Raging voyeur Larry Clark’s set up a pop-up shop at LA bookshop Ooga Booga where he’s selling unique 5 x 7 photographs (mostly developed in local pharmacies) for $100 a pop. He says; “All the kids that come to my shows in thousands and could never afford 10 to 15 thousand dollars for a print … this is a pay back to all the skate rats and collectors who would like a souvenir so I can die happy.” The shop runs until February 4th.
The late Mike Kelly was known for his work with Destroy All Monsters, a band he formed in 1973 in Detroit with Jim Shaw, Niagara and filmmaker Carey Loen, but audiences might be less familiar with The Poetics, an art rock band he played in with fellow artist Tony Oursler. The loosely assembled group kicked around between 1977 and 1983 and worked on various projects including a radio show, a sound track and a dance piece involving mop poles entitled ‘The Pole Dance’.
During that period Oursler kept notes from each of the Poetics brainstorming sessions, later used as inspiration for The Poetics Project Installation created by Oursler and Kelly in the late 1990s at Metro Arts in New York that went on to tour internationally. Together, they re-examined the projects they’d begun in the 70s, re-mastering and releasing old tracks, re-executing The Pole Dance and creating an installation that was hailed by the New York Times as the ‘most irritating show in New York City’ (to Mike Kelley’s delight).
Both artists were interested in exploring the conventions of documentary video and ‘rockumentaries’, and one element of the installation was Synesthesia, a suite of videos by Oursler featuring interviews with twelve legendary underground figures of the downtown New York art and music scene in the 1970s and 80s. Participants included Genesis Breyer P Orridge, Lydia Lunch, Kim Gordon and Suicide’s Alan Vega. Sadly difficult to watch online!
There are however some great texts about the project written by Kelly and Oursler respectively that you can read here and here. And you can watch Tony Oursler talk about The Poetics Project in situ in its 2013 incarnation at the Pompidou Centre here.
How did I miss this?! Each year The Guardian commissions a group of artists to create virtual Chrissie cards you can send to your friends. At the end of last year they changed things up, commissioning a bunch of gifs by the likes of Jeremy Deller, Tony Oursler and Marc Quinn. Then there’s Jake and Dinos Chapman’s cheery contribution; What Christmas Looks Like When You’re Dying. LOL’s particularly enamoured with Judy Chicago’s work, Bang Bang (above). I think I’ve found my 2015 spirit guide.
Rose Nolan has collaborated with architects OOF! Architecture to realise one of her signature text pieces on the facade of a newly renovated domestic dwelling in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. You can view more images of the Victorian era home (and former shop) here.
Leg of Lamb 