+++BREAKING NEWS FROM THE ARTS DESK+++
As we hit the last lap on locking this week’s issue, news emerged regarding the graffitoe which appeared on the walls of Reading Gaol on Sunday evening. Following a week of fevered speculation, stencil-wrangler and prankster Banksy has confirmed they are to blame for the artwork. Many see the piece as a show of support from the influential street art collective for the ongoing campaign to turn the long-disused site into an arts hub. The references to Oscar Wilde’s stay are clear. We note with a smile that the work’s position, high up on a wall which is still government property, will dissuade the usual chancers, shysters and thieves which gather at the first sniff of easy profit from ‘buying’ it and denying access to a work of art which belongs to the people. As Reading locals and street art fans, we at The Cut are doubly delighted at this new addition to our already rich cultural heritage.
We now return you to our scheduled programming.
Now is the time. Here is the place. This is The Cut.
Further considerations on Banksy loom as a new way of adding ‘value’ to digital art emerges. The NFT, or ‘non-fungible token’ is a way to confirm a digital file is the original. The crypto-currency based protocol is an unforgeable method to guarantee authenticity. Digital artist Beeple is the first to try this in practice, collaborating with auction house Christie’s to sell hundreds of his pieces in a deal which will make him milllions. In a fascinating swerve to the narrative, a group of collectors upped the game by buying an Banksy, making a high-resolution scan then burning the original. The NFT-linked file is now, if you follow the logic, the truest version of the work. Head-melting stuff…
In a crypto-heavy week, we were fascinated to read this Rolling Stone piece on how Bitcoin and others could bring about the golden dream for musicians—getting fair pay for their work online which bypasses record label and streaming service shenanigans.
A Field Guide to Music’s Potential Crypto Boom
Right, that’s enough future economics for one issue. Let’s talk monster movies. In a rare film night here at Cut Central, we screened the agreeably goofy Kong: Skull Island. Frankly, any film which features a giant monkey throwing helicopters around is good in our book. Universal Studios is going large on their Monsterverse series, with Godzilla Vs. Kong out this spring. Film School Rejects has an alternative proposal for the franchise of which we whole-heartedly approve…
‘Kongzilla’ Must Come After ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’
RIGHT, LISTEN UP. The next link features language and images which are super very Not Safe For Work Or Life Generally. If you are at all offended by swears and/or cartoon depictions of the act of love, then please jump to the link on Silent Running after the break. But if, as we suspect, you have passed our Readership Compatibility Test, then the boot-filling station can be found below.
The Tijuana Bible is, in some ways, the prime example of what comics can and should be. Cheap, fast and dirty in every sense of the word, the eight-page pamphlets were irreverent, uninterested in copyright and counter-cultural before our common definition of the term sparked into being. They can be spotted in the pages of Watchmen, and there is an argument Alan Moore’s Lost Girls books are an expansive and elaborate take on the sub-genre. However, unlike your average Bible, Lost Girls is not a book you could tuck into a back pocket away from prying eyes. They are a fascinating, near-forgotten corner of comics history that retain an edge and sense of danger. Inky fingers at the ready? Let’s open up…
“My God, Fuckin’ Pictures!”: Peeping into the History of the Tijuana Bibles
For those of you whose chose to heed our warnings, welcome back. We note with interest how 1970s science fiction seems to be a harsh reflection on current times. Case in point: Douglas Trumbull’s beautiful, angry, Silent Running. Join us as we explore a film which only seems to be more relevant in the face of our climate emergency than ever. The older members of staff on the Film Desk will cheerfully admit the ending always makes them cry…
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210212-silent-running-the-sci-fi-that-predicted-modern-crises
Of course, Peter Morgan is the master of solid and serious screenwriting as any fool who has watched The Crown will know. A writer worth their salt will be taking notes as to how he deals with the challenges of dialogue—specifically how a well-crafted exchange can drive plot as well as build character.
The Queen’s English: How ‘The Crown’ Helps You Write Better Dialogue
The English-speaking world is finally catching up to Olga Tokarczuk. The Nobel-Prize winning author writes with mythic resonance on a very wide screen. But she also understands the most tiny, intimate moments. Her Nobel lecture is a work of sheer shining beauty. As a palliative to the thing about the grubby fuck-books above, wash your soul clean in this.
The following is an extremely rare and openly honest interview with Frances McDormand. Nothing else needs to be said.
If we asked if you knew what horno was, you’d probably think we were about to throw out more smutty comics. Relax. Once an issue is enough. No, we’re talking traditional Mexican clay ovens. Designer Ronald Rael is building a string of them along the US-Mexico border, for reasons that will quickly become apparent…
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-horno
And finally. Some authors fall through the gaps in common knowledge as they drop out of fashion, get lost in the maze of publishing rights wrangles or are simply too much themselves to ever succumb to dull old popularity. We are delighted to fire up a flare (in conjunction with our pals at Wired) to help bring one of the Skiffy Desk’s favourite wordsmiths safely back to port. Say hello to R. A. Lafferty…
https://www.wired.com/story/who-is-r-a-lafferty-best-sci-fi-writer-ever/
The audio bullies on the Music Desk have saturated the airwaves of Cut Central this week with the work of Israel Nash. Sneaky buggers. We are committed to the Tao of The Cosmic Cowboy (we have the hat and boots and the rocket-embroidered shirt from Rockmount Apparel of Denver Colorado is on order) so Israel’s music is sinking into our bones all too easily. We offer up this live version of a stellar cut from his new album Topaz. Saddle up.
See you in seven, buckaroos.
EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS 