(De)Cypher was inspired by Sylvia Wynter’s decipherment method—a critical intellectual praxis that seeks to interrogate what art does rather than simply what it means—and her “black paper” form of five to seven-page essays on culture. It launched on March 16th, 2022 to also honor the legacy of Freedom’s Journal. As a journal, (De)Cypher is committed to encouraging conversations about how art does or does not contend with the logics of the world that reproduce anti-black scenes of subjection and violence. Therefore, rather than simply asking “how does it feel?” to experience a particular art or aesthetic object, the journal pursues a meta-question. It asks “what do you think about how it feels?” to begin an interrogation of the structure in which feelings arise rather than accepting them at face value. Doing so avoids an unqualified optimism attributable to our eagerness for social transformation. (De)Cypher’s method of aesthetic engagement attempts to keep our consciousness in the hold of blackness rather than trying to come up for air too soon.

(De)Cypher is not affiliated with any political movement or ideology. The content found should not be read as prescriptive, but vertiginous.

clt—pvd