When it comes to introducing the idea, at least in North America, of an alien influence and control on the planet, the text and visual art in "Schwa : World Operations Manual created by William Barker" appears to be an example. It is fiction with some truth, a combination of art, and text. Below are some of the ideas presented, even if I had to rely on online sources:
Wired published an article Oct 6, 1997:
The article continues:
From the Wiki
Themes in Schwa World Operations Manual (1997) from Wikiquote:
Themes in Schwa 1999 Countdown Calendar according to Wikiquote
Barker says, "aliens, one of the great modern myths" It is not entirely clear what he believes, but somehow he catches onto concepts that turn out to have some reality. And now, ten years after the interview, and more than 30 years after the first drawings, we can laugh at the name Schwa as reminiscent of Klaus Schwab and his World Economic Forum, so before getting to the content of the article why not insert this image from the Wayback Machine, originally Alone cannot you it resist but originally uploaded to a Stanford University server, apparently.
From the Boing Boing article published JUL 24, 2014
On this page, one finds a few images including this, which is a bit spooky, but there is an idea of a comet, and something else, isn't there?
But what does it mean? Indeed:
SCHWA THE MOVIE: SPACE ALIENS ARE HERE NOW. AND IN CHARGE.
Wired published an article Oct 6, 1997:
The Secret Government could refer to a speech by Milton William Cooper (Wiki) at the MUFON 1989 Symposium Concerning MJ-12 (text), or to chapter 12 in Cooper's book Behold a Pale Horse, published in 1991 and takes its title from
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
It is a joke that people can take over their world based on a fictional book, but if they can become more aware of their programs, would not that help, and that may be what the book can do for some people.
From the Wiki
From Wikiquote about Schwa: World Operations Manual by Schwa Corporation/(William Barker)
Two books are mentioned. This is the first:
Themes in Schwa World Operations Manual (1997) from Wikiquote:
The book is available secondhand on Amazon, and AbeBooks, but it is pricy.
Themes in Schwa 1999 Countdown Calendar according to Wikiquote
On Boing Boing there is an interview with the author conducted by David Pescovitz in 2014.
Barker says, "aliens, one of the great modern myths" It is not entirely clear what he believes, but somehow he catches onto concepts that turn out to have some reality. And now, ten years after the interview, and more than 30 years after the first drawings, we can laugh at the name Schwa as reminiscent of Klaus Schwab and his World Economic Forum, so before getting to the content of the article why not insert this image from the Wayback Machine, originally Alone cannot you it resist but originally uploaded to a Stanford University server, apparently.
As a note, when I went to the Wayback page, and clicked on the above image, a new one loaded. There may be still others.
From the Boing Boing article published JUL 24, 2014
Alien Autopsy: William Barker on Schwa, two decades later
Twenty years ago, William Barker's Schwa artwork revealed a world of alien abductions, stick figure insanity, conspiratorial crazy, and a hyper-branded surveillance state. It's now more relevant than ever.
In the early 1990s, adman/fine artist William Barker's Schwa became the iconic artwork of the cyberculture underground. Barker's paranoiac stick figures, faux-corporate undertones, and conspiratorial overtones embodied the high weirdness of the time. And of course there was that alien head, that damned alien head. Loved by everyone from Terry Gilliam to Noam Chomsky, Barker unveiled the Schwa world through several books, Web experiments, t-shirts, prints, calendars, and comic strips that appeared in the bOING bOING print 'zine among other places. [...] Below, a brief interview with the man behind the madness, and a handful of his favorite artworks, annotated by the artist himself.
Boing Boing: What was the idea behind Schwa?
Barker: On the broadest level, Schwa is about a corporation that stages an 'alien' takeover of a b&w planet through machines, branding and advertising. Some of the stickpeople notice the deception. There aren't any aliens in any of the books, only logos, signs, dreams and thoughts.
Why do you think it resonated so much at the time?
Hyper-corporate branding had begun just a few years before. Some of us noticed. I chose the alien head to stylize into a brand with its weak pun on 'alienation'. Soon after, interest in aliens, one of the great modern myths, broke out for the third time. I may have sensed that early. And, the 'zine scene was about to boom for few years, a scene I had no awareness of when I started. I caught both those waves.
Why do you think the time is "right" again?
The World Operations Manual came out in late 1997. Out of 25,000 copies printed, 10,000 sold. The rest went into bargain bins. In ways that's a good thing, many people who were too young or not born have found the books in bins, on shelves and thrift stores. They are new fans, and those books are nearly the only view they've seen that questions and ridicules living on a branded planet. And, there are a lot of security cameras in the drawings. A prophecy, apparently.
[...]
'Schwa' 1994, Poster and Cartoon: This is a summary of the dramatic tension in the books. I drew 'myself' in the window on the upper left. I'm still there. :)
On this page, one finds a few images including this, which is a bit spooky, but there is an idea of a comet, and something else, isn't there?
But what does it mean? Indeed:
