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eNewsletter #44, January 2006 |
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WELCOME TO RE/SEARCH eNEWSLETTER #44, January 2006! HERE'S THE NEWS FROM SAN FRANCISCO... ALL READERS ARE INVITED TO SEND CONTRIBUTIONS AND FEEDBACK! CONTENTS: 1. Sat, Jan 14, 2006 San Francisco. CounterCulture Hour (RE-)airs Sat, Jan 14, 6:30pm - with Lydia Lunch and Genesis P-Orridge. See Explanation below. 2. Sat, Jan 21, 6pm: SRL show/performance in Los Angeles at Susan Joyce's new gallery/parking lot 3. Fri-Sun, Feb 3-5: Beat & William S. Burroughs Celebration in So. California desert 4. Fri Feb 3, 7pm, Charles Gatewood 40-Year Retrospective; V. Vale introduces. CSE, S.F. 5. Sat, Feb 4: Mutants ('70s Punk Band) Reunion Show at Cafe Du Nord 6. Fri, Feb 10: Bay Area Premiere of Newest SRL Video at SF Indiefest 7. Punk '77 New Expanded Edition: Taking Pre-Orders 8. Web-site Recommendations from our pal PHIL GLATZ... 9. What we've been Reading, Listening to, etc. 10. Other coming events... 11. American Book Review reviews our J.G. Ballard Quotes book/Full SRL Press Release First, the commercial: if you want to give a rare gift to someone special, we recommend our limited edition **AUTOGRAPHED** flexibind J.G. Ballard Quotes book! (only 250 made)...not in stores. Order from http://www.researchpubs.com Of course, you can also order the new J.G. Ballard Conversations, too--paperback only. Our other rare autographed RE/Search books include J.G. Ballard's Atrocity Exhibition, and Daniel P. Mannix's Freaks and Memoirs of a Sword Swallower. Secondly, our classic William S. Burroughs T-shirt ("We intend to destroy all dogmatic verbal systems") is now available in S-M-L-XL sizes -- another great gift... not in stores; impossible to find elsewhere. 1. SAT, Jan 14: CounterCulture Hour airs Sat, Jan 14, 2006, 6:30pm, Cable Channel 29 (Sorry, San Francisco only, but watch for alternate releases on our website.) We're airing this again because last month, the final performance/live footage featuring Genesis P-Orridge was mysteriously not shown (approx. 90 seconds). Worth a 2nd viewing if you're one of the few who saw it the first airing -- INCLUDES interview with the lengendary Lydia Lunch, first-generation Punk Rock Original giving her wide world views, followed by an "inspired" interview with GENESIS P-ORRIDGE, founder of Throbbing Gristle. See it again with a friend! 2. Sat, Jan 21 6pm, SURVIVAL RESEARCH LABS (SRL) exhibition/performance in Los Angeles! 6-8pm at Susan Joyce's Fringe Exhibitions Gallery, 504 Chung King Court, L.A, CA 90012 213-613-0160. The "Art on the Walls" Exhibition will continue Wed-Sat, 12-6pm. Taken from their press release below: "Fringe Exhibitions is a new exhibition space dedicated to showing cutting edge and experimental art projects that focus on installation, video, new media art, and art that engages with technology. Grand opening features the work of Mark Pauline, director of Survival Research Laboratories (SRL). [Reportedly Mark will be driving a "flatbed truck of machines" down to L.A. to do a small performance in the adjacent parking lot.] "This exhibition will feature the newest addition to the SRL machine family: the Sneaky Soldiers, near-life-sized, remote controlled army of revolutionaries. Also included in the exhibition will be large-scale documentary images, and the premiere of the video from SRL's recent show in Downtown Los Angeles. This video features the first invasion of the Sneaky Soldiers. The SRL commentary on the art of war debuted a Sneaky Soldier emerging from an 18-foot tall wooden Trojan horse to face danger from large-scale destructive robots enduring the pain of flame and damage through a hail of sparks and projectiles. After the fog of war was lifted from the field of battle revealing mangled wrecks of machinery, the Sneaky Soldiers were gathered to be repaired to fight again another day. Similar to a real theater of war where battle takes place, these machines and props engage in a struggle for survival. Both the machines and operators expend intense energy creating an atmosphere of immediacy and choreographed chaos. Each of the eight soldiers has an individual number and distinct battle wounds from the performance." www.fringexhibitions.com 3. Sun, Feb 3-5, 2006: There will be a Interzone Beat Festival and William S. Burroughs Birthday Celebration. The WSB Birthday Party will be Sun, Feb 5, 11-1pm, at The Beat Hotel, 67840 Hacienda Ave sert Hot Springs, California 92240 760-288-2280 beathotel@adelphia.net According to a press release: "Celebrating the birthday of renowned American writer William S. Burroughs, The Beat Hotel will present the First InterZone Beat Festival at the Beat Hotel in Desert Hot Springs, California. (Burroughs's heir Jame s Grauerholz is slated to attend.) "The Festival will feature in association with OMC Gallery an exhibition of ographs of the original Beat el in Paris by Harold Chapman. This is a rare opportunity to see "behind the scenes" during the formative years of the Beat generation. This will also be the first exhibition of Chapman's work in America. "For the First InterZone Beat Festival each of the rooms of the Beat Hotel will be installed with photographs by Harold Chapman. A variety of Beat-related videos will be shown. These will include slide shows of images by Chapman, set to music; and interviews with Chapman. Books and original photographic works by Chapman will be available for purchase." 4. Fri Feb 3, 7-10pm, Charles Gatewood 40-Year Retrospective; V. Vale introduces. CSC, 398 11th St/Harrison, 415-255-1155. Free! Recommended! From Charles' press release: "I will show highlights from my career as 'family photographer of America's erotic underground.' The show will include 45 silver prints, several large silkscreen images, and recent collage work. There will be light refreshments, erotic readings and a ritual performance. Books and photos will be for sale... The show will be on exhibit February 3-28, during hosted events, or by appointment. For more information, see www.sexandculture.org and www.charlesgatewood.com, or call 415-267-7651. "Charles Gatewood's striking photographs have been published in numerous books and magazines, and in shown in exhibitions throughout the world. His work has been supported by three fellowships from the New York State Council on the Arts. He has also received the Leica Medal of Excellence for Outstanding Humanistic Photojournalism, and the Aphrodite Award for Sexual Service to the Community." "Charles Gatewood's pictures are so scary. He may be the only person who can make me feel nostalgia for the Hellfire Club."--John Waters. For interviews, press photos, more info call 415-267-7651 or email cgatewood@earthlink.net. Website: www.charlesgatewood.com 5. Sat, Feb 4, 9pm, Mutants (70s S.F. punk band) plays a reunion show at Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco. The Mutants were one of the best San Francisco '70s "punk" bands, and it's a small miracle they will be playing a live show at a great venue, Cafe du Nord, 2174 Market near Noe St. Sat. Feb 4, along with the descendants of Frightwig (now named Graywig). Vocalist Sally Webster will be flying out from NYC for this, and hopefully Fritz from Colorado, too. Recommended you buy tickets online: www.cafedunord.com 6. **HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!** Fri Feb 10, 9:30pm, the SF Indiefest will celebrate Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) with the San ncisco premiere of the video of the SRL Los Angeles, April 2, 2005 Show, followed by a conversation between RE/Search founder V. Vale, SRL founder Mark Pauline, and filmmaker Dave Scardina. A Q&A, and small party, will follow. Women's Building, San Francisco, 18th St near Valencia, 9:30 pm. Half the ticket price will go to benefit the forthcoming SRL move to new quarters. "You will be treated to generous demonstrations of flame-throwing! Prepare to witness much manic machine mayhem! Thrill to the destruction of a Trojan Horse! Gaze in wonder at the unrehearsed special guest appearance of the Los Angeles Fire Department! The video shoot was directed by Dave Scardina and edited by Mark Pauline." **And please note that the Sat Feb 11 SRL Benefit is being rescheduled for a later date--the owners of the Hayes Valley Market building precipitously closed the gallery on Jan. 10! Yes, it was a shock! But we are looking for another venue. SRL has a HUGE mo oming up in near future. 7. Punk '77 New Expanded Edition: Taking Pre-Orders. We are just sending the new expanded edition of Punk '77 to the Hong Kong printer and are offering a special pre-order price: just $15. (List price will probably be $19.99) We've added a 24-page appendix of yet more photos, which includes a recent interview with photographer James Stark, for this very limited printing. RE/Search books are hard to find, and you would be advised to reserve your copy now. Order from: http://www.researchpubs.com 8. Web-site Recommendations from our pal PHIL GLATZ--thanks, Phil! () Citizen Kubrick: http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,1177734,00.html () wild instrumental party: http://reverendfrost.blogspot.com/ () Guy gets a $49 talking santa bot from walmart, adds a new BASIC controller, fun ensues. Nice prank material. http://members.cox.net/jmccorm/santa.html () woomba: http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=u9isZY966wI () great photos: http://www.margotknight.com/margot.html () Science teachers present evolution as if it were a proven fact. Education officials are so terrified of Creation that they won't even admit that evolution is nothing more than a theory! This book, with its thorough index, makes it easy to find answers to evolution's outrageous claims. http://www.chick.com/catalog/books/1254.asp () Juanita Dale Slushe: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/04/arts/04barr.html () As for the obscenity law, he says he thinks it's "correct." "The whole issue," says [Lennny] Bruce, "is not that the state should keep its dirty hands off," as the liberal he visited had insisted. For Bruce "the key word is 'prurient.' Don't get people horn-y." And he says, insisting he is serious, that there should be a law against getting people aroused because "it's bad for marriages." http://villagevoice.com/specials/0543,50thharringt,69171,31.html () Art the hard way: http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/04/D8EU2N6O0.html () Art for Robert Crumb - for those who love "big fine legs" http://www.quasi-modo.net/2005_August.html this is a great [freaks] site http://www.quasi-modo.net/ old friend: http://www.quasi-modo.net/Retarded.html () [Warhol "blog"] http://www.warhblog.com/ December 27, Monday, 1976 - Got the invitation to President Carter's inaugural. It was addressed to (laughs) "Mr. and Mrs. Andy Warhol." Don't you love it? () Museum of Menstruation: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/MDNEWmum.html 9. What We've Been Reading, Listening To, etc... Our New Year's Resolution included a resolve to try to only read the most important books ever written (!). A very intelligent scholar named Amir M. telephoned us and in the course of a concentrated conversation informed us of the existence of two books which we will soon procure: () The Edge of Surrealism: A Roger Caillois Reader (ISBN: 0822330687) Duke University Press May, 2003, 9x6" paperback. () Little Anatomy of the Physical Unconscious(ISBN: 097120442X) by Hans Bellmer. Dominion Press, 2004. Hard Cover. Hans Bellmer (1902-1975) stands as one of the most important erotic artists from the last century. An expert draftsman with a razor-sharp capacity for detail and an obsessive, unfettered imagination, Bellmer quickly came to the attention of Andre Breton and the Surrealists. In the 1950s Hans Bellmer composed a small book with ten original illustrations, in which he elucidated upon the psychosexual forces that provided the impetus for his artistic works, featuring his illumination of the "purely subjective" subconscious realm of our bodies which "finds nourishment in feverish, often psycho-pathological states, including that of sexual desire." This is the first English translation of Bellmer's text. Presented in a deluxe three-part binding with cloth spine, specially textured boards and endsheets, and gold stamping. Mostly text, with a few b&w illustrations. Foreword by Joe Coleman. As almost a dialectical reaction to being informed of these two relatively recent publications, we immediately got out the most basic Surrealist text written: Andre Breton's Manifestoes of Surrealism (1969, U. Michigan, paperback) and rediscovered its importance as one of THE most inspiring books published in the 20th Century. Surrealism was really a "scientific" project to try to discover, collate and consolidate all the possible ways humans can be creative, imaginative, inspired and insurrectionist. It never was a mere literary or artistic movement; it was a new way of looking at the world (against "realism" or "naturalism.")--almost an alchemical, transformative adventure. Emphasis was on The Imagination, Dreams, Fantasy, Creativity and Revolt. Surrealism was all about the mapping of "freedom/liberty" and the exploration/realization of "desire." Here are a few quotes from Andre Breton's FIRST SURREALIST MANIFESTO (1924): "The mere word 'freedom' is the only one that still excites me..." "To reduce the imagination to a state of slavery...is to betray all sense of absolute justice within oneself. Imagination alone offers some intimation of what CAN BE." "Our brains are dulled by the incurable mania of wanting to make the unknown known, classifiable." "We are still living under the reign of logic...but logical methods are applicable only to solving problems of SECONDARY interest..." "I have always been amazed at the way an ordinary observer lends so much more credence and attaches so much more importance to 'waking events' than to those occurring in dreams." "Perhaps my dream last night follows that of the night before, and will be continued the next night, with an exemplary strictness. It's quite possible..." "I believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, into a kind of absolute reality, a SURREALITY..." "Saint-Pol-Roux...used to have a notice posted...before he went to sleep, which read: THE POET IS WORKING." "Fear, the attraction of the unusual, chance, the taste for things extravagant..." "Amid the bad taste of my time I strive to go further than anyone else." "We really live by our fantasies when we give free rein to them." "...concentrate attention on the more or less partial sentences which, when one is quite alone and on the verge of falling asleep, become perceptible for the mind without its being possible to discover what provoked them." "Each of us has within himself the potential of an orator..." "Words and images are only so many springboards for the mind of the listener." "The mind which plunges into Surrealism relives with glowing excitement the best part of its childhood." "It is perhaps childhood that comes closest to one's 'real life.' " "Surrealism...asserts our complete NONCONFORMISM..." "Living and ceasing to live are imaginary solutions. Existence is elsewhere." And from "ON SURREALISM IN ITS LIVING WORKS" (1953): "[Surrealism focuses on] the region where desire arises unconstrained, a region which is also that where myths take wing."... [It intends} to bring language back to true life." "Carnal love is at one with spiritual love." (against soul/body dualism) "The poetic image [may be obtained] most often under conditions of complete relaxation of the mind rather than complete concentration." "Common sense may be the most uncommon thing in the world." [end] 10. Coming Events: **First of all, please note that the scheduled Feb 11 SRL Benefit at Hayes Valley Market has been postponed -- the owners of the building closed down the Gallery precipitously on Jan. 10. We are looking for another large venue, and welcome any assistance from our readers. () Tue Jan 17, 9:30pm, Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk/Post, SF. Joe Donohoe, who wrote the introduction to our J.G. Ballard Conversations book, will be reading at Hemlock Tavern, with Harmon Leon, Bucky Sinister, et al. $6. This group is "viciously talented"--Hiya Swanhuyser, S.F. Weekly () Besides the SRL Video Premiere Fri, Feb 10, 2006 at SF Indiefest, we are giving notice of the upcoming event organized by Ethan Port and friends: () Mobilization presents HOW TO DESTROY THE UNIVERSE, PART 5 Featuring: BLIXA BARGELD, JARBOE, and others... Jan 26 - Feb 6, 2006. JARBOE has an amazing new CD coming out on Atavistic. Blixa also appears on this new CD, so there may be some collaboration at the festival shows. The SIXTEENS are a haunted guy/girl post/synth-punk due visiting from Berlin. Their new CD is due in Feb. F-SPACE is Ethan Port from Savage Republic with Aleph from Chrome. BLIXA BARGELD ( http://www.blixa-bargeld.com) is performing a rare solo vocal concert entitled "Rede/Speech"... Blixa has his vocals processed live by long-time Neubauten sound engineer Boris Wilsdorf. Although hard to categorize, this technique allows for a "real time" interplay of vocal ideas with patterns and rhythms produced by the audio effects themselves (similar at least in concept to Diamanda Galas)... This is the US debut of his mesmerizing performance that has appeared throughout Europe for over a decade. Press and ticket information is available at http://www.mobilization.com. Tickets are on sale now at http://www.BrownPaperTicket.com. A limited number of advance discount tickets and festival passes are available now. (Note that at press time some dates were already selling quickly and are expected to sell out.) 11. American Book Review's Davis Schneiderman reviewed our J.G. Ballard Quotes book in their Jan/Feb 2006 issue. http://www.litline.org/ABR "The signature obsessions of J.G. Ballard's long career--the elucidation of linkages between modernity and atrocity, the exteriorization of human consciousness through the development of the technological, the extemporization of a popular culture seemingly unaware of its own implications--not only predominate the new RE/Search volume, J.G. Ballard Quotes, but they populate its four-hundred-plus pages to such an extent that the effect is similar to finding oneself inside the unsteady cylinder of a Ballard novel...[there is] the necessity of an almost Surrealist de-realization of the world. "First, there are the sudden delights, as when it is asserted that the American President "bears about as much relationship to the real business of running America as does Colonel Sanders to the business of frying chicken."... Then, the clever metaphors: "If the sun is the ultimate TV station, then the beach is its most popular program, and life at a holiday resort resembles a chaotic rehearsal for the last great sitcom, a fusion of Baywatch and Armageddon. "Before long, we reach the more sinister juxtaposition of man and machine, science and imagination... [Some Ballard quotes:] "The ragged skyline of the city resembled the disturbed encephalograph of an unresolved mental crisis"...or "Working in an office for a great many years can be one of the most crucifying experiences. You are forced to repress your biological need to kill everyone around you." The review ends with "this book, a place of wondrously dangerous diversions." We thank Davis Schneiderman, co-editor of Retaking the Universe: William S. Burroughs in the Age of Globalization (excellent compendium of essays by various folk) for his thoughtful review. **IF YOU GOT THIS FAR, YOU SHOULD GET THE JGB QUOTES BOOK (MSRP $19.99 or available in a **rare autographed flexibind edition **--yes, signed by the U.K. visionary himself... There's also a rare unsigned Library edition available ($35). Email us at info@researchpubs.com or telephone 415-362-1465 to order! JAN 2006 RE/Search eNewsletter written by V. Vale & contributors. Newsletter and website powered by http://www.laughingsquid.com SRL - January 21 Los Angeles show PRESS RELEASE STARTS HERE: "Fringe Exhibitions is a new exhibition space dedicated to showing cutting edge and experimental art projects that focus on installation, video, new media art, and art that engages with technology. Grand opening features the work of Mark Pauline, director of Survival Research Laboratories (SRL). [Reportedly Mark will be driving a "flatbed truck of machines" down to L.A. to do a small performance in the adjacent parking lot.] "This exhibition will feature the newest addition to the SRL machine family: the Sneaky Soldiers, near-life-sized, remote controlled army of revolutionaries. Also included in the exhibition will be large-scale documentary images, and the premiere of the video from SRL's recent show in Downtown Los Angeles. This video features the first invasion of the Sneaky Soldiers. The SRL commentary on the art of war debuted a Sneaky Soldier emerging from an 18-foot tall wooden Trojan horse to face danger from large-scale destructive robots enduring the pain of flame and damage through a hail of sparks and projectiles. After the fog of war was lifted from the field of battle revealing mangled wrecks of machinery, the Sneaky Soldiers were gathered to be repaired to fight again another day. Similar to a real theater of war where battle takes place, these machines and props engage in a struggle for survival. Both the machines and operators expend intense energy creating an atmosphere of immediacy and choreographed chaos. Each of the eight soldiers has an individual number and distinct battle wounds from the performance. The Sneaky Soldier has been a recurring character in many SRL performances. The new Sneaky Soldier is a major technological improvement with a steel torso enclosing a battery powered, chain driven mechanism to create a crawling action. SRL engages new vocabularies by integrating machines, theatrical sets and props, with dramatic, visual metaphors bringing to life, large-scale mechanical performances for audiences... By taking things to extreme ends, SRL attempts to create new levels of sensory and emotional intensity. Using diverse disciplines such as performance, literature, and engineering, in concert with artistic expression, ideas are transformed into visceral experiences. Employing technology to the fullest and breaking new ground by trying to build collaboration between art and electronic culture, the creative work of SRL is constantly evolving as advances in new technologies are being developed. With the assimilation of machine to technology, cultural transformations take place. The evolution of electronic culture is a change in the dynamics of society, representation and experience. And we are just beginning to scratch the surface on understanding the potential of technology and its relationship to contemporary art. Survival Research Laboratories was conceived and founded by Mark Pauline in 1978 as an organization of creative technicians dedicated to redirecting the techniques, tools, and tenets of industry, science, and the military away from their typical manifestations in practicality, product, or warfare. SRL has staged over 50 mechanized presentations in the United States, Europe, and Japan that consist of a unique set of ritualized interactions between machines, robots, and special effects devices, employed in developing themes of socio-political satire. Since its inception SRL has operated as a not-for-profit organization producing its own live mechanical performances. For more information contact Fringe Exhibitions at 213-613-0160. info@fringexhibitions.com www.fringexhibitions.com |