« Wounded for our transgressions | Main | One week poster project »
June 20, 2005
Porn and the Unabomber manifesto
The Unabomber's manifesto, a lengthy rant (about the evils of technology, science, corporations, and Leftism, was published by Bob Guccione in this issue of Penthouse. Apparently the bomber sent it to the New York Times and The Post, who were both initially reticent to publish it, so good ol' Bob put an ad in the NY Times letting the bomber know that he'd publish the manifesto. The Unabomber got in touch with Guccioneóthey even talked on the phone . . . apparently Guccione even offered him a column!? It would seem there are 2 world records to be claimed in this issue! A serial killer getting his manifesto published in a magazine with this kind of distribution? Ironically it was his manifesto that eventually lead to his capture, after having been hunted for 17 years by the FBI.
I've been trying to find the Unabomber's original manuscript but haven't been able to? I was interested in the processes he'd employed. He was obviously extremely anti-technology, and what I have been able to find out is that he wrote it on a manual typewriter in a small shed that was his home. The shed had no electricity or plumbing. Of course I wonder how he must feel about his manifesto being such popular web-fodder these days? Digital technologyóthe internet specifically, much like the invention of movable type in the fifteenth centuryóis surely a kind of holy grail for writers of manifestos?
The internet has also been great for pornography! Obscenity, fanatacism, extremity and transgression are common undercurrents in subversive manifestoes . . . I think maybe this is important to my interests in monstrosityósubversion? I want to think more about why I'm attracted to crackpot ravings and the aesthetics of porn (oh I haven't mentioned that I'm designing a website for Anna in which I'm aiming to appropriate the aesthetics of internet porn).
Posted by Luke Wood at June 20, 2005 04:42 PM
Comments
so that's the website you were telling me about? wow, cool. will there be real naked shots, or just lots of pink and porn-designy things? make sure to post the link when it's up.
Posted by: artbasher at August 10, 2005 03:35 PM