Yesterday night I was at the ICA doing an event with Wu Ming 1 and Wu Ming 4, who were presenting their latest book Manituana. After a very brief intro from me, Wu Ming 1 opened things up with a short explanation of the collective writing activities he’s been embroiled in for many years as one part of the Wu Ming collective (and before that the Luther Blissett Project). Then there was an introduction to the new Wu Ming novel, after which I read a passage from the book that required a strong London accent. Having read live many times, yesterday I decided to record the passage in question, and it was played back while I lip-synced very badly. This was something new for me – and to make it even more pointless I’d waited until just a couple of hours before the event to make this recording – I enjoyed the absurdity of it so much that I may well repeat the trick! After my intervention, Wu Ming 4 gave an in-depth account of the genesis of Manituana. Wu Ming 1 spoke in English, Wu Ming 4 spoke in Italian with Shaun Whiteside translating.
For the last hour of the presentation, the Wu Mings took questions from the audience; and these quickly progressed from queries about how the four members of the Wu Ming group (originally five) wrote collectively, to their thoughts on left-communists such as Jacques Camatte and Amadeo Bordiga. I was impressed with both the depth and breadth of the answers, as well as with how relaxed the Wu Mings were on stage. Although I’ve been in contact with the Wu Mings for about 15 years now, I’d not seen them do a public presentation before, and it was quite a revelation! So if they’re ever somewhere near you – and I understand McKenzie Wark is hosting a Wu Ming event in New York in November – make sure you catch them! There’s no point in me summarising what the Wu Mings said yesterday here, you should check their website, and if possible catch them live!
And while you’re at it don’t forget to check – www.stewarthomesociety.org – you know it makes (no) sense!
Tags: Amadeo Bordiga, ICA, Jacques Camatte, London, Luther Blissett, Luther Blissett Project, Manituana, McKenzie Wark, New York, Shaun Whiteside, Stewart Home, Wu Ming, Wu Ming 1, Wu Ming 4
What’s a really good trick is to look like you’re lip-synching badly at the same time as you’re speaking… saves the hassle of recording, I find.
(I thought I’d refrain from making any Wu Ming the Merciless gags at this point.. d’oh!)
And while you were out in the west end, i was having a threesome in the Big Blogger Flat with Tessie and Mister Dog!
wot rubbish!
Try Scientology, you’ll last longer….
Wu Ming in New York? What use is that to a good book groupie who lives in British Columbia?
The lip syncing bit sounds very funny. Maybe you can adopt this routine for everyday dealings with people as well.
Never fear, I’m here to battle Wu Ming and defend capitalism, and since they’re a bit tricky I might call up Captain Kirk and other reinforcements too!
Wu Ming at all??
they’re justified and they’re ancient and they drive an ice cream van… ancients of mu mu, ancients of mu mu……
stewar-t, you know what. And who. And where. Now.
Anyone here remember the seventies Ultravox (John Foxx version) associated band Gloria Mundi, the previous comment reminded me of them….
very well then. Now you look for me yourself.
[...] We just came back from London, and it was a very good journey. Thanks to all the people who made it all possible (you know who you are). The public events and the interviews went very well, the one at the Big Green Bookshop being particularly warmly attended (particularly warmly: how interesting that the English language lets you put two adverbs in a row! It isn’t possible in most Western European languages. In Italian, an adverb can’t modify another: “particolarmente calorosamente” would sound awfully incredibly wrong). Here’s the interview we did for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme (it lasts 9 mins, the interviewer is Justin Webb). Here’s Stewart Home’s blog post about the event at the ICA. [...]
What an even better trick if we were to lip-synch badly together at our next gig! (So fed up being stuck at the bottom of your underwear drawer.)
Did you not get bev-ed on Italian wine and do dances with no name?
All that, and ate a load of good food too!
[...] living legend Stewart Home, artist and anti-novelist. You can read his blog post about the event here and read his thoughts on the book here. Finally, you can hear Stewart do a reading from the book [...]
Sounds delightful! In fact now I am hungry. Toast is the only recourse. I could try and pretend it is Italian toast. But that probably wont wash. Instead I will just call it “…”