Current Issue

1.17 1/2 / Ladies and Gentlemen

June 28, 2010. As a bonus to Issue 17, we'd like to present this excerpt from a work in progress by artist Matthew Rana, entitled Script for a Dead Comedian (1962-2010). As part of his ongoing investigation into the relationship between art and law, Rana examined suppression and representation of the truth in his article "The Law, Onstage: The People vs. Lenny Bruce," focusing on the comedian's performance of the law following his obscenity trials in the early 1960s.  Here, Rana combines the comedian's night club act with the transcript from his San Francisco trial, as well as historical and theoretical texts related to rhetoric, testimony and "fearless speech" in a short video. Enjoy. - PM

(Editor's note: this video contains harsh language)