied 

    Virtue signals Big Tech’s morality grab by André Dao

    Upping the ante : The new dominance of online betting by Drew Rooke 

    In the fullness of time : Technology and the porosity of leisure by Suneel Jethani 

    ‘A world we must defend’ : Pokémon, profiteering and the playground economy by 

    Beau Windon 

    Women’s work : Investigating leisure and gender through time by Simone Fullagar and Adelle Pavlidis

    Oh, the shame of it : The trap of rational recreation by David Ellison 

    Stories from the city : Placemaking and public art by Amanda Hayman, Troy Casey, Carody Culver

    Dressed for success : Beneath the layers of business casual by Avery Trufelman, Carody Culver

Contents

* Contents derived from the 2023 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
An Idle Moment : Finding the Time for Non-doing, Carody Culver , single work essay

'IN 2008, FINNISH performance artist Pilvi Takala embarked on an audacious project called The Trainee. For one month, she worked as a marketing intern at the global accounting firm Deloitte. Instead of carrying out the usual responsibilities expected of this role, Takala did…nothing.' (Introduction)

Revolutionary Wave : Surfing the Storm Swells of History, Russell Celyn Jones , single work autobiography

'I CAN’T REMEMBER exactly how it started. With a random sighting, perhaps, of a lone surfer carving up a sunlit wave: like entering a cathedral for the first time and seeing all that stained glass. But from that point forward the sight, smell and sound of a storm swell steaming into shore exerted a devastating pull on me. I was a thirteen-year-old provincial boy from Swansea in South Wales, and already a student in the science of Atlantic swells, the way they travel to shore in neat parallel lines, in sets of three – a prime number. Swells have order but it comes from disorder; their source is always chaos. They arrive on shore in graceful step, wearing bridal veils of pale spindrift. What the eye can’t see is their fantastic propensity for violence.' (Introduction)

The Geography of Respect Rock Climbers, Traditional Owners and Reconciling Ways of Seeing, Jerath Head , single work
All Work and Some Play : Life in the Alternative Stream, Ian Powne (interviewer), single work interview

'Musician, singer-songwriter, author, composer – Dave Graney wears many hats. Since 1978, he and his collaborator and partner, Clare Moore, have fronted bands including the Moodists, Dave Graney ’n’ the Coral Snakes and the Dave Graney Show. But Graney’s no stranger to the world of non-creative employment – he’s worked everywhere from a Mount Gambier timber mill to London’s historic Lincoln’s Inn, all while writing, performing, recording and touring music in the UK and Australia. In this conversation, which has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity, he talks to 4ZZZ’s Ian Powne about his working life as a self-described ‘failed bludger’.' (Introduction)

Etc., Daniel Ray , single work short story
Hump Day, Jade Peters , single work short story
Lying on Grass, Brendan Colley , single work short story
Salted, Jenni Mazaraki , single work short story
All the Boys She Ever Loved, Jonathan O’Brien , single work
Open Water, Raelee Chapman , single work short story
The Rise and Decline of the Shopping Mall, Katerina Gibson , single work short story
A Night at the Theatre, Emilie Collyer , single work short story
Their Presencei"Straight away you’re taller, sprung firm and", Kathryn Fry , single work poetry
Sonnet for the Weekendi"Glory to God for long weekends,", Damen O'Brien , single work poetry
History in Sid Meier’s Civilization VIi"Because they spawn near each other", Jocelyn Deane , single work poetry
Louchei"On the bleached beach", Paula Bohince , single work poetry
Just like the Day before and the Dayi"after and the day beyond that", Willo Drummond , single work poetry
At the Subway Stationi"In a world of cunning shades", Gavin Yuan Gao , single work poetry

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

An Idle Moment : Finding the Time for Non-doing Carody Culver , 2023 single work essay
— Appears in: Griffith Review , 1 August no. 81 2023;

'IN 2008, FINNISH performance artist Pilvi Takala embarked on an audacious project called The Trainee. For one month, she worked as a marketing intern at the global accounting firm Deloitte. Instead of carrying out the usual responsibilities expected of this role, Takala did…nothing.' (Introduction)

An Idle Moment : Finding the Time for Non-doing Carody Culver , 2023 single work essay
— Appears in: Griffith Review , 1 August no. 81 2023;

'IN 2008, FINNISH performance artist Pilvi Takala embarked on an audacious project called The Trainee. For one month, she worked as a marketing intern at the global accounting firm Deloitte. Instead of carrying out the usual responsibilities expected of this role, Takala did…nothing.' (Introduction)

Last amended 9 Aug 2023 11:37:59
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