{"id":6917,"date":"2026-04-12T21:04:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/?p=6917"},"modified":"2026-04-13T10:17:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T10:17:57","slug":"dissonant-laws-self-care-101-dissonance-and-pleasure-activism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/2026\/04\/12\/dissonant-laws-self-care-101-dissonance-and-pleasure-activism\/","title":{"rendered":"DISSONANT LAWS &#8211; Self-Care 101: Dissonance and Pleasure Activism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.13140\/RG.2.2.34210.80323\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.13140\/RG.2.2.34210.80323<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><em><strong>Dissonant Laws is an exhibition and collaboration by <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lore.org.uk\/about\"><strong>LORE <\/strong><\/a>(Legal Origins Rights Education &amp; Art) and <a href=\"https:\/\/meansmagazine.com\/current-issue\/\">MEANS magazine<\/a>, running from February to June 2026 at The Foundry, Vauxhall, London. It explores the tense relationship between citizens and authority, featuring art that highlights law-breaking as artistic resistance, including works on rave culture, protest, and environmental rights. It seeks to unpick the relationship between citizens, authority, and rebellious invention. How do laws create or engender artistic resistance? And how do those forms of creative dissent in turn infer new forms of legality? What examples of artistic protest have emerged in response to legislative change?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>by Dr Heather McKnight<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/people-2\/layla-tully\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1039\">Layla Hignell-Tully<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/people-2\/heather-mcknight\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"872\">Heather McKnight<\/a> from Magnetic Ideals and have one of our videos showing at this Exhibition in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We filmed the video for our song &#8216;Self Care&#8217; on a beautiful day in Lewes as lockdown began to lift. The first time we had met in person in a long time, and it was great to be outdoors and find some creative positivity in dark times, but still sat in discomfort in the times of broader multiple crises, protests and fear. This song was not the lockdown songs we had been struggling to write over digitally distorted video calls. It was a chance to embody in person some playful and serious moments, finding some kind of joy, in order to thrive under challenging conditions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ewk1MMjCejc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent&#038;listType=playlist&#038;list=RDewk1MMjCejc\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong><em>Mummy\u2019s a bit hairy, mummy\u2019s got holes&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong><em>(that\u2019s true baby, but she doesn\u2019t want everyone to know\u2026)<\/em><\/strong> &#8211; <em>lyrics from song <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>We are inspired by Adrienne Maree Brown&#8217;s work, which centres around the concept of pleasure activism, and asserts &#8220;that we all need and deserve pleasure and that our social structures must reflect that.\u201d[i] Here, dissonance and the ability to be at odds with the times that restrict us and others are a key part of this, dissonance is not a breakdown but a source of resistance and authenticity&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>\u201cAnyone can dance with anyone to form a collective\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong>Sara Ahmed, Living a Feminist Life p. 248<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Participatory invitation: <\/strong><em>we invite you to form a collective and dance with us in space, to find cracks in the darkness of the lived moment. This is an invitation, not an instruction, as Ahmed notes that not dancing when it is expected of us, and not desired, it is also a form of resistance. We invite people to reflect on how they make space to care for themselves, for each other, for the winged pollinators that our moth, butterfly and queen bee capes represent as they flutter in the wind and find pleasure in dissonance\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ahmed notes in her lecture <em>Snap <\/em>&nbsp;\u201cThink of how all the frustration, that rage, can become a tipping point. It is only when you seem to lose it, when you shout, swear, spill, that you have their attention. And then you become a spectacle.\u201d[ii] In Fuck You and Your A-Sides we try to own our spectacle, as we write our songs, we swear, we laugh, we become gentle, we dance and then cry\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>We resist when we\u2019re still in the time between tasks<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>We resist while we spill, we resist while we dance<\/strong>  &#8211; <em>lyrics from song <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In this song, written from a place of exhaustion \u201cwhat can we become\/what have we become\u201d intertwined in their own dance of hopefulness and failure. Much literature around care in the digital realm focuses on self-care, individualising failure, and a culture of blame emerges if you do not satisfactorily perform self-care. As Audrey Lorde notes \u201cWe do not get there from here by ignoring all of the mud in-between those positions\u201d [iii] &#8211; that if you do not learn by your errors you die by them as we sing the words<strong> \u201cFailing is trying and it\u2019s part of the fight\u201d<\/strong> there are no attempts for perfection in the recording or the filming, no second takes, every error preserved. It is all very much in the moment; we have no time for anything else in a world of demands and expectations. As<a href=\"https:\/\/adriennemareebrown.net\/2021\/02\/08\/if-youre-good-say-youre-good\/\">&nbsp;Adrienne Maree Brown<\/a> notes, \u201cthere are times when we are truly all in the trenches of shadow times, dragging each other through salt and mud and just barely making our way through it.\u201d [iv] Creativity as self-care happens for us in the moments we have stolen from the rest of the work, or it does not happen at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recognise the dissonance of self-care narratives from a feminist perspective. This is a normative practice; it can be twisted back into another task, another tool of measurement against which to succeed or fail. Here, we are not condemning all forms of self-care, or in any way suggesting there is no worth in self-care practices, particularly the powerful black queer feminist self-care heritage of Audrey Lorde: \u201cCaring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.\u201d [v] These forms of radical self-care are deeply important. Thanks to Sara Ahmed and Cyndi Lauper for inspiring our lyrics, to Tove for her dancing, and to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ACoAABK_HQcBlndA160YFyDz6vDBwU9AzufmRZw?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAABK_HQcBlndA160YFyDz6vDBwU9AzufmRZw\">Chris Kuzmicki<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/danielhignelltully?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAAC6ryMgBvwfH5FSqE2QrTwiODv00NU0_TEw\">Daniel Hignell-Tully<\/a> for helping with the film and camera and to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lucy-finchett-maddock?miniProfileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_miniProfile%3AACoAADft9PoBuZS3lXtS5SCPn8hgn3DcXFvMAlw\">Lucy Finchett-Maddock<\/a> for the beauty of the lore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more of our music, see &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/fuckyouandyourasides.bandcamp.com\/?search_item_id%3D2698039836%26search_item_type%3Db%26search_match_part%3D%253F%26search_page_id%3D5318657295%26search_page_no%3D0%26search_rank%3D1\">Fuck You and Your A-Sides<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are in London check out the rest of this amazing exhibition!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thelondongroup.com\/dissonant-laws\/\">Dissonant Laws &#8211; Miche\u00e1l O\u2019Connell LG\/ Mocksim exhibits at The Foundry. 20 March \u2013 1 June.<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong>Address<em>:<\/em><\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em>The Foundry 17 Oval Way, London SE11 5RR, London\u2019s Human Rights centre<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong>Dates of exhibition<em>:<\/em><\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em>Opening 20th March, to June 1st <strong>Opening days\/times<em>:<\/em><\/strong><em>\u00a0<\/em>Monday \u2013 Friday 8:30am \u2013 6pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong>A group of artists share their work on dissonance, law and acts of agreement and disagreement.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">As an exhibition,&nbsp;<em>Dissonant Laws<\/em>&nbsp;seeks to unpick the relationship between citizens, authority, and rebellious invention. How do laws create or engender artistic resistance? How can creative dissent in turn encourage new forms of legality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">Bringing together a group of artists, it explores notions of aesthetic resistance and rebellious acts taking the form of performance art, flash mobs, murals and sonic acts, often considering art movements that intentionally broke the law, creating radical reinterpretations of how groups of people might occupy space and responding to contexts where, at times, laws might need breaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><strong>Including works by:<\/strong> Mocksim, Distant Animals, Luce FM, Helen Dewhurst, Rhys Trimble, Sarah Holyfield, Andreas Philippoulos-Mihalopoulos, Sabina Andron, FU &amp; Your A-Sides, Francesco Pizzocchero, Ken Clarry, Anat Sarna, Curtis Essel, O\u011fulcan Ekiz, Ni Shan, Alison Young, Kerry Baldry.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>End Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[i] Adrienne Maree Brown, Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good (Emergent Strategy): 1 (AK Press, 2019).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[ii] Sara Ahmed, Living a Feminist Life (Duke University Press Books, 2017), 248.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[iii] Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light: And Other Essays, Later Edition (Dover Publications Inc., 2017).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[iv] Brown, adrienne maree, \u2018If You\u2019re Good, Say You\u2019re Good\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[v] Lorde, A Burst of Light.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.13140\/RG.2.2.34210.80323 Dissonant Laws is an exhibition and collaboration by LORE (Legal Origins Rights Education &amp; Art) and MEANS magazine, running from February to June 2026 at The Foundry, Vauxhall, London. It explores the tense relationship between citizens and authority, featuring art that highlights law-breaking as artistic resistance, including works on rave culture, protest, and environmental [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6919,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Sharing a moment of feminist dissonance from lockdown as part of an exhibition, Dissonant Laws, just a wee glimmer in a big bold exhibition, , come and explore the whole dissonant space.... Including works by: Mocksim, Distant Animals, Luce FM, Helen Dewhurst, Rhys Trimble, Sarah Holyfield, Andreas Philippoulos-Mihalopoulos, Sabina Andron, FU & Your A-Sides, Francesco Pizzocchero, Ken Clarry, Anat Sarna, Curtis Essel, O\u011fulcan Ekiz, Ni Shan, Alison Young, Kerry Baldry.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,37,38,6,1,22,39],"tags":[47,44,45,48,46,19],"class_list":["post-6917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concrete-utopias","category-culture","category-sustainability","category-training","category-uncategorized","category-unionising-the-future","category-utopian-studies","tag-audre-lorde","tag-dissonant","tag-lore","tag-sara-ahmed","tag-self-care","tag-utopia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/selfcare.jpg.png?fit=602%2C308&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Bqx4-1Nz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6923,"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6917\/revisions\/6923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magneticideals.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}