Category: Uncategorized (Page 701 of 1102)

Kiddiepunk Press
96 pp.
Free to download or view online here

 

 

Violations: An Evening of Interpretive Readings of Dennis Cooper’s GIF Novels
September 16, 2016

Watch it here

Performers

Dennis Cooper
M. Lamar
Dorothea Lasky
Yvonne Meier
Aki Onda
Richard Hell
Chris Cochrane
Brian Chase
Niall Jones

“Violations” was a response to Google’s recent deletion of author Dennis Cooper’s blog (for “violations of terms of service,” without further explanation), and a celebration of the innovations in writing represented by a series of GIF novels he drafted there. In a then-recent article for the New Yorker concerning the Google controversy, Jennifer Krasinski described Cooper’s approach to these novels: “Thinking of [GIFs] as language, Cooper places them together, stacking them or opposing them to create a story—and, in so doing, effectively forging a new form of fiction.” While the contents of Cooper’s blog were eventually returned by Google, the situation prompted urgent reflection on the borderlines of trust, interpretation, and freedoms of speech at stake between users of social media and the corporations who provide such services.

This event convened a small handful of Cooper’s closest friends, allies, and artists whose work he admires to imagine what it might mean to “read aloud” from these GIF texts. The presenting artists work across a spectrum of practices and include poets, musicians, choreographers, and dancers. While the program sought to draw attention to the vulnerability of artworks produced through social media, it also celebrated the highly anticipated release of Cooper’s third GIF novel, Zac’s Freight Elevator (on Kiddiepunk Press), which was temporarily lost when the blog was deleted.

 

 

Related

How Dennis Cooper Turns GIFs Into Fiction
Dennis Cooper’s new ‘gif’ novel is his weirdest work yet
A Partial GIF Review Of Dennis Cooper’s New GIF Novel ‘Zac’s Haunted House’
Dennis Cooper’s strangest “novel” yet is written entirely with gifs
Zac Descending: the Attractions of Dennis Cooper
Unfriendly Hosts
DENNIS COOPER’S HAUNTED HTML NOVEL
Dennis Cooper – Under the underground
GIF of the Day: Dennis Cooper’s Zac’s Control Panel
DENNIS COOPER, BOUCLES GORE
An American Novelist Wrote a Book Entirely Out of GIFs
The construction of a queer rhizomatic hermeneutics through an exploration of Dennis Cooper’s HTML novels
If You Write A Novel In GIFs, Is It Still A Novel?
This Novel Made Of GIFs Is Strangely Terrifying

 

 

from the Cutting Room floor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interview
by Blake Butler

 

Blake Butler: What gave you the idea of writing novels using only animated GIFs?

Dennis Cooper: The GIF novels evolved from this thing I was doing on my blog where I would create these tall stacks of images—maybe 70 to 120 of them—that illustrated a particular theme or idea. I began introducing GIFs into the stacks, and then I became so interested in GIFs that I started making all-GIF stacks. That’s when I started to notice all these really curious, unexpected things were happening in them and between them when they were combined.

So I started experimenting with that, trying to create really deliberate effects and to organize the accidental things that were happening. Finally, I got the idea to make fiction pieces out of them. That idea excited me, partly because, as much I love writing language-based novels, I’ve always wanted to submerge the story/characters/plot much deeper within the novels’ structures than I’ve been able to. The closest I’ve gotten was with The Marbled Swarm where the immediate story and characters are just templates of and secret entrances to this whole substructural world existing inside the novel. But they were still there, hogging the novel’s top level.

With a GIF novel, I could see the possibility of those things being built on the bottom, and that the structure and style and trickery in which they were imbedded could be the dominant aspect.

BB: It’s kind of strange how distinctly ‘readable’ the chain of GIFs in the novels are, despite being all image-based. How did you begin to construct the feel of a story underlying the organization of those stacks?

DC: I think the animated GIF is a super rich thing, mostly unintentionally? For the novel, I thought of them as these crazy visual sentences. But unlike text sentences, they do all the imaginative work for you. They render you really passive. They just juggle with your eyesight, and you’re basically left battling their aggressive, looped, fireworks-level dumb, hypnotizing effects to see the images and the mini-stories/actions they contextualize. I think, ultimately, they’re mostly rhythms, or they reduce their imagery and activity, etc. to illustrative components of these really strict rhythmic patterns that turn the eye into an ear in a way.

My idea is that if you make a novel out of them, the visuals in the individual GIFs can serve double duty in the same way that the instrumentation and vocals in music samples do. They become just the texture of the loop’s rhythm, and that somehow seems to isolate the GIFs’ content from their source material. When you combine and juxtapose the stacks, if you do it carefully, you can break or disrupt their individual rhythms in a way that makes their imagery either rise to the surface or become abstractions. Basically, you can then use their content and appearance as sets and actors and cinematography in a fiction. They can hold their references, if you organize them to do so, and you can use those associations to create short cuts to some idea or emotion you want to get across, or they can become quite malleable and daydream-like, or you can empty them until they’re just motions that are as neutral as a text.

The really exciting thing for me is that the narratives can be as unrealistic or abstract or senseless or trivial or abject or unreadable as you want, and they will always remain inherently pleasurable.

BB: You are a super intense mapper and organizer with your novels, so I was constantly looking for keys to the system, things that linked the project throughout. Is the inspiration of these thru-ways all gut, or gut at first and then figuring the gut out and building outward? Or something else entirely?

DC: It starts with a series of motifs or even of things I want to use. So I just set off in search of related GIFs. Basically, I just did what I think you can only do—use keywords plus the words “animated GIF” in a general Google image search, and also on Giphy, Tumblr, etc. And then I would add in adjectives to try to get into the less public recesses where GIFs reside. If there aren’t very many interesting GIFs in the motif I’m trying, I find other motifs in the garbage that ends up contextualized in the original category, and those are sometimes useful and end up mutating the original motif. It’s not really very different than the way I write text novels because I always construct dense subsystems in my novels involving motifs and images that work together via what I call “internal rhyming” of different sorts. The main difference formally is just that you’re limited by online resources with a GIF novel rather than being limited by your imagination when it’s text.

Long story short, making the novels involves a weird and excitingly difficult combination of working in an extremely planned out way and also kind of in an extremely intuitive way too. Sometimes gut comes first, sometimes it’s the opposite, and often it’s simultaneous.

 

 

The promos

 

 

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p.s. Hey. So my new GIF novel has been born this morning. You can download it for free or view it on-line using the link up at the top of the post there. And the blog has been temporarily commandeered for a little celebration. I’m very proud of ‘Zac’s Drug Binge’ and think it’s my best GIF novel yet, so, of course I hope you’ll grab and read it. Thank you in advance, everyone. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Thank you for the history lesson. And I’m glad you and Bill are well! Everyone, Mr. ‘knows of what he he speaks’ David Ehrenstein marks the occasion of Stonewall’s 51st anniversary on his FaBlog, and do go get enlightened and entertained as well. Here. ** Bill, Hi, B. Nice that Ferdinand successfully introduced to the label. It’s chock full of cool and odd stuff. Did you hit the march? I guess you guys, unlike LA, have been spared the new bars closure measure. It all looks so grim from over here. Ugh. I know this is heresy, but I don’t like Shane Carruth’s films. I’ll look at the teaser though. Thank you. ** h (now j), Hi! I hope you like the GIF novel, duh. ** Ferdinand, Thank you so much, man! It was quite the hit. Serious, heavy traffic and all. Very best to you! ** Damien Ark, Hi, Damien. All thanks to Ferdinand. Is that true about chubby guys being mostly non-entities in gay fiction? I confess i read little lit that falls under that rubric. Surely there must be ‘bear’ or ‘chubby chaser’ fiction out there, but I suppose it’s probably pretty rote and pulpy. Anyway, be the fixer, yes. Bon day from Paris. ** _Black_Acrylic, Thank you so much, Ben. I really enjoyed your selections. Oh, excellent on both of your fronts! ** Thomas Moronic, Thanks, T. Yeah, there are, like, dozens of those old posts, but I’m going to be sparing with the rebirths for … well, I can’t think of a reason. So maybe I won’t be sparing. Lovely to see you, maestro! Oh, I found a funny (as in awesome) old guest-post of yours that I’ve restored for … soon. ** Steve Erickson, Hi. Glad the post insinuated. And speaking of … Everyone, Here’s Mr. Erickson. Listen up and click accordingly, not necessarily in that order. Steve: ‘Here’s a song I wrote today, “Minesweeper”. It’s mostly an exercise in using chords rhythmically and percussively, with little melody.’ Well, your description of the Johnnie To makes it sound very him and like his other films, no? Although I’ve never found the earlier ones exhausting, but they are a particular taste thing. Anyway, thank you for the report. His films do tend to open over here, so I’ll have a peek. ** Right. Today is fully introduced, and I hope you enjoy, and I hope you’ll want to get my new GIF novel. Enough said. See you tomorrow.

 

Dark Entries Label founder Josh Cheon is most noted for contributing to the legacy of electronic music pioneer Patrick Cowley through reissuing as well as unearthing unreleased material from Cowley’s short lived but groundbreaking recording career.

 

 

Cheon has a particular knack for discovery. Cowley is not the only artist who’s unreleased music Dark Entries have born to light. Other electronic artists like The Hacker and Severed heads also have previously unreleased material on the Dark Entries label that now have atleast 300 releases since setting up in San Francisco in 2006. Dark Entries also issue music from The San Francisco Bay Area.

 

 

 

Dark Entries have their foot in the book publishing world with the release of Patrick Cowley’s sex journals which was released in tandem with 13 Unreleased tracks which is also entitled “Mechanical Fantasy box.”

 

 

Dark entries have re-issued many of Patrick Cowley’s porn soundtracks for Fox studio.

 

 

How the Lost Recordings of Patrick Cowley Were Finally Released
https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/patrick-cowley-feature

 

Various releases from 2018 and 2019

 

Video

Drag queen band The Wasp women performing in a nightclub scene from the film “Whatever happened to Suzan Jane.” The song is on the Dark entries compilation “Bay area retrograde vol 1”

 

Borghesia is an 80’s favourite and is one of many European electronic acts who’s previous tape only releases are now available in digital as well as vinyl format.

 

A project from a member of the No wave band The Contortions. The song perfectly captures the dark and seedy vibe of downtown New York in the early 80’s.

 

Compilations

Bay Area retrograde – Vol 1

 

Various Artists – Ten across the board
Dark Entries Compilation celebrating a decade of album releases from underground bands across the globe

 

 

Recommended albums

Deux Filles – Silence and wisdom

 

Lena Platonos – Lepidoptera

 

Eric Random – A boy alone

 

Algebra Suicide – Still life

 

Borghesia – Clones

 

Severed Heads – Lamborghini / Petrol E.P

 

 

Patrick Cowley and Indoor life vocalist Jorge Socarras collaborated on music together between 1975 – 1979. The resulting album “Catholic” was rejected by Megatone records in 1980 and the two musicians continued with their separate successful careers. Eventually the reels of this long forgotten album were unearthed in the basement of a Megatone co-owner in Palm Springs and released in 2009. According to its bandcamp page “Catholic” is a genre-bending concept album that ranges from minimalistic proto-techno to synth-driven post-punk.

 

 

 

Phillipe Krootchey was a rapper, prominent radio and tv host aswell as gay activist. Dark entries re-issued his 1984 debut single “Qu’est c’qu’il a (d’plus que moi ce négro là?)” which translates as “What does he have that I havent, this negro?” The idea was to confront and subvert the racism that he as a french citizen had experienced. By taking on the words of a self-entitled and embittered white man, he is able to make fun of bigots and turn racism on its head.

 

 

Mix for Self Titled magazine
Label boss Josh Cheon serves up a cyber punk set.

Tracklisting:
factrix – night to forget
executive slacks – the bus
borghesia – a.r.
velodrome – capataz
max + mara – no one
sumerian fleet – on to you
charles manier – sift through art collecting people
patrick cowley – pagan rhythms
smersh – beat this
psychic tv – alien be in
tom ellard – 303b the east is red
crash course in science – flying turns
anne clark – sleeper in metropolis
stanton miranda – wheels over indian trails
magnus II – space age
ims – dancing therapy
cetu javu – situations
ministry – i wanted to tell her
cabaret voltaire – the web
simona buja – passing masks
psyche – dreamstreet
martin gore – compulsion
victrola – maritime tatami
nagamatzu – magic
jeff and jane hudson – mystery chant
die form – re-search

 

 

Italo Disco playlist song selection and commentary by Black_Acrylic

East Wall – Eyes of glass
An offshoot of the coldwave band Kirlian Camera, their Italo side-project has an appeal going way beyond 80s subcultural niches. The contemporary DJ Intergalactic Gary recently told the Resident Advisor website that it’s the only record to never leave his bag, while the Dark Entries reissue comes with liner notes by the renowned Italo authority Flemming Dalum. As for the music itself, singer Wilma Notari’s keening delivery tells of her complex emotions in a performance of seductive detachment.

 

Wanexa – The Man From Colours, 1982
A haunting, ethereal masterwork of early Italo. This production from the renowned pairing of Gianluigi “Gigi” Farina and Francesco Rago I consider to be up there with the duo’s very finest work. Hits of groundbreaking early 808 percussion announce the intro before spooky washes of synth apply balm to a vocal from Lyana Galis “seeking a man who brings colour to this grey world.” Dark Entries are to be commended for making a lyrics sheet to settle a few arguments but the song’s essential mysteries remain forever intact. An early favourite of house and techno DJs in Chicago and Detroit. MBV and Vaporwave were way behind the curve on this one.

 

Garrasco’s – Love Sex For Sale, 1986
Presented by Dark Entries as part of a 4-song EP of songs by Domenico Ricchini and Joe Garrasco, this late-period Italo was an epiphany for me when I first heard it back in 2004 on a recording of I-F’s DJ set at the Bootleg Cafe in Holland. Jimmy McFoy’s heartrending vocals alternate between English and French as he searches for love after a night of dancing underneath the moon. I remember being struck by the force and sincerity of his emotions, and the music retains its luminescent power still.

 

Dario Dell’Aere – Eagles In The Night, 1985
Another selection on this blog’s recent Italo tearjerkers playlist, the former Fockewulf 190 singer here delivers a haunting, impassioned vocal with backing on the chorus from his sister Nora Dell’Aere. Formerly a Holy Grail for many Italo collectors, the 8 minute playback of this record represents a sublime operatic fantasia.

 

Helen – Witch
A popular record yet always prohibitively expensive, “Witch” was eventually granted a lavish release via the Dark Entries reissue programme. The prolific Italo session vocalist Elena Ferretti tells the haunted tale of a witch and her magic, as producers Piero Cairo and Massimo Noe contribute a driving, forceful rhythm. “Witch” remains compelling today, shot through with all the strangeness marking out the best early Italo cuts.

 

Clay Pedrini – New Dream, 1984
The arpeggio-heavy bottom end combining with Clay’s wistful lyrics mark this one out as a classic. A fusion of analog keyboards and electronic trickery helps create the anthemic sound.

 

Flying DJ – Marilyn, 1985
Another highly-sought-after rarity. As previously featured on this blog’s Italo tearjerkers playlist, Marilyn is an emotionally devastating hymn to unrequited love. The song saunters along at a mournful 100 BPM and the Dark Entries repress happily features the original iconic cover art.

 

Big Ben Tribe – Tarzan Loves The Summer Nights, 1984
Dark Entries credits the vocal here as being Clara Moroni, although a number of Discogs comments would beg to differ. Whatever the story, there’s no denying the strange beauty of this song about a woman’s fantasy life with a muscular lover. The Tarzan-style vocal effects here may be silly but it’s a unique sound, thankfully rescued from obscurity by this lush reissue.

 

 

 

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p.s. Hey. This weekend d.l. Ferdinand (with the assistance of d.l. Ben ‘_Black_Acrylic’ Robinson) has concocted a great overview and crate dig of the legendary Dark Entries label. Expect both enlightenment and a gyrating seated position until Monday. Thanks for your attention and for any words of acknowledgement you can type in Ferdinand’s and Ben’s direction, and thanks mightily to our masterful host(s)! ** Misanthrope, I also considered titling it ‘Smoking’, but I thought that might signal a sexiness that the post couldn’t fulfil. Well, unless one finds smoke sexy in and of itself, and I’ve run across some slaves and masters who think so, but not often. I feel for you on the interrupted sleep. Our temperature finally dropped, so I’m somewhat bushy tailed. Enjoy the wine. And what it inspires. ** David Ehrenstein, ‘A gay softcore porn “One From the Heart”’ is a very good description of that film. Never met Huppert, no. Almost a couple of times. Happy/sad about your magical mirror. ** Sypha, Hi, James. I did like The Darkness’s first album. It was very funny. They totally lost it immediately after. I still love one song on that album — ‘Take Your Hands Off My Woman, Motherfucker’ — enough that I spin it every couple of months. ** _Black_Acrylic, If I was a very different sort of writer/person, I think going to Russia and tracking those ex-twink porn stars down if possible, and interviewing them, etc. would make for a totally fascinating and probably very depressing book. Dude, totally do whatever’s necessary to do that lockdown show! That’s a great idea! Did you sort it? ** chris dankland, Hi, Chris! Back in the days when I was kind of obsessed with Russian porn, and when it was popular — it has completely disappeared now for reasons unknown — I spent much time trying to figure out why it was the way it was. Did its depressive quality indicate a general Russian attitude about how depicted porn should come off? Was there some kind of overall calculation involved, i.e. creating a porn niche of grimness to stand out? Was everyone involved in making it from the performers to the makers just blatantly doing it out of a desperate need for money? Were the boys visibly miserable and were the settings almost always depressing, ugly cheap apartments by accident or was there a self-consciousness involved? Because asking a porn performer to look like he’s into it is a pretty normal approach. There were mysteries and seeming tragedies and so on there galore that I found really riveting. But, yeah, the whole genre just died out suddenly. Very strange. Thank you about the Smokes post. I don’t think I know about that cult. Curious. I’ll do a hunt. For the vast majority of the quarantine, there was no food delivery. I never partook. I cook, err, microwave food and eat at home about 97% of the time, I think. In fact, I’ve never had food delivered ever here, I don’t know why. I guess for the same unknown reason that I’ve never even considered getting an Uber account. My morning is not ruined by steaming hot weather, so it’s starting pretty damned well. How was your … well, weekend? xo ** cal, Hi, cal. That mesh of things does sound kind of magical. Huh. And I’m all for your study of film watching context, needless to say. Your brain seems to be in very good shape. Oh, cool, I’ll go read your thing today. Thanks! And … Everyone, Please read the following words from d.l. Cal Graves and consider doing what he asks/suggests, yes? Should be a win/win. Thank you. Cal: ‘I did this sorta experimental review for a Kate Bush album (Editor’s note: ‘Hounds of Love’) and I’d love you hear yours or anybody on here’s thoughts on it.’ Paris has cooled down. It won’t last, this being summer, urgh, but I’m cool for now. How is your summer starting? ** Steve Erickson, Hi. Everyone, Mr. Erickson has interviewed the excellent experimental filmmaking duo Daniel & Clara for kinoscope right here. Bigly recommended! Thank you for the report on the Munch. I’ll def. try to see it. I doubt it’ll open here, although it could be that the French are more appreciative of his films like they can be about American auteurs that Americans insufficiently appreciate. Wouldn’t shock me. I’ll try ‘ZBH’ again. It’s true his 80s were pretty much a non-stop meh fest. ** Bill, Have a most lovely weekend as much as circumstances allow and ideally transcending them! ** Okay. Your weekend is all introduced and ready for you. Please indulge heavily. Thank you. See you on Monday.