Lot of 49 projects and artworks

[Guy Ian Scott Pursey]

Sounds like we may've had similar experiences, Paul. I also grew up with
the Internet just as it was becoming a popular thing; started using it
heavily in my late teens. Chat rooms and mailing lists seemed to be more
common then as did fan-fiction exchanges and improvised role-play
situations for geekier contingencies... Then due to a number of scares,
use of this seemed to drop off and the focus apparently shifted from
information exchange and communication to e-commerce; shopping. 

I read Lot 49 after I'd stopping using the Internet so much, so it's
hard to say whether it's the "physicality" of the WASTE system or my
nostalgia for a network that isn't so voyeuristic; where real exchanges
take place.

I was interested in what Bekah said about her teaching - I work in an
e-Learning Team at a University and part of the job involves exploring
new tools and seeing how they might be used to enhance teaching and
learning. My experience with students is nearly the opposite though - I
believe the majority of our UK intake comes from the middle class and
they've all grown up using all sorts of technology (personal, mobile and
otherwise).

Often it's the lecturers and teachers who struggle to keep up. Most
students are so savvy at using Facebook and other sites to communicate,
they're well ahead of what the lecturers use in terms of technology.
However it seems, to me, so much of this "social networking" is
apolitical and self-promotional by nature, I wonder what it's doing to
young people's ability to organise and act.

Of course, there will be exceptions to this but part of the appeal of
W.A.S.T.E. to me is that Pynchon romanticises communication to the point
where you think it might used to achieve something rather than exchange
trivialities... is this making any sense?

Apologies for garbled thoughts,
Guy


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On
Behalf Of Bekah
Sent: 21 November 2008 04:38
To: kelber at mindspring.com
Cc: pynchon -l
Subject: Re: Lot of 49 projects and artworks

I use a  Smartboard at school -  I can type using a keyboard which  
has been "projected"  onto the wall-sized computer  "monitor."   I  
literally type on the screen.  The kids play computer games there.    
I write with a stylus there and print it off.   We surf the net on  
the wall.  I use it like a programed whiteboard - from my laptop to  
the screen only the screen is a giant touchpad/monitor.   Meanwhile,   
most of my kids,  the children of farm laborers,  don't have  
computers in their homes.   "Shall I project a world?"

Bekah



On Nov 20, 2008, at 10:09 AM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:

> I watched a couple of high school kids express amazement at an old  
> typewriter.  "Wow, you type and it goes right on the paper?  Awesome!"
>
> Laura
>
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Paul Rafferty <paul.rafferty at gmail.com>
>
>>
>> Despite the internet becoming the main source of communication in  
>> my late
>> teens, I was totally seduced by the romance of WASTE. The internet  
>> is a far
>> easier method but WASTE represents to me the struggle of  
>> discovering of
>> anything left of the mainstream whilst living in a really small  
>> town in the
>> UK (tape trades, mail-order zines etc). I can imagine the same  
>> being true of
>> those who grew up with the internet too. The unfamiliar  
>> physicality of WASTE
>> must be as seductive, if not maybe more?
>>
>> Paul.
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 3:38 PM, <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>>
>>> There are so many alternate systems now that weren't in place  
>>> when the book
>>> was written.  When I read it (in the late '70s),WASTE seemed like  
>>> a cool,
>>> counter-cultural, populist, anarchistic movement that I wished I  
>>> could be
>>> part of.  WOuld it seem that way to a reader who grew up in the  
>>> age of
>>> e-mail and youtube?
>>>
>>> Laura
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Bekah <Bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net>
>>>> Sent: Nov 20, 2008 9:58 AM
>>>> To: Paul Rafferty <paul.rafferty at gmail.com>
>>>> Cc: pynchon-l at waste.org
>>>> Subject: Re: Lot of 49 projects and artworks
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Nov 19, 2008, at 4:27 PM, Paul Rafferty wrote:
>>>>> Is anyone familiar with any contemporary alternative mail systems
>>>>> or artworks that explore similar ideas to those discussed in  
>>>>> Crying
>>>>> of Lot 49? I know WASTE has been borrowed and referenced  
>>>>> throughout
>>>>> a range of media but does anyone have any examples of such a thing
>>>>> actually existing?
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm not sure if I'm using this correctly, so if I'm not, please  
>>>>> let
>>>>> me know how to use it properly.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Does the Semaphore Project at San Jose count?   There's a lot of
>>>> stuff out there about it but this piece has a bit more.
>>>>
>>>> http://www.bookride.com/2007/08/thomas-pynchon-crying-of-
>>>> lot-49-1966.html
>>>>
>>>> Bekah
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> www.hotclubdeparis.com
>> www.myspace.com/hotclubdeparis
>