Yannick Trapman-O'Brien posts
May Reading Excerpt; the Sixth Extinction
We end the month with the end of species, and this book that proved to be a cornerstone of understanding for work I'm doing on a new piece.
2025-06-01 03:37:28 +0000 UTC View PostMay Reading; “We are the Asteroid; We are Bruce Willis”
This month’s reading was born of an unexpected chance to jump in with some other great Philly artists at the FringeArts/Obvious Agency Scratch Night<...
2025-05-15 03:11:06 +0000 UTC View PostReading Excerpt: Never Say You Can't Survive
A very good and surprisingly hopeful May day leads to a last-minute shift on my chosen excerpts, because I just can't help myself — and because if 5 years of The Telelibrary has taught me anything, it's that when the right part of the r...
2025-05-02 06:30:37 +0000 UTC View PostApril 25 Archive Highlight; "T2000 Part 1; The Dataset Awakens"
After hitting 2000 calls in the Telelibrary, I resolved to dive into the data again (just as I did after the first 1000 calls) and to see what I could learn, and what if anything has changed about the composition and operation of the System. T...
2025-05-01 03:18:14 +0000 UTC View PostApril Reading; “Writing Your Way Out”
It’s rough out there. Besides being a tricky logistical time*, the economy has been destabilized by repeated drastic changes to international trade, civil rights for immigrants and political dissidents face a string of high-profile assaults,...
2025-04-13 22:46:30 +0000 UTC View PostReading Excerpt: "Organ Transplant System ‘in Chaos’ as Waiting Lists Are Ignored"
In yet another deviation from the mean, this Month's reading excerpt will be me mixing selections from two sources that I think really speak to each other, and are laying the groundwork for the thinking of a piece in early development. Check out s...
2025-04-01 02:52:14 +0000 UTC View PostArchive Highlight; "Friends of the Shows"
Hello all - it’s the end of a hectic month, with the Telelibrary’s birthday and the beginning of sifting through 2000 calls of data, a surprise appearance in NYC, and preparations for Undersigned’s run at the 2025-03-31 18:01:05 +0000 UTC View Post
March Reading; “Skipping the Line”
A few strange occurrences have had me back on the topic of algorithms and organ donations lately - both of which I think of as gateways to larger questions about how we as individuals, groups, and a society make difficult choices. So when I sa...
2025-03-17 16:48:26 +0000 UTC View PostReading Excerpt; "Impro," by Keith Johnstone
I may not think of myself as doing improv, but what happens when I treat the audience like they are? How can I take the tools we use to teach improvisers and use them to make audiences more comfortable being their authentic selves?
Maybe re...
Archive Highlight; "Selection Bias"
The Telelibary passed 2000 calls this month, and is headed next month for its 5(!!!!!) year birthday. As such, I’ll be giving it the spotlight for a few Archive Highlights, starting with this wandering anecdote that does (eventually) get som...
2025-02-28 23:15:14 +0000 UTC View PostFebruary Reading; “Off the Cuff”
One of the more curious and technical conversations I sometimes fall into comes when someone experiences my work and says some variation of “wow, you’re so good at improv!”
To which I invariably reply “oh I don’t do improv....
Reading Excerpt; "The Barn"
Heavy but necessary reading, this phenomenal mapping of the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 reaches across space, time, and the American fabric.
It's a particular moment to try to understand America, and why it is so resolutely as...
January Archive Highlight; “One Show At A Time”
A heads up: this post contains photos and discussion of the fires in Los Angeles. If you were affected or are otherwise still reeling from this month, I invite you to consider reading something else today, and returning whenever feels comforta...
2025-02-01 10:05:16 +0000 UTC View PostJanuary Reading; “The Past is Present”
As I head to the West Coast for Next Stage and a run of Undersigned, I thought I’d change up the normal programming with some reading I did for my work as a facilitator and Project Specialist at Monument Lab. Specifically, this month’s boo...
2025-01-05 02:51:44 +0000 UTC View PostReading Excerpt: The Art of Frugal Hedonism
Now that this year has almost finished dumping its contents upon you, consider enjoying a little Less with this month's reading from Annie Raser-Rowland and Adam Grubb
2024-12-31 00:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostArchive Highlight; "Portrait of the Artist as a Broke Man"
Note: Long-time readers have may suspicions that this pun is a barely-altered version of a joke I’ve used more than 2024-12-28 03:17:13 +0000 UTC View Post
December Reading; “The Best Things in Life are Cheap”
It’s the holiday season, which is as good a time as any to think about the things we acquire and what they do for us. Above all of its argument...
2024-12-15 17:14:37 +0000 UTC View PostNovember Reading Excerpt; "Everything for Everyone"
Now that the logjam of the Archive Highlight is clear, I can finally bring you a piece of a book that definitely gripped me and held my attention; this month I read Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072 2024-12-03 02:30:48 +0000 UTC View Post
November Archive Highlight; "Forward Facing"
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Telelibrary Spoiler WARNING
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Hello all,
It’s decidedly NOT November any more, but a cascading series of tech issues with the o...
November Reading; “Future(s) Proof”
Well, here we are. Presented with a present that discourages, and a few bleak futures that seem to be rolling towards us as inexorable as a mudslide. For those of us in America, or those of us in its impact crater (which still seems to find it...
2024-11-18 20:12:34 +0000 UTC View PostReading Excerpt; "Radical Friendship" by Kate Johnson
Happy Post-Halloween everyone! Postponed the edit on this one slightly to get a good nights sleep; hope you enjoy waking up to the invitation to feel every sensation the workday after Halloween night!
Conversations about confi...
Archive Highlight; "The DJ Khaled Exception"
oh lord — I swear this one was meant to be just a funny quick post, and a slightly longer-form version of a joke I often tell at Immersive Creator tables, but it turns out I have a lot 2024-11-01 04:22:30 +0000 UTC View Post
October Reading; “Getting Friendly with Radicals”
This month I took a book off my pile of Things Recommended by Friends (only 473 to go!), and went on a bit of an unexpected journey; they say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can absolutely read
September Reading Excerpt; "Immortality"
Curious about the game I played this month for my reading? Wondering what it's like to justify arthouse video games as a deductible expense? Looking to hear me spend 9 minutes saying many words when "hey y'all look this is neat" would do?
Y...
September Archive Highlight - “Pay Up - pt 2 (UPDATE); “Management Plays the Long Odds”
This is the second in a series of posts about my experiments in different payment Systems across my projects The Telelibrary, 2024-09-30 01:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
September Reading: "Reel Thrills"
Ah! September is almost over! In honor of that terrifying fact, let’s dive into some content on the more dark and foreboding side of things - this month’s reading is an exciting and innovative video game which comes at a new Patron’s exc...
2024-09-29 23:36:54 +0000 UTC View PostPLAYTEST OPPORTUNITY - IF WE WIN
Hey everyone!
A quick post here - I've gotten a commission to remount my 2019/2021 work IF WE WIN at a private party this coming weekend, and my budget affords me the chance to do 1-2 playtests to get some reps in and flush th...
August Reading Excerpt: "Remediation"
With thanks to some transit related wi-fi issues (if there's an AirBnB where the wi-fi works right away, I've never found it), August is finishing in the early days of September. I actually had a great time recording this on a mountain porch, so w...
2024-09-03 15:01:19 +0000 UTC View PostAugust Highlight; The Immersive Spirit (or, letter to a young immersive artist) - pt 1
I'm in the woods! Wi-Fi is limited (in the WOODS?! Who could have anticipated?), so I'll be staggering the last releases of August as I catch as catch can). This is part one of several of entries in a piece of writing inspired by my favorite R...
2024-09-01 14:07:25 +0000 UTC View Post