‘Shaye Saint John videos are the internet’s answer to outsider art, and they’ve been flippantly relegated to just another thing in ” that weird part of YouTube.” There’s no big artist reveal, no studio-backed film adaptation, no corporate sponsorship. She posted videos on YouTube, and then one day, she stopped. Her website looks like it was plucked from 2001, because it was. The “Meet Shaye” page, peppered with GIFs and an autoplaying MIDI, declares: “LONG STORY SHORT…I AM AN ENTERTAINER, I AM A MODEL, I AM A SINGER, I AM A MAGICIAN, I AM AN ACTOR. I AM SO MANY THINGS! I AM ALSO THE WORLDS RECORD HOLDER FOR HAVING THE MOST PROBLEMS!”
‘Words are repeated and flashed across the screen, dolls are destroyed, mannequin legs tap and drag across the concrete. And there’s so much of it! But a few themes repeat in the videos: obsession with beauty/perfection, obsession with celebrity, obsession with connecting with others (but an inability to ever really do it). Shaye is a woman of excess. She’s on the internet 24/7, interacting with her fans and sharing autographs, she’s seeking miracle cures, she’s seeking riches. When you see her masked face in front of the palm trees and twinkling Hollywood horizon, and her strange figure slouching in front of the pink stucco houses, she simultaneously fits the scene and repulses the viewer. She’s a manifestation of celebrity excess and obsession—she’s an Indiana punk in LA exorcising her creator’s demons.
‘That creator was Eric Fournier, an LA-based artist who passed away on February 25, 2010, from complications related to his alcohol abuse. He was 42 years old. In this story, there are two Shaye Saint Johns. First, in myth, supermodel Shaye Saint John is disfigured in a freak accident and subjected to a series of horrific mind-control experiments by the CIA. Eric Fournier, shy and genius artist, takes her under his wing and helps her create art for a wider audience. Second, in reality, Shaye Saint John is a rubber mask and deflated costume draped over a wheelchair when not worn by Eric Fournier, shy and genius artist. Battling alcoholism and overflowing with ideas, he uses the Shaye character to create art while deflecting the spotlight away from himself.
‘Fournier grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, and in the mid 1980s he nourished the growing punk scene in bands like Blood Farmers and Skelegore. Before the interconnectivity of the online world, Fournier’s friends in Bloomington relied on him to import the new punk trends from LA. “I distinctly remember the great feeling of anticipation whenever Eric returned from LA. What new gem would he have dug up?” recalls a friend on a memorial message board posted after his death. “And he rarely failed to deliver.”
‘But despite his role as importer of hardcore culture, Fournier shied away from the spotlight. “I never had the impression he was at all comfortable being a singer in a band. It was not about ego or desire for attention,” another friend recalls. “He’d sort of keep his back to the audience, pull faces or whatever—keep a bit of ironic distance from the whole ‘singer in a band’ thing.” These posts were made five years ago on a message board started by Jim Faust, Fournier’s partner in the 14 months before his death. Faust was seeking insight into Fournier’s past.
‘Fournier arranged a showing of the Shaye Saint John short Turkey Day, which, according to Shaye’s website, premiered at the Nuart Theater in Los Angeles on Feb 1, 2002. “A lot of people were down there, a lot of lights and stuff, regular people just don’t know what to think,” Crew recalls. Lenora Claire was also in attendance: “It freaked everybody out, and it got banned from the Nuart. I was like, ‘What is this weird puppet robot woman lady?'”
‘And that’s the thing—she’s clearly not a puppet, clearly not a robot. She’s some sort of woman, who can form sentences and move about. There’s a person manipulating the costume, but the videos never reveal the creator within. “Shaye’s like a hot dog,” Claire says. “It’s awesome, but don’t ask what’s inside.”
‘Fournier’s work has inspired a few disciples, such as filmmaker Larry Wessel, currently working on the documentary ERIC AND SHAYE. His goal in creating the documentary is bringing Fournier’s Shaye Saint John work to a wider audience, with the goal of helping Fournier get recognition as a groundbreaking filmmaker. Wessel describes Fournier’s work as “maximalist” art, or, “the diametric opposite of the extreme simplicity and ultra boredom inducing pretentiousness and elitism of minimalism.” To Wessel, Fournier’s films represent a complete freedom from convention.
‘As a figure of this maximalist movement, Shaye exists outside of Fournier himself, and her role in the mythos is tantamount to the art itself.’ — Kate Davis Jones
p.s. Hey. The blog is late today, and I’m going to need to move quickly, apologies. because we’re having yet another power outage here in Paris, and I’m borrowing some internet briefly so I can do the p.s. I hope it’s fixed by tomorrow. ** Adem Berbic, I guess you’re long gone now, lucky you, since the heatwave is roaring back into place today. Video of your friend’s [performance work? We had time to wander about in Amsterdam. It was nice. Please tell T I’m very honored. ** Dev, Oops, sorry. LA, nice. I might even be there at the time since I always go to LA for Halloween. Let me think re: bookstores, but, as Sam said, the bookstore Stories is a must. More later. ** Bill, I don’t think I’ve met Elijah, so probably not. I know he’s still making stuff, but I haven’t seen anything in a while. Thank you! ** Måns BT, Hi, Måns! I’m ok, too hot and without electricity at the moment, but generally fine. It’s great to see you! You’re in Spain! It’s probably pretty hot there too, no? Two years, yes, so weird, and, yeah, you’re right I think that the film wasn’t even finished when we started talking about Zita. Trippy. We’re definitely going too Stavanger in late August, and we want to stay a bit and go to amusement parks in Scandinavia, depending on finances, so, yes, we may well get to see you! I’ll let you know when the plans are in place. Have so much fun, my pal! ** Nicholas., Hi there! Heartful, but you sound alert. I’m ok, trying to survive the fucking summer and its damages. ‘Nothing’ sounds really good at the moment. ** Dominik, The trip was good. A bit odd, but good. And the cool weather as probably the best part. ‘Blue Film’, and … ? Love being boringly required to wish for his power to be turned back on and for a huge, unexpected rainstorm., G. ** Carsten, You liking Marseilles so much makes so much sense. Don’t envy you the heat, although we’re being as baked here as you can get. I’ve been in Marseilles enough times to know I think it’s very interesting and rather exciting and that I would definitely not want to live there. Safe trip to Malaga today. I have water in my apartment, and that’s about it at the moment. Cold water. High five or low five or something of that nature. ** _Black_Acrylic, Congrats on the lack of vomiting. I never vomit. I can’t seem to, even when I try to by shoving my fingers down my throat. Your carer sounds sweet. The Leeds RT screening is announced, for the 31st. I’ll check with them to make sure the theater is accessible. ** laura w, Narcissist, hm, that seems unfair and kind of off? Some people say all French writers are narcissists, but, if so, bring it on, I guess. I swear, I feel confident that your voice is fully digesting any writing you like. Amsterdam was nice. I lived there in the 80s, and it’s kind of powerful and melancholy to be there, but I like that somewhere makes me feel something. How’s stuff as of now? ** voskat, That is glamorous. Oh, gosh, all power of recovery possibly to laura. Man, how unfair. To her of all people. ** Steve, The screening was ok. It was at 2 pm on a Monday, so it wasn’t a huge crowd, but they seemed into it. No, when Zac and I first met we did a three week road trip in Scandinavia visiting theme parks, so this’ll be revisiting our faves, if we do it. ‘Barrio Triste’ sounds very interesting. I’ll try to find it. Thanks! ** Uday, Hi, pal. I’m sorry the post intersected with your real world problem or problem-ette at least. But it’s gone now. Amsterdam is pretty and charming and overcrowded and sweet and not the most exciting place on earth. I don’t know why Bret lets these mediocre directors adapt his work. I guess he doesn’t care or thinks they’re good? And then there’s the imagined big pay day, I guess? You good? ** jay, I’m glad you made it through the post in one piece. I did read ‘Memoirs of Hadrian’ and I remember really liking it, but it’s been so long that I can’t call up a specific impression. I hope you’re not getting this new heatwave. ** ⋆˚꩜｡darbbzz⋆˚꩜｡, Hey! Deep dive, sure. any time. So many ideas. That would be confusing. But still, people would pay to have a brain that has so many ideas maybe? I seriously doubt Luka Magnotta knows my work. Law of averages. Clive Barker has lung cancer? Oh, no. He’s a really, really nice guy. Shit. The only reason I’m probably still alive is because I’m a writer, so yeah. I love all the stuff that’s on your mind. I’m at the end of my borrowed internet moment, and I have to finish this p.s. off now, but yeah. Great! More better next time. ** HaRpEr //, Hi. Amsterdam is gentrified for sure, at least compared to the wild 1980s period, but it still looks the same superficially. That does sound strange emotionally, but … good too? Sorry to rush off. I’m getting the ‘end this’ signal. ** Right. Shaye Saint John is up for you today. Do you know that work? If not, do indulge. See you (hopefully) tomorrow.
______________ Millie BrownVomits (2018) ‘Millie Brown’s artistic expression has gotten many audiences to question if it is really a form of art. An example of this would be on April 8th of 2011, where Millie Brown performed a piece within a company called SHOWstudio where she first showcased her art through a live studio video. The video is around five minutes long and contains Millie Brown drinking a series of 8 different artificially colored milks (ranging from different shades of colors such as yellow, purple, green and blue) and purposely throwing it up on a canvas. In the background of her performance are opera singers Patricia Hammond and Zita Syme singing a symphonic and soothing piece.’
_________________ Jakub Julian ZiolkowskiSick of Love (2018) ‘Polish artist Jakub Julian Ziolkowski’s series Sick of Love sees the artist turning to ceramics in a bid to explore vases and vomit. Ziolkowski’s vases provide a “metaphoric receptacles for a cathartic purge” after the excesses of infatuation. Each is decorated with symbols of that physical anguish that accompanies failed relationships, evoking shamanistic and visceral themes.’
_________________ Kristofer PaetauArt Forum Accident (2005) ‘I started to feel really bad at the opening of the Art Forum 2005 Art Fair in Berlin. And suddenly I couldn’t help myself, I had to vomit.’
_________________ Johannes KahrsUntitled (‘Nauseous Girl 1’) (2007) ‘The paintings of Johannes Kahrs are always based on photographs or film stills. For years already he has been collecting images from magazines, newspapers or films, and he himself sometimes also picks up a camera.’
_________________ Jake & Dinos ChapmanLike a dog returns to its vomit (2005) ‘With characteristic self-assurance and thoroughly post-modern irony, Jake and Dinos Chapman get their retaliation in first. ‘Like a Dog Returns to its Vomit’ appropriates a hostile, dismissive cliché, in the tradition of previous collections, ‘Insult to Injury’ and ‘The Rape of Creativity’. The indignant will find more to outrage their delicate sensibilities here. Even the arrangement of the etchings is designed to infuriate; stand back from the walls of the White Cube and one set suggests a dog defecating, the other a dog vomiting (or doing as the title of the show indicates).’
_______________ OKEH x Mighty JaxxVomit Kid FastFood (2017) ‘In a red, yellow and white theme, Vomit Kid (Fast Food Red) reminds us of a familiar fast-food restaurant mascot. He is painted vanilla-milkshake-white with clown-like nose and lips, and chili-red hair to complete the look. Turn this bad boy around and you’ll find a smiley face imprinted on the back of his red t-shirt, reminding us of the happy mealtimes we had as kids at fast-food restaurants.’
_______________ Arthur SimmsPortrait of a Politician Vomiting (1992) Rope, Paper, Wire, Charcoal, Pastel, Pen, Glue, Plastic, Metal, Glassine, Felt, Scre 1992ws, Wood, Burlap, Paint, Lucy Fradkin Drawing, 53 ½ x 55 x 22″
_______________ assume vivid astro focusalways vomit after formalities (2016) ‘A “uniform” performance that will dress viewers up to other performances on the same night. It is a sort of game with the initials of our pseudonym (a.v.a.f) – a process in our work that is very dada like – by following an inspiration idea by Tristan Tzara: collect different local newspapers from the week of our performance will be happening; then collect words from these newspapers with the a.v.a.f. initials; separate the words in different buckets (two buckets for A words, one for V words and one for F words). These avaf words will be assigned to each visitor and written on aprons given out to them. The audience will be wearing the avaf aprons the whole night long together with black oval masks.’
_______________ Gilbert & GeorgeVOMIT (2014) ‘They’ve eaten at Mangal, a Turkish restaurant in Dalston, every evening for years on end. “We’re very loyal”, says George. They never look at the menu. “We order the same thing night after night until we’re nearly vomiting, and then we change.”’
________________ Peregrine HonigPukers (2010) ‘The mixed media pieces depict vomiting individuals, their colorful ejections symbolizing the release of excesses acquired in a culture of consumption. Honig admits that she sometimes felt ill when making these works, and we can see in the spirited and sometimes chaotic pieces the emotional and physical force of the artist.’
________________ John KnuthVarious (2013 – 2015) ‘An artist has created a disgusting collection of work by making more than 50,000 flies vomit on his canvases. The artwork is made by encouraging flies to throw-up sugar, water and watercolour paint. Artist John Knuth, 35, says he is taking advantage of flies’ digestive system to create the paintings – the largest of which measure up to 6ft tall and 4ft wide. Mr Knuth takes advantage of the fact flies cannot chew. Instead, before it can eat, the insect must first regurgitate a mixture of saliva and partly-digested material onto what it is about to consume. This liquidises the food, allowing the fly to suck it up, and leaving ‘flyspeck’ – a small splash of fly vomit. Mr Knuth’s method is to mix sugared water with watercolours to ensure the flies regurgitate sugary paint onto his canvasses.’
________________ Daniel Joseph MartinezWe Are Dogs in Love with our Own Vomit (2006) Animatronic sculpture, variable dimensions.
________________ Jon PylypchukYou Live in a Pile of Vomit (2003) sand paper, fabric, paint, glitter, fur, and pencil, on wove paper. approx. 10 x 8 1/2 in. (25.4 x 21.6 cm)
________________ Nathaniel MellorsThe Vomiter (Ourhouse) (2010) ‘An animatronic head hooked up to an alimentary system of tubes and vomiting some nameless spume into a bucket. It never stops throwing up, as if permanently sick with itself.’
_________________ UnknownTaino Manatee Bone Vomit Sticks (1000 to 1500 CE) ‘Taino spirituality, which focused on the spirit of the ancestors and the god of cassava, their primary crop, was mediated by a class of priests (bohiques), who often engaged in the taking of hallucinogenic drugs to aid in rituals and ceremonies. The Cohoba ritual required this type of special object, designed to induce vomiting to help a shaman purge themselves; this, coupled with fasting, allowed the shamans to have the most pure high from the Cohoba powder. Many of these vomiting sticks were made from the rib bones of West Indian Manatee.’
________________ William HogarthFrancis Matthew Schutz in His Bed (c.1755–1760) ‘Extensive analysis undertaken when the painting was acquired by Norwich Castle in 1990 revealed two sets of retouches, one dating from the first half of the nineteenth century and the other from the early twentieth century, with significant overpainting of the central area carried out around the mid-nineteenth century. Once the painting was cleaned and the overpainting removed, an astonishing detail was revealed, which transformed the whole meaning of the painting: Schutz was in fact depicted in the less dignified act of vomiting into a chamber pot, aching head resting on his hand. Moreover, a nineteenth-century label on the reverse of the painting tells us that this is no ordinary sickbed portrait: Schutz’s wife Susan, exasperated with her husband’s addiction ‘to the vice of intemperance’ and ‘under the hope of reforming him’, had commissioned Hogarth to paint him while suffering the after-effects of his debauchery.’
_______________ Mike ParrDisplacement Activities Part III vi The Emetics (Primary Vomit): I am Sick of Art [Red, Yellow and Blue] Blue (1977) ‘Parr has done more than 240 performances, some of which parodied 1970s minimalism, as when he pushed a line of tacks into his leg at precise intervals; others that parodied himself, as with 1977’s The Emetics (Primary Vomit); I Am Sick of Art [Red, Yellow and Blue], when Parr made himself vomit in primary colours. “I was exploring limit states,” he says. “I wanted to throw out all the crap and get back to the most basic impulses behind self-expression, and induce those sensations in the audience.”‘
_________________ Alejandro Almanza PeredaHorror Vacui (2017) ‘Alejandro Almanza Pereda’s Horror Vacui (2010–17) series appropriates existing Romantic-style landscape and genre paintings sourced by the artist from within Istanbul. In the series, each painting is hung on the wall, with a lump of concrete stuck onto it, partially obscuring the image, as though part of a wall is hanging on the painting and not vice versa. Liquid concrete is then splattered on the painting and surrounding wall.’
_________________ ‘Emetophilia is a paraphilia in which an individual is sexually aroused by puking or observing others vomit. This is commonly referred to as a vomit fetish or puke fetish. Some emetophiles put their perversion of choice into practice by actually doing the technicolour yawn, often on a sexual partner.
‘Vomiting as a sex act is sometimes called a Roman shower, after the commonly held but mistaken belief that regurgitating food was an integral part of Roman feasts. In this urban myth ancient Romans are alleged to have thrown up after binge eating so that they could return to their feasts to eat more!
‘Some emetophiles find the act of chundering arousing; for them, the sequence of “spasm, ejaculation, relief” in retching is erotically charged. Other emetophiles are aroused by seeing, hearing, and/or smelling others heaving up their guts.
‘Some puke fetish enthusiasts desire a partner who will barf on them, while others wish to induce hurling in a partner, or even to force them to throw up. Wanting to be vomited on may be related to a desire to be dominated, while wanting to make someone else puke may stem from a desire to dominate the partner and it can be seen as a form of erotic humiliation. Emetophiles may have any combination of these desires at any time.’
_________________ Cory ArcangelVomit / Lakes (2015) 1920×1080 H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 looped digital file (from 11 lossless TIF masters), media player, 70” flatscreen, armature, various cables
_________________ Stuart Pearson WrightVarious (2017-18) ‘Brian Sewell described Wright’s paintings as “images of such eccentricity and even madness that they fit perfectly the English tradition of the odd man out: the Blake, Spencer, Cecil Collins line, and the largest of them should at once have been bought by the Tate”. The Evening Standard called him “A Hogarth for our Times”.’
Halfboy Nauseous (2017)
Halfboy Vomiting in Debenhams (2108)
_________________ Lisa HolzerI come in you (2018) ‘Food has to do with body, and desire, and destruction, and painting as well. What do I tell, the pictures me? Are they weak enough? Vulgar? I have difficulties with/at parties. I have difficulties with a certain way of happiness or lightness. What is the common ground thing? What do parties have to do with regression? It still seems wrong to me to work at parties. As teenager I cried a lot at parties. Emily Sundblad said: “But I think also people drink too much to really cause a revolution. They get too drunk, and they cannot do anything.”’
_________________ Martin CreedSick Film (2006) ‘Sick Film allows us to see the physical differences between men and women vomiting, but the process of the function is the same for each individual. Individuality is not lost and equality is gained. This equality may influence the spectators’ reactions as they connect the films to their intersubjective muscular memories and, perhaps awkwardly, find themselves in a public audience of individuals observing the films.’
_________________ Beth CavenerIn Bocca al Lupo (2012) Stoneware, Mixed Media
_______________ GorillazSick Vomit Sticker (2016) Perfect for phones, laptops, computers, or whatever needs a dose of originality.
______________ Barbora KleinhamplováSickness Report (2018) ‘The whole ship trembles in nausea and discomfort. Stillness can hardly be distinguished from vertigo and acceleration boosts motion sickness of both the crew and the very deck carrying the tortured bodies and minds. For those in pain, it doesn’t sound like a solution to just wait for the boat to fall apart and then start building a better one from scratch. It might take too much time. It might never even happen. Time might bring irreversible damages. The ocean might not be very accommodating. Still, they are the ones on board, while others are drowning. More and more prescriptions of diverse medications clearly aren’t capable of bringing structural change. The symptoms are reoccurring, copy-pasted, spread out on most of the ships sailing turbulent seas. Drowsiness, dizziness, discomfort, restiveness, repetitive yawning, malaise, nausea, pallor, sweating, headaches, fatigue, chest pains or tightness, palpitations, insomnia, apathy. Reducing symptoms has proven easier than searching for causes.’
______________ Elijah BurgherLiam vomiting ectoplasm (2011) ‘apart from the fact that it’s comforting to see that other people see ghosts and other unnamed 4th world entities (!!), our new motto: artloversnewyork short on funds, but never short on paranormal activity . . . !! it’s interesting to note his recent shift from magic realism (!!) to magic diagramming (!!) – completely in sync with a SATURN BLACK WATER DRAGON kick-ass start-off week. the dragon, a mythical beast – exists in the mind – remember ? plus it’s cool to see his literature background . . . where dragon myths loom large and colorful.’
______________ Armağan KilciExternal | Throwing Up Series (20100 Acrylic on Colour Photograph 57×80 cm
______________ Bhakti BaxterImploded Ball Barf (2011) ‘My father was a professional soccer player and later became a professional soccer coach. He traveled to Italy in 1990 as a photographer and literary journalist for a sports magazine. The photos were really good. I remember some shots he captured of Diego Maradona hitting on a super model and they were priceless. Soccer is ever present in the home of Argentinians. Screaming!!! Wild guttural screaming. Simultaneous emotional outbursts erupting from my dad and his friends. But let me be clear, when I made these I was not thinking about fútbol in any way. It was about tearing the old ball open, flipping it inside out (implosion), filling it with concrete, paint, resin, and letting it all meld together. I was thinking of the weight of stars. The scene in the movie Aliens where the eggs start to hatch.’
______________ Pretty PukeVarious (2020) ‘Pretty Puke’s pictures are flesh caught in flashlight, strange bodily contortions and lewd acts frozen in the shocking brightness emitted with each shutter release – It’s LA at its seediest. But it’s in another space that the pictures have found their following. These images of debauchery have collided with the digital realm, and have been fast absorbed into internet culture. Pretty Puke has gained the attention of thousands of internet users, engrossed in what they see on the glow of their screens.’
______________ Brian ZimmermanSketch for neon (2019) Sculpy, plastic, paint 8″ x 2.5″ x 5.5″ tall
______________ Abel AzconaUtero (2014) ‘In the beginning of the piece, Azcona entered, nude, and began struggling with the coils of a thirty-foot length of coarse rope tied to an overhead beam. After writhing, biting, sucking and twisting with fury and abandon, Azcona tied the rope around his neck and ran through the crowd, to be jerked backwards with a horrible gargling cry, like a mad dog at the end of a short chain. There are many contexts in which young people, particularly young men, express themselves through personal endangerment: from suicide bombing to skateboarding. Where do you draw the line? Unlike many endurance actions, in which the level of danger builds slowly, allowing plenty of time for intervention, the potential of this particular action to turn suddenly, unintendedly fatal was too great. This time, he survived. After three harrowing runs, members of the crowd, feeling as I did, blocked his way, wrestling him to the ground and untying him, allowing him to crawl to a washtub of dirty water in the main gallery, where his wallowing, vomiting, and slithering came as a relief.’
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p.s. Hey. In a couple of hours I’m training up to Amsterdam for a ‘Room Temperature’ screening and a couple of other events, and I’ll be there through Wednesday. So the blog will taking a vacation for that duration, and you’ll get a new post and see me here again on Thursday. ** Carsten, France needs to adjust to the new, but the enormous cost of doing so makes me worry. Right, the lake there is huge and nice. Marseille is really interesting, and I guess you can handle the high heat du jour? My July and August are dependent on whether some film prospects come through or not, and hopefully I’ll have a better sense soon. I’ll definitely be away in Norway for film stuff and ideally a Scandinavian amusement park road trip in later August. Thanks. Have a lustrous next days. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Yes, I remember it being the same story with The Offspring back in the day. Resilient, those guys. The niceness weather-wise at least here is apparently not going to last all that long. Let’s max it out. Amsterdam is supposedly 19, 20 degrees, yum. Ha, we didn’t finish the script, but Zac promises we will while we’re up north. ‘Prayers’. You recontextualised a swell set of words there too, or I mean love did. Love patiently waiting for that post-vomit ‘ahhh’, G. ** laura w, It was a weird week. Do people hate Duras? Interesting. Certainly she shouldn’t be judged by ‘The Lover’, which is hardly up there with her best work. For most of the week, I was in survival mode. Now I’m in traveling and hosting and being on show mode, which hopefully will be significantly better. I’ve never read or looked at ‘Moomin’. Crazy, right? I’m happy your body and mind are righted again. Make the best of the blog’s short vacation time, and I look forward to the mutual catching up. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh! I read all of Duras’s novels in a flurry back in my mid-80s Amsterdam days. They were a big help. I especially like ‘Destroy, She Said’, but I guess I would. I hope your legs keep powering up. It’s the least a pair of legs can do, surely. xo. ** Adem Berbic, It was stressful because for a while the powers that be were saying they had no clue as to when the power would be fixed. You’re here just as I’m putting the last personal items in my backpack. I hope the weather stays friendly, or the French equivalent of friendly. Good goal with the interdependent sentences, but, just to warn you, that won’t stop others from turning your sentences into logos for your work. But make that hard, yeah. If there are groupies for conventional writer stars, I’ve never met one. But they probably exist. ** _Black_Acrylic, Yes, and quite an excellent filmmaker to boot. I’ve never seen that ‘Crash’ cover image before. It’s so nice. Would it be preferable to have a carer with whom you can excitedly discuss books and music and art and so on? Or is it like with Uber drivers where one prefers that they quietly do what’s needed and share a ‘thank you’? ** Hugo, Hi. I guess I prefer fiction where the contrived plot is something to have to hunt in order to find. Or I guess when it’s present but distorted like in Robbe-Grillet or something. ‘Tripticks’ is a great role model. Like they say, writers who think they’re being imitative tend to be the writers who least need to worry about that. Clavicular seems to be fading from my feed replaced by far right Zionist stuff, which is much, much worse. ** Alice, Hi, Alice. Yes, the blog made a heroic if rather short lived return to dailiness. Great book pick ups there in Brussels, as I don’t need to tell you. Thank you about ‘My Loose Thread’. It’s a favorite among my stuff that’s kind of my most overlooked thing. Congrats on the acceptance and the physical evidence! The current swing toward empowering racists to spit and act out their idiocy will die out, but not for a while, I guess. I’m sorry you’re so close to that stuff. I fear that trying to reason with them is kamikaze. I hope the person you’re meeting with about career is a big thinker. I’ll go find the stuff you’re posting on your Instagram in my next downtime. Take care, pal. ** HaRpEr //, The earlier Duras films are the best ones, I think. As someone who spends a ridiculous amount of time pre-planning structural stuff, I hear you. The Westmoreland book is lovely, yeah. I wish he’d written more, but he started having a difficult HIV battle pretty much as soon as he finished it. Thanks, hopefully Amsterdam will pony up for the film, yes. See you relatively pronto. ** Bill, Hi. Yes, the Paris power grid got overly taxed by the heatwave, and happily it waited to crash until it got liveable outside again. I think the temp is going to rise in the next days, but I don’t believe it’s going to get hellish, so hopefully your friend won’t spend their time here sweating and whining. I do know ASCO, but I’ve never see a ton of their actual work. The doc might be the best and only way in, so I’ll look for it. Thanks. Yeah, you have to try to ignore the explanatory stuff in ‘Backrooms’ and kind of all the dialogue in general. But there’s something in the spacial stuff that’s interesting. I hope the young director continues in that direction, but with the big success, I’m seriously doubting he will. ** Right. So you have five days to clean up the mess around here until I see you again on Thursday.
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