Remembering Earth by Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
The child of two mystics—including his father, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, whose 2013 book, Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth, was seminal in establishing the namesake field—filmmaker, composer, Sufi teacher, and Emergence Magazine founding editor Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee has spent his life sharing and reckoning with his belief that humans’ spiritual disconnection from the Earth lies at the root of every crisis we face. In his new book, Remembering Earth: A Spiritual Ecology (Shambhala), he diagnoses modern society with a “great forgetting” of our primordial relationship with the sacred, ailing planet we inhabit and explores the ways we can—and must—work to rekindle it. Later, he introduces practices within the six areas of the breath, the heart, walking, listening, time, and prayer to help foster this connection. The result is not just a summation of his life’s teachings, but also a call to remembrance, both of the work his father began and of the ancient ground beneath our feet. “I feel more strongly than ever that stories are alive,” he writes, emphasizing that “they can play a vital role in helping to heal the divide between spirit and matter, and that the good ones have the potential to teach us how to love the Earth again.” —Emily Jiang

Rock Clock by Sean McFarland
Along the edge of Round Valley, in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, resides a megalith of Mesozoic granite that formed deep within the earth millions of years ago. After surfacing and being brought to its current location by glaciers, it was cleaved in half by the repetitive freezing and thawing of water within it. Dubbed the “Rock Clock” by artist and photographer Sean McFarland, the fractured boulder is a rich piece of geologic history known as a glacial erratic. Essentially a time capsule, the rock is, in his words, “displaced and delivered, sitting now among sage, saltbrush, and the drift of wildflowers and butterflies.” Out now in a limited run from Deep Time Press, McFarland’s new book by the same name presents 13 arresting black-and-white photographs taken at intervals as he circumambulated the earthly object. Entirely handmade, the book is housed in a custom slipcase along with an accompanying poster and features a cover with blind debossing by Leah Koransky. Following its initial debut in Los Angeles in May, it will be presented at the San Francisco Art Book Fair from July 23 through 26, which will coincide with the artist’s release of five deluxe editions, each containing a framed gelatin silver print from the series. —E.J.

Amble One
Founded by José António Uva, owner of the São Lourenço do Barrocal hotel in Portugal’s Alentejo countryside; industrial designer Julian Hoenig; designer Michael Tropper; and entrepreneur Adrien Roose, the new Lisbon-based EV company Amble has revealed its debut product, Amble One, a reimagined open-air electric buggy. Designed to cruise on terrain that regular cars aren’t cut out for—desert dunes, winding coastal paths, rugged dirt roads—the four-seater’s electric motor is a silent workhorse, offering an effortless ride even on steep or bumpy climbs. Its lightweight aluminum frame and recycled polymer body make the Amble One well-suited for sun, wind, or rain, and attachable accessories such as baskets, straps, mirrors, and rear cargo mean it can adapt and evolve along with a driver’s needs. First deliveries will begin in late 2027, with a street-legal version to follow in 2028. The underlying ethos of Amble One, Hoenig says, can be found in the company’s name—a word meaning to move without urgency, fully engaged with one’s surroundings, enjoying the world outside. “Amble One is built to embody that idea in its open, simple design,” he says. “No doors to close you in, no unnecessary screens to pull you away.” —E.J.

Whether playing, composing, or listening, Chicago-born multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton approaches music with a beginner’s mindset. Over his nearly six decades at the forefront of countless avant-garde experiments in sound, Braxton, who turned 81 last month, still sees himself as a student of music, as he told the enraptured crowd gathered to celebrate him at MacDowell’s 66th Medal Day, on June 28. While Braxton respects the eclectic array of traditions that shaped his ear—whether Bach, John Coltrane, or American jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams—he’s never chased certainty or finality in his lifelong search for cosmic and sonic knowledge. “I’m not from the zone that says I have all the answers,” he says. “In fact, I don’t even want the answers.”

Following the ceremony, we spoke with Braxton about carving out his improvisatory path and perpetually seeking new sounds. As he recalled reuniting with several former students that day, he nearly shed a few tears.

What was something that opened up the world of music for you early on and made you want to contribute?
I discovered Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers. I’ll never forget it. “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” I bought every record that he put on. I remember thinking, “How could life be any better than this?” I went to see the movie Blackboard Jungle (1955), with Sidney Poitier, and inside of the story, Bill Haley & His Comets began to play rock and roll. I remember thinking, “God help me, how could something be better than this?” I got all the music that I could find from both of these guys.

Then I began to listen to The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Paul Desmond on alto saxophone. This guy turned my life upside down. Before The Dave Brubeck Quartet or Paul Desmond, I wanted to be like Miles Davis, play the trumpet. I really loved the music and started putting the microscope on it. Something was moving forward, and I wanted to better understand what it was. I’d go to my mother’s church. It was actually very beautiful. But I remember, even now, thinking, “I don’t know about this…” [Laughs]

Which part?
I believe in God, I believe in spirituality. But how do you talk about something and you don’t want to disrespect it? There are so many different kinds of spiritualities and schools. I already understood that I believed in God, but I had to get some work done, to better understand the Creator. That was starting around 5, 6, or 7. By the time I was 15, I’d gone through different areas of spirituality and organizations, and I respected it in every way. 

And time—time fools you. You think it’s going slow, but it’s going faster. You think it’s going faster, but it’s going slower. As you begin to understand that there are all kinds of times taking place at the same time, things suddenly get more beautiful and more complex.

Can you expand on what you said in your speech earlier today about feeling like you’re the student at this point in your life?
One of my students here, Ted Reichman, he plays accordion and piano; he’s a super virtuoso, a brilliant young man, teaching in Boston at the New England Conservatory of Music. He’s one of the leaders of the music department. Now he’s calling the shots. I almost started crying. I almost fainted when I saw this guy. He’s a real man, a real musician, a real educator. He’s trying to help you understand what knowledge is and how you need to learn how to work with yourself—that’s the first component. You need to understand yourself, and from that point, you can begin to explore options that you weren’t always well aware of.

Who are some of the young artists and musicians you’re paying attention to and excited about right now?
I had maybe six of my students come today. I can’t believe these guys still remember me, and I remember them. They will go forward and help our young people. [Reichman] is doing it already, because he has an incredible heart. Tyshawn [Sorey], he’s another one of my students. It’s like, “Wait a minute, Tyshawn, what are you doing there with that? Show me what that was.” I’m learning a lot from my students. They want to let Braxton know that these people have moved forward and they’re doing their best work. When my young guys and girls come to see me, it helps me to know that I did my best. Eighty percent of my students come to visit me, won’t go away. So I try to get them to [tell me], what are you doing with this? What’s the new news?

I’m curious about musicians whom you’ve had a longer relationship with over time—John Cage, Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix. When you listen to their music now, do you find that you’re hearing things in a different way from when you first encountered them?
What you just described is the perspective that is correct for me—to learn from my students and my educators. And laugh together. It’s not all serious, toughy-tough talk or technological talks, but being together and laughing at how beautiful life is, and how you can get to where you want to get if you make a decision you want to do it.

My generation is rightfully fading out, but before you’re gone, you do your work. You don’t just stop and wait to die. You do the best you can do. When the time comes—the time is going to come, because that’s how it’s set up. Would you want to be alive forever? I don’t want to be in this situation forever.

What role does slowness and unstructured time play in your life now?
Cosmic forces and God have been the components that helped me to stay on the right track. I talk to the Creator, just like I talk to you, and I try to learn from people who are doing things. Life is really something, and if you don’t bring things inside of you, you’ve wasted an incredible opportunity, because it’s here, but it’s not going to always be here. Something will change, because change is part of how things work. It’s actually very beautiful if you’ve done your homework, or if you’ve gotten stronger and stronger.

Anthony, thank you so much for making time. It’s a big day for you. Congratulations.
I am surprised at all of this. As for you, no goodbyes. We will see one another in time, crossing one another. And maybe, if we’re lucky—if I’m lucky—we can have a nice conversation and laugh at all that we’ve gone through and all we went through to get even better, rather than slow up.

This interview was conducted by Olivia Aylmer. It has been condensed and edited.