I’m wondering if maybe having the Unabomber’s typewriter would help me break through my writer’s block. It goes up for auction tomorrow, along with all the other possessions of Ted Kaczynski. I’m thinking that everyone else will go after his infamous hooded sweatshirt… Somewhere, at this very moment, I suspect a hipster in Williamsburg is looking into the possibility of tapping his trust fund.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the the stuff. I know there there are people out there who buy the personal items of serial killers in order to destroy them. I suspect more, however, purchase them in order to preserve them. I don’t really understand the appeal, but I know people who own John Wayne Gacy paintings. Personally, I find it disgusting. Maybe I’d feel differently if the art were at all compelling, but I don’t think that’s why people collect Gacy’s work. I think, by and large, people get off on the novelty of it, and the visceral reaction other people have to it. Maybe I’m being a hypocrite, but I see Kaczynski’s manuscripts and the like differently. And maybe it’s just because there’s a part of me that shares his distrust of technology… which isn’t to say that I understand his actions, let alone condone them. He was clearly mad. I get that. But, with that said, I believe that his actions will be interpreted differently by historians, than, say, those of Gacy. And, again, I know that’s little comfort to the families of those he killed and maimed. I just mean that I expect his actions will take on increased significance in the future, whether deserved or not.
I, of course, won’t be bidding on anything in the collection. I’m too superstitious. I’d be afraid that having the typewriter in my house might make me go all Jack Torrance on my family. I do think, however, that it would be interesting to somehow incorporate Kaczynski’s typewriter into art projects. I think, for instance, making a zine lauding recent advances in nanotechnology, using his Corona, could be pretty interesting. I also like the idea of just using it to type up these late night blog entries of mine. But I have a weird sense of humor.
OK, it’s late and I need to go to sleep.
Good night, my invisible friends.
8 Comments
I would type the following URL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0
You could rent it out for love letters and manifestos.
You should leave it in a public place for your trolls.
What I would do with the Unabomber’s Typewriter…
melt it and make a statue to technology…
Speaking of Ted, he’s in the news today.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-19/fbi-seeking-unabomber-kaczynski-s-dna-in-probe-of-1982-tylenol-poisonings.html
Ted probably typed out this–> http://cyber.eserver.org/unabom.txt on that corona typewriter. One of his many lucid and, to some, frightening statements is, “179. It would be better to dump the whole stinking system and take the consequences”. Now what’s wrong with that?
The auction ends tomorrow. The hoodie and glasses, as of right now, are going for $20,025. They typewriter is $11,100.
I’d write the best sci-fi novel ever, and then destroy it.