I just finished reading the remarkable book of Jared Diamond: “Guns, Germs, and Steel – the fate of human societies” previously titled “Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody For The Last 13,000 years”. This book was released in 1997 and it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998.
I must say that this is a fascinating work in order to deep dive in the roots of what makes some group of people to evolve in a certain way. Most surprisingly, it is also a revealing documentary about the key factors that have shaped human evolution on the past 13,000 years…
Think about it for a moment,
Guns – A weapon incorporating a metal tube from which bullets, shells, or other missiles are propelled by explosive force, typically making a characteristic loud, sharp noise.
Germs – A microorganism causing disease: a pathogenic agent such as a bacterium or a virus.
Steel – A hard, strong grey or bluish-grey alloy of iron with carbon and usually other elements, used as a structural or fabricating material.
This Jared Diamond’s book has played a key role on how we designed this issue #20. In the context of the COVID-19 it was a tough challenge to put our passions, our people, our inspirations altogether. A great job has been done despite the adverse circumstances. We would like to thank all the influential people who invested time, energy and enthusiasm into this project. All the small and big talks have been valued in the process making. As a result of this team work, we have used the narrative around Guns, Germs and Steel to depict the past months we all have gone through, and we are humbly evaluating some of the long-standing aftermaths it has brought to our life but also to Fashion & Arts.
This is an attempt to unpack the explosive force of creativity to review how the virus has changed us and also to understand what’s lying in front of us.
Germs have been underestimated in the past 13,000 years of our humankind journey on this planet, now it’s about creating a collection of moments, reflections and artworks around the impacts of Germs into our existence.
To our friends, be well and protect your health and your mind.
我剛剛讀完了賈德·梅森·戴蒙（Jared Diamond）的非凡著作：“槍炮、病菌與鋼鐵 (Guns, Germs, and Steel)”，以前的書名是《槍支，細菌和鋼鐵：與最近13,000年來所有人的簡短歷史》。
這本書於1997年發行，並於1998年獲得了普立茲獎（Pulitzer Prize）。
我必須說，這是一本引人入勝的作品，旨在深入探究使人類以某種方式發展的根源。
最令人驚訝的是，這也是一部紀錄片，講述了在最近13,000年中影響人類進化的關鍵因素……
試想一下…,
槍–是一種裝有金屬管的武器，透過爆炸的威力從中發射子彈，彈殼或其他導彈，通常會發出典型的響亮而尖銳的聲音。
細菌–引起疾病的微生物：諸如細菌或病毒的致病因子。
鋼 – 鐵與碳的堅硬化合物，強灰色或藍灰色的合金，
它通常與其他元素一起用作結構鋼材或製造材料。
賈德 · 戴蒙（Jared Diamond）的這本書在我們如何設計本刊的第20期上扮演著重要的角色。在COVID-19的背景下，如何將我們的激情，我們的員工，我們的靈感通通整合起來是一項艱鉅的挑戰。儘管處於不利的條件之下，我們仍然能做得更好。感謝所有在此項目上投入時間，精力和熱情以及具有影響力的人們。在製作過程中，所有大小討論都是備受到重視的。由於團隊合作，我們採納了關於“槍支，細菌和鋼鐵”這本書的的論述來描繪在過去的幾個月裡，我們謙虛地去評估這個史上災難帶給了給我們生活以及時尚與藝術的長期影響。
這是一項嘗試，回顧病毒如何改變了我們，以及釋放我們前所未有的創造力與爆發力，並且了解我們目前的情況。在人類在地球上的過去13,000年中，細菌被低估了，現在我們所觀察的是有關於細菌圍繞在人們的周遭，並且進入我們生活中時所帶來的思想、文化、藝術之衝擊與影響…等等的改建(創建)時刻，去思考 ”它” 和藝術品的結合。
我最親愛的朋友們，與此同時，請保持你身體的健康並同時保護你思想的健康。
Author: Sanza BULAYA
Translation by CHUANG Shih-Ning
