From: V. Vale
Luck is very important in life! The storied City Lights Bookstore (home of the Beats) had a sudden cancellation, and I jumped at the opportunity to host a book party for my new photo book, UNDERGROUND LIVING.
Cyberpunk visionary Rudy Rucker (who wrote the introduction) was able to show up and read a very "subversive" story (which was apparently too controversial for some publishers).
So why did Rudy Rucker, a cyberpunk, write the introduction to a RE/Search book??
Well, cyberpunks are the last living prophets of our age.
The connections between cyberpunk and RE/Search seem so strong that I hope other cyberpunk writers will contribute introductions to my upcoming books!
There has long been a relationship between technology and counter-culture formation:
• The "Hippie" Sixties Counterculture was made possible by the invention of the technology behind the birth control pill
• Punk was made possible by the invention of the widespread and cheap Xerox machine technology, plus the invention of the composite technology cluster which made the 45 (45rpm records) easy (and more importantly, CHEAP) to record, mix, press and also, to mail all over the world
• The technology behind the US Postal Service made it possible to mail Punk Zines, 45 records, LPs, cassettes, magazines, et al all over the world CHEAPLY.
Sadly, a few years ago, we don't know how or why, but the cheap M-Bag/Sea Mail rate disappeared. We don't know who caused this, or why, or HOW this was accomplished, but countercultural media-producers were given a devastating blow they will never be able to recover from. In other words, this was a DEADLY DEED which has received ZERO PUBLICITY to this date.
Meanwhile, and somewhat miraculously, the internet was invented and to date has largely been "free." Decades ago, Richard Stallman was a pioneer in inventing all kinds of "free software" including his GNU, and he remains a champion of democratic-software-for-all-including-the-impoverished. (((Stallman fans unite in the beatnik bookstore amid the Epstein MIT sex-and-funding scandal, etc, sure is a good thing that Epstein wasn't funding William Burroughs back in the day, San Francisco Values, let RE/Search be RE/Search, etc)))
Technology and alt-cultural formation finally become imagineered by the pioneers who invented the so-called "cyberpunk movement", whose predecessors included Science Fiction in general, and William S. Burroughs and J.G. Ballard in particular. (((Proud to admit that I personally met both of these demigods!)))
This countercultural movement (which remained mostly restricted to the "literary ghetto") included William Gibson, Rudy Rucker, Bruce Sterling, John Shirley, Neal Stephenson, and Richard Kadrey and many others like Mark Pauline and his Survival Research Laboratories (SRL). (((I have personally met Mark Pauline! Pics or it didn't happen etc!)))
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brucesterling/albums/72157696697279602
Almost taken for granted is the technology behind photography-connected-to-the-internet. Now, every person who owns a smartphone can be a "photographer" and thus (maybe) an ARTIST. Before, anyone who could write words (a technology in itself) could (maybe) be an ARTIST—i.e., a poet.
Some people, by dint of talent-plus-hard-work, truly BECOME artists or writers, such as the aforementioned names above. By sheer luck, as our "counter-cultural living brought more and more "rebel creators" into our social circle, we met Rudy Rucker quite long ago. And by chance, he had the time to write an essay which functioned as an introduction to my new photo book, UNDERGROUND LIVING.
Rudy (and his wife Sylvia) were able to drive up from an hour away and appear in person at the City Lights book party last Sunday. He answered and attracted questions (along with V. Vale) and surprised us all by reading a very satisfyingly-provocative short story which definitely felt "prophetic". (By the way, almost all the culture we "like" seems prophetic in nature… at least slightly ahead of its time, if not more. In the vein of J.G. Ballard's book, Myths of the Near Future.)
If you'd like to get the new edition of my full-color photo book, featuring 75 photos from countercultural movements across the world—plus that Rudy Rucker essay—click this link:
https://www.researchpubs.com/shop/underground-living/
Best,
V. Vale
