an asyn chro
nous world tech@nyu
Issue 1 - Spring 2021
Editor’s Note Hello new and old Tech@NYU fam,
COVID has been rough, ngl. It's been over a year since all students hastily vacated their dorms during Spring Break, lectures shifted online, and work from home became the new norm.
In the beginning, many of us replaced pockets of commute time with sourdough starter kits and long-neglected reading lists—soon, this flurry of emotions simmered to exhaustion and the common case of Zoom fatigue.
Learning the social cues of virtual interactions and seeing grids of blank names on the screen, we gradually became accustomed to the strained awkwardness of meeting people online. In other cases, recorded lectures served as a double-edged sword, letting us finally catch up on sleep but maybe coaxing us to detach from the live classroom setting a bit too much. Nevertheless, we've become more resilient through learning in a remote world and have ~almost~ learnt to make peace with it.
As vaccines roll out, we’re finally allowing ourselves to feel the jitters of excitement that come with meeting irl again. In publishing this zine, titled “An Asynchronous World,” we hope to amplify creativity and preserve community despite being time zones apart. We want to share the snippets of daily life in a pandemic as well as express the enduring camaraderie and hope for the return to normal life again JayLi Quek, Editor & Tech@NYU Presiden Kelly Mao, Editor & Graphic Desig Sam Falb, Graphic Design
on physics and parks you’ve brought a picnic blanket and calculator
if there’s a function that can model how many people before
smoke claws up against my cheeks and i start to hyperventilate
please teach me, because
these undulating figures blur
into trampled chalk, at least enough that it makes for a messy picture
origami pleats adorn paved hexagons so we stay behind
i immediately forget a certain free-fall revelation
it’s all quite peripheral, actually
(even though we gave up on six feet in september)
you hypothesize on the continuum between unvaccinated and vaccinated
today it’s 79 degrees outside and we
plummet into cacophonous, chaotic chroma
i ache to be better but tunnel vision can only take you so far
pray tell, what is the point of stealing someone’s lizst playlist if i’m only
pretending to read about entropy
COVID-19 Haikus A Morning Light
Oh Well
Jacob Baum
sama srinivas
A bright morning light,
I forgot how to
Filling my space with the world,
Look put together out there
I must charge my phone.
Oh well, back to bed
Soon
Zoom Life Tips
The end is nearer
make and eat good food
My second dose is looming
find joy in the simple things
Can’t wait to hug peeps
be grateful for life
Zoom Narcissus
Sourdough
My eyes glance at them
seven loaves later
A face in countless boxes
I still haven't figured out
They smile when I do
why the bread won't rise.
dear data
This spread is based on the MOMA exhibit “Dear Data,” in which information designers Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec mailed each other postcards visualizing data from their everyday lives in order to stay in touch.
alternative snacks
awaiting august
we delve into tangerine
and feel new again
your stomach aches but
i follow the instructions
asynchronously
(one) pink gummy bear
swim through crackling raspberry
shaky polaroid
helium-engulfed
sun sets on my bike basket
please don’t go away.
quarantine reading Jay-Li, co-president of Tech@NYU, interviewed her friend Natasha, a junior at Barnard studying anthropology. They talked about the quarantine reading Natasha fell back into upon returning home.
N: At the beginning of the year I had a goal to read twice as many books as I did last year. I read about 10 books last year, so I set a new goal for 20. Quarantine was very conducive for reading—right before fall semester started, I hit the 25-book mark.
J: I totally feel you on that, I especially love reading during school breaks because I know there are no deadlines ahead of me. However, when the end of the year comes around, I realize I’ve only read about 5 books.
“
I got to go back
to a lot of hobbies, since I literally got to go back home.
N: This was definitely coincidental. If my summer plans had come into fruition, I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep the goal. That was one of my favorite things about quarantine—I got to go back to a lot of hobbies, since I literally got to go back home.
J: Do you have a favorite book out of the ones you read?
N: Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. For some reason, I still get
transported into that. It’s long and dense, but I couldn’t put it down.
J: Wow. I really admire that. I always think books are a hit or miss for me and sometimes I don’t finish them.
N: It’s all about finding what you’re drawn to as a reader, but then again, tastes change! I read a lot of post-colonial literature and books that have to do with finding your cultural identity, because I find that to the most interesting and it sometimes relates to what I am interested in academically. I started the year off with Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart,” a very iconic book in African literature. It’s part of a trilogy exploring post colonial identity in Nigeria. And then I have those books where I haven’t tried that particular genre and sometimes it doesn’t work out.
J: Hmm . . . were there any books that took you by surprise?
N: I did read one sci-fi book called “Flowers for Algernon,” which was given to me 4 years ago on my birthday because I asked a friend to get me their favorite book. I wouldn’t usually read sci-fi but it was actually a really nice read.
questions for the tech@nyu community We asked, you answered.
Q: picture of food you’ve ordered during COVID
Q: Picture from a walk you’ve taken during COVID
Scrabbled Memories
jacob baum
We Are Abloom Again
sama srinivas
Polaroid backyard.co Netflix
Adorable Home
A VPN
Notion Figma
behind the screens: following female youtubers of color Eboard member Lydia Lim shared with us about her exciting recent documentary project: “During the pandemic, for my Critical Video class in MCC, I, alongside 2 classmates, created a mini documentary featuring famous female YouTubers of color like @catcreature, @kaifoster, @thenotoriouskia, @lenalifts, and @urmomashley! The final product is something we are super proud of and this was the first time I personally ever edited something so grand.”
To find the film, scan this QR code or search Youtube for “Behind the Screens: Following Female YouTubers of Color.”
easttaaut -
re ants r
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g
walks with
post-
covid to-doS destinations
o u t
s u o e n a spovnetntures ad
indoor maskless hangouts
s i d
go b a ke r y hoppin g
travel far and often
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