Book: The Coming Self-Destruction Of The U.S.A - Alan Seymour

Yes, it would have been apt to have posted this in 2020 but I bought it this morning from the highly recommended Walden Books which, like the shop I work in, Black Gull, is one of the few surviving independent bookshops in London that's been around for over 40 years. Ironically, that which helped kill off many indies, online shopping, is now what keeps them afloat - adapt and survive. There's nothing like the browsing experience, though, because you come across titles that weren't in your head! Whilst bookshops, like the U.S.A in this novel, are 'disintegrating', we'll really miss the experience when they've all gone. Be warned...

 

Collage/Drawing: Space Event / Starlink space age coincidence / No Direction Home book cover art by Alun Hood / The Bureau of Lost Culture Michael Moorcock interview

RTomens, 2022

6.15 a.m. I gaze up up the dark-turning-deep-blue pre-dawn sky and see UFOs! UFOs, that is, until researched 'lines of white lights in the sky' and found out they were part of SpaceX's satellite internet project - whoooo! Part of me was disappointed that I hadn't seen a row of alien spacecraft flying in very tight formation and part of me was amazed by the earth-based human endeavour. By a suitably X-Files-type, spooky sci-fi coincidence I had made the image above, Space Event, just yesterday. So it came to pass, art predicted what would happen the very next day - a real space event.

Talking of outer space, inner space and sci-fi, here's my Cover of the Day, picked up this morning from a charity shop on my way to the bookshop...

...a gem, eh? Artwork by Alun Hood. I scanned my copy because those online weren't very good. The collection is promising, though, but also misleading because there are short stories by other authors too. Why they've packaged it as a Spinrad collection is a mystery. I didn't notice until I examined the credits once I was home. Turns out the first and title story is by...hold on...it says 'copyright Michael Moorcock' but research tells me it's by Spinrad - huh? So Moorcock had the copyright because it appeared in New Worlds 2? OK, what about The Weed Of Time, stated as copyright by Anne McCaffrey? Or The National Pastime copyright Harry Harrison? It seems that all the stories are by Spinrad by some other authors hold the copyright. How did that happen? You figure it out.

Whilst mentioning Moorcock, I recommend this podcast from the Bureau of Lost Culture. It's the first part of what was apparently a long discussion, the rest of which will be aired in the future. Check out other episodes too because it's an interesting show.

 

Book: The Computerized Society - cover by Giannetto Coppola / Big Technology Is Watching!

First published in the U.S. in 1970, this Pelican edition was published in 1973. I found it this morning in a charity shop. The cover design is by Giannetto Coppola, who is best known for the great work he did for Penguin books, such as this...

...but aside from buying it for the cover (yes, we all fall for that sometimes, don't we?) I will be using some of the text in artworks. One line found at random that interested me is on page 383 under the heading 'Cyberveillance'. This section opens thus: 'Perhaps it will be easy to prevent pestering by machine' and continues a few lines later: '...computers monitoring a situation, processing the data they collect, and taking action when they detect particular circumstance.' Well there's a multitude of unforeseen realities embedded in those statements. 

The fear in 1970 was that The Machines would rule us at the behest of quasi-tyrannical corporations but they could never predict that people would be 'pestering' each other via computers. or perhaps they do elsewhere in the book. As for monitoring situations, Silicon Valley's Guardians of Facts certainly do that. Woe betide you should you contravene their doctrine!

I've no doubt a sci-fi-type scenario threads it's way through this book as a subtext, if not clearly stated, whereby computers are a constant, shadowy force, potentially dominating society. Funny, eh? In a way, they do dominate, but through the addictive nature of online 'society' rather than a result of the technology per se. Corporations successfully manipulate and feed The Habit.

Not that I'm immune, being 'addicted' myself. But I'm thankful for a computer which allows me to show my Art in the gallery without walls and yes, interact with people. Meanwhile, back in the Real World, I'm out scouting for old-fashioned books, some of which have covers that I cannot resist.