Date: Thu,  7 Aug 2003 19:41:26 +1000
Subject: AUT: en) News from Autonomedia (Ben Meyers)


fwd : 
Subject: News from Autonomedia (Ben Meyers)

Hello, friends, and here's your speculation on autonomously-mediated
futures!

* *

1: New Books: Domain Errors, Behind the Blip, Revolutionary Writing
2: Big Sale on seconds and pre-worn Autonomedia titles
2.5: Special Deal for infoshops, agit-punks, and other subterranean distros
3: Interns needed!
4: The Bookmobile hits the road, east-coast style.

* *

New Books:

"Domain Errors: Cyberfeminist Practices" by the subRosa Project is
back from the printer and walking on its own legs! This is a fine
collection of essays, critique, and other writing-without-categories
focussed around the political intersections of feminism and
technology, with a distinctly (at times) confrontational tone. Here's
a micro-sample of what they're doing with this book (and this is from
"Refugia! Manifesto for Becoming Autonomous Zones", a two-page
itemized rant that wraps up the end of the book like a high-potency
frosting):
"Refugia: Neither a utopia nor a dystopia, but a haunted space
for reverse engineering, monstrous graftings, spontaneous generation,
recombination, difference, poly-versity hybridization, wildlings,
mutations, mongrelizing, crop circles, anomalies, useless beauty,
coalitions, agit-crops, and unseemly sproutings. Biotech and
transgenic work in Refugia will be based on desire, consensual public
risk assessment, informed amateur experimentation, contestational
politics, nourishment and taste value, non-proprietary expertise,
convivial delight, and healing."
I don't know if this kind of talk gets you all revved up the way
it does me, but yowza! Sign me up for some of those agit-crops!
The full text of Refugia, by the way, is available as a
single-page broadside, and can be freely downloaded at
http://www.autonomedia.org/domainerrors/refugia.pdf  Be good about
spreading that one around! And see more of the book at
http://www.autonomedia.org/domainerrors

*

"Behind the Blip: Essays on the Culture of Software" is new from
British new-media cleverton Matthew Fuller (currently in residence at
the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam). Matthew's been involved with
some pretty interesting critical-software projects in the last few
years, digging into the myths behind Human-Computer Interface design,
and revealing the political choices behind the sheen-of-neutrality
found in most everyday-use software. "Behind the Blip" comes out of
these projects, and is largely an articulation of what he found
working on them. Lev Manovich, the author of "The Language of New
Media", says that "what Fuller gives us is not just a usual book of
theory but rather a kind of software -- a 'critical help system' to
help us understand what is really going on behind the menu and the
windows of our computer screens." There's a page about the book at
http://www.autonomedia.org/behindtheblip, and if you like, there's
also a downloadable sample copy of the book at
http://www.autonomedia.org/behindtheblip/blip-sample.pdf. Sorry to be
so long-winded with the URLs, but these are the times we live in...

*

And speaking of the times we live in, has there ever, ever been a
better time to take the idea of revolution seriously? "Revolutionary
Writing: 'Common Sense' Essays in Post-Political Politics", edited by
Werner Bonefeld, collects more than a dozen essays by such relevant
hard-hitters as Toni Negri, Mariarosa Dalla Costa, John Holloway,
Harry Cleaver, and George Caffentzis. These essays, emerging from the
soapbox of heterodox marxism (i.e., not the Party line, comrade), are
grouped into three sections -- Open Marxism: Subversion and Critique;
The Insurrection of Labor and Global Capital; and The Critique of the
Political. This is a dense, challenging book, as certain to provoke
as to enlighten. But what's better than an enlightened provocation,
comrades? Again, there's sample text available over at our web site:
http://www.autonomedia.org/revolutionarywriting , with a downloadable
55-page sample at
http://www.autonomedia.org/revolutionarywriting/revwriting-sample.pdf

* * *

Now, about these special sale books: As you know, bookstores can be a
fickle, finicky lover, and once in a while we get batches of returns
of books that didn't measure up to the bar. What you didn't know is
that one of our best titles, "Gone to Croatan: Origins of North
American Dropout Culture" suffered this indignity by the boxful when
a shipping agent of ours evidently became a little too ornery for the
thinness of his parcel, and just like that a bunch of Croatans had
their dignity ruined.
A similar sadness took several cartons of the  more-relevant-than
ever "Midnight Oil: Work, Energy, War, 1973-1992"
by the Midnight Notes Collective out of circulation, perfect in every
way except some unfortunate marks to the cover or outer edges, but
not to the extent that they can't be read. And you've got to read
this book, which ties together the relations between work, energy,
oil, and war in ways that defy nationalism and globalize resistance,
as the saying goes. Or, as the back cover blurb puts it, "it draws a
physiognomy of the planetary proletariat, connecting escaped
indentured servants from India to oil workers sabotaging production
in the Niger Delta; Gulf War resisters in New York to Kurdish rebels
in Iraq; insurrectionary Iranian students to wildcat autoworkers in
Detroit; housewives on rent strike in Italy to Boston burners of
midnight oil. This book suggests new boundaries, hidden political
commonalities and possible strategies for confronting the New World
Order."
So, here's the deal: Get Croatan for $8! Or get Midnight Oil for
$6! Or, get both for $13!! This order will have to happen by email --
send a note to me or to orders-AT-autonomedia-dot-org, and I'll tell you
how to do it. Standard shipping rates will apply as well, and this
deal will only last as long as the sad-book supply holds out, which
hopefully won't be long. Order a bunch, and I'll even give you a
special rate (see below)!

* *

Infoshops, DIY punk matinee merch-tablists, and other purveyors of
the cheap-and-radical book sale: The above description of our
sad-book supply extends to an entire shelf of inventory in our
warehouse. The titles and quantities are always in flux, but while
we've got them, you're welcome to order them in quantity, and I'll
make 'em cheap! Get in touch via this email address or via
orders-at-autonomedia.org, and I'll give you the full scoop.

To rearticulate: Order ten or more books from our returns shelf, and
they're yours for between $3 and $6 a piece. This offer is intended
primarily for non-commercial distribution outlets, and would be
perfect for your Food-not-Bombs fundraiser, or a radical reading
group (check Midnight Oil again!), or a cheap way to lend some
rad-cred to your lonely-looking bookshelf!

* * *

Intern Needed!

Autonomedia is always on the lookout for dedicated interns who can
commit to a three-to-six month tour of duty here in Brooklyn, working
on a variety of projects. This is an unpaid position (as they all are
here); depending on the interests of the applicant the role could
include production, promotional, editorial, design, administrative,
and muscle-building work, and most likely some exotic cocktail of all
these. Please email me if you're interested.

* * *

The Autonomadic Bookmobile is on the road! The 2-person small-press
medicine show left New Orleans at the end of July, and is slowly
puttering around the eastern half of the U.S. through October.
They've got a tremendous show and a lively library (the kind that
sells stuff, too!), and may well be tracing the wind somewhere near
you right soon! Their home on the web is
http://www.autonomedia.org/bookmobile , and if you stick a
/tour2003.html at the end of that you'll get their schedule.

* * *

That's it for your speculative futures from this end; as always, if
the Autonogram's not your cup of tea, follow the unsubscribe
instructions in the header of this email. If you've been waiting on a
reply from me on some issue or other, please hold tight and maybe
give me a gentle nudge; and of course, all hosannahs and words of
support are welcome at any time. Hooray!

bests,

Ben Meyers / Autonomedia

ps, in the "You heard it here first" category: New editions of TAZ
and Pirate Utopias, both with new, added material, will be hitting
the streets right about the beginning of September! Whee!

Autonogram mailing list: Autonogram-AT-lists.interactivist.net
http://lists.interactivist.net/mailman/listinfo/autonogram


-- 
sig/
http://www.infoshop.org
http://www.reclaimthestreets.org
http://www.ainfos.ca
http://slash.autonomedia.org
http://www.agp.org


     --- from list aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---