Howard Hodgkin

Approximately thirteen moons ago, I asked myself: Is it possible to live under a lunar calendar?

What would such a life reveal? What happens when you measure life in months instead of years? How would you interface with the databases that underlie digitized capitalism? Where to begin?

One begins with one’s own body, of course. Has science fiction taught us nothing?

—Badly Licked Bear, introduction

Manual 19 looks up to the skies to consider astronomy and space travel and ponder broader, more ancient associations, including the night in all its inky glory; tides, time, and calendars; the feminine; reflections and mirrors; love and enduring companionship; and lunacy, strangeness, and magic.