release image
Illustration for the dedication page from Bette Adriaanse. (Also, why not write your own copyright statement?)
Illustration for the dedication page from Bette Adriaanse. (Also, why not write your own copyright statement?)
The original artwork drawn live by Jeremy Deller
Daddio and sister Kels
Daddio and sister Kels
A third of a way through writing the novel, daddio died for real. What do you do with that loss and grief? The inner workings of the novel writing process.
A third of a way through writing the novel, daddio died for real. What do you do with that loss and grief? The inner workings of the novel writing process.
Jay Griffiths is the renowned author of Wild, Why Rebel, and her new book out this year, How Animals Heal Us. She wrote the Foreword to Daddio! and speaks here about the power of humour to move us through our grief (both familial and climate)
A short teaser of the animation of the central section of the novel, by Josh Knowles with sounds by Brian Eno

More about the release
1 Notes

This is the latest release from the cultural collective HardArt, a network of artists, musicians, activists, makers, doers and others, who meet at Brian Eno’s studio twice a month to stand in solidarity in the face of climate collapse, genocide and authoritarianism. The release is made up of:

Sounds: Brian Eno (arranged by Alex Lockwood) Front cover: Turner Prize winner, Jeremy Deller Foreword: author of Wild, Jay Griffiths Illustration: artist, educator and author Bette Adriaanse Alarm Clock concept: Leon Oldstrong and Hard Art Alarm Clock animation: Josh Knowles Portraits: artist, singer and performer Mr Ian Bruce Words and family dynamics: Alex Lockwood

At the first HardArt in 2022, in response to the question "what work should we be making now?" one group came up with the idea of the ALARM CLOCK, a piece of immersive environmental art, where the installation rooms get hotter and hotter as participants pass through it.

That idea now lives (with permission and with other contributions) at the centre of this novel. Brian Eno provided five short pieces of music to arrange as the soundtrack to the ALARM CLOCK section of the novel; the arrangement, "ALARM CLOCK", is included as an original and separate MP3 in the limited edition of the Full Digital Pack release. It also soundtracks the section in the full audiobook.

Daddio! is a climate comedy wrapped inside a family drama. As John Lennon said, the only two things the forces of control can’t deal with are nonviolence and humour. So let's be funny with our grief, and see what happens.

Profits are split across contributors and will also go to support Hard Art’s mission.

FURTHER DETAILS: "Daddio!" Published by Hard Art Paperback, 132 pages / 12 x 18 cm ISBN: 978-1-906180-25-6

Release Notes (1)

Excerpt from Forward by Jay Griffiths

"You may read this book to feel understood. You may read it for its gothic gallows humour. You may read it for its sheer brilliance of notation, in the known unknowns of the acknowledged human heart. You may read it for its revelation of visceral crisis already being felt by so many people across the world: where the air is an oven; where the waters may drown you; where drought or flood leaves the fertile earth ineluctably undone, famine in the wings and wildfire out of control. You may read it because the element of human imagination—the alchemical quintessence—is more precious than lithium, iridium, palladium or platinum. But please read it."

Record details

Category
Publishing, Culture, Art
Release Date
10 April 2025
Catalog Number
HA007
hardart
Hard Art
HA007

Daddio! A Collaborative Novel

Created by

A man drives his elderly evil-tempered father to a funeral. They never arrive as their dysfunctional family dynamic unravels on a journey overshadowed by a fascist & climate-ravaged future. Daddio! is a portrayal of the crisis in democracy, climate, & truth, a parable for our times – but don’t worry, it’s a comedy! A collaboration with HardArtists.

Collected by
$
Collected by
Limited run of 499