Care has no single aesthetic.
It’s practiced by everyone, just with radically different values.
Tech CEOs care about optimisation.
AI labs care about alignment.
Crypto funds care about volatility.
Border agencies care about supposed safety.
Climate activists care about time.
Content moderators care about damage control.
Influencers care about engagement.
Landlords care about yield.
Grandmothers care about who shows up.
So I wonder: what do you really care about?
Tell yourself, tell others, tell me:
Who do you think you are?
What time do you act like you live in?
Who do you believe you care about? And who benefits from that belief?
Whose comfort depends on your silence?
Whose tyrant are you without noticing?
Do you think the help you offer actually helps; or does it mostly stabilise you?
Who does your help really help?
Where does your care turn into control?
Are you honest with yourself, or strategically transparent?
How do you perform solidarity when no one is watching?
What does solidarity cost you?
What kinds of collective power do you trust?
Are you paid for the care you give?
Do you believe we are interdependent, or only when it’s convenient?
Is care soft, sharp, logistical, exhausting?
What does care taste like today?
Cheek on pillow - is that care?
Indigo Paliacate with the Feathered Serpent Island, MCD, 2026. Courtesy of the artist
Unread message - is that neglect?
Whose care do you pay for - and whose do you extract for free?
Can there be care inside domination?
Can domination hide inside care?
What does care look like when it has power?
Where does solidarity in art actually happen, on stage, backstage, or in contracts?
How difficult is it for you to listen without fixing?
Who carries responsibility when no one volunteers?
How should resources circulate - and who decides?
Do you trust your agency - or outsource it?
What policies would make care unavoidable, not optional?
Can we build communities that don’t burn out their most caring members?
How do you ask for help without branding yourself?
When do you practice compassion, and when do you withhold it?
When are you most attentive to others?
When are you most protective of yourself?
Are you willing to answer honestly when asked: How are you?
Are you imposing care as a moral demand?
Where have institutions harmed you while claiming to support you?
When do you feel genuinely cared for, not managed?
What’s your emergency - really?
What tools do you keep close when things fall apart?
What is a safe space to you, and who is excluded from it?
Do you still believe in “self-care” - or only in survival?
What do you desire that doesn’t optimise you?
Who do you love without leverage?
Who shows up for you when you are inconvenient?
When do you retreat into lifestyle fixes instead of structural change?
Does scrolling calm you - or numb you?
What do you consume daily - food, media, outrage, reassurance?
How often do you look up - not at a screen?
Do you recognise power in algorithms?
What do you judge others by when you’re tired?
Does exploiting yourself feel like freedom?
When do you exploit others - and how do you justify it?
What would universal care require you to give up?
What are you missing most right now?
Time? Security? Housing? Courage?
Fuck it?
Or what?
//
