5 Intriguing Things
"The Cut-Ups began in October of 1959, when Brion Gysin sliced through a pile of newspapers with his Stanley knife, his intention had been to 'cut mounts for his water colours' and the newspapers were there simply to protect his desktop. However, while observing the patterns created by the different layers of cut paper he decided to reshuffle them to compose a new narrative. Finding the result most amusing, he showed them to his friend and colleague William Burroughs. Burroughs realized Gysin had inadvertently opened a door that led not only to an artistic breakthrough, but also to a different way of seeing the world and processing/interpreting time. Heavily influenced by the Dadaist movement, this serendipitous realization would have a profound effect on the world while simultaneously destroying conventional notions of time, space and linear narrative."
"All of the games being auctioned belong to the City of Alamogordo and come with a certificate of authenticity from the city, which includes a numbered tag. The archaeological team touched all of these games at some point, counting, sorting, and photographing them as they were deposited trench-side by the excavator, and later in the garage. Our presence as archaeologists at what might otherwise have been a 'smash-and-grab' lent some legitimacy to the operation (maybe) as we attempted to make sense of the deposition of trash, the stratigraphy of rubbish and sand, and the effects of the games on the environment, and of the environment on the games. We remain grateful to the City of Alamogordo, to the dig site’s manager Joe Lewandowsky, to the film’s director Zak Penn and his crew, and to Fuel Entertainment and Lightbox Entertainment for inviting us to participate in the project and to conduct some actual archaeological science. That being said, it’s difficult at least for me not to have mixed emotions about seeing artifacts posted for sale even if these games were/are trash buried only 31 years ago."
3. The practical side of making complex, mathematical drawings in the snow.
"The drawings are made using only a compass, and by counting paces. ‘Normally you want to start in the middle but of course you can’t start in the middle because you have to get there somehow. If it is a star you have to walk in a straight line to the middle, then take a compass bearing, and then work out the other bearings.’"
4. The Internet Archive's playable video game repository has drawn in 2 million people.
"I am hesitant to use a term like 'turning point' in regards to the archive in general, since you could go on any subway platform and somebody who was waiting for the train would probably know that there was something called the Wayback machine. It’s been around for 15 years, and even if people don’t know all the details, they get with the Archive is about. Not so with emulation, or the state of software preservation. The last three days have been, unquestionably, a turning point in emulation."
5. The outlaw balloonists of Brazil.
"Looking to make even bigger, more complex, and awe-inspiring works of flying folk art, baloeiros beginning in the 1960s joined together in teams. By the 1980s, some balloons were as tall as 216 feet, and could carry hundreds of pounds of banners, light panels, or pyrotechnic displays. The art of ballooning had reached its golden age. But the unchecked ambitions of the baloeiros brought about their downfall. In the 90s, environmentally-conscious politicians started seeing the gigantic balloons as threats, flying arsonists that could cause forest fires. In 1998, 'the manufacture, transportation and launching' of balloons became a federal crime, punishable by fines and up to three years in prison. Once symbols of national folk culture, the balloonists now became criminals. But that didn’t stop them."
Today's 1957 American English Language Tip
conservative. Conservative means 'preservative,' disposed to keeping existing institutions; hence, by extension, of people, moderate, cautious ('similar to members of the Conservative party'). Perhaps the most ridiculous of SLIPSHOD EXTENSIONS is the rapidly spreading use of this word as an epithet, in the sense of moderate, safe, or low, with estimates, figures, &c.
The Credits: 1. boo-hooray.com / @timmaughan 2. archaeogaming.wordpress.com / @ibogost 3. theguardian.com 4. ascii.textfiles.com 5. theappendix.net
You Can’t Start in the Middle