Mind the Gaps
Published on 31. March 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
64 pages
978-1-917251-12-9 (ISBN)
Description
What if the universe is stitched together with absences? What if our deepest realities - personal, political, cosmic - are not shaped by grand ideas or all-encompassing 'explanations', but by the tiny, unremarked gaps between them?
In this kaleidoscopic essay, Phil Smith covers some unlikely terrain: from the quantum unevenness of the cosmos to the haunted ruins of mines and the fragile misadventures of lost mariners. He rejects the siren call of big, smooth answers and plunges into the turbulent space where anomalies, coincidences and disturbances matter.
Phil gathers stories, observations and practices from the disturbed edges of culture, ecology and everyday life - inviting us to attend to absences, to find hope in the vacuum and to experiment with living differently in the leaks and loopholes of existence.
In this kaleidoscopic essay, Phil Smith covers some unlikely terrain: from the quantum unevenness of the cosmos to the haunted ruins of mines and the fragile misadventures of lost mariners. He rejects the siren call of big, smooth answers and plunges into the turbulent space where anomalies, coincidences and disturbances matter.
Phil gathers stories, observations and practices from the disturbed edges of culture, ecology and everyday life - inviting us to attend to absences, to find hope in the vacuum and to experiment with living differently in the leaks and loopholes of existence.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Bridport
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 131 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight
90 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-917251-12-9 (9781917251129)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Phil Smith is a performance-maker, writer and researcher.
He is the author of numerous books and plays. With
visual artist and poet Helen Billinghurst, he is one half of
Crab & Bee, co-authoring Crab & Bee's 'Matter Of Britain'
(Peakrill Press) in 2025 and 'The Pattern' (Triarchy Press) in
2020.
With Tony Whitehead, Phil is co-author of the novel
Bonelines (2020), author of the neo-gothic novellas of 'The
Silversnake Project' (2023) and of 'Living In The Magical
Mode' in 2022.
He wrote 'Albion's Eco-Eerie: Films And TV Of the
Haunted Generations' in 2024 (Temporal Boundary Press)
and his 'Albion's Atomic-Weird' is due out in 2026.
Since 1980 Phil has been company dramaturg for TNT
Theatre (Munich) and is an Honorary Associate Researcher
at University of Plymouth. He is currently researching
diagrammatical performances with Helen Billinghurst, and
together they are writing a book about these for Routledge for
publication in 2026.
He is the author of numerous books and plays. With
visual artist and poet Helen Billinghurst, he is one half of
Crab & Bee, co-authoring Crab & Bee's 'Matter Of Britain'
(Peakrill Press) in 2025 and 'The Pattern' (Triarchy Press) in
2020.
With Tony Whitehead, Phil is co-author of the novel
Bonelines (2020), author of the neo-gothic novellas of 'The
Silversnake Project' (2023) and of 'Living In The Magical
Mode' in 2022.
He wrote 'Albion's Eco-Eerie: Films And TV Of the
Haunted Generations' in 2024 (Temporal Boundary Press)
and his 'Albion's Atomic-Weird' is due out in 2026.
Since 1980 Phil has been company dramaturg for TNT
Theatre (Munich) and is an Honorary Associate Researcher
at University of Plymouth. He is currently researching
diagrammatical performances with Helen Billinghurst, and
together they are writing a book about these for Routledge for
publication in 2026.
Content
The Gaps
What if?
If That Nothing Is, Then What Is This?
What If The Nothing Is A Something?
Where Is If?
Transactions
But Wait
In which case, if that is true, where is The If?
A Doubt Creeps In
Is Hyper-empiricism The Answer?
Dark Cities
How did I get here?
The Empty Temple
A-causation
Local Generalities
The Ghost
CMB and The Occult Origin
The One Tear That Isn't There
The Seal
Trying To Make Non-Existence Meaningful
A Body Returned
Anti-transactional
Coincidences: Connections Without Causes
Bending Time: Cause And Effect
Gap Politics
There Is Never Any Conclusion
What if?
If That Nothing Is, Then What Is This?
What If The Nothing Is A Something?
Where Is If?
Transactions
But Wait
In which case, if that is true, where is The If?
A Doubt Creeps In
Is Hyper-empiricism The Answer?
Dark Cities
How did I get here?
The Empty Temple
A-causation
Local Generalities
The Ghost
CMB and The Occult Origin
The One Tear That Isn't There
The Seal
Trying To Make Non-Existence Meaningful
A Body Returned
Anti-transactional
Coincidences: Connections Without Causes
Bending Time: Cause And Effect
Gap Politics
There Is Never Any Conclusion