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"Method of this work:
literary montage.
I have nothing to say only to show."
(Passagenwerk (1927 - 1940) - Walter Benjamin)

2005, Jul 22; 11:40 ::: Monster Movie (1969) - Can

Monster Movie (1969) - Can [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Can (originally "The Can" a few years, sometimes spelled "C A N", or "CAN" by fans) was a experimental rock music group founded in Germany in 1967. They found little success in conventional terms (they never had a hit song), but they were one of the major Krautrock bands; and "anarchist community" who have had a great influence on modern rock and electronic music. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_%28band%29 [Jul 2005]

see also: 1969 - music - Krautrock

2005, Jul 22; 11:08 ::: Losing my Edge (2002) - LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem (2005) - LCD Soundsystem [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Yeah, I'm losing my edge. I'm losing my edge. The kids are coming up from behind. I'm losing my edge. I'm losing my edge to the kids from France and from London. But I was there. I was there in 1968. I was there at the first Can show in Cologne. I'm losing my edge. I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks. I'm losing my edge to the Internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1962 to 1978. I'm losing my edge.

To all the kids in Tokyo and Berlin.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Brooklynites in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered eighties.

But I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge, but I was there.
I was there.
But I was there.

I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1974 at the first Suicide practices in a loft in New York City.
I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.
I was there when Captain Beefheart started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way, you'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Daft Punk to the rock kids.
I played it at CBGBs.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.

I used to work in the record store.
I had everything before anyone.
I was there in the Paradise Garage DJ booth with Larry Levan.
I was there in Jamaica during the great sound clashes.
I woke up naked on the beach in Ibiza in 1988.

But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.

I'm losing my edge.

I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody. Every great song by the Beach Boys. All the underground hits. All the Modern Lovers tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Niagra record on German import. I heard that you have a white label of every seminal Detroit techno hit - 1985, '86, '87. I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '60s cut and another box set from the '70s.

I hear you're buying a synthesizer and an arpeggiator and are throwing your computer out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Yaz/[jazz?] record.

I hear that you and your band have sold your guitars and bought turntables.
I hear that you and your band have sold your turntables and bought guitars.

I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.

But have you seen my records? This Heat, Pere Ubu, Outsiders, Nation of Ulysses, M|A|R|R|S, The Trojans, The Black Dice, Todd Terry, the Germs, Section 25, Althea and Donna, Sexual Harrassment, a-ha, Pere Ubu, Dorothy Ashby, PIL, the Fania All-Stars, the Bar-Kays, the Human League, the Normal, Lou Reed, Scott Walker, Monks, Niagra, Joy Division, Lower 48, the Association, Sun Ra, Scientist, Royal Trux, 10cc, Eric B. and Rakim, Index, Basic Channel, Soulsonic Force ("just hit me"!), Juan Atkins, David Axelrod, Electric Prunes, Gil! Scott! Heron!, the Slits, Faust, Mantronix, Pharoah Sanders and the Fire Engines, the Swans, the Soft Cell, the Sonics, the Sonics, the Sonics, the Sonics.

You don't know what you really want.

this 2002 text sourced here.

Text shows interesting parallels with Earl Zinger review.

LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem is the musical side project of producer James Murphy, co-founder of dance-punk label DFA Records. The music of LCD Soundsystem can also be described as a mix of dance music and punk, along with elements of disco and other styles.

During live performances, Murphy is accompanied by Tyler Pope (!!!/Out Hud) on the bass, Phil Mossman on the guitar and percussion, Nancy Whang on the keyboard and Pat Mahoney on the drums.

LCD Soundsystem gained attention with its first single, "Losing My Edge", in 2002 before releasing a self-titled album in February of 2005 to critical acclaim. Opening track "Daft Punk is Playing At My House" entered the Top 40 in March 2005. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCD_Soundsystem [Jul 2005]

see also: 2002 - 2005 - music - post-punk revival - electro clash - DFA records

2005, Jul 22; 10:14 ::: History of House (2001) - Various Artists

History of House (2001) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Disc 1
1.Your Love - Frankie Knuckles & Jamie Principle 2.Spring Rain - SiIvetti 3.Is It Love You’re After - Rose Royce 4.Let No Man Put Asunder - First Choice 5.On And On - Jesse Saunders 6.No Way Back - Adonis 7.Can U Feel It? - Mr Fingers 8.Move Your Body - Marshall Jefferson 9.Love Can’t Turn Around - Farley “Jackmaster” Funk feat Darryl Pandy 10.Music Is The Key - JM Silk 11.It’s Alright - Sterling Void 12.Promised Land - Joe Smooth 13.Theme from S’Express - S’Express

Disc 2
1.Big Fun - Inner City 2.That’s The Way Love Is - Ten City 3.Someday - Ce Ce Rogers 4.Voodoo Ray - A Guy Called Gerald 5.W.F.L (Think About The Future Mix) - Happy Mondays 6.Everything Starts With An E - Ezee Posse 7.The Sun Rising - Beloved 8.Chime - Orbital 9.Little Fluffy Clouds - The Orb 10.Energy Flash - Joey Beltram 11.On A Ragga Tip - SL2 12.Don’t You Want Me - Felix 13.Open Up - Leftfield 14.Inner City Life - Goldie presents Metalheadz 15.Professional Widow (Armand’s Star Trunk Funkin’ Mix) (Radio Edit) - Tori Amos 16.16. 9pm (Till I come) - ATB

see also: 2001 - house - music

2005, Jul 21; 22:53 ::: Café Flesh (1982) - Stephen Sayadian


image sourced here.

Café Flesh (1982) - Stephen Sayadian

Café Flesh would be an ideal double bill with Liquid Sky.

see also: 1982 - film - experimental film - Café Flesh (1982)

2005, Jul 21; 22:33 ::: More, More, More (How Do You Like It?) (1975) - Andrea True Connection

More, More, More (How Do You Like It?) (1975) - Andrea True Connection [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Andrea True (born July 26, 1943 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a former porn film star who was also a disco era singer. In 1975, she had a major hit as The Andrea True Connection with the song "More, More, More (How Do You Like It?)", written and produced by Gregg Diamond, and remixed by Tom Moulton. Her breathy singing plus a lyrical reference to "get the cameras rollin'" reflected the notoriety of her film career, during which she used five different stage names.

True moved to New York City as a teenager, to seek fame as a mainstream movie star. While she did get some minor roles in mainstream movies, it was as an X-rated star that she was able to gain fame. She participated in more than 50 films, with the majority of them being X-rated.

Not giving up on her dreams of being famous as a mainstream performer, she released her song "More, More More". It became a major hit in the discos and clubs, and radio stations began to play the record. It ultimately reached number five on the pop charts. Her subsequent single releases failed to create much interest, and she came to be regarded as a one hit wonder. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_True [Jul 2005]

see also: 1975 - disco - hit - music

2005, Jul 21; 21:12 ::: Marquee Moon (1977) - Television

Marquee Moon (1977) - Television [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

A classic bit of punk rock from 1977, that classic year of punk. Whereas most of this New York City group's peers turned up the distortion, revved up the tempo, and stripped their songs down to tight three-chord anthems, Television did something startlingly different. Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd allowed themselves the space to develop clean, powerful, unexpected guitar leads. To top it off, Verlaine's songs were thought-provoking, memorable, danceable, and unlike anything else going. "Prove It" was the hit in England, but independent radio stations wore the grooves down on the title cut, "See No Evil," and the stunningly brilliant "Friction." --Percy Keegan for amazon.com

Marquee Moon was Television's 1977 debut album.

Television was one of the mainstay acts that emerged from the CBGB scene in New York City. This album features the elliptical lyrics of Tom Verlaine set against the sparse yet complex guitar work of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, and the rhythm section of Fred Smith (bass) and Billy Ficca (drums). The introspective mood of the album, and the careful, instrumental virtuosity of Verlaine and his band were arguably one of the first manifestations of the "post punk" movement. Despite critical acclaim, the album never achieved more than a cult following in the United States at the time of its release, but rose to #33 in Britain. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquee_Moon [Jul 2005]

see also: 1977 - punk - post punk - music

2005, Jul 21; 19:00 ::: Nag Nag Nag (1979) - Cabaret Voltaire

Nag Nag Nag (1979) - Cabaret Voltaire
image sourced here. [Jul 2005]

Follow image link to hear sample.

Cabaret Voltaire (band)
Cabaret Voltaire is a post-punk industrial and electronica band from Sheffield, England consisting of Richard H. Kirk, Stephen Mallinder and Chris Watson (who was also a founding member of the Hafler Trio). Their earliest performances were dadaist-inspired performance art. In 1978, Cabaret Voltaire signed to Rough Trade and after several highly acclaimed initial singles/extended players, including "Extended Play", "Nag Nag Nag", Three Mantras and 3 Crepuscule Tracks began releasing punk-influenced albums of experimental music such as The Voice of America in 1980 and the widely-hailed Red Mecca in 1981.

In 1983, co-inciding with the departure of Watson (who went on as part of The Hafler Trio), Cabaret Voltaire began moving towards electronic dance music with the album The Crackdown on Virgin Records. In 1984, the singles "Sensoria" and "James Brown" from the album Micro Phonies (also on Virgin) charted on the independent music charts. In 1987 , the band released Code, followed by the house-influenced Groovy, Laidback & Nasty in 1990. A series of completely instrumental works under the Cabaret Voltaire name were released on Instinct Records in 1993 and 1994, but appeared to be largely the product of Kirk. Since then, Kirk has begun a solo career under several names, including Electronic Eye and Sandoz, while Mallinder has relocated to Perth, Australia and records with a collaborator under the name Sassi & Loco and more recently in another collaborative effort the Kuling-Bros. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabaret_Voltaire_%28band%29 [Jul 2005]

see also: 1979 - punk - post punk - music

2005, Jul 21; 19:00 ::: Dance-punk

Dfa Records Presents: Compilation 2 (2004) - Various Artists [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Louden Up Now (2004) - !!! [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Dance-punk is a musical genre that combines the rhythms of danceable electronic music with punk rock aesthetics and instrumentation.

List of dance-punk bands

  • !!!
  • Out Hud
  • LCD Soundsystem
  • Liars
  • The Rapture
  • Q and Not U

Bands influenced by dance-punk

  • The Faint
  • Head Automatica
  • Interpol
  • The Mars Volta
  • Ima Robot
  • The Ceasers
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance-punk [Jul 2005]

see also: 2000s - dance - punk - post punk - music

2005, Jul 21; 17:48 ::: The big-breast lover

There’s something very lovable about the big-breast lover. They tend to be open, outgoing, physical, accepting of the flaws of women, happy with the functioning female body. They like the body that gets pregnant. They like the body that gives birth. They like the body that lactates. There wasn’t the picky demand for perfection. They tended to be more rural men. They tended to live in the red states rather than the blue states. They were often slightly less educated. They were the kind of guys who in their personal ads would say, “Fats welcomed! All ages okay!” They loved mom. --Dian Hanson (2005) http://www.sexwrecks.com/2005/02/dian_hanson.html [Jul 2005]

see also: Dian Hanson - men's magazines - breast - women

2005, Jul 21; 17:27 ::: Kate Moss

Obsession by Calvin Klein

Kate Moss, photo unidentified
image sourced here.

Kate Moss (born January 16, 1974), is British model who was once the "Face of Calvin Klein". Born in Addiscombe, Croydon, Surrey, England, Moss with a height of 5' 8" or 173 cm is considered to be the one of the shortest super-models in the world.

Moss was discovered in 1988 by Sarah Doukas (founder, Storm Model Agency [1]), when she was only 14. After being shot topless for the British magazine The Face and other various magazines soon after, she was photographed on a remote location by then boyfriend and fashion photographer Mario Sorrenti which provided the shots for what would turn out to one of Calvin Kleins more controversial ad campaigns. The ad for the fragrance Obsession featured a young nude Moss and sparked outrage amongst special interest groups in America. It did however solidify her title as the "waif" amongst the then current group of famous super-models. She was as a result thereafter featured as the representative and the "face" for such Haute Couture brands as Versace, Chanel, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and many other top fashion houses.

Kate Moss is cited often as having started the trend of the controversial waif look that biased critics claim encourages anorexia in young girls and women. It should be noted however given her height she is no thinner or has a smaller mass than most other current high fashion models.

On September 29, 2002, Moss gave birth to her daughter Lila Graceyfriend at the St. John and Elizabeth Hospital in West London.

Moss recently sought help for a 'sleeping disorder' at a top London Clinic, after being exhausted with a busy year in modelling, raising her daughter and facing relationship problems with various boyfriends.

In early 2005 Moss began dating former Libertines' frontman Pete Doherty, who made headlines due to his crack cocaine and heroin abuse. In the past Moss has been in many high profile relationships and has commonly been romantically linked with such celebrities as Johnny Depp and Lenny Kravitz.

In February 2005, a nude portrait of Kate Moss by Lucian Freud was sold for £3.93 million.

After more than a decade in the modeling business Moss is cited by Forbes Magazine as continually one of the most influential and richest of celebrities worldwide. In England she is listed simply as one of the richest woman alive. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Moss [Jul 2005]

see also: heroin chic - fashion - women

2005, Jul 21; 17:18 ::: Waif

Twiggy, photo unidentified

Waif is used to described a very thin (almost unhealthy thin) looking person, usually a woman. The waif look was first introduced though in the 1960's with model Twiggy. She had big round eyes and a super thin body. The term "waif" seemed to be everywhere in the mid-nineties with Heroin chic fashion and models like Kate Moss and Jamie King on the runways and advertisements. Actresses like Ally McBeal star Calista Flockhart, Gwyneth Paltrow, Winona Ryder and singer Celine Dion have all been pinned with the term.

Although many people have said the heroin chic look is out and so is the super-waif look, it is still apparent the waif look is popular in Hollywood. Wonderbra model Eva Herzigova has dealt with negative critism over her new waif-like figure. "Had Eva Herzigova climbed out of a coffin at a New York fashion show this week her appearance could hardly have been more shocking. The supermodel, looking like a throwback to the "heroin chic" era of waif-like undernourished models, was an X-ray of her old self, skeletally thin with greasy hair, blue lips, a cold sore and sunken eyes. Even a Wonderbra couldn't rescue the legendary "Hello Boys" boobs, shrunk now to oblivion." wrote Sue Carroll.

In 2005, stunned fans saw Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie become increasingly smaller and fire up a media storm over whether or not they have eating disorders.

Singer Dido recently slammed the waifs of Hollywood. "If these celebrities want to starve themselves, then that's their choice. But it's not for me and it's not a good example to set for easily influenced girls." --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waif [Jul 2005]

see also: heroin chic - fashion - women

2005, Jul 21; 15:38 ::: The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women (1990) - Naomi Wolf

The Beauty Myth : How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women (1990) - Naomi Wolf [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Amazon.com
In a country where the average woman is 5-foot-4 and weighs 140 pounds, movies, advertisements, and MTV saturate our lives with unrealistic images of beauty. The tall, nearly emaciated mannequins that push the latest miracle cosmetic make even the most confident woman question her appearance. Feminist Naomi Wolf argues that women's insecurities are heightened by these images, then exploited by the diet, cosmetic, and plastic surgery industries. Every day new products are introduced to "correct" inherently female "flaws," drawing women into an obsessive and hopeless cycle built around the attempt to reach an impossible standard of beauty. Wolf rejects the standard and embraces the naturally distinct beauty of all women.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Naomi Wolf is a bestselling American writer. She is known for her advocacy of feminism and progressive politics and became the youngest literary star of what was later described as the third-wave of the feminist movement, which also included Susan Faludi, author of Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women.

Wolf was born in San Francisco in 1962 and studied at Yale and New College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

She became famous because of her first book The Beauty Myth (1990), which became an international bestseller. In the book, she attacked the exploitation of women by the fashion and beauty industries. Wolf argued that women deserve "the choice to do whatever we want with our faces and bodies without being punished by an ideology that is using attitudes, economic pressure, and even legal judgments regarding women's appearance to undermine us psychologically and politically."

In 2004, Wolf became involved in scandal by accusing renowned Yale professor Harold Bloom of sexual harassment (allegedly he put his hand on her inner thigh one day) in 1983 when she was a 20-year-old undergraduate at Yale. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Wolf [Jul 2005]

see also: beauty - fashion - women

2005, Jul 21; 15:38 ::: The media and body image

One of the reasons most often cited for this continuing body dissatisfaction among young women is the influence of the media. The media often reply that they are merely reflecting the ideals of the current generation. Research has, however, shown that the media indeed play an important role in shaping, rather than merely reflecting, perceptions of the female body. There seems to be a circularity that needs to be broken in order to decrease body dissatisfaction among young women and reduce the occurrence of eating disorders. The only group that can take the first step in this, is the media and the fashion industry. It is, however, very unlikely that this will happen, given the commercial interests at stake. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_image [Jul 2005]

see also: body - fashion - mass media

2005, Jul 21; 15:38 ::: Men's magazines vs women's magazines

For years the term 'men's magazine' referred to one of two things: pornography or sport.

[...]

Unlike women's magazines, which also feature women on the front cover, lads magazines usually have scantily clad or even naked women as their come on and many people believe, that despite being very successful, they are far from being a progressive force in society and are little more than an anti-feminist backlash. --Joseph Sharples (1999) http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-rol5.htm [Jul 2005]

I can't help seeing the differences between women's and men's magazines. Not the "men's magazines" like my barber keeps behind the counter for his best customers, but magazines geared to the admittedly few other interests men have.

First of all, you'll notice that men's magazines are mostly about things. They're about cars, or cigars, or golf or wine. Sometimes they're about fitness, but only if the muscle-bound guy on the cover isn't too pretty, and we don't actually have to do any of the exercises.

Women's magazines usually have a story about a mother's heroic struggle against some rare disease. Men's magazines usually have a story about a man's heroic struggle against a fish. Sometimes a bear. Occasionally a carburetor. --http://www.lautens.com/arch29.html [Jul 2005]

In the world of women's magazines the female population is continually urged to strive towards sleek hair, smooth, blemish-free skin, slender limbs and flat stomachs. Typical content, against a backdrop of advertisements, is designed to make one feel so inadequate that one purchases ridiculous amounts of cosmetics that promise to deliver the same appearance as that of the air-brushed models draped across the pages.

The women presented in men's magazines generally have more flesh around the breast and bottom areas, but are essentially from the same sleek and smooth mould. --Samantha Lyster (2004) via http://www.thefword.org.uk/features/2004/04/a_perfect_delusion [Jul 2005]

Feminist researchers have repeatedly reported on the significant role that the media play in the construction of the "beauty ideal" that society holds up to women (Faludi, 1991; Freedman, 1986; Wolf, 1991). For the majority of women this ideal is impossible to attain and may lead to feelings of inadequacy. Feelings of inadequacy are also likely to be fed by cosmetic manufacturers and weight management programs whose ad campaigns focus on convincing women that they can ameliorate their bodily flaws and imperfections only by purchasing their products or taking part in their programs (Freedman, 1986). -- Amy R. Malkin, Kimberlie Wornian, Joan C. Chrisler [1999] via http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2294/is_7-8_40/ai_55083951 [Jul 2005]

see also: men's magazines - magazine

2005, Jul 21; 15:38 ::: Gay men and fashion

Why are the women in women's-fashion magazines tall and slim -- and not just tall and slim, but soooo tall and soooo slim? If the evo-bio drive of women is to attract males (so as to be able to let those Selfish Genes have their way), then how to explain the bony legs, the androgynous jawlines, the flat chests? Fashion models are often odd-looking creatures, as stylized as Grayhounds and Afghans. Yet the women who enjoy fashion magazines seem to enjoy looking at them.

My own modest theory is that fashion magazines are to women what magazines about computers (and porno) are to guys -- they're fantasy books. It's just that women's fantasies -- many women's fantasies, anyway -- concern being photographed (ie., desired) and looking glamorous (ie., desirable). Where guys seem to enjoy imagining what they'd do to and with what's in the picture, women seem prone to imagine being what's pictured.

Erik -- I could be mistaken, but you seem to want to assign all responsibility for the model look to the influence of gay men. We aren't that far apart. I think the influence of gay men in fashion is important too. But I can't see how the pleasures and preferences of straight women (some straight women, anyway, the ones who patronize the magazines and catalogs) can be overlooked. Fashion (as in fashion-magazine-type fashion) as an institution is a collaboration between gay men and women. You seem to have a vision of gay men dictating styles to straight women. But it's equally plausible to describe the process as gay men serving the fantasy and beauty preferences of straight women -- in other words, acting as their servants and suppliers. I think there's some validity to both views. , Posted by: Michael Blowhard on February 24, 2005 01:44 PM, http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/001886.html [Jul 2005]

see also: gay - fashion - fantasy

2005, Jul 21; 14:58 ::: Les Crimes de L'Amour (1799) - Marquis de Sade

Les Crimes de L'Amour (1799) - Marquis de Sade [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Peut-être devirons-nous analyser ici ces Romans nouveaux, dont le sortilège et la fantasmagorie composent à-peu-près tout le mérite, en placant à leur tête le Moine, supérieur, sous tous les rapports, aux bisarres élans de la brillante imagination de Radgliffe [sic]; […] ce genre […] devenait le fruit indispensable de secousses révolutionnaires, dont l’Europe entière se ressentait. Pour qui connaissait tous les malheurs dont les méchans peuvent accabler les hommes, le Roman devenait aussi difficile à faire, que monotone à lire; il n’y avait point d’individu qui n’eût plus éprouvé d’infortunes en quatre ou cinq ans que n’en pouvait peindre en un siècle, le plus fameux romancier de la littérature; il fallait donc appeller l’enfer à son secours, pour se composer des titres à l’intérêt, et trouver dans le pays de chimères, a qu’on savait couramment en ne fouillant que l’histoire de l’homme dans cet âge de fer.—Marquis de Sade (1800)

Perhaps at this point we ought to analyze these new novels in which sorcery and phantasmagoria constitute practically the entire merit: foremost among them I would place The Monk, which is superior in all respects to the strange flights of Mrs. Radcliffe's brilliant imagination....Let us concur that this kind of fiction, whatever one may think of it, is assuredly not without merit: twas the inevitable result of the revolutionary shocks which all of Europe has suffered. For anyone familiar with the full range of misfortunes wherewith evildoers can beset mankind, the novel became as difficult to write as monotonous to read. There was not a man alive who had not experienced in the short span of four or five years more misfortunes than the most celebrated novelist could portray in a century. Thus, to compose works of interest, one had to call upon the aid of hell itself, and to find in the world of make- believe things wherewith one was fully familiar merely by delving into man's daily life in this age of iron. --Marquis de Sade, Idee sur les Romans (Geneva: Slatkine, 1967).

see also: Marquis de Sade - gothic novel

2005, Jul 21; 13:45 ::: Heroin chic

Vanessa BEECROFT
VB 35. SHOW, Performance, 1998
Photographed by Mario Sorrenti

In the mid 1990's a waif -looking, emaciated, and drug-addicted look became popularized in the fashion world. Pale skin, dark circles underneath eyes, and jutting bones were seen on runway models a part of the "heroin chic" look. Many people felt the models look ill and unhygenic. The 1997 advertising campaign of Calvin Klein showcased this look. The heroin chic look in fashion grew much controversy. Designers, Model Kate Moss, movies such as Trainspotting and Pulp Fiction were all blamed for glamourizing the heroin-chic look and lifestyle. Anti-drug groups protested. The overdose of fashion photographer Davide Sorrenti made the fashion world take notice. President Clinton made a speech in 1997 following Sorrenti's death, condemning the heroin chic look. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin_chic [Jul 2005]

see also: heroin - chic - fashion

2005, Jul 21; 13:19 ::: Gay men and aesthetics

[w]hy is it that feminists have so much trouble dealing with beauty and pleasure, I said, to which gay men have made such outstanding cultural contributions?

[f]ashion magazines are part of the history of art. These are great photographers, great stylists--and gay men have made enormous contributions to fashion photography. Anyway, I made a huge statement that night--the whole audience gasped. I went, "The history of fashion photography from 1950 to 1990 is one of the great moments in the history of art!" And everyone went, "How can you say that?" Because obviously fashion is an oppression of women. --Camille Paglia, Crisis In The American Universities, September 19, 1991 at M.I.T. via http://gos.sbc.edu/p/paglia.html [Jul 2005]

see also: gay - aesthetics - Camille Paglia

2005, Jul 21; 12:49 ::: A lady in a garden by moonlight (1882) - Atkinson Grimshaw

A lady in a garden by moonlight (1882) - Atkinson Grimshaw
image sourced here.

see also: 1882 - gothic - art

2005, Jul 20; 17:16 ::: Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism and Postmodernism (2004) - Various

Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism and Postmodernism (2004) - Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, Benjamin Buchloh [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Synopsis
In this groundbreaking and original work of scholarship, four of the most influential and provocative art historians of our time have come together to provide a comprehensive history of art in the 20th and 21s centuries, an age when artists have sought constantly to overturn the traditions of the past and expectations of the present in order to invent new practices and forms. Adopting an innovative year-by-year approach, Foster, Krauss, Bois and Buchloh present more than one hundred short essays, each focusing on a crucial event - such as the creation of a seminal work, the publication of an artistic manifesto, or the opening of a major exhibition - to tell the story of the dazzling diversity of practice and interpretation that characterized the art of the period. All the key turning-points and breakthroughs of modernism and postmodernism are explored in depth, as are the frequent and sustained antimodernist reactions that proposed alternative visions of art and the world. Illustrating the authors' fine texts are more than six hundred of the most important works of the century, most reproduced in full colour. The book's flexible structure and extensive cross-referencing allow readers to plot their own course through the book and to follow any one of the many narratives that unfold through the century, whether that be the history of a medium such as photography or painting, the development of art in a particular country, the influence of a movement such as Surrealism or feminism, or the emergence of a stylistic or conceptual category like abstraction or minimalism. Boxes give further background information on some of the important figures and issues surrounding the art. In their perceptive introductions, the four authors set out and explain the different methods of art history at work in the book, providing the reader with the conceptual tools to further his or her own study. Two roundtable discussions - one at mid-century, the other at the close of the book - consider some of the questions raised by the preceding decades and look ahead to the art of the future. A glossary of terms and concepts completes this extraordinary volume. --via Amazon.com

see also: Hal Foster - Rosalind Krauss - art

2005, Jul 20; 17:01 ::: Jake and Dinos Chapman: Insult to Injury (2004) - Jake Chapman

Jake and Dinos Chapman: Insult to Injury (2004) - Jake Chapman [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

In 2001, as part of their ongoing obsession with Francisco Goya's work, Jake and Dinos Chapman purchased one of the few remaining sets of the Disasters of War prints, made from the artist's original plates by the Goya Foundation in 1937. Produced by Goya between 1810 and 1820 as an attack on the horrors of war and its supposed romance and idealism, this group of 80 images has since become emblematic of art's moral voice, as well as a powerful template for the representation of the gross insanity of such conflict. Disasters of War has been idolized by generations of artists, notably Picasso and Dalí, who were both directly inspired by Goya's anti-war polemic. The Chapmans meticulously "rectified" their Goya prints, drawing on top of what must be the most revered set of prints in existence. The artists superimposed cartoon faces, either those of clowns or puppies, onto figures Goya had intended as allegories of human suffering. Entitled Insult to Injury, this reworked series has been seen variously as an evil and meaningless desecration by vandals, and as the ultimate homage to Goya's masterpiece, a fitting extension of his despair. In making the book that records the Chapmans' new work, reproductions were made directly from the embellished Goya prints themselves. The result is an unprecedented print quality for the images, which are reproduced at actual size, and in four colors. The 80 plates are complemented by a previously unpublished text by Jake Chapman. --via Amazon.com

see also: Jake and Dinos Chapman - art

2005, Jul 20; 14:13 ::: Tim Lawrence on Arthur Russell

Yesterday I interviewed Arthur's older sisters, Julie and Kate. I had been meaning to interview them for a long while, but it had always seemed more important to interview people who were close with Arthur (emotionally and musically, or even both) during the period when he was musically most productive. Also, I had already spoken several times with Chuck and Emily, Arthur's devoted parents, so I thought I had his childhood pretty much wrapped up.

I was wrong. Julie and Kate offered rich detail and telling insights. At one point I felt like saying, "Why don't you write the biography?" I always feel this when I talk with people who are intelligent, articulate and intimately involved with the "subject" of the book. This was a recurring sensation throughout the writing of Love Saves the Day (2004) (Steve D'Acquisto and Nicky Siano were particularly articulate interviewees) and I've felt it pretty often during my research for the biography, too. But somehow or other, it's me who ends up writing these things. Whatever the reasons, I'll do my best and just get on with it. With Love Saves the Day, it seemed to go pretty well. With the Arthur bio, well, we'll see. --Tim Lawrence via http://www.timlawrence.info/blog/2005/0719.php [Jul 2005]

see also: Arthur Russell - music

2005, Jul 20; 13:03 ::: Lucifera vs Vampirella

Lucifera nude
image sourced here.

Not only doesn't Lucifera look like Vampirella, she isn't like her in any other way. She's not a vampire, but a demoness/succubus. She frequently visits Hell, and enjoys sending people there to be tormented. Lucifera is also much more sexually explicit than Vampirella, as you'll soon see. --http://groovyageofhorror.blogspot.com/2005/03/lucifera.html [Jul 2005]

see also: Vampirella - comics

2005, Jul 20; 12:02 ::: Vince Aletti interview

Rat. May 3, 1968 (NY: R.A.T. Publications)
my friend was sort of associated with a New York underground paper called The Rat. It was an important paper for New York. I don’t think I was getting paid.

Biographical details please?
I was born in Philadelphia in 1945, grew up outside Philadelphia and Fort Lauderdale. I studied literature. I went to college, just to go to college. It was 1962 when I went to college. And as much as I was not exactly caught up in the hippie thing or anything like that at that point, I was undoubtedly affected by what was going on. But I was focusing on my career; I wanted to be a writer in a sort of vaguest way.

Had you already been a record collector?
I was a music fan. I remember being a record collector as a kid, but not again until I went to college when I completely got into Motown and the early early Motown years. I started writing about music for the college paper. I went to school in Ohio, which really had a schizophrenic radio. There were a lot of country stations there, but there was also some really strong R&B stations. So I was constantly listening to R&B, and I started writing about R&B records I heard on the radio. And that was that’s what got me my job, my friend was sort of associated with a New York underground paper called The Rat. It was an important paper for New York. I don’t think I was getting paid. --http://www.djhistory.com/djhistory/archiveInterviewDisplay.php?interview_id=21 [Jul 2005]

see also: Vince Aletti - disco

2005, Jul 20; 11:39 ::: Manu Dibango: "Ma ma ma, Ma ma sa, Ma ma makossa"

Electric Africa (1985) - Manu Dibango [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Herbie Hancock, Bernie Worrell, Wally Badarou, Bill Laswell, Nicky Skopelitis, Aiyb Dieng, Mory Kante

In the 90s Dibango won a legal suit against Michael Jackson for his use of "Soul Makossa" on "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", included on one of the 1980s biggest selling albums, Thriller. --http://www.musicstrands.com/action/detailArtistBio/artistId/6357 [Jul 2005]

see also: 1985 - electric - Africa - black music - music - Bill Laswell - Manu Dibango

2005, Jul 20; 11:31 ::: Frankie Crocker (1940 - 2000)

Frankie Crocker (December 18, 1940, Buffalo, N.Y. - October 21, 2000, North Miami Beach, Fla.) was an famous New York radio DJ. On the air, he sometimes called himself the Chief Rocker, and he was as well known for his boastful on-air patter as for his off-air flamboyance. When Studio 54 was at the height of its popularity, Crocker rode in through the front entrance on a white stallion. In the studio, before he left for the day, Crocker would light a candle and invite female listeners to enjoy a candlelight bath with him. Crocker, a native of Buffalo, coined the phrase "urban contemporary" in the 1970s, a label for the eclectic mix of songs that he played. He was the master of ceremonies of shows at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and was one of the first V.J.'s on VH-1, the video cable channel. He also played host of the TV show "Solid Gold." As an actor, Crocker appeared in five films, including "Cleopatra Jones" and "Darktown Strutters."

He is credited with introducing Manu Dibango's "Soul Makossa" to American audiences.--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Crocker [Jul 2005]

see also: radio - DJ - USA - Frankie Crocker

2005, Jul 20; 10:50 ::: Las Chinchillas

Las Chinchillas (1799) - Goya

By a perverse process, Goya's degenerate noblemen provided Hollywood with the imagery for gothic literature's most enduring parable of French revolutionary excess, Frankenstein's monster. --Richard Davenport-Hines, 1999

Most of the modern fascination with heads comes from the guillotine.

The guillotine is the emblem of the French Revolution. While the French government refuses to allow guillotines to be filmed in France, choosing to project a different image of the Revolution (the liberte, egalite, fraternite part), in most people's heads the guillotine remains the image that describes the entire revolutionary period.

Fewer people died by the guillotine than died in the earlier St. Bartholomew's day massacre. But the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre is boring; I can only remember one piece of fiction that mentions it, D. W. Griffith's didactic Intolerance. The guillotine is much more exciting. It was held up for years as the be-all and end-all of revolutionary violence; the example which damned the entire enterprise of the French, rather like the Canaanites sacrificing their kids to Moloch, or the Greek tendency to pederasty.

The guillotine produced its own fictional hero: the Scarlet Pimpernel, who rescued aristocrats from their deaths by donning disguises for feats of derring-do. Dickens' Tale of Two Cities also mines the guillotine for its force, as does Sandman #29, "Thermidor," where Neil Gaiman links the Jacobin orator St. Just and the severed head of Orpheus -- the scientific/political view of the head and its earlier prophetic, mythical significance -- in a very unsettling way.

Why was it so shocking, startling, and titillating?

Partly, I think, because the guillotine also led to a public and heated discussion of whether or not those severed heads retained sensation. The presence of so many severed heads naturally led to amateur experimentation as well as more rigorous testing. A famous example involved Charlotte Corday, the young woman who stabbed Marat to death. After Corday was guillotined, her head was displayed to the crowd, and the executioner proceeded to slap both of her cheeks. Members of the crowd claimed that she blushed, and that her face assumed an indignant expression at the affront.

The guillotine was held up as a scientific marvel which would painlessly end the existence of evil-doers, and if it in fact did cause pain and suffering, if the heads retained sensation after being shorn by the "revolutionary razor," then the whole project was a bad idea.

In the end, the scientists of the day were unable to come to consensus on the subject of whether the heads could feel after their death. Many heads did show some sort of response to stimuli, whether it be blushing or moving the lips, or something more complicated. Doctors were occasionally able to get heads to respond to their names by focusing their eyes and blinking. However, the heads proved unable to communicate in any way to show they understood what was being asked of them. In 1836, for instance, the murderer Lacenaire promised to close one eye and leave the other open once he was beheaded, and proved unable to do so. Eventually, experiments like these were stopped, considered "torture" on the bodies of those already killed.

But with the French revolution came the idea of the severed human head as an item of intense observation and scientific experimentation, and its horrific possibilities became manifest. Its consciousness was suddenly in doubt, and the guillotine, along with the scientific forces at play here, forced an evaluation of the severed head, making it a potent image for exploration in fiction. --Guillotines and Body Transplants: the Severed Head in Fact and Fiction by Fred Bush, 30 September 2002 via http://www.strangehorizons.com/2002/20020930/severed_head.shtml [Jul 2005]

2005, Jul 20; 00:53 ::: Leslie A. Fiedler

Mithin bezog die Protestbewegung wichtige Inspirationen aus den subversiven künstlerischen Avantgarden der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Gleichzeitig empfing sie aber auch Impulse aus jener neu sich einstellenden kulturellen Disposition, die sich ebenfalls aus der Weiterentwicklung avantgardistischer Positionen ergeben hatte – und die eben im Protestjahr 1968 mit dem Etikett "postmodern" versehen wurde. Diese Affinität wirkt überraschend, ist aber bei genauerem Hinsehen unabweisbar: Mitten im "heißen Sommer" des Jahres 1968, am letzten Juni-Wochenende, fand in Freiburg i. Br. ein Symposion statt, auf dem der amerikanische Literaturkritiker Leslie A. Fiedler einen Vortrag mit dem Titel "The Case for Post-Modernism" / "Plädoyer für eine nachmoderne Epoche" hielt. Fiedlers Vortrag erschien im August 1968 unter dem Titel "Das Zeitalter der neuen Literatur" zunächst in der damals größten deutschen Wochenzeitung, "Christ und Welt", dann, im Dezember 1969 unter dem mottoartigen und deswegen berühmt gewordenen Titel "Cross the border, close the gap" im "Playboy"-Magazin. --http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/uni/presse/RuCa2_98/kiesel.htm [Jul 2005]

1969 December, Playboy, USA
Cross The Border, Close The Gap - opinion by Leslie A. Fielder

Current literary criticism, says an eminent literary critic, is suffering badly from a chronic case of pernicious irrelevancy that may shortly prove fatal unless it can contrive to pull its head out of the past. --Leslie Fiedler in December 1969 Playboy via http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049/yob.htm#69DEC [Jul 2005]

p256 - Even more spectacular [than Bob Dylan's musical twists and turns], however, is the case of John Lennon, who, coming into view first as merely one of the Beatles, then just another rock group from Liverpool, has revealed himself stage by stage as novelist, playwright, moviemaker, guru, sculptor, etc. There is a special pathos in his example, since, though initially inspired by American models, he has tried to work out his essentially American strategies in English idioms and in growing isolation on the generally dismal English scene. He has refused to become the prisoner of his special talent as a musician, venturing into other realms, where he has as little authority as anyone else. He thus provides one more model for the young who, without any special gift or calling, in the name of mere possibility, insist on making tens of thousands of records, movies, collections of verse, paintings, junk sculptures, even novels in complete contempt of professional standards. --Leslie Fiedler in December 1969 Playboy via http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049/yob.htm#69DEC [Jul 2005]

Sontag and Fiedler
Critics such as Leslie Fiedler and Susan Sontag gave up the orientation by the high, elitist standards of modern literature in order to describe particularly the combination of elite and mass culture as the specific qualities of the new literature by authors such as John Barth, Leonard Cohen, and Norman Mailer. A milestone in this development was Fiedler's essay in 1969, "Cross the Border, Close the Gap", which, significantly, did not appear in a literary magazine, but in Playboy. --http://www.fask.uni-mainz.de/inst/iaa/anglophonie/second/postcol.htm [Jul 2005]

Popliteratur
In Deutschland wurde die Popliteratur durch den in einer christlichen Zeitschrift und zeitgleich im Playboy veröffentlichten Aufsatz von Leslie Fiedler "cross the border, close the gap" bekannt. Er forderte die Ablösung der elitären Hochkultur durch eine Literatur, die auch den Alltag mit einbezieht. Hier war es vor allem der junge, zornige und rebellische Schriftsteller Rolf Dieter Brinkmann, der in den 1960er Jahren die Anthologie Acid herausbrachte und damit die amerikanischen Popliteraten in Deutschland vorstellte. Damit platzte Brinkmann in eine, durch die restaurative Nachkriegszeit sowie durch die "politisch korrekte" Literatur der Gruppe 47 dominierte Literaturszene: sein Auftreten wirkte extrem provozierend. --http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popliteratur#Vorl.C3.A4ufer.2C_Geschichte [Jul 2005]

see also: literary criticism - 1968 - 1969 - Leslie Fiedler - genre fiction - Playboy - pop - postmodernism

2005, Jul 19; 23:34 ::: Beatnik Wanton

Beatnik Wanton, unidentified paperback cover
image sourced here.

see also: wanton - beatnik - paperback

2005, Jul 19; 22:39 ::: Bondage cover

Unhealthy as some non-obscene pornography may be, it is not as unhealthy as detective magazine covers depicting violence toward a woman whose sexual characteristics are emphasized, horror films depicting girls or women undressing moments before the villain pounces upon them, or televised depictions of violence toward alluring, glamorous, and wanton women. --Park Dietz, Meese Report, 1986

A bondage cover, as opposed to a bondage magazine, was a general-interest magazine that featured bondage imagery on its cover, usually an image of a bound and gagged woman.

Painted covers
These were the earliest examples of bondage cover art images, and run from about 1910 (when the pulps became more common) until roughly 1975 (when men's adventure type of magazines started to disappear).

The peak era for these seem to be the 1930's with weird menace and detective pulps and the 1960's heyday of men's adventure magazines.

Photo covers
The earlist cover with an actual photograph seems to be a March 1938 cover of Actual Detective Magazine . The earliest use of a color photo on a cover is the February 1939 issue of True magazine, with the February 1940 edition appearantly the first to feature a gag. The peak era for these was the era from roughly 1959 until 1986, when, due to the Meese Commission, and the end of a few of the publishers of Detective (or "True Crime") magazines, the main era of the bondage cover ended, though there were a few issues of Detective Dragnet in the late 1980's and early 1990's, and a brief revival from about 1994 until 2000, though even then few and far between (unlike the late 1960's, when at least 2 such covers could be seen monthly. Also, the use of over-the-mouth gags was common enough that the slang term "Detective gag" is used for it. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondage_cover [Jul 2005]

see also: bondage - cover - crime - magazine - detective - Park Dietz

2005, Jul 19; 21:04 ::: The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer (1992) - Park Dietz

The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer (1992) - Park Dietz [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]

Description
An abused young man. A hair-trigger temper. A trail of dead bodies. What makes a cold-blooded killer tick? THE ICEMAN AND THE PSYCHIATRIST is now available for the first time on DVD. Renowned forensic psychologist Dr. Park Dietz gets up close, personal and even confrontational with psyche of one of the most dangerous men alive. Bringing together the earlier THE ICEMAN TAPES: CONVERSATIONS WITH A KILLER and THE ICEMAN: SECRETS OF A MAFIA HITMAN with the newly released Dietz interview, this new special edition, THE ICEMAN INTERVIEWS is the ultimate compendium of the mind of a murderer. Includes Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski's riveting on-camera confession, exclusively for HBO, of the murder of police officer Peter Calabro. Making news in February 2003, Kuklinski accepted a plea bargain for a concurrent 30-year term to his 60-year prison sentence and implicated Sammy "The Bull" Gravano in the crime. THE ICEMAN INTERVIEWS - this new special edition is guaranteed to run chills up and down your spine all over again. --via Amazon.com

see also: Park Dietz - forensic - murder

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