4 ms·

Once the author is done digging through her vintage Wired magazines, she should find some copies of Mondo 2000. That was like Wired on LSD. Overtly anarchist, h

by beat 7y ago

Once the author is done digging through her vintage Wired magazines, she should find some copies of Mondo 2000. That was like Wired on LSD. Overtly anarchist, hardcore techno-futurist, deep into art and mind-expanding drugs, it was so much more aggressive than the relatively mainstream views of Wired. One of my favorite interviews ever was in Mondo 2000. They interviewed the Edge, from U2 - but he was interviewed by the band Negativland (he did not know this in advance). Now, at this time, Negativland was in the process of being sued into oblivion by U2's record label. They were a cut-up band, tearing up bits of popular culture and reassembling it in interesting ways, and they were right at the bleeding edge of the then-nascient sampling debate. Negativland had released an album called U2, with a picture of a U-2 spy plane and the name "U2" printed in huge letters filling the cover, while "Negativland" was rendered in much smaller letters - basically, toying with the U2 trademark for artistic purposes. The record also had some U2 samples, although it was mostly just other samples. Of course, the label sued. And the Edge had sort of heard about it, but didn't really know anything, even though this was supposedly being done in his name. So the band explains what they do, and he's really intrigued and wants a copy of the album, and they tell him he can't have one. Holy hell, that was hilarious. But that's what Mondo 2000 was. Wired would never do such a stunt.

zmix 7y ago
> Once the author is done digging through her vintage Wired magazines, she should find some copies of Mondo 2000. http://www.mondo2000.com/ http://www.mondo2000.com/
ArtWomb 7y ago
Seconded. Those ads for prototypical "smart drugs" that promised a Brave New World populated by Mozarts and Einsteins. One wonders at an alternative history, in which all tech is optimized for hedonia, aesthetics and sensuality ;) Also check out Marianne Trench's doc Cyberpunk (1990) https://archive.org/details/cyberpunk_201410 https://archive.org/details/cyberpunk_201410
- neilv 7y ago
  Patrick Farley's "The Guy I Almost Was" comic has a perspective on those magazines, starting from when he'd read them as an adolescent. http://electricsheepcomix.com/almostguy/ http://electricsheepcomix.com/almostguy/ (Warning: it has some NSFW bits -- apropos of cyberculture messages, and of his thinking at various times/ages -- and it's also a longish read, so maybe best for after work, for most of our jobs. Other than that, it's the most accessible critique of cyberculture that I'm aware of. I never read most of those magazines myself, so I can't say how complete it is, but I overlapped with some people from that space who were still trying to position themselves as future visionary elite, much like Farley describes, and it took me a while to figure out.)
  - ArtWomb 7y ago
    Terrific! thnx for sharing, the wheel of fate is inescapable indeed ;)
cr0sh 7y ago
I'm going to have to dig up that issue - sounds intriguing! I'm fortunate enough to have a complete run of Mondo 2000 (purchased on Ebay - at the time, I collected and enjoyed a few issues, but missed many of them, too). I also have huge run of Wired, from the premier issue thru the late 1990s or early 2000s when I finally cancelled my subscription because it basically became a magazine of advertisements (posing as reviews) for products I either didn't want, or couldn't afford (and still can't). It was always like that to an extent, but in the beginning - up until Conde Nast bought it - it was lighter in scope. Then there's my small, but hopefully will grow, collection of Omni - I was a subscriber as a kid in the 1980s, but I never got the premier issue. I was stoked when I heard it was on Archive.org scanned, but the scans leave a ton to be desired, especially in regards to the artwork. So I decided to start collecting the physical issues, beginning with the premier issue, and the first year (so far, I think I have the first 3 years complete).
blakesterz 7y ago
There's a few in The Archive as well: https://archive.org/details/magazine_rack?and%5B%5D=mondo+2000&sin= https://archive.org/details/magazine_rack?and%5B%5D=mondo+20...
W-Stool 7y ago
I remember Mondo 2000 very well - there was nothing like it. It went away and Wired sort of filled the gap just a bit for a little while - the very early issues of Wired were actually pretty interesting. Now not so much. Then there's 2600 which predates them all.
- Breza 7y ago
  Came to this thread hoping to find a shoutout to 2600. Am not disappointed. 2600 in its heyday was a beautiful hodgepodge of technoanarchy that was a balm to my teenage soul.
martinlaz 7y ago
The said interview: https://www.negativland.com/news/?page_id=19 https://www.negativland.com/news/?page_id=19
hanoz 7y ago
I never came across Mondo 2000 but your comment puts me in mind of Omni magazine, which I have sketchy memories of pooring over in the library in the 90s.
Mountain_Skies 7y ago
Loved Mondo 2000 as a teen but some of it has aged terribly... really terribly. To see an example do a search for: mondo 2000 R.U. a Cyberpunk? Even with that, the art design was absolutely amazing and is still a joy to view. Early issues of Wired had some pretty edgy (and often nearly unreadable) design too. Not Mondo 2000 level but certainly reflective of the tech culture of the time. I suspect that some of the advertisements in early issues of Wired weren't for real companies but were fakes to make the magazine appear more popular with advertisers than it was starting out. Anyone remember ads for a company named Origin (not the makers of Ultima and Wing Commander) that didn't seem to have a product? IMHO, Wired peaked with the Neal Stephenson Hacker Tourist issue. Perhaps what they've become is simply a reflection of the world now and tech's place in it.
- jhbadger 7y ago
  It's important to understand that "R.U. a Cyberpunk?" wasn't meant to be taken seriously even at the time -- it was poking fun of the people who read William Gibson novels and the like and then decided to think that's how hackers should act and dress in the real world.
- Semiapies 7y ago
  Was it Mondo 2000 that had full-on profile stories of people who didn't exist?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

by beat 7y ago

zmix 7y ago

> Once the author is done digging through her vintage Wired magazines, she should find some copies of Mondo 2000. http://www.mondo2000.com/ http://www.mondo2000.com/

ArtWomb 7y ago

Seconded. Those ads for prototypical "smart drugs" that promised a Brave New World populated by Mozarts and Einsteins. One wonders at an alternative history, in which all tech is optimized for hedonia, aesthetics and sensuality ;) Also check out Marianne Trench's doc Cyberpunk (1990) https://archive.org/details/cyberpunk_201410 https://archive.org/details/cyberpunk_201410

neilv 7y ago
Patrick Farley's "The Guy I Almost Was" comic has a perspective on those magazines, starting from when he'd read them as an adolescent. http://electricsheepcomix.com/almostguy/ http://electricsheepcomix.com/almostguy/ (Warning: it has some NSFW bits -- apropos of cyberculture messages, and of his thinking at various times/ages -- and it's also a longish read, so maybe best for after work, for most of our jobs. Other than that, it's the most accessible critique of cyberculture that I'm aware of. I never read most of those magazines myself, so I can't say how complete it is, but I overlapped with some people from that space who were still trying to position themselves as future visionary elite, much like Farley describes, and it took me a while to figure out.)
- ArtWomb 7y ago
  Terrific! thnx for sharing, the wheel of fate is inescapable indeed ;)

cr0sh 7y ago

I'm going to have to dig up that issue - sounds intriguing! I'm fortunate enough to have a complete run of Mondo 2000 (purchased on Ebay - at the time, I collected and enjoyed a few issues, but missed many of them, too). I also have huge run of Wired, from the premier issue thru the late 1990s or early 2000s when I finally cancelled my subscription because it basically became a magazine of advertisements (posing as reviews) for products I either didn't want, or couldn't afford (and still can't). It was always like that to an extent, but in the beginning - up until Conde Nast bought it - it was lighter in scope. Then there's my small, but hopefully will grow, collection of Omni - I was a subscriber as a kid in the 1980s, but I never got the premier issue. I was stoked when I heard it was on Archive.org scanned, but the scans leave a ton to be desired, especially in regards to the artwork. So I decided to start collecting the physical issues, beginning with the premier issue, and the first year (so far, I think I have the first 3 years complete).

blakesterz 7y ago

There's a few in The Archive as well: https://archive.org/details/magazine_rack?and%5B%5D=mondo+2000&sin= https://archive.org/details/magazine_rack?and%5B%5D=mondo+20...

W-Stool 7y ago

I remember Mondo 2000 very well - there was nothing like it. It went away and Wired sort of filled the gap just a bit for a little while - the very early issues of Wired were actually pretty interesting. Now not so much. Then there's 2600 which predates them all.

Breza 7y ago
Came to this thread hoping to find a shoutout to 2600. Am not disappointed. 2600 in its heyday was a beautiful hodgepodge of technoanarchy that was a balm to my teenage soul.

martinlaz 7y ago

The said interview: https://www.negativland.com/news/?page_id=19 https://www.negativland.com/news/?page_id=19

hanoz 7y ago

I never came across Mondo 2000 but your comment puts me in mind of Omni magazine, which I have sketchy memories of pooring over in the library in the 90s.

Mountain_Skies 7y ago

Loved Mondo 2000 as a teen but some of it has aged terribly... really terribly. To see an example do a search for: mondo 2000 R.U. a Cyberpunk? Even with that, the art design was absolutely amazing and is still a joy to view. Early issues of Wired had some pretty edgy (and often nearly unreadable) design too. Not Mondo 2000 level but certainly reflective of the tech culture of the time. I suspect that some of the advertisements in early issues of Wired weren't for real companies but were fakes to make the magazine appear more popular with advertisers than it was starting out. Anyone remember ads for a company named Origin (not the makers of Ultima and Wing Commander) that didn't seem to have a product? IMHO, Wired peaked with the Neal Stephenson Hacker Tourist issue. Perhaps what they've become is simply a reflection of the world now and tech's place in it.

jhbadger 7y ago
It's important to understand that "R.U. a Cyberpunk?" wasn't meant to be taken seriously even at the time -- it was poking fun of the people who read William Gibson novels and the like and then decided to think that's how hackers should act and dress in the real world.
Semiapies 7y ago
Was it Mondo 2000 that had full-on profile stories of people who didn't exist?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]