Sunday, April 29, 2007

ULA Graphics

For those who wish to compare ULA graphics with those used on the cover of the Roberto Bolano novel The Savage Detectives (which, curiously, is about an underground literary movement).

The similarity is more pronounced when one views ULA flyers over the years done with black marker. . . .

4 comments:

JeffOYB said...

Thanks for bringing up this surprisingly odd connection, King. I recently heard part of a gushing NPR "review" of this novel.

It's shockingly ironic that this old novel about an old time in another land would receive such acclaim from the NPRish scene.

A bit removed from the here and now, and conveniently so, isn't it?

They act like they're discovering something forbidden. Oh my, a novel about a literary movement against corruption---how bold! And, can you believe it? A gritty, realistic novel that declares that poor people and politics are worthy parts of literature in a lit-scene where the major players are elite copycat "magical" stylists. How brave and innovative!

(Good thing the writer is dead!)

That scritchy titling---familiar, isn't it!

Our critics like to suggest that most of the lit-powers-that-be don't know about the ULA. Nah...they know about us. Remember: we're the ONLY voices to come out steady and strong, WITH NO SUPPORT, against numerous specific acts of corruption in the lit-scene. And who declare over and over again that the realities of poor, strong, indy people have to be included in any relevant art. They know our voice!

(OK, several cases of ID fraud and shocking pandering have also come to light from within the system. But these are surface glitches. They don't show that the whole set-up is out of touch. Insiders fear each other, sure, but they also know about the searchlight that is scanning the scene from without---exposing the insider trainwreck and also looking for new talent where everyone knows it will be found. Among the schools and the rich? Gimme a break!)

JeffOYB said...

PS: Of course, the reason why those other undergrounders have appeal is because their appeal is easy to see for our eyes. They were part of a violent military situation. Oooh! A grenade!

We have yet to accept the merit of even better artworks which depict the internal war of the USA, the war of all against all, and of the sneaky war of high against low, and of the deadliest war of ego against self. This war inflicts as many outright fatalities and crimes as many other wars, but far more soul-deaths.

King Wenclas said...

Great comments, Jeff.

FDW said...

jeffoyb, stirring on target, man!
cf. Freud's symptomatatic defense mechanism, SUBSTITUTION.
That's exactly what these snotnoses are doing in this case.
Three card monte, what I'd call the old switcheroo. Take something that's timely but passe specific and safely indefensible 'cos the principles are safely dead and use it to stroke your own sense of ideological importance and ego so that you can substitute it for what is is structurally identical but happening now so you can ignore what's happening now.
It's like the BOURGZHEES I'ze knows here in West philly-- including the anarchosyndicalists--
going over to Africa or the mideast or worse (personally speaking) SEAsia and under guise of Christian and or neo-liberal NGO's pilferring indigenous artifacts and claiming that their helping the poor and ETHNICALLY dsenfranchized when in private and among their honky ilk they hate and condescend to the poor and ETHNICAL disenfranchised in their own(ed) country, in their own neighborhood. They then display it for sale and/or to ellicit "pacts" from their BOURGZHEE kult-ure.
Substitution-- one of the main bases of the dominant MEAT market tactics where resources are stolen away from the American people-- like public land, public airwaves, public access to everything in the public domain (cable, and the Internet for example)-- even sense of self and then some kind of commodity built-in-defunctioning junk is put in it's place.
This is also what the biggest transgressor's of lazy-faire namely the controllers and attack dogs of todays literary complex (with government(s) support of the CIAKGB) are doing with the American people's literary culture.
And well theyz shld 'cos they're so clever and JUSTIFIABLY richpowerful!