Update | The Employee by Joshua Schwebel

Mariane Bourcheix-Laporte <████████████████████ > To: Josh Schwebel <privatejosh@gmail.com>

Sun, Mar 29, 2020 at 5:16 PM

Hi Josh,

I hope you are doing well and keeping positive. I'm guessing you got stranded in Canada... Are you with your family in Toronto? I'm sure it's hard to be away from your partner and dog at this time. Sending you good thoughts.

The last two weeks have been pretty anxiety-inducing for me, but I'm doing OK and moving forward with writing my comps starting tomorrow morning. I feel way less stressed about them now that I've had other things to stress about!

Roxanne has been in touch with me and I've reviewed both the English text and French translation. Everything is ready for whenever the show is rescheduled for. Hopefully in the near future.

Speaking of, I got this call for submissions (attached) and thought it it would be a good idea to submit an abstract for the text we've been discussing. Let me know how you feel about the possibility of having a discussion of your work being included in this anthology. The deadline to submit final essays is for Nov 9, so if the abstract gets accepted, I'm hoping your show at Clark will have happened by then.

I'll be staying away from email as much as possible next week, so I'll be in touch again the week of April 6. If you think submitting the abstract is a good idea, then I'll be able to work on it April 7-9.

Take care,

Mariane

Josh Schwebel <privatejosh@gmail.com>

Fri, Apr 3, 2020 at 6:40 AM

hi Mariane,

It's really nice to hear from you. Sorry, I haven't gotten in touch earlier, I've been depressed and overwhelmed, and am trying to figure out what's going on, what it means, and how to not go crazy during this indefinite and undefined period of time.

How are you? I have a feeling that having comps through this must in some ways be way more difficult, and in some ways, mean that you must block out the news entirely, which is perhaps a minor privilege. Although I really don't envy that you have so much pressure at this moment.

As things were tumbling closed mid-march I actually made a snap decision and managed to fly back to Berlin right as borders were closing. So I'm in Berlin now with my boyfriend and my dog. On the surface, this is basically the same as always, and comforting for that. However, I'm feeling trapped, as I'm sure everyone is, and feeling the uncertainty about what's coming next weighing on me. As you've surmised, the show is also postponed indefinitely. This was a painful turn of events, but I am trying accept that this is hopefully temporary, and that I'm extremely secure and privileged given the new normal.

In our now very insignificant world of culture and politics, the project of writing about my work seems so unimportant when everything is falling apart, but I feel like I really need unimportant things to focus on, if only for my mental health. I'm really glad you sent me this call, which is indeed perfect for the topic. I'd be very happy to go ahead with it!

Good luck with your comps, and stay safe!

warmly,

Josh

Mariane Bourcheix-Laporte <████████████████████ >

Fri, Apr 3, 2020 at 6:41 AM

Hello, Bonjour,

Thank you for your email.

Please note that I will be writing my doctoral exams between March 30 and April 6, 2020. I will have limited engagement with email during this time and will respond to your message as soon as possible the week of April 6. Thank you for your understanding.

Merci pour votre courriel.

Veuillez noter que je compléterai mes examens de doctorat entre le 30 mars et le 6 avril 2020. Pendant cette période, mes communications par courriel seront limitées. Je répondrai à votre message le plus tôt possible dans la semaine du 6 avril. Merci de votre compréhension.

Mariane