David Thorne
David Thorne is an Australian satirist. He gained popularity in late 2008 for an email correspondence about an overdue account, in which he attempts to settle the debt with a picture of a seven legged spider.
Seven-Legged Spider
The incident of the seven-legged spider can be summed up by the following quote from the email correspondence, "It was silly of me to assume I could provide you with something of completely no value whatsoever, waste your time and then attach such a large value to it." [1] Throughout history society has given value to an assortment of objects: shells, paper, metals, etc. with the intent of these objects to be used to purchase other items. He is satirically stating how arbitrary a monetary system is. Currently we give a piece of green cotton such great value, David is suggesting why isn't his piece of art worth money. People will pay thousands of dollars for a piece of artwork, David is suggesting that his upgraded version of a spider with 8 legs is worth $233.95, and he is cutting out the middle man, an art dealer, by giving the landlord a picture. By asking for the spider back in both instances he is suggesting that each image he had sent was specifically created and has a value because keeping it would detract some sense of value from him. This is another interesting point that should be noted because even though the landlord has sent him back a copy, she still has access to the image through her computer. In this way David has lost some of his creation, or its value has been diminished because there now exists multiple copies.
27bslash6
On his homepage, 27bslash6.com [2], David gives a list of comical things he has done or ideas that he has. Most of them are meant to be satirical. It is made apparent through each one that he has no intention of being serious. The website also includes links to his book as well as his Twitter and Facebook pages. You can also leave a comment of send David an email.
