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William S Burroughs

Art

Watch William S. Burroughs Make “Shotgun Art”

By Judy Berman on

As an unbelievably ignorant propaganda video from an anti-gun control group recently reminded us, William S. Burroughs loved guns. He loved them so much that he used one to accidentally kill his wife, Joan Vollmer, in a drunken attempt to mimic William Tell back in 1951 that renders any romanticizing of his gun-toting persona foolish at best. Thankfully, later in life, Burroughs’ romance with firearms manifested in less harmful stunts. Open Culture has tracked down a fantastically lo-fi video of the author making “shotgun art” — setting up cans of spray paint in front of plywood planks and then shooting them to create a random explosions of color. Does this game really qualify as art? We’ll leave that up to you. Watch Burroughs in the act below, and see some of the finished works here. … Read More

Web

What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we saw photos of New York gang the Reapers during the 1970s. We spotted spray-painted pigeons. We learned how one woman in a wheelchair takes a dip in the pool. We looked at stunning new photos of Saturn. We got tips on how to ride… Read More

Photography

Wonderful Photographs of Famous People Snapped By Their Famous Friends

By Emily Temple on

It’s well known that famous people often run in packs (rat, brat), and we’ve even heard rumors that they do normal things like hang out and take pictures of their friends. Since we’re obsessed with the ephemera of pop culture, we spent some time tracking down a few of those snapshots, whether staged or candid, rare or widely recognized, taken by everyone from Truman Capote to Lady Gaga. Click through to see our gallery of photographs of famous people snapped by their famous friends, and you may just begin evaluating your own photo albums for potential stars after you’re through. … Read More

Books

Read William Burroughs’ Trollish Open Letter to Truman Capote

By Caroline Stanley on

Today brings an exciting new addition to our author-on-author insults collection courtesy of a rather nasty letter that William Burroughs wrote to Truman Capote in 1970, following the publication of In Cold Blood. His issue? Burroughs felt that Capote — who, it’s worth noting, he didn’t like all that much in… Read More

Books

Joshua Landsman’s Sketchbook Odes to His Favorite Authors

By Emily Temple on

We’ve all felt moved to scribble by our favorite writers or books from time to time — or at least, we know we have. But Joshua Landsman’s “Writers I Have Loved” project, which we spotted over at Imprint, takes that impulse and runs with it. Landsman keeps a gorgeous notebook filled with excellent drawings, musings and quotations from some of his favorite authors, from Samuel Beckett to Flaubert. But it’s not only gushing adulations and loving portraiture — Landsman also puts to paper the books that drove him to defenestration, and steps back far enough to consider the Google search results for William Gaddis. All in all, we think it’s a wonderful ode to the reading life, and we can’t help but feel inspired (again) to start up a little notebook of our own. But for now, click through to see some of our favorite pages from Landsman’s project, and then head here to see even more of his work. … Read More

Books

10 Essential Surrealist Books for Everyone

By Emily Temple on

Shane Jones knows a little bit about surrealism. In his first novel, Light Boxes, the inhabitants of a tiny town fought against perpetual February — and in his wonderful and hallucinatory new novel, Daniel Fights a Hurricane, the weather has only gotten meaner — and the people stranger. Because we’re so consistently bewitched by his work, we asked Jones to curate a list of essential surrealist reads for us, so we can pass the time between his novels a little more easily. He writes: ”My motivation here isn’t to offer a pretentious list of obscure artsy books – I could very easily do that – but to provide suggestions for books that can be easily found, tastefully devoured, and will supply a healthy shot of the weird stuff. Nothing too weird, but also nothing too easy – no mentions of Salvador Dalí or my mother’s 1960s era fairy tale pictures that hang in the living room. Here are the essential surrealist works for everyone – some old, some new, all must-reads.” We wholeheartedly concur. … Read More

Books

Video of the Day: If ‘Reading Rainbow’ Did ‘Naked Lunch’

By Judy Berman on

If we had one complaint about LeVar Burton’s wonderful Reading Rainbow, it would be that the show never took full advantage of its potentially tripped-out rainbow motif. Well, except in that one episode where Burton, apparently on some substance or another, chases butterflies, teaches us about insects, and introduces the kiddies to the weird world of William S. Burroughs’ heroin opus Naked Lunch. OK, so it’s not a real Reading Rainbow episode — but it is a rather clever mash-up of the show and David Cronenberg’s 1991 film adaptation of the novel. Watch Andre Perkowski’s video below, and never hear the words “I can go twice as high” the same way again. … Read More

Art

William S. Burroughs’ Rare, Experimental Artworks

By Alison Nastasi on

The Kunsthalle Vienna is currently home to a William S. Burroughs exhibit, showcasing the writer and artist’s experimental body of work — including paintings, photographs, filmic pieces, and groundbreaking sound works.

“Particular emphasis is on the collage and cut-up techniques used by Burroughs as an important and influential part of his artistic language and legacy. His early collage experiments and the possibilities they imply have had a wide-ranging impact on the use of tape-collage and lyric forms by artists such as The Beatles, Frank Zappa, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson, and Sonic Youth among many others as well as the technique of digital sampling.”

These methods — influenced by fellow creative Brion Gysin — also applied to Burrough’s writings and printed media, and were used as a divination tool. Text was cut up and rearranged in unusual ways to create new material, and Burroughs felt it helped “the future leak out.” The exhibition features many rarely shown works and is on display until October 21. If Vienna isn’t part of your travel schedule for the summer, check out a preview of the show after the break. … Read More

Music

The All-Time Coolest Author/Musician Collaborations

By Emily Temple on

Collaborations between musicians and authors seem obvious, like they should happen all the time, but the truth is, good ones don’t come along that often. Earlier this month, however, author, poet, and memoirist Mary Karr released her first album, Kin, in collaboration with country singer/songwriter Rodney Crowell, and boy is it good. Though we might be a little biased since we’ve always been die-hard Mary Karr fans, we love the album, which combines Karr’s sublime poetry with Crowell’s formidable musical talent. Inspired by their collaboration, we got to thinking about other fantastic author/musician pairs, from the time Kurt Cobain and William S. Burroughs recorded a Christmas album together to the time Bono hacked a Rushdie novel for lyrics. Click through to see a few of our favorites, and let us know if we’ve missed one of yours in the comments. … Read More

Books

The Childhood Homes of 20 Famous Authors

By Emily Temple on

Famous authors — they’re just like us. Or at least they used to be. Recently, on a whim, we started investigating the childhood homes of some legendary authors, and their early homes are just as varied as their writing styles — from cottages to apartments to antebellum townhouses. We think it’s rather fascinating to peer at some of our favorite authors’ earliest dwellings and think about the formative experiences they had there, whether for good or ill, and the way those houses and neighborhoods might have influenced their writing. Also, it’s just fun to pry. Click through to check out our collection of famous authors’ childhood homes, and if you like, add to our collection in the comments. … Read More