_______________
Andrei Molodkin Putin Filled With Ukrainian Blood (2022)
‘Artist Andrei Molodkin has produced a portrait of Vladimir Putin filled with blood as a protest against the invasion of Ukraine. The new work was done in collaboration with his Ukrainian friends and co-workers, who symbolically donated their blood before returning to their home country to fight. Since then, Molodkin has opened his doors at The Foundry to their wives and children fleeing the war.’
_______________
Imran Qureshi And they still seek the traces of blood (2013)
‘Imran Qureshi’s “And they still seek the traces of blood” (2013) has become renowned for its ability to invoke emotional responses from viewers as this intrinsic work is printed on thousands of crumpled sheets of paper and gathered to form a precipitous heap. The title of his work, “And they still seek the traces of blood quotes a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz1 with reference to individuals who have been killed and buried without their lives honoured nor the events surrounding their deaths investigated.’
_______________
Renluka Maharaj Lillah (2019)
_______________
Ted Lawson Ghost In The Machine (2015)
‘Brooklyn artist Ted Lawson hooked himself up to a robotic painting machine that used his blood as ink to draw a nude portrait of himself. As part of a series of artworks made using Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines – originally programmed to paint with a self-filling brush and ink device – Ted Lawson decided to hack the device to use his own blood, which led to the notion of a self-portrait.’
Turning the video’s volume off is recommended.
_______________
Lil Nas X and MSCHF Satan Shoes (2021)
‘The red and black kicks include a pentagram, the “Devil’s Star,” and an inscription of “Luke 10:18,” the Bible passage that reads, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” The air bubble at the sole of the shoe contains about two fluid ounces of red ink and a drop of human blood, supplied by people who work at MSCHF. The packaging includes drawings of the Devil walking up to Jesus. All 666 pairs of the rapper’s Satan Shoes, listed at $1,018, sold out in under a minute.’
‘The shoes were made using Nike Air Max 97s, but the sportswear giant has said they do not endorse them, filing a lawsuit against MSCHF for trademark infringement. Nike claims that the “unauthorized” sneaker has caused confusion amongst customers, many of whom believe that the company is promoting Satanism.’
_______________
Simeen FarhatBlood Shot is Blood Loved (2017)
_______________
Riley Harmon What it is Without the Hand That Wields it (2008)
‘Violence is an inevitable, mechanical function of the human brain, hard-coded down through time by culture, genetics, and evolution. Mediated experiences of killing change our perception of violence and death. As players die in a public video game server for Counter-strike, a popular online first person shooter, the electronic solenoid valves spray a small amount of fake blood. The trails left down the wall create a physical manifestation of nebulous kills. In simple terms it is about manifesting experiences that are purely virtual, or only ‘real’ in a psychological sense, into the physical world – physical computing.’
_______________
Heji Shin Baby (2016)
_______________
César Bardoux Blood pouch (2018)
Oil on canvas
_______________
Jordan Eagles Blood Equality Illuminations (2017)
‘Blood Equality Illuminations unites 59 voluntary human blood donations from the MSM (men who have sex with men) community that Eagles collected for the Blood Mirror project. The donations came from two groups – the first from nine individuals, each with unique life experiences and perspectives, highlighting the repercussions of the ban and the importance of full equality, and the second group combined blood from a community of 50 PrEP (Pre-exposure prophylaxis – a daily pill proven to be 99.9% effective in preventing HIV transmission (iPrEx trial)) advocates, each of whom donated a single tube of blood – the 50 tubes amount to a full pint, which is the amount of a standard blood donation.
‘For Blood Equality Illuminations this blood was scanned and printed as digital composites and then projected onto surfaces to create an immersive installation. Through the projection you can ‘step into’ the blood – blood which could have been used medically and given to someone in need by way of a selfless act.’
______________
Aida Ruilova Hey, 2001 (2001)
_______________
Hermann Nitsch Oedipus (1990)
Sculpture
_____________
Mike Parr Cathartic Action: Social Gestus no. 5 (The Armchop) 1977 (2020)
‘Creating discomfort in his audience, artist Mike Parr invites spectators to watch in grand awe as he is hacking off his bloody arm with a meat cleaver – however, unbeknownst to them, it is a prosthetic limb filled with meat and fake blood.’
_____________
Louise Bourgeois Untitled (Hearts) (2006)
Incised with the artist’s initials and dated 2006 on a plate, rubber and steel
______________
Barnaby Furnas Boogie Man (2005)
Oil and watercolor on linen
______________
Maxwell Rushton Inside Out (2016)
‘Rushton has taken the concept of putting yourself into your art quite seriously, and quite literally.The significance of blood cannot be overstated, Rushton has decanted his own blood, and actually used his body as painting material in his artwork, turning himself into a logo. Peter Beard was ground breaking in using animal blood to paint over images of animals he photographed, but Rushton has literally transformed himself into a logo.’
______________
Chiharu Shiota Earth and blood (2014)
______________
Johanna Levy Blood and Data Flows: in my panties (2017)
______________
Nalini MalaniIn Search of Vanished Blood (2012)
‘In Search of Vanished Blood is the most consummate and compelling example of Malani’s ‘video shadow plays’ series that she has been developing since 2001. This installation comprises of 5 reverse painted rotating mylar cylinders and six video projections and sound. It is an immersive kaleidoscopic environment, and its title comes from a poem by the Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz. The piece itself is inspired by the 1984 novel Cassandara by Christa Wolf, and the 1910 book The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke. The visuals are accompanied by a soundscape made of a collage of lines from Heiner Mullers 1977 Hamletmachine, Samuel Beckett’s 1958 Krapp’s Last Tape and Gayatri Spivak’s 1997 English translation of the short story Draupadi by the social activist and writer Mahasweta Devi.’
______________
Wang Xiaofeng Series: work with no series (2009)
‘The surrounding sounds pass through the sound sensor and controller to influence the height of a fountain of pigs blood erupting from the middle of an iron pan.’
______________
Horacy Muszyński ASS.DEATH.DICKS (2019)
‘Horacy Muszyński’s film series, ASS.DEATH.DICKS (read: aesthetics), tells the story of six young artists invited to work on an exhibition. It is supposed to be their first major project, and the launch of their artistic careers. However, due to creative-block frustration, envy, or ruthless ambition, the young artists start killing each other, turning the gallery white-cube into a bloodbath. According to Muszyński, nowadays rivalry is not only young artists’ main motivation, but also society’s drive at large. Brutal and bloody, ASS.DEATH.DICKS (read: aesthetics) exposes egocentrism and a will to win at all costs.’
______________
Ed Ruscha Boiling Blood, Fly (1969)
______________
Johann Kresnik 120 Tage von Sodom (Volksbühne, 2015)
‘Austrian director Johann Kresnik – a warhorse of the dance-theatre world who’s been nicknamed “Der Berserker” for loud productions containing a lot of blasphemous imagery – has taken on the novel The 120 Days of Sodom, written by the Marquis de Sade while he was imprisoned in the Bastille. Kresnik has also drawn from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s grim and graphic 1975 film of the same name.
‘As in those works, we’ve got a group of corrupt libertines who enact sadistic fantasies and perversions on young sex slaves. For the 75-year-old Kresnik, that means enough nudity and stage blood to tide audiences over for the rest of 2015. More precisely: cannibalism, copulation, crap-eating, and castration of Christ on the cross (followed by consumption of his cojones as communion).
‘And it’s all in the name of making a statement against capitalism and consumerism. (I’ll take a break from the alliteration now.) As blood-and-grime covered performers writhe about naked, and a zombie conga line in dirty rags dances to “Gangnam Style,” and an infant is ripped out of its mother’s belly, hacked apart and cooked on a real grill, there’s a lot of screaming about Konsumfaschismus, Facebook and banking. Politics, we’re told, is just one big supermarket.
‘But if Kresnik is actually interested in making a cogent argument, he doesn’t show it. Rather than shocking, the onstage brutality feels silly, as superficial as the consumer culture it’s attempting to critique.’
______________
Billie Grace Lynn Dead Mouse (2011)
______________
Claudio Cavallari Suitcase n.85 – Blood and Ink (2013)
‘Visualisation of suitcase of blood and ink for the “THE TULSE LUPER SUITCASES” by Peter Greenaway.’
______________
Judy Watson a preponderance of aboriginal blood (2005)
______________
Handmade Acoustic (2018)
______________
Marianna Simnett Blood (2015)
‘Blood runs thicker than water – which is maybe why it clots and coagulates. Emotions adhere to notions of blood, and what it represents; signifying kinship, invoking destiny; marking the body as a source of vitality or, on occasion, a site of shame. Blood goes deep, and in so doing it can get messy. Marianna Simnett knows this. Her short film, adorned with its deceptively simple title Blood, deals in both its material and its mythological dimensions.’
______________
Rebecca Horn Overflowing Blood Machine (1970)
‘Horn’s machine evokes medical apparatus, though its function remains unclear. Horn says of this piece, ‘the performer is tied up on top of a glass container (more an aquarium), tubes surrounding his body. Blood pumps, slowly, circulated through the glass container through the plastic tubes; enclosing his body like a pulsing garment of veins [it] forces the evolution of the motionless person into being an extension of the mechanism itself’.’
______________
Eleanor Antin Blood of a Poet Box (1965–8)
‘American artist Eleanor Antin produced Blood of a Poet Box very early in her career, while she was living in New York. The work comprises a green specimen box containing one hundred glass slides, each holding a blood sample that Antin took from a poet – a loosely defined category that also included artists, performers and dancers. A handwritten list stuck inside the box lid catalogues these contributors, whose blood was taken by Antin at the many poetry readings and performance events that were a feature of the New York avant-garde during the 1960s.’
______________
Sterling Ruby Various (2014 – 2018)
“Red Uniform”
“Bloody Pots”
“Monument”
______________
Cassandra Chilton and Molly O’Shaughnessy You Beaut (2017)
‘Cassandra and Molly O’Shaughnessy, two members of the Hotham Street Ladies, are behind You Beaut. This piece features two toilet stalls covered extensively with graffiti of uteruses, including examples of uterine diseases and abnormalities. The entire work is painted with royal icing, piped from icing bags in shapes and patterns that give an uncomfortably visceral yet undeniably delicious quality to the uterine diagrams. In one stall, a uterus has menorrhagia, or heavy menstrual bleeding, depicted by volumes of vivid red icing laced with red raspberry lollies pouring down the wall and out the cubicle door. The icing pools in large droplets on the floor, uncomfortably, tantalisingly close to the viewer.’
______________
Naoki Kato Blood Splatter (2019)
______________
Flavia Lupu Finish’it (2013)
‘The principle: we have a woman who offers herself, hypothetically, to the public to be abused. Participants can intervene with a gilded hammer, nails and other objects that are on a table, also gilded, used in the medical system.
‘The substrate: an ambiguous relationship. Those who take part in the action „are plaing”, being, most likely, amused. The experiment is a fake. Metaphorically, a reference is made to the idea of identity as an image that others, that are stronger, can have, depending on the authority they hold, within the accepted possibilities (hammer, nails, wires, knife, etc. – in this case). At the subconscious level we do not know if the public feels that they use the power that they have over a simple sheet of paper, or if they have the feeling of freedom to dispose of a person in a way that would be impossible in real life.’
_______________
More blood spilled Thursday in Kevin Hilton’s Criminal Justice classroom than was extracted by Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers during their entire horror movie careers combined. Volunteer High School’s Criminal Justice classroom was the gruesome scene of a lesson in blood spatter investigation that had the walls, floor, ceiling and even some of Hilton’s 85 students dripping with gore. “Since this was Halloween, I thought it would be a good opportunity to show them how to do blood spatter, how to measure it, analyze it, look at it,” Hilton told the Times News. “This is one of the most popular hands on activities that we do. Kids just seem to love it.”’
*
p.s. Hey. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Yes, dilemma, but if the festival thing happens, we’ll do it. Film comes first. Eek, has the mystery of the stink been solved … err, pleasantly? Can I be love’s designated phone call helper if ‘WWtbaM’ still does that? Although, well, love seems like he’d have those bases pretty covered. Love all bloodied and smiling beatifically, G. ** _Black_Acrylic, Cool that the Treut sat well. Congrats on the 1-0. That goal was a pretty thing. ** Carsten, Beach bum mode, nice. I’m more of a slather on the sunscreen dude. I’m not the best judge of warmth, but at least in the summer, at least when I’ve been in Marseille, it broils. Oh, no, no outrage. I like lists. They’re fun. But hierarchies always make me roll my eyes. Interesting to know where that site’s head is at. The German festival isn’t a for sure quite yet, and the protocol of these things is the filmmakers can’t say anything until the festival announces. I think it’ll happen. ** Mark Johnson, Hi! How nice to have you here. I saw your comment yesterday, and I’m friends with Bruce, so I contacted him. He says the problem is that Smith’s estate has two owners who greatly disagree about what should happen to his work, which is why the work remains disappeared. He said he thinks Semiotext(e) has the work. I don’t know if he meant they have the work on hand or if they have some kind of rights to it. He suggested you contact Hedi at Semiotext(e). I hope that’s at all helpful, and I sure hope you can publish ‘Days in the Clouds’. What a boon that would be. Thanks! ** jay, Hi, j! Smith’s book covers all kind of topics. There’s an amazing essay about Levis that reads them through this incredibly obsessive numerology filter. I really hope that book comes back. There’s nothing like it. ‘Benny’s Video’ might be my second favorite, so high five on the excellent taste front, bud. Ah, your dad is Hungarian, okay, now it makes a little more sense. But still. So happy the trilogy is insinuating itself into you. It certainly haunts me. Best weekend in recorded history to you. ** Steeqhen, Oops. Power through, man. You know you can. I have never played a Pokemon game weirdly. I don’t even know what they are other than looks-wise. ** Tosh Berman, If you can somehow get his book, it’s really something. I’m positive you’ll be super glad you did. I look forward to hearing about your visit with Michael from Jeff. Its niceness is a big relief, obviously. ** Mari, Hi, hi! Mm, no, I don’t worry about that. Granted I’m a relentless optimist, but I think the current fascist hell will fade out before too, too long just like all the arch conservative rules from the top always do eventually. It’s true that right now is as bad as things could possibly be, but … Otherwise, no, books survive even if it’s in small numbers, and distinctive things always have long if sometimes limited lives, I think. ‘God Jr.’ was kind of influenced by two Nintendo 64 games: ‘Banjo Kazooie’ and ‘Conker’s Bad Fur Day’. No, I’ve never consulted a psychic. When I was writing ‘I Wished’ and was really in a bad mental/emotional space thinking about my friend George, a friend who does tarot offered to do a reading for me and try to put me in touch with him. And it was really weird because he did the reading and his face turned white when he saw the cards, and he said that he was being told that me getting in touch with George was extremely dangerous, and he refused to continue the reading. I don’t believe in tarot, but I’ve always wondered what that meant. Writing non-fiction did help my fiction, yes, because I learned how to structure something to give it a kind of narrative build up, and I hadn’t known how to do that very well before. In that sense it did give me a valuable skill set, even I don’t use it all that much. Thank you for asking those things. It’s great that you’re excited about the classes. I don’t know that I really know what coding involves, but I love codes and decoding and so on. Awesome! How are you spending your last ‘free’ days? ** Steve, This weekend: work, film stuff, hopefully see some art. No big whoop. It’s fall here too now, and it’s so, so nice. In the actual home haunt scene, no, not really. I’m very interested though obviously. There’s a big annual home haunt convention in LA, but it’s always at a time when I can’t be there, and I would love to explore there and schmooze. Maybe next year. Everyone, Three reviews from Steve for you this weekend, and they are … Alex Russell’s LURKER here, Ethan Coen’s aptly named HONEY DON’T! here, and Nourished By Time’s THE PASSIONATE ONES here. I’m kind of curious about ‘Lurker’ and interested to see what you think. ** julian, Hi. Yeah, Smith is the kind of old school conspiracy theorist who used to amaze and delight. Congrats on the new apartment. Hopefully you’ll like living alone. It’s great to get work done if you like digging into your things. Your friend is nuts! Oh, he lay down behind the drum kit and kind of hit the shell of the bass drum with a drum stick. He did hit it pretty hard though, I’ll give him that. ** Jeff J, Fascinating book if you can find it. Got the Zoom link, thanks! ‘That Smell’, no, I don’t know it at all. Huh. Great, I’ll make an effort to find it. Thanks a bunch, pal. ** Tyler Ookami, That does sound really good! ** Hugo, Hi. Historical figure + cigarette … huh, it’s hard not to chose Rimbaud because when I was younger I was obsessed with inventing a time machine so I could back and hang out with him. Otherwise, gosh, I think maybe I would choose Hollis Frampton. But of course I would be happy to smoke with any of your guys’ choices, although I did smoke with Kathy a few times, so that one’s less romantic to me. It’s autumn-y and dreamy here. Peaceful weekend at all costs. ** HaRpEr //, I saw The Replacements maybe five times, and they were always a mess. It’s just whether it was an inspiring mess or an off-night mess. Yes, and the Big Star comparison, sure. Good writing day, whoopie! Very cool. The Holly Woodlawn book is very sweet. Sort of apropos, have you read ‘I Could Not Believe It: The 1979 Teenage Diaries of Sean DeLear’? It’s wonderful. ** Okay. Here’s the third edition of my Bloody series to escort you through the weekend. See you on Monday.
Now available in North America 
Hey Dennis! Blood spatters are incredibly cool, I think if I were to hypothetically kill a person, seeing the blood pattern produced would probably be my motive – if I had to pick one. When I had a particularly intense SM scene with a hookup recently, I did have a long crime-scene cleanup afterwards, and it was cool to track how exactly the blood had flown off me – if I had more spare time, I’d probably try and do one of those red-string blood pattern reconstructions.
I also really enjoy videogame blood splashes, because they’re normally really cheap projections (like a projector, but for a permanent physical pattern) of a decal onto a surface, so they look amazing, until you look at them from a different angle, and then they turn into a distorted Holbein-skull smear that’s unreadable as a blood spatter. The Lil Nas X shoes are cool too, he definitely used to be a super cool sort of celebrity, although I don’t know what he’s up to now. That Johann Kresnik play looks crazy too, I’m 100% going to see if I can find a recording somewhere.
Okay, I’ll see if I can find a copy of Smith’s books online somewhere, and if I do, I’ll pass it on. I would get a physical copy, but they’re $300+. Haha, cool about “Benny’s Video”, I kind of assumed that one would be your number 1 for some reason – I think mainly because the protagonist makes this failed destructive film project that doesn’t turn out how he wanted, which I know is somewhat up your alley. Yes, the trilogy is definitely haunting me, that’s a good way of putting it. Well, I hope my weekend gets an all-time second-place to yours, see ya!
@HaRpEr //: I “overheard” your dialogue about submissions. I’ve been pretty knee-deep in submitting material to publishers & journals lately & what I’ve noticed is that almost all of them state that simultaneous submissions are welcome–meaning sending the same work to more than one place at once. They just emphasize that you let them know ASAP if your work gets picked up somewhere else & you need to withdraw it. I keep a submission checklist & when one of my poems got accepted by a journal the other day, I immediately informed all the others I had submitted that one poem to.
@DC:
Blood art will never–& should never–go out of style.
Sunscreen huh, I kind of don’t believe in it. Or rather I can’t stand it & what I do is try to limit my daily direct sun exposure to about 30 minutes, then stick to the shade. The ancient method I guess. Plus I wear a hat all the time.
OK as much as we differ on climate preferences, we’re on the same page re. lists. I agree that they’re fun, sometimes educational & almost always a neat glimpse into the soul of the list-maker, but I reject hierarchies as much as you do. The idea of a fixed canon goes against everything I believe in, so I’m always pleasantly tickled when a new “controversial” poll comes out that busts it to shreds. Like when “Jeanne Dielman” topped Sight & Sound & some fools acted like every remaining print of Hitchcock had been incinerated.
Now Marseille: I’ve never actually been there, but everything I hear about it sounds right up my alley. Even if I end up staying in Andalusia I will definitely go there one day & do some exploring. Did you like it?
Wow! What a day…It’s actually really helpful for what I’m working on too. This place is such a gift slash cheat code.
Have you ever seen those Banyan trees? I’m in Miami at the moment and these trees are sooo gory looking. The roots grow down from the brances and into the soil and sometimes prop up broken looking parts…the result being this tree that looks like viscera.
Yeah the brooklyn thing is really exciting…I still can’t believe its going to happen. From what I understand it’s going to be a few of us WT writers reading around.
hope you’re well man
A fine bloody weekend, Dennis. The first piece is powerful, and looks good too. I like the Ted Lawson self-portrait, totally agree with your recommendation to mute the sound in the video, ha. Have you seen any of Kresnik’s work? Over the top?
That’s a creepy story about your tarot reading.
On the unstable/squishy text tool, I got it to do something like an animated Burroughs-style cutup. But I wasn’t sure how to take it further; the strategies I’m used to don’t work so well with text, unless one is happy to throw meaning out the window. I haven’t touched the tool in a few years. But if you’re interested, I’d love to hear what you might have in mind. Maybe email?
I have this blob-y amoeboid structure I’ve been using in performance, that I’m reasonably happy with. Haven’t shared a demo, I’ll try to make one soon. I’m in the middle of making an extension that is turning out to be a bit more tricky than I thought. The gig is coming up, so I’ll have to see how that develops.
Bill
The Flowting Clowds show was really nice, yes. As for local openers, they were very good in terms of playing but I feel that the strains of punky progressive music from the mid to late 90s: post-hardcore, math rock, emo (in its older meaning), and so on, have suffered a similar fate to the original strain of progressive rock where they are sort of the domain of technique fetishists who are very intent on emulating an existing thing exactly.
The dance version of 120 Days of Sodom looks very interesting, at least visually, despite the negative reviews. Muszyński’s films look interesting, I would like them to be available online.
Someone has put a ton of Warhol/Morrissey material in a big folder on Archive: https://archive.org/details/andy-warhol-complete-films-collection, including Lonesome Cowboys, though the image quality is not great (it seems to be ripped from video), though also I suppose it is better than not having it at all. It’s very scattershot in terms of what looks optimal, though Soap Opera and Chelsea Girls look far better than I have seen elsewhere! Very interesting that a majorly influential filmography is inching towards being available after, in some cases, not being seen for half a century.
Dennis, I guess Life is like that for a lot of us: good news and then bad news. I don’t know that David realizes anything anymore.
And thanks re: my mom. She’s doing better. Eating again, taking it easy. It’s just something she’s got to live with.
Me, I had the MRI on my neck this morning. Follow-up appointment is on the 2nd.
Hey, if you’re traveling at all to NYC, let me know. I want to go up there again. I don’t need an excuse, but you’re a good one. 😛 Also, Rigby’s great friend Angela (best friends since high school) is looking to come over from New Zealand to meet me. So sweet of her. We’ve been messaging a lot. Think of a female Rigby, hahaha. To a point anyway. She’s a little less stubborn, I think. If she does come and we meet, I’m hoping for it to be around Rigby’s birthday in October.
This reminds me of the time I tried to paint an image of a menstruating vagina with my own blood, but I was too scared of being hurt to draw enough blood to finish it. It all turned brown after a while anyways. Do you think that newer conspiracy theorists are less amazing and delightful? I could see how that’s the case. So far, I’m enjoying living alone. I can act as strangely as I want with no one to see or hear me. I’m definitely the kind of person who works best without anyone looking over my shoulder, so I think I’ll be able to get a lot done. Yeah, I was shocked, but he said that it would’ve been in a place with a bunch of rich New York art people and that’s why he didn’t want to go. Still sounds like a good time to me, I don’t know. Trying to imagine what a Replacements set would sound like with only bass drum. There are some early Velvet Underground songs that are like that.
Hi Dennis! Woah, the set design for that 120 days adaptation is awesome. The lighting & attention to detail really brings those aisles to life. I can see why the reviewer found it silly though- the proportion of the actors compared to the set kind of reminds me of this strange movie called Foodfight!, which is like, this surreal awful looking movie about food mascots if you’ve never heard of it before. I used to do a lot of theater as a teenager & I think its pretty easy to make a play or adaptation that’s out of touch (and “superficial” as stated), but I dunno, from what I can see I think the absurdity of it all could tonally complimentary, even if the commentary is a tad shallow. I can also see why “And they still seek the traces of blood” is so evocative… the way the papers are heaped reminds me of food factory waste, which calls to mind distinct smells, a long with an understanding of systematic forces that contribute to the deaths the piece pays tribute to.
I finished rereading Guide the other day & I had a question- in the chapter Star-Shaped “The New Murderer’s Handbook” by “Richard K. Krousher” is referenced. I was wondering if this was an actual book, or if (in a similar way “Smear” is to Blur) it was a spoof on Physical Interrogation Techniques by Richard W. Krousher?
I’m really excited to see your film next month, if you have time would I be able to give to a small gift after the screening?
How have you been? Hope the rest of your day is marvelous.
I recall a theatrical adaptation of SALO that included actors with Downs syndrome. Maybe that was Kresnik. The description makes his play sound quite entertaining.
Is that an actual woman’s body in FINISH’IT, or just the image of one?
Not feeling great so far this weekend. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna call my doctor Monday and try to see him next week. The infection I’ve been living with for the last month sure isn’t going away, and I hope he can at least prescribe something for the symptoms.
My latest “Radio Not Radio” show is now up on Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/callinamagician/8242025-radio-not-radio/. This one features several artists I learned about from your Gig Day, among many others: Ensemble Nist-Nah, Gnaw, Gila, Pharaoh Overload, Major Stars, Vesta SA, Halima, Deekpaz, Nadeem Din-Gabisi, Amaarae, Asa Bantan, Purity Ring, Tropical Fuck Storm, Black Eyes, Guerrilla Toss, Eye Ball, Witch Club Satan, Ritual Mass, Abhorrent Expanse, Nina Nicolaiwesky, Ethel Cain, Whitney Johnson/Lia Kohl/Macie Stewart, Nina Garcia, Harlem River Drive, Chicago Underground Duo and DJ Narciso.
Sterling Ruby and Raf Simons worked together on this collection which I think went down pretty well. Got to give Raf credit, his collaborations are always pretty inspired.
Hi!!
Ted Lawson’s “Ghost in the Machine” indeed gives new meaning to the term “self-portrait.” Blood is a fascinating material. I’m in love with this post.
Yes, of course. I’m guessing the film is the utmost priority right now.
Uhm, no. The elevator stench has largely disappeared by now (though my dog still isn’t willing to step inside, which was never a problem before), but nobody seems to know what caused it.
Yes, please! Love would feel so secure if you were his designated phone call helper! And he’d share the million, too, of course.
So a love I’d fall for immediately, haha. Love singing My Chemical Romance’s “Blood” a cappella, Od.
Ps: Is your old website fully gone now? I remember there was this incredible interview with you about the cycle on it. The one where you go through how each book represents both a body and the emotion or approach privileged eg Closer was body clothed and alive. Frisk Dead body. Try – emotion Guide- analytic
Do you know where I could find it? I wanted to send it to someone i’ve been recommending your books to.
I believe you can access that interview in the 9th chapter of Richard Canning’s “Gay Fiction Speaks”. You can get a pdf here – https://kmr.annas-archive.org/md5/96e8f995931e4c052d84a834019c58d2 – although the quality isn’t amazing.
Hey. No, I haven’t read that Sean DeLear but after reading about it I sure think that I need to. Thanks for the rec!
I read the recently re-issued David Wojnarowicz book ‘Memories That Smell Like Gasoline’ today. It was really beautifully put together and may contain some of my favourite writing from Wojnarowicz, especially the last story entitled ‘Spiral’ which is so incredibly inventive and powerful, in part due to the illustrations which essentially form their own fragmented narrative separate from the rest of the piece. It says in the introduction that ‘MTSLG’ was the first in the series by the publisher that went on to include the book you did with Nayland Blake, ‘Jerk, unless you did something else with him’. Cool.
Aah, the Warhol dump to the internet archive shared by Tyler is amazing! ‘Batman Dracula’ (albeit in bad shape) is there which was lost for years. ‘Blue Movie’ too!!! I’d like to think that someone who has some small part in Warhol and Morrissey’s archive went on a bender this weekend and decided they needed to leak all of this stuff for the good of the planet. Well actually, Morrissey died not that long ago so maybe that’s part of it?
Might have a hectic week ahead of me since I’m moving, which I’m pretty sure is something that nobody on the planet finds any enjoyment in, especially since I own so much shit and I have to put most of it in storage for the time being. Whatever, I just have to get through it. I’m honestly so relieved to be getting away from that hellhole, even if I’m just crashing with my parents for now.
@Carsten, thanks for the advice, it’s been a great help. Wish you the best of luck on your own publishing voyage.
Hey Dennis,
Had a pretty tough weekend. Been still feeling low, self destructive, self-hating. Ended up going out very last minute on Saturday which was great until it wasn’t: this one drunk teen prick was getting mouthy at bouncers, who then proceeded to knock him into a table i had been at like 2 minutes prior, and then choke him out for long enough that everyone around was concerned for the life of the guy. A lot of broken glass, shouting, 80 or more people and all in this alleyway, and I became very dissociative and shaken. Then had a moment with friends where I had to just abandon them because they were acting in a way that really upset me and made me mortified; being rude and mocking someone nearby. I ended up getting really angry and heated over texts and had to leave that groupchat to make sure i didn’t go too far, because i was really riled up thinking about how horrible it all was. Got a really genuine apology from one friend, who i knew had just been swept up in the moment and said the very same to them, the other has been radio silence and frankly I’m not surprised. In some ways I’m glad I got so angry last night because it was terrible behaviour and something that went so against my own values, and I’d rather have some tension or cracks in a relationship if that relationship involves not respecting other people…
I got a concert tomorrow which is probably a good way to reset the mind: Addison Rae, first show of the tour, which is a bit exciting but also obnoxious as I like to know the setlist going in (or maybe I like that as it’s what I’ve grown to expect). Then Father John Misty down in Cork on Tuesday. I’ve been watching a lot of films the past few days, one being Permanent Green Light, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I know ye filmed in some small French town, but it felt so odd, like a cross between a manufactured set and a computer generated sandbox like Garry’s Mod. There’s a lot I enjoyed about it, but I’m about to conk out for the night, so what I’ll focus on is how much I loved things seemed to be so inconsequential, like neighbour at the start who ends up just becoming a talking point for Roman and Tim to talk about as he’s hanging in the background, or Leon being introduced to just be taken away a scene or two later — and how Roman didn’t get what he wanted out of her death. Like a constant void inside of everything. I loved that monologue at the end about the cycling and Roman’s best friend who spoke about him in the past tense like he was already dead… I may have to rewatch it soon, there’s more I wanted to talk about but I’m so tired and my brain is shaken from everything that happened Saturday night, which was directly after watching PGL. I did love that use of the ginger kid exploding from the MIA music video ‘Born Free’. I remember watching that at around 15 or so, being so horrified and entranced by that exact shot, and felt a bit of a kinship to Roman watching it on loop.
Hey. Oh what a timely post, just last night I relapsed with a blade on my leg and the blood was plentiful and relaxing.
I’ll know I’m a clique for saying that for this kind of a post. There’s nothing really interesting about me recently and I don’t like sex and last month I tried it after a while of not doing and I just wanted to not exist. But it feels releasing being penetrated with a razor when I don’t like how weird I am. The feeling when yellow appears. Because it feels like a loose circuit board within your skin and it’s great.
I get so anxious at work. Anywhere really. The stress builds up into an irrepressible heat at the end of the day. Almost a month I lasted without sharp relief. So it was very disappointing., therefore Today wasn’t the best of days but oh I learned about saltwater crocodiles and these birds called Kākāpō bird that skullfucked a scientist on live air(overstatement) before going to work and feeling miserable because of all the human interactions and things. I work at old Navy. I get paid 15$ an hour tho which will be very nice to buy more books with and of course save for trips.
Actually I remembered something, a woman in the break room gave me a hug because she saw me upset and I have just been struggling once again and it’s irritating a neverending hamster wheel, I climb up and then fall down where I’m back where I started so I’m excited to hopefully start DBT therapy a again next month and hopefully that helps since I’ll take it seriously.
Have you ever been to an island? I know you’ve been to Hawaii and that sounds exciting. I want to go to the Galapagos.
I boiled rice balls for the first time. Oh. The book club might be in person it seems. How exciting. It’s every promising. I hope to meet like-minded people. That is the goal.
Thank you for the distraction have a good week friend.
Well I guess I meant I am a sexual person, I flirt with people I won’t chase knowing that I’m capable of attractio I’m not necessarily a a prude or an unemotional vegetable, I guess I mean there is just no actual inclination of fulfilment. It’s very rare and I’m used to thinking “is this really it? When is it over?”
Anyways the real reason I came back is because I just found out Trent Reznor did an awful cover of Eyes without a face. Look it up on YouTube if you want your brain to groan and feel like shattered glass placed across eye eye contacts.
*Poof* Okay well ouch when I was vaping I felt well actually it is all kind of wussish sucking plastic for fruity flavors okay you win. Not even spring cleaning but spontaneous organization has overtaken me these last few days. Im going to fire island pretty soon but I didn’t book a room anywhere cause there is a gross monopoly run on housing there pricing is ludicrous and once again going with the flow. So to me its likely since it’ll be party central when I’m there I may either be up the whole time running around and sucking cock and dancing or it’ll be so easy to find somewhere to crash cause of sex stuff or party stuff or just kindness haha or all three at once (fingers crossed) I packed a really light and nice looking travel bag with some clothes (not that id really need those on fire island) and my camera, water bottle and a douche lol and lube, medium butt plug, portable chargers and and some zines and my copy of frisk idk I feel like its the prefect set up to bum around gay island for a bit and make some great memories. I bought my travel there and I’ll buy my way back when I have to instead of pre planning that. Give me your take or tips im pretty excited! Whats been up and whats a treat you’ve had lately? TTYLXOX
Now I feel inspired to curate a local version of the Blood of the Poet box. Let’s see how many friends that makes me.
The Cunningham translation and our poetry event in general went over well. We have some new articles this week in the magazine too.
I’m on a Hart Crane kick, coming back to him for a while. I like his earlier work in “White Buildings” much better than his crack at the Great American Poem in “The Bridge”. Apparently very little has been translated into Hebrew, certainly not in standalone book/chapbook form, so I’m taking a crack at it. What is your opinion of his work?
I had some coffee and just remembered a performance I saw here in Tel Aviv at an underground menu. The performer just kept sticking needles into herself all over her body, impaling small pinches of skin, each needle drawing a little bit of blood. It got to be too much for me.
*underground venue hahhahaha
hi dennis! it’s been a second and i just wanted say and how things are/have been 🤍 here’s a blood piece from jeanne dunning that i think is very gorgeous, xx https://www.tumblr.com/loreleitrix/792834327470800896/jeanne-dunning