I Write, They Answer (usually).

May 27, 2008 10:44 AM

I Write, They Answer (usually).
Ask any artist and you'll be told artists' statements are bullshit. Some skip statements for this reason. I'm skipping right past the art to the bullshit. Tweaking the noses of entities with a bit of power or fame is nothing new. There's a long tradition of this, but invoking the "Yes Men," "Michael Moore," or "Lazlo Toth" might make it seem like I am pretending I play in their league. I'm not. I don't. All the same, I invite you to check out jackassletters.com. I would like to say the URL says it all, but since I don't really believe it does, and I intend to change it soon, not giving a better description would be a jackass's game. There's work to be done, but I think it's good enough to show. Currently I am running a contest to rename the site. I want to get this done as quickly as possible, since I would like to rename it before it becomes the #1 destination on the internet for young and old! Well, or before the Cease and Desist letters start to arrive.
posted by cjorgensen (4 comments total)

Your letters are hilarious, and I spent an enjoyable half hour going through them all and reading them to my family. I would love to see answers from Microsoft (equal time, since you already wrote Apple), Walmart, and Starbucks, if you are looking for inspiration. I'm also busily thinking up alternative names for your site.

I think you might want to tweak the description in projects a bit. Put the word "artist" in the first sentence and quite a few more esoteric Mefites may well just skim past the description and never get to the goldmine that is your project.
posted by misha at 4:10 PM on May 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

Thanks. I did write Wal-Mart thanking them for underpaying their employees and keeping prices down, focussing on the consumer, and selling products even their wage slaves can afford to buy.

I also wrote Microsoft, asking for something free, since Apple didn't send me anything (they have since, so look for the update). I asked for an mp3 player or something since I heard they made one as well, or maybe a free copy of Vista, since no one else seems to want it.

I've added Starbucks to my list.

Not sure how I can tweak the description once it's been posted.

I could die tomorrow and I'd have nearly a month's worth of posts going up. I am going to add a "coming soon" sidebar listing the next five subjects of the letters.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:51 AM on May 29, 2008

Enjoyed these a lot!
posted by brautigan at 3:49 PM on June 7, 2008

I think the name will have to stay the same, since none of the suggestions really rocked my world.

I've added sections, content, and sadly ads.

I would like to figure out how to get more traffic, but that should come with time.
posted by cjorgensen at 8:18 AM on July 6, 2008