I have a new piece out at the Cultural Gutter, a site which hosts essays about disreputable art in all its forms.
“The Romance of the Machine” looks at Hasbro’s Transformers toys, in particular their current comic More Than Meets The Eye. My essay explores how even big-brand media can be “rich enough to speak of loss, grief, thwarted dreams, the desire to do good in an imperfect world, and, most importantly, of love.“
Ernest Borgnine died on 9th July.
At his booth in Tortilla Flats, a Tex-Mex joint in New York’s West Village, they’ve put up a memorial shrine.
I’ve been there on pilgrimage. It was Borgnine’s birthday. There was free tequila, a colouring competition, and a game of bingo where the numbers had to form an ‘E for Ernie.’
Drunkenly, my date and I used poster paints, glitter and glue to liven up photocopies of Ernest’s face before the bingo caller ordered everyone to toast the aged star (“Here’s to another 95 for Mr. Borgnine!”).
Best. Date. Ever.
matt finch / mechanical dolphin 