Object 1 appeared first, then 2, then 3, and then 4.
Launching our Irregulars series: from the hiss and crackle of Britain’s CB radio heyday, comes Eyeball Cards. These alternate identities of ‘breakers’ are sometimes amusing, occasionally mundane, dark or bawdy, but always personal creations: social media identities from a time before the internet.
Eyeball Cards
For the second book in the Irregulars series, David Clarke has selected material from the Ministry of Defence’s UFO Desk, now held at The National Archives, to present the remarkable stories behind these images, including alien craft on the A1, flying saucers over Hampstead, and a spaceship landing at a primary school.
UFO Drawings From The National ArchivesWe asked William Hogan and David Titlow about their experience of Citizens Band Radio Culture of the 1980s, and more specifically the Eyeball Cards: the business cards of ‘breakers’ exchanged when meeting up in person after chatting on the airwaves.
A CB Radio Q&AFor the Irregulars series, David Clarke has selected images - drawings, paintings and photographs - sent in to the Ministry of Defence's UFO Desk and now held at The National Archives. We asked him how he got interested in UFOs and what they might mean.
Questions & Answers: UFO DrawingsIn this extract from our book See Red Women’s Workshop, which features brilliant feminist posters from the 1970s and 1980s, take a look at the group’s calendar for the year 1977.
1977 CalendarDavid Clarke, author of UFO Drawings From The National Archives, explores the history of UFO sightings by schoolchildren.
Close Encounters of the Playground KindWe’re proud to introduce our newest project, one that we’ve been beavering away at for over a year now: Four Corners Irregulars, a series of books presenting a new look at the history of modern British visual culture.
We have chosen a wide range of different subjects, ranging from politics to hobbies, and stretching from 1945 to the present day. All are linked by the remarkable visual creativity in Britain beyond art galleries and museums. Some of the work we feature is by artists working outside of the gallery context and some was made by people who didn’t consider themselves artists at all.
The first volume is by William Hogan and David Titlow, about Eyeball Cards, the mysterious business cards created by CB radio enthusiasts in the late 1970s and early 1980s. ‘Breakers’ would chat over the airwaves at a time when the technology was yet to be legalised and would create handles for themselves to help keep their identity a secret. The result is a window into an outpouring of creativity that prefigures online identities – social media personas from before the internet.
Read about Irregular #1, Eyeball CardsWe make art books that have a story to tell. Whether it’s our Familiars series – in which we invite artists to reimagine classic works of literature – or our new series, the Irregulars about fascinating pockets of British visual culture, we try to find art in the most intriguing and unusual places, and publish it as beautifully as we can.
Run by Elinor Jansz and Richard Embray, we’ve been publishing since 2003. We’re always keen to hear from you – whether you’re a reader, bookseller, historian, or artist, or have an idea you think we’d be interested in.
Design by John Morgan studio
Programming by Benedict de Silva
Pictures by Four Corners Books
