It's been a frustrating last couple of months, in that I've been working on very interesting projects, but couldn't talk about any of them. That's (finally) starting to change.
As the image above shows, I had the ridiculously good fortune to have been asked to contribute a short essay to SVK, a graphic novella written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Matt "D'Israeli" Booker. Did I mention the introduction by William Freaking Gibson?
Warren describes SVK thusly:
SVK is about… well, SVK stands for a few things, including “Surveillance, Very Kafka.” In one meeting I also described the book as “Franz Kafka’s Bourne Identity,” which seems to have stuck.
The story, concerning a recovery agent and a thing lost that should probably never have been made, is set in London. So it has to be about surveillance at some level, as London is probably the most surveilled city in the world, one estimate pegging the level at one CCTV camera to every eight people. At any one time, in fact, a fifth of the world’s CCTV cameras are live in the UK.
SVK will only be available via mail order, and will be on sale very soon. Get on the mailing list for the announcement.
I've also been asked to serve as an external expert for the latest Shell Global Scenarios. The Shell scenarios are as close as it comes to the gold standard of scenario-based foresight, so being asked to participate is officially a Big Deal. And given how influential the Shell scenarios often are (it's not uncommon to see them cited in government foresight work), it's a real opportunity to speak to decision-makers who otherwise would not be expected to listen to perspectives like mine.
I'll also be speaking in Italy later this year. Possibly twice. While there are clearly rewards to doing this kind of thing, I'd actually like to have more work that doesn't require an overnight flight.
The Ongoing Book Project has unexpectedly morphed into the Ongoing Books Plural Project. The second book -- which has been written, and now awaits illustrations(!) -- is something that the people who know me the best would be the most surprised by.
Tags:
Comic Book, SVK, Warren Ellis
Subscribe to the Open the Future feed
Comments
Super Very Kool ! ~
Posted by: Brendan McAuliffe
|
June 18, 2011 10:41 AM