Synopses & Reviews
Cultural Writing. Essays. In this collection of essays resistance is shown to be ultimately dispiriting unless we can also have fun. The last remaining quasi-legal territory of imaginative, humorous, creative, dissenting expression is signposted by pranks--any humorous deeds, propaganda, sound bites, visual bites, performances and creative projects which pierce the veil of illusion and tell "the truth." This book is a mere introduction to the enormous body of unheralded, uncelebrated, undocumented pranking that has occurred just within the past hundred years. Includes interviews with The Yes Men, Margaret Cho, John Waters, Ron English, Al Jourgensen and Jello Biafra, Jihad Jerry, Frank Discussion, Billboard Liberation Front, Lydia Lunch, Julia Solis, Cacophony Society (S.F.), Survival Research Laboratories, Paul Krassner, Reverend Al, Suicide Club, monochrom, Joey Skaggs, and more.
Synopsis
Despite the best efforts of intellectuals from Marshall McLuhan to Noam Chomsky, all their thinking and opining has done little to shake the masses out of hopeless complacency. Pranks offer a much more direct and stimulating approach. This inspiring all new volume collects some of the finest, most outlandish actions recently undertaken in the war against mass media. A worthy successor to their first investigation into the art of prankery, Re/Search Publications Pranks 2 focuses on provocations from the Suicide Club, Cacophony Society, the Billboard Liberation Front, and other secret collectives dedicated to upending the status quo. The books many illustrations include photographs of the artists in action, flyers and letters used in the pranking process, and the often unintentionally hilarious news articles and editorial responses to the happenings. Interviews profile Ron English, Joey Skaggs, Jeffrey Vallance, monochrom, Bruce Conner, John Waters, Jello Biafra, and other noted pranksters.