We can only see 5% of the universe. We’ve called another 25% “dark energy” and the remaining 70% “dark matter”. We’re working from a model with 95% of the information missing – so no wonder everybody’s acting like they’re in the dark. So the big question for me is: how do you visually represent that absence?
So says artist Matthew Ritchie in his interview with Thyrza Nichols Goodeve and making the absent visible has become the loose thread for Spike this month. Ideas of ‘projection’ recur. The coming weeks offer a lot on cinema, for sure, but also issues around psychological aspects of art: denial, escape, becoming, metamorphoses. Chris Hall travels to the Shanghai that shaped Ballard’s imagination. Robert O’Connor reports from the Minnesota district of Dinkytown, where Zimmerman made the psychic switch to Dylan. Tina Bexson talks to Sonny Grosso, the basis for Roy Scheider’s character in The French Connection, about the transition from street to screen.
What happens in the projection from one medium to another? Francis J. Okolo considers the role of the illustrated James Bond stories in the eventual look of the films, whilst Declan Tan wonders whether Murakami could ever survive the cinematic translation of Norwegian Wood. Spike old hand Ben Granger considers the compatibility of pop and literature, using The Decemberists as case study, and Peter Weissman puts the psyche in psychedelic in an interview with Dolly Delightly about his memoir I Think, Therefore Who Am I?
Other highlights include Thryza Nichols Goodeve’s poetic meditation on Matthew Barney and Mary-Claire Wilson’s interview with author Sade Adeniran. Declan Tan presents an overview of the neglected work of filmmaker Peter Watkins. Russell Mardell talks to The Boxer Rebellion. New contributor Greg Houle writes on French involvement in Côte D’Ivoire and the US response, and reviews Jason K. Strears’ book on the Congo, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters.
It’s something of a curious month, broken by a two-week hiatus. We need to do some fundamental maintenance, so Spike will be silent between May 16th and 24th. A good opportunity perhaps to download our 600-page book and read through vintage interviews with J.G. Ballard, Will Self, William Gibson and a generous assembly of others? It’s free and will mark the time until we return, refreshed and supercharged.
Indeed, we come out fighting for the final week of May with a weighty series of columns on technology in developing countries, institutional violence in American schools, the ‘death of feminism’, and ‘Spamazon’ – the fight to quell the rising tide of junk ebooks. Kan Kimpel offers lessons from the front-line of the music business and Sourav Roy tours his favourite Mumbai bookshops. We round off the month with letters from La Paz and Copenhagen.
As always, we love to hear about events and projects, to discuss ideas, and we like to get involved where we can. Please get in touch via the contact page. You can also add to the conversation by leaving comments, although be sure to contribute – abuse is not welcome. We want Spike to remain a sane corner of the internet. Thank you for reading.
Contributors for May: Tina Bexson, Vanessa Libertad Garcia, Thryza Nichols Goodeve, Ben Granger, Chris Hall, Greg Houle, Kevin Fitzgerald, Dan Kimpel, Jacob Knowles-Smith, Russell Mardell, Tsering Norbu, Robert O’Connor, Frank Okolo, Sourav Roy, Jonathan Ryan, Eric Saeger, Declan Tan, Maria Tonini, Jason Weaver, Mary-Claire Wilson, Vanessa Zainzinger
