Monday, July 6, 2009

Slideshow Double Header: (1) Math t presents ... Kier in NYC, June 27, 2009; (2) DC presents ... 'Jerk' in London, July 1 - 3, 2009

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1.

The day of the Voidoid release party, Kier calls me and says he's burning holes in books with Richard [Hell], Todd and Josh. Do I want to come over. I've taken the day off and I'm already quite stoned but I get my shit together in record time and arrive at 38 St Press in under 45. Unfortunately, by the time I arrive the burning is over, fortunately having produced 1000 approximate replications of this


The inside of 38 St Press looks like




Josh and Todd have made a lot of books



Kier is drawing individual original covers for the limited edition Japanese bound edition of the book. He is very kind to let me take some photos











Josh binds the limited editions in a simple manner that's sexy as shit. He calls it Japanese binding, evoking a certain type of bondage; plus it involves needles, slurp. Through research that night I learn the technique is originally Chinese and has also been widely used in Korea.

Josh binding the books




A finished copy



During this time I also attempt to draw something; however the faces become garbage. I am inspired by the allstar gang who did the Voidoid and I think I'll burn the faces out


The view from here. Let it be known that everything naughty depicted above was brought into 38 St Press by me. Josh, who hopes to design the Olympic mascot one day, was not involved whatsoever.


Next we go to Printed Matter. Inside



I only get one picture of Richard


Zachary German comes


So do JW Veldhoen and Nb, but inconveniently, I get too drunk to want to keep my camera in hand.

The last thing I manage to snap on 27 June are these zines by Kier onsale at Printed Matter, both bought by me both amazing


Bonus- next day, after pride, I take these pictures of Kier's tattoo



xx
your humble photographer



Buy The Voidoid, written by Richard Hell in 1973, illustrated by Kier Cooke Sandvik in 2008.




2.




The South London Gallery where 'Jerk' was performed is located in the Camberwell area of London and has been around for eons, as you can tell by the building's facade. In recent times, it's been an important venue for contemporary art -- showing big names like Tom Friedman, Brian Eno, Alfredo Jaar, Chris Burden, Gilbert & George, Steve McQueen, and Tracey Emin and young, emerging artists -- as well as film and performance art (or Live Art as they call it in England), which explains why our piece received an invitation courtesy of the SLG's awesome associate curator Anne-Sophie Dinant. Here are images of some previous events and shows at the SLG:









And here's our gang taking over.






This is Gisele Vienne, Jonathan Capdevielle, our lighting designer Patrick Riou, Anne-Sophie Dinant, the unpictured me, and some of the SLG's staff and curators setting up the space, rehearsing, and applying Jonathan's make up on the afternoon of the first performance.








A small boatload of UK based distinguished locals * saw the show over the course of the three nights. I snuck out to meet with most of them for a little while before the performances, usually but not always with camera in hand. Since the SLG is rather isolated, no pubs or cafes were within easy walking distance, so we either stuck to the front of the building or walked down to a nearby gas station for snacks and bad coffee.
* in attendance but not pictured: Blake Wood, James, Chris Goode, Roger Clarke, a.o.


Wednesday, the 1st: (l. to r.) Kier, Thomas, Tomkendall, Oscar B, Rigby, Tender Prey, Wolf. (For a closer look, see: below)



Also on Wednesday: Jheorgge



Thursday, July 2: (top to bottom) Oliver w/ Jonathan; Paul Curran; Pascal & Andra





Friday, July 3: (top to bottom) Colin, left, with Reuben and Caroline; Dominic and Davidc.





In an ideal situation, and the SLG provided it, the room where 'Jerk' is performed should be completely empty apart from Jonathan and the audience. This means that Gisele, Patrick, and I are sitting in an entirely different room during the show, running the lights and sound with a video monitor of what's going on in the performance space as our guide. So, below you see how the London shows looked to me. First you join me in spying on the audience as they file in, and then, when everyone is seated and has been handed their 'fanzine', which includes two pieces of writing that they are asked to read at designated points in the show, Jonathan, who is already sitting in his chair 'onstage' when the audience enters, waits for a prearranged secret signal that tells him it's okay to begin. By then, we're in the control room. For the London gigs, after the performance ended there was a ten minute break followed by yours truly reading four pieces from 'Ugly Man' followed by a discussion of 'Jerk' with the audience. On the first night, the theater maker Chris Goode conducted a formal interview with Gisele, Jonathan, and myself. On the other two nights, the three of us fielded questions on our own. Here are a few links to British press about the shows:

The Times: 'Jerk: puppetry with blood on its hands', by Joseph Galliano
'Jerk' @ Things I Want You to Know About
'Jerk' @ The New MT
A squib @ Time Out











The first night, we went out for dinner after the show, but between the late hour and the extreme sparsity of places to eat in the area, we ended up spending more time wandering around looking for restaurants than eating. After that, we just gave up and ordered in from Pizza Hut. Below you see some of the SLG curators and staff digging in.






On the last day and night of the performances, something strange and quite terrible happened. It's even possible you saw it on the news. Just behind the SLG are two very large low income housing towers, and when Gisele, Jonathan, and I arrived at the venue on Friday, one of them was experiencing a very serious fire. The not very clear picture below was taken from the SLG's backyard area. We all watched the building burn, people clinging to their balconies screaming for help, desperately and hopelessly trying to lower themselves on tied together bed sheets. After several hours, the fire department seemed to have the situation under control, so we went ahead with the show. But as the q&a was coming to an end, the fire department entered the SLG asking to use the building as a hospital for the wounded. The staff quickly broke down the bleachers and cleared the gallery space. By then six people had died in the fire. The paramedics didn't end up needing the space for medical reasons, but the burnt building was declared uninhabitable, and when Gisele, Jonathan, and I left late that night, the SLG staff was preparing for the likelihood that the space would need to be used as shelter and housing for the residents who had been left homeless.

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p.s. Hey. Since the blog was already in a self-reflective mood this weekend, I thought I'd go ahead and blow the mood out with one more here-centric post before the whole world seeps back into the front page again. My sincere thanks to Math t for capturing Kier's NYC days with her classic panache. Me, I'm back in Paris where it's refreshingly cool and rainy after the medium swamp that was London weather. D.L. and artist sublime Kiddiepunk moved into the Recollets yesterday for a living stint of indeterminate length. I'm just easing back into the local routine of writing and the rest of whatever it is that I tend to do. Since I have a fair amount of comments to catch up with this morning, I'll head that way now, beginning with the accumulated comments from last week that I didn't catch in Saturday's post. ** Pre-Saturday: Jesse Hudson, I'm no fan of Boyd Rice either. I think his music is rinky dink and so-so at best, and I think his ideas are pretty half-assed, and I think his provocations are just slight variations on overly trod 'offensive' themes. I don't hate what he does particularly, I'm just not interested. ** Thomas, Hey, man! A real pleasure to finally get to meet you and talk to you at least a little. Thanks for the good words on 'Jerk', and of course for the stuff you gave me. I haven't had the chance to enjoy it yet, but it's angled in for later today. Hope I get to see you more lengthily before long. Take good care, my friend. ** Stan_cz, Hey. My back is edging ever closer to hardly feeling like it's there at all, which, of course, is the goal. London was a good thing. Oh, I'm really glad you liked the Celine so much. I forget: was that your first first hand experience with Celine? ** Rigby, Greetings, thank you, hug, cheek kisses, and more. ** Pascal, Ah, hey, man. Very, very good to meet you at last, and I'm glad 'Jerk' sat well with you. Thanks a lot. Oh, sure, of course it's more than cool to have the blog folk vote on your poem question. Stuff like that is what the blog is here to do. What's best? I could post it in the p.s. and make your word choice question the question of the day, or you can post it in the comments yourself. Whatever suits you best. Sounds like fun to me. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hey, Ha ha, wow, gay photographer. That's a first. They probably said 'pornographer' in some accent that the journalist couldn't quite interpret clearly? ** Oliver, Hey. I wish I'd had a chance to meet up. I didn't realize you were there until I saw you in that photo up there. Yeah, the meet and greet plans were made very imperfect in many cases by the limited set up at the SLG. Drat. But thanks a lot for coming, and of course I'm really happy that you found the piece interesting. I'm totally with you on Rice. ** Bill, I hope Ohio is treating you well and not scorching you. Yeah, seeing Bausch's early works had a huge impact on me too. 'Cafe Mueller', among them, and her production of 'Rites of Spring' was mindbogglingly good. Take care while you're there. ** SYpHA_69, Yeah, on Rice. I'm there. Thanks so much for the kind words on 'UM'. That means a lot to me. Yeah, thank you. ** Bernard Welt, I found you clear as a bell. ** Steevee, That Shaviro MJ piece was quite interesting, yeah. Thanks, man. ** Flit, Hey, pal. ** David Ehrenstein, The Palin resignation feels very ominous to me, but who the fuck knows, I guess. Weird, weird, weird. ** Derek McCormack, My extreme honor, Mr. McCormack. ** Colin, Hey. Man, so nice to get to meet you. A real and total pleasure. Well, like I said above, we didn't know how bad the fire was at that point either. It had seemed to have been under control that afternoon from our vantage point, and the post-show news was a real shock. Anyway, thank you a lot, and I hope we'll get to meet up and spend a lot more time visiting in the future like ... in Paris? Know you've got a tour guide if need be at the drop of a hat. ** Chris, Hey, man. Yeah, I'll get caught up on Facebook today, and I'll check for your message and write to you pronto. Hope your weekend was swimming. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Glad your nose started treating you more politely. Still, the ongoing sickness isn't good. You've consulted a decent doctor and everything? I've never really gotten into McInerney's work. I read a couple, and I tried a couple more, but there's just nothing much there for me. I've never been a huge Fitzgerald fan, and that seems to be the model for him, so maybe that's it. Well, I hope your crappy sounding weekend ended with a bang in a good way. I liked London. Sometimes I go to London, and I don't like the place much at all, but this time I got the goodness and charms of the place. I think it was all the cool people, and maybe the fact that we were lodged in South Kensington, which is a pretty sweet, very high English looking/seeming area. ** You-x, London was quite nice, like I said. The heat and humidity sucked, but otherwise, yeah, all good. Shows went great. I possess your albums finally, having downloaded them last night, and today they'll make their grand entrance into my permanent experience. Can't wait. And thank you again so much for the awesome and humbling and charismatic weekend post, man. I like Death in June okay. ** Panda?, Hey, pal. Oh, you know, ha ha, I don't remember where the interview was for, which sounds weird, but I've been doing a bunch so I'm kind of confused. I'll find out. Did you get my email about needing that one missing image from the post? I hope the headache fled hours and hours ago. Oh, and thanks a lot for your major part in yesterday's post. So incredibly nice of you. ** Uli, Hey. Oh, Allroh, interesting. Yeah, I'll bet that was really good. My limited understanding of the Black Metal relationship to White Supremacy leads me to think that, well, it's hard to tell. Obviously, some of those bands are really into it, but the image of that music is so thick and so rendered into so much showmanship and confined mostly to graphics and lyrics and iconography that I do wonder whether it's not, in many cases, just used as scary ballast to help make the music and its vibe feel grounded. I don't know. Others might know more, and I thought Oliver's comment just below yours made a lot of sense in terms of how that offense is best processed if nothing else. Very interesting question. ** Saturday: David Ehrenstein, 'The Split', wow, there's a film I haven't thought about in a long time. Yeah, I didn't know Wenders was making that 3D Bausch film. Shit. I wonder how far along it was? My guess is he'll do a Terry Gilliam in some way or another, but ... ** Bernard Welt, Two days after the Palin announcement, and I'm already nostalgic for the MJ news overkill. ** Tomkendall, Super great to see you, and awesome that you're excited about writing right now. Yes! The Kathy Acker doc was shown on the French/ German TV channel Arte about two weeks ago, although it was past my bedtime, and I don't have Tivo unfortunately. But I'm guessing people recorded it, so maybe it'll end up as a torrent if it isn't already. I still haven't seen it, and I'm supposedly interviewed in some cut of it. ** Winter Rates, 95 degrees in Portland? I didn't think that was possible. I missed Wimbledon, but I could hear the collective UK's groans about Murray losing all the way across the channel. ** Marcus Whale, Hey! Yeah, I wandered downstairs yesterday morning to hand AMT/ Kiddiepunk his key and help him into his new home, and he was raving about the recording you guys did, and I saw the cover on his computer. I think he's going to sneak me a listen in the next day or so. Oh, that Cole Mohr thing ... did you alert me to that on Facebook? I think I saw an alert. If so, I'll go read it. Thanks, man. ** Mark, Yeah, I think you're just too classy for Model Mayhem. Not that I've ever looked at that site, but the name says it all. Actually, the name isn't so bad, I guess, in and of itself, but it just seems kind of obvious that their definition of mayhem isn't ours. Oh, let me try again on the pass-along front. Everyone, the superb and multi-talented artist and DL Mark is looking for models for a photographic project. Here are his words: 'Do any of you DC’ers in the SF Bay Area have the nude modeling bug? I prefer young women, but I am willing to work with men, TS, anything. We can shoot wherever you feel most comfortable, indoors, outdoors, at home, -- you name it.' Give it a thought and chance, you people in SF, and I guess let Mark know either here or via some more private means. ** Oscar B, Hey! Oh, yeah, our little first meeting was just the tip of the .... iceberg would be a weird term to use although it might feel just right considering your current weather conditions du jour, so ... iceberg on the hanging out front. A complete pleasure. Thank you a lot about 'Jerk'. Oh, I think you absolutely must post pix or video from your Michael Jackson performance. I think it's kind of imperative, no? ** Pisycaca, Hey, hey. Yeah, I should be pretty around and doing not too much (apart from, you know, the blog and my novel and the usual) while you're here. I'm greatly looking forward to your trip too, naturally. If you're not in the mood or right state of mind for 'Infinite Jest', then wait. It's a seriously great novel, and best to tackle it when it makes you hungry. ** Empty Frame, Hey. Good, I'm glad you decided to dive in. It was great meeting you, and you completely blew my mind reminding me about those films I sent you. I had spaced on doing that. And just knowing Mark E. Smith laid eyes positively on something I something to do with is a victory I'll treasure forever. Yeah, do try to come to Paris, if you can. That'd be great. And, like I said, I'd love to come to ultra-mysterious and forever tempting Berlin, so if you can think of any good reasons, that'd be awesome. And I hope you'll stick around here when you can. That would be a real pleasure. Take care. ** Dan, Hey, Dan. Oh, okay, I'll have a think about LA people and tell them to get in on the screening asap. That's exciting, and I'll go look at the new press on the site. Great, great! Thanks a million as ever, Dan. ** SYpHA_69, Yeah, this place has occasioned some pretty amazing friendships, right? I'll be forever hugely grateful to the blog's existence for that alone. Exactly, plug away on 'Grimoire' but keep working and moving forward. That's the ticket, and that's my modus operandi too. Mm, on the Burroughs obit ... I kind of decided crossed with agreed not to talk about that issue anymore because it just got me and others in a bunch of hot water, and this is way too public a place to go into it, but I stand by what I wrote, and if you can't get a copy of 'All Ears', I'm pretty sure that piece will be in the non-fiction collection I'm putting together. ** Misanthrope, I have seen one decent pic of MJ's oldest son, and I did think he was an adorable looking kid, yeah. I suppose we'll be seeing a ton of him for the rest of our miserable lives. ** JW Veldhoen, Mm, I think I like exactly the thing you don't like about T. Rex, but I guess I don't really think of him as overly associated with Bowie. It's just two different animals with the same timing like, uh, The Ramones and Television or something. Anyway, all that said, going in the further direction of Bowie would be my pick too. When do you guys start making music and jamming and all that? Elton John rocks?! Surely, you jest. If I were God, I'd probably wipe the slate clean of every song he's ever recorded. The black of that Ryan White joke was too black for me. That's the softy side of me showing, I guess. ** Flit, I know, Elton John, yikes. ** JoeM, My three worst rock deaths, off the top of my head: Nick Drake, Gram Parsons, Brian Jones. ** No more teenagekicks, Hey. It's so true about youtube comments. They're otherworldly, and so is their strange glue. ** David, Howdy. ** Math t, An in-person, as it were, thanks again for documenting the Kier takes Manhattan experience for all of us. Yeah, granted that LSD hasn't been what I remember LSD being for a long, long time, but that doesn't sound like LSD to me, or else it was heavily cut with something somehow. Strange. But you were pleasured ultimately, yes? Oh, I think I caught the edit. I hope so. If not, alert me in the comments, and I'll make the change as soon as I see it. Have you read or do you know what the deal/story is with Tao's 'Shoplifting ... American Apparel' novella? ** Kiddiepunk, How trippy to be talking to you here when you're all but walking on my ceiling as I type. ** Jesse Hudson, Good celeb deaths. Can't argue with a one, as imaginary deaths go. Although maybe the Jonas Brothers should die from massive heart attacks caused by the overwhelmingly great sex they'd just had with Misanthrope? ** Bacteriaburger, Hey, man. How's it, the writing, you, etc.? ** Alan, Hey. Yeah, I liked the last line of that Times review too. Otherwise, you know, it could have been a lot worse, but I've gotten that same review a hundred times, so there was no interest there for me. I'll let you know if I find any 'UM' reviews that excite me, yeah. Thanks a lot for asking. ** Erik, Oh, yeah, that's a strange thing, right? I mean sharing a space that was originally the other person's. In my relationships, it's almost always been boyfriends moving into my apartments rather than the other way around. I think the only time I moved into a boyfriend's place was with my ex Richard in Amsterdam actually. And that worked out very poorly. I go to the beach mostly if not always after the sun goes down. That's my kind of beach. When I visit my dad in Hawaii, he lives on the beach, so I have no choice in that case, and getting brown/tan is kind of interesting. You like the beach, don't you? I feel you're the blog's official beach going guy. ** Squeaky, Did you get the big cool off today like we did? Wow, what a relief. It's only like 20 outside today. I might even wear my coat when I go out. You'll like Derek's book, I'm pretty damned sure. When do you go to SF again. This fall? ** Uli, Michael Jackson buried without his brain? Oh, wait, he was probably a cryogenics -- or whatever you call it -- loving guy like Walt Disney, I bet. So his brain will be in one of those frozen cans. Maybe. Hm. ** Wolf, Dude, thank you, such a pleasure to be your presence. I think I'm not going to Avignon next week. Not for sure on that, but that's a guess. If southern France bores or cooks you excessively, you know where Paris is, right? ** Tender Prey, Hey, Marc. Yeah, sorry again for that fuck up. My phone was indeed at the SLG, but it was weird because, like I said above, when we arrived, that building right behind the SLG was on fire, so we all just stood in the SLG's back yard watching that in horror until show time. Anyway, it was really great to see you even a little, and, you know, thank you a lot about 'Jerk'. Interesting and beautiful thought re: the body idea and my work. I've forgotten what the other name was in that equation Gisele constructed with Riefenstahl. Sade? I'll have to ask her. Yeah, Riefenstahl is a big reference point for G. in the new piece we're working on. Anyway, yeah, take care, man, and, as I always say, come to Paris! ** Jesse Hudson, Ah, thanks, Jesse. Yep. ** Rigby, Thanks, mate, cheers. (Wow, I'm so not English). Oh, I'm like that excited pop corn eating MJ? But my excitement is more internalized, isn't it? Maybe not. I try to avoid mirrors and photos of myself like the plague. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Stephen and Sunn0))) are on their mid-west tour, but I think he gets back here in a couple of weeks, which might be too late for you, but, if it isn't, I'll definitely ask him, no problem. Oh, I have to get that 'Treasures ... ' DVD then. Thanks! I'm back working on the novel again. I was completely stuck in terms of going forward, and so I'm reworking and refining and polishing, etc. what I've written, and that's helping a lot and going well so far. Anyway, I need to finish the non-fiction book mss. in the next two weeks, so the novel will have to wait a bit yet again. I don't think I'll be traveling much until early August when Yury has his vacation, at which point I assume we'll go somewhere for a week or something. ** Steevee, Really hope you score the Toronto Fest gig. Yeah, how was 'Bruno'? I want to see it, but my expectations are pretty middling. ** October, Hey. Yeah, toughing it through is probably the only way to go, but of course talk about it as much as you need to because, yeah, that always helps, and I'm always interested in how you are. I hope one of these days I'll get to a do Slideshow post with you in it. Maybe when 'Jerk' plays Fresno, ha ha, or else you'll just have to get yourself to LA when I'm there sometime, okay? ** Postitbreakup, Hey, Josh. It's really nice to see you. I wish you'd come around here more. You're always missed. And even though I'm the slowest correspondent in history, I will read your piece you sent and write to you as soon as I can. ** Pascal, Hey, hey, my friend. ** Okay, that's that. We're caught up, and now it'll be smooth sailing around here for a while. Enjoy the local photo show. I'm off to buy cigarettes and then have lunch with the Jonathans (Capdevielle and Schatz) and subsequently powwow with them and Gisele about theater stuff. Have good Mondays. See you tomorrow.