23: John Shirley

V. ValeMarian WallaceWilliam BennettEdited by Floyd Tangeman

Host: V. ValeEngineered and edited by Marian WallaceSee and hear "Bit By Bit" from 2012 Fab Mab Reunion Show on youtubehttps://youtu.be/sI6Za9MBYyU 

John Shirley is a cyberpunk pioneer (along with William Gibson, Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling). He tells of his life and how he started writing: basically, start writing your dreams! Dreams can go anywhere! Dreams became short stories, and some were expanded into full-length novels. Duck-and-cover, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the idea of nuclear war inspired literally hundreds of dreams where he was incinerated by a nuclear explosion. He tells how he became a published author and more...

Carolee Schneemann is a way-ahead-of-her-time artist featured in the RE/Search book “ANGRY WOMEN." She has a huge art show now (Feb through March 11, 2018) at MOMA PS1, New York. Fifty years of original art-making in many genres!

Wolf Eyes was in town and visited the RE/Search office to talk to us about their eclectic and long-standing musical collaboration. Alt-Jazz, improvisation, and the necessity for spontaneity are some of their modus operandi.

Vale interviews Sumeet Banerji and Jerry Connolly. The three talk about Sumeet’s novel “Ice Party,” physical versus digital design processes, live music’s power, evocative odors, the insidiousness of marketing, curated everything, anathema words, and emoji conversations.

All the way from Hamburg, the experimental documentary filmmaker Peter Sempel stops in for this episode to discuss his process of filmmaking, the longevity of punk, how Jonas Mekas helped kickstart Sempel’s career, his newest project, and favorite animals. Originally recorded as a TV episode of The Counterculture Hour.

Zine-maker Marc Fischer , maker of Temporary Services zines, and Museum of Capitalism's Timothy Furstnau stopped by the RE/Search office to share ideas. They discuss their recent publications, the art book fair circuit, printing technique pros and cons, and TSA confiscations. The Museum of Capitalism is having their book-release party this Friday in Oakland (August 11, 2017). The exhibition will be coming down and Timothy and cohorts are currently looking for new places to exhibit the collection. Marc Fischer dropped off his seven recent zines which mine the public libraries for interesting but long-forgotten facts and photos.

Robert Conway, who manages the trust of Bruce Conner, talks with RE/Search. The conversation includes Conway's interviews of friends and associates of Conner’s, the defining criteria of an artist and how we all might define ourselves as such, Conner’s inkblot series, and biography as art form.

Tyler Hubby's film "Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present" is now out and making the rounds. Tony Conrad was an experimental filmmaker and musician and an early "Performance Artist" before the term existed! Tyler visited the RE/Search office and filled us him filmmaking, Tony Conrad's work, and more. Produced by Marian Wallace. Edited by Miranda Aaland.