[Literature & Art] Burroughs, William S. (1914 - 1997)
"Will he have 3-D on Time?" - Signed gun-shot T-Shirt, 1996.
Screenprint in colors, on cotton T-shirt, 13 3/4 x 11 in. (34.9 x 27.9 cm). Signed and dated `September 27/1996' in black marker, peppered with gunshot holes fired by Burroughs himself, from the edition of unknown size. Search for "William Burroughs shooting T shirts" on YouTube to see the art in action.A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th century." (2003 Penguin Modern Classics edition of Junky)
The T-shirts were proposed by his friend Fred Aldrich, who designed some of them. He asked Burroughs what they should say "and without a moment's hesitation," Aldrich recalls, "he said, 'Will he have 3D in time?' Now, where that came from, I don't know." Then Aldrich had the idea for Burroughs to blast the shirts with a gun and sign them. Sometimes Burroughs would add things like, "Vive la France! Bastille Day!" Aldrich placed ads in publications such as Rolling Stone and Wired, and orders came in from all over the world. (8856)
Signed Document/Item Art & Design