Fabian Bürgy
Viktor Popović
Zdzisław Beksiński
Taryn Simon
Alan Saret
Neil Campbell
Sebastian Martorana
Banks Violette
Ryoji Ikeda
Ander Mikalson
Valentin Carron
Tara Donovan
Reuben Wu
Anna Sadler
Egill Sæbjörnsson
Thom Kubli
Bryan David Griffith
Noi Sawaragi
Alix Poscharsky
Daniel Arsham
Urs Fischer
Jacques-André Boiffard
Bert Flugelman
Catherine Chalmers
Deborah Stratman
Amie Siegel
___________
Fabian Bürgy
Smoke 1, 2013
Cement, hole, smoke
Smoke 2, 2013
Cement, pedestal, hole, smoke
____________
Viktor Popović
Untitled, 2008
iron, used motor oil
_____
Zdzisław Beksiński
Wife Portrait, 1956-57
Few works are darker than those of Zdzisław Beksiński. What does it all mean? Nothing – Beksinski never knew the meaning behind his works and was adamant against any sort of interpretation. His wife died in 1998. A year later, his son, a popular radio host and movie translator, committed suicide. Beksiński was stabbed to death in Warsaw in 2005. The killer was the son of his long time caretaker who murdered him over about $100.
_________
Taryn Simon
A Cold Hole, 2018
In Taryn Simon’s A Cold Hole, participants jump into icy water while visitors in an adjacent gallery watch through a cinemascopic aperture.
_______
Alan Saret
The Hole at P.S.1, Fifth Solar Chthonic Wall Temple, 1976
In The Hole at P.S.1, Fifth Solar Chthonic Wall Temple, sunlight is the natural medium that influences the general shape of the sculpture. As part of MoMA PS1’s initial exhibition Rooms, this site-specific installation consists of a carefully sized and shaped hole dug out of the brick wall. When the sunlight faces the exterior side of the building, a focused stream light enters the hallway and shines down to the floor.
___________
Neil Campbell
Boom Boom, 2004
acrylic on wall
___________
Sebastian Martorana
Untitled, 2015
Marble sculpture of the impression made in the pillow of his late father in-law after lifting him up from his death bed.
______
Unknown
The black painted spiral staircase at the Zeitz Mocaa Museum of Contemporary Art, Cape Town, South Africa, 1991
__________
Banks Violette
Black Hole (Single Channel), 2004
In works such as Black Hole, Banks Violette aptly portrays a phenomenon of excess. Heavy-metal aesthetics become a mirror of youth culture anxiety, an adopted language compensating and empowering sensations of immense sorrow and despair. Citing examples where musical lyrics become instigating factors to real-life violence, Violette refers to an over-identification with fiction where artistic expression exceeds critical confinement, and fantasy and reality are blurred. Black Hole lingers on this edge of transition: its aestheticised destruction offers both horrific contemplation and potential for misuse.
____________
Ryoji Ikeda
point of no return, 2018
concept and composition: Ryoji Ikeda
computer programming: Tomonaga Tokuyama
_____________
Ander Mikalson
Scores for a Black Hole, 2019
With Scores for a Black Hole, events both quotidian and profound unfold daily around a seven-foot hole filled with black ink. Big enough to fall into, this void serves as a site for collective action and shared experience, exerting a powerful gravitational field. Numerous collaborators invited by Mikalson—from artists to actors to novelists to children to yogis and more—enact a scripted yet unrehearsed response of their own to the black hole, allowing for the spontaneous, unforeseen and unrepeatable to take shape.
___________
Anish Kapoor
Descent Into Limbo (2016)
Visitors enter the installation through a small doorway leading into a freestanding concrete and stucco room, approximately 20 feet square. In the center of the floor is a circular pit, the sides painted black so that it at first appears solid, hiding its true depths. Kapoor designed Descent Into Limbo to appear like an endless chasm in space; looking down into it is a dizzying experience. Last week, a 60-year-old Italian man fell into the hole. The man was hospitalized following the incident, which took place August 13, according to the local newspaper Público.
_____________
Valentin Carron
A wall two holes, 2016
The “eyes” are the result of an elaborate and carefully constructed intervention. An entirely new wall has been built in front of the existing one, and the holes themselves are lined with concrete forms that subtly differentiate their perimeter from the plaster that surrounds them; even the surface of the wall behind the holes has been painted black, as if to further accentuate the overriding power of negative space.
__________
Tara Donovan
Transplanted, 2001/2003
“Transplanted,” first created in 2001, is an aggregation of brown tar paper that has been ripped to expose imperfect edges and stacked at varying heights and widths, suggesting, maybe, a mountainous landscape, undulating ocean, or topographic map.
___________
Reuben Wu
Lux Noctis II, 2018
Each image is a carefully-planned scene consisting of multiple lighting positions, layered to produce a theatrically-lit composition. Using the GPS-enabled aerial light/drone in specific positions in space, I am able to create moods of drama and tension through chiaroscuro, and the ability to illuminate isolated features of a scene and include unwanted elements.
______
Anna Sadler
Mouth Endoscopy, 2011
apparatus, body, flesh, installation, machine, medical, bed, kinetic, light, ready made, space, breath, hole, internal, mouth
_____________
Egill Sæbjörnsson
Hole, 2007
A hole in the ground that speaks Icelandic.
_________
Thom Kubli
Black Hole Horizon, 2016
What kind of relations exists between oscillating air, black holes and soap bubbles? Black Hole Horizon is a meditation on a spectacular machine that transforms sound into three-dimensional objects and keeps the space in steady transformation. The nucleus of the installation is the development of an instrument that is operated by compressed air and that resembles a ship’s horn. With the sounding of each tone, a huge soap bubble emerges from the horn. It grows while the tone sounds, peels off the horn, lingers through the exhibition space and finally bursts at an erratic position within the room.
_____________
Bryan David Griffith
Wane, 2016
Smoke from open flame accumulated in encaustic beeswax.
____________
Norimizu Ameya
The shape of me, 2010
Holes weren’t dug as such. Rather, these particular holes were dug to open our eyes to the “holes” that existed inside us from the beginning. As well, it is precisely because they can’t be shared with everyone that they are “holes.” However, the fact is this was also pointed out clearly from the very beginning in Ameya’s own words. By this I mean the very title, “The shape of me,” which excludes others. Accordingly, even if the holes were filled in with dirt after the exhibition, the loss would have actually been deeper on account of them losing their shape. And so rather than sharing our sins, all we can do is – as Ameya says – take these holes that the other in the form of Ameya has exposed inside of each of us and, instead of trying to fill them in, make full use of them as “tools” that belong to no one.
_____________
Alix Poscharsky
One Morning, 2015
A coffee cup at filmed from above. The coffee starts swirling and finally explodes into a universe.
________
Daniel Arsham
Dig, 2011
Artist Daniel Arsham turns his attention to Storefront for Art and Architecture, March 1-April 23, for an unprecedented archaeological quarry delving deep into untapped streams of process and form. Dig unfolds in 3 segments, the final in which Snarkitecture create and inhabit the exhibition. From March 29-April 4 Storefront will be transformed into a deep façade filled with EPS industrial foam. From April 5-23 the public will be invited to view Arsham removing pieces from solid white infill, carving tunnels, crevices, and peepholes. In this final stage, Dig will become accessible to the public through rotating doors acting as windows on the site’s exterior, and by appointment through navigable passages that Arsham has excavated.
_______
Urs Fischer
Untitled (Hole), 2017
Cast bronze (based on plaster mold), patinated
_____
Jacques André Boiffard
Bouche (Mouth), 1929
Boiffard uses light in very different ways. In Bouche the light makes everything appear to be disintegrating. In the extreme close-up of the torn-open mouth, the light fragments in the reflections of the saliva and so dissolves what it first made visible: the inside of the mouth. The camera is sharply focused on the uvula at the back of the throat, which opens and closes the path into the body. The uvula regulates breathing in verbal expression and the entrance to the esophagus.
________
Amie Siegel
Black Moon/Hole Punches, 2010
Black Moon/Hole Punches, is a series of photographs derived from the hole punches, or black moons, that a laboratory cuts into the first frame of the film negative. Siegel printed the hole-punched frames, which are always omitted from a final edited film, from the digital transfer of her Black Moon dailies.
_____________
Bert Flugelman
Earthwork, 1975
Why did Bert Flugelman bury one of his sculptures in Commonwealth Park? Bert Flugelman’s sculpture, called Earthwork, was indeed buried as photos from the time show. He decided in fact to bury it and to make a moment out of it and to leave that question in the air hanging; does it still exist? Is it a sculpture if it’s buried and we can’t see it? Today, in the grass, is a plaque. It’s not known exactly where the buried artwork is, but a map from the Australia 75 exhibition where it was buried shows it sitting around 50 metres away from the plaque.
______________
Catherine Chalmers
Builders of Greatness, 2022
Builders of Greatness shows thousands of leafcutter ants as they dismantle the gallery wall.
______________
Deborah Stratman
The Swallows, 2013
Sinkholes are thieves, events that literally “take place.” Unintentional aspirant to the conditions of cinema, a sinkhole is fundamentally an edit in the landscape. Terrestrial features, intimating an incremental, geological time, they can also be sudden, cataclysmic events. As with caves, sinkholes are living organisms, with “bloodstreams and respiratory systems, infections and infestations. They take in matter, digest it, and flush it slowly through their system.
*
p.s. Hey. ** Eric C., If you do go to Miasma, let me know how it is. I’m very curious about that one. I just looked up Acres of Terror. It looks really nice. I hope it lives up. Halloween is only very slowly getting to Paris. The only thing I’m doing is this event where they turn a park here into some kind of outdoors haunt. Le Parc de l’Étrange. Bit of a crapshoot, but it’s all there is. Haha, yeah, my ‘sex dwarf’. Thanks! ** Dominik, Hi!!! At the one successful screening, the audience loved it, asked tons of questions. At the screening where there were only ten people, they mostly seemed to like it. At the last, depressing screening there were only five people and during the Q&A they just stared at us like dead bodies. I go to Ghent for the screening there on Saturday, but only for one night. Then I’m here until I go to Houston for that screening on the 12th. Zac’s going to the Bainbridge Island screening (near Seattle) on the 8th. ‘The Long Walk’ … I’ll peek at the evidence. Gosh, I want to go to every single one of those haunts except the victim ones. Not my thing. A Haunting in Hollis, Dent Schoolhouse, and Haunted Hoochie are legendary haunts, and I’ve always really wanted to do them. I am really drawn to Raisin Hell Ranch because it looks really homemade and imaginative. Love feeling proud of himself because he managed not to put a butthole in the post today, G. ** _Black_Acrylic, Twisted Fears does look especially good, I agree. Concrete is such a good name for fragrance. What a shame. But you can display it proudly at least. ** Bill, Haha, the words Thirwell and excess do go together. Winston Tong, wow! I’m curious about that. I wonder if he does the old stuff or is still cooking new things up. ** Hugo, Hi. Cool that you can go to the screening. I’ll try not to be distracted and a bit out of kilter, but I probably will be. Björn Andrésen, RIP. Did he do other things than ‘DiV’ and ‘Midsommar’? I guess he must’ve. Well, there you go. Later. ** Carsten, That does sound like a very good situation with Uncollected Press, yes. Sure, that seems like a good cover. Heck, it could’ve been in the post today. I know of UnCollected Press, sure, but I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book they published. I’ll have a look. Yes, the good Hof screening made it all worthwhile. The Q&A for that screening was really good, lots of audience question and warm words. Because no one over here in Europe knows what home haunts are, we inevitably get asked about them and what they are and why we’re interested in them a lot. ** Rene, Hi, Rene! I’m pretty good how about you? Thank you so, so much about our film! That’s so heartening. Thanks! I don’t know of Crippling Alcoholism, but I will go listen to their stuff. Sounds up my alley. Thank you for that tip too. What’s up with you? How’s Halloween treating you? ** Steeqhen, I just looked for haunted houses in Ireland, and I found three: The Nightmare Realm, Farmaphobia, and The Haunted Trail. So there are some tips if you want to venture into that realm. Yes, I think you’ll end up explaining many times about your costume’s origins, so maybe memorise a little speech. Like I always say, I don’t watch TV, so I have no idea. We’re searching for an opportunity to show RT in London, and I suspect we’ll find something, but not yet. It won’t be in early November though, that’s for sure. ** Steve, Mm … I think the only film we saw at Hof that we liked much at all was a documentary called ‘Ms. Wu’s Garden’. The rest were quite meh. Acid reflux is such a drag. When I got it in the early 80s, I had to change my diet pretty much permanently, but that plus Maalox and a med worked pretty well. Ugh, sorry. Well, I’m just basically obsessed with haunts, so … There are these sites that gather haunts either nationally or locally and spread the word about them to aficionados, so I mostly use them to find the prospects. ** julian, Crowded and not very scary is a pretty standard haunt problem. I like the not very scary part, but crowded sucks and contributes to the scare-free problem obviously. Your Camera/Edit project sounds pretty exciting. I’m imagining it and my mind is taking off. So in theory and via your description, it sounds worth building up your confidence about. Let me know how it’s going. Yeah, it sounds super promising to me. ** HaRpEr //, Yes, I saw that he died, and I did watch that documentary. It must’ve been pretty mindfucking to have been so objectified like that. But I remember seeing ‘DiV’ when it first came out and looking at him and feeling, Oh my God! You make me wish I remembered my dreams. I’ve had that happen after taking certain drugs, psychedelics and so on, and I guess try to maintain your belief in what it was teaching? Awful that your financial fate is in the hands of such miserable people, but hopefully not for long. ** DonW, Hi, Don. Oh, good. There are also people who dread the return of Halloween to my blog, but fuck ’em, you know, haha? Favorite Cycle book is hard to answer because I think of them as one work, but, generally, when people ask me that, I usually end up saying ‘Guide’. Why … I think that’s the novel where I made a big leap in my writing and my in my ability to write what I wanted in the way I wanted, I guess. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a fight where I threw a punch at anyone. I used to get beaten up after school by some bullies sometimes when I was in 6th grade, but I didn’t fight back. Since then, no, weirdly, I seem to have evaded fist fights. What about you? I’ve had guns pulled on me, but that’s a different experience. What’s this project you’re working on again? Thanks for wanting to know, pal. ** Uday, Remind me exactly where you are, and I can try to find a haunt in your vicinity. Weirdly, thinking back, I think my imagined romances were more powerful than the real ones. What a world. Boredom can be a great cure, absolutely. I have some Post-Its, but I’ll need to pull out a pair of scissors to make them visually appealing. Maybe I’ll do that. I wish you a day full of apple trees. ** Right. Today you’re being asked into look into, or, rather, to imagine looking into a bunch of holes. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
Hi
Do you have any favourite Hole songs? For me it’s all of them
Good luck with all the screenings ahead
Good vibes from me trying to fight a cold
Good vibes from me trying to find the right press for my first book which is officially out of print. I have full faith even within uncertainty
Forever love Guide
Hi from Chania
Trick and Treat hello everyone reading this comments section I hope these links work. I drew the PGL boys today. I can’t seem to get their faces or forms right except for maybe this one of Roman after the end of the movie but this next one of Leon and the giant firefly is my favorite thing I’ve ever made so thank you Cooper & Farley and everyone in PGL for the inspiration. (I’ll draw Roman for real but the in-progress is involving ivy and ferns and I keep un-learning how to draw ferns.) Looking forward to Room Temperature. Happy Halloween
Ah, life’s pretty dreary at the moment but nothing major to complain about. Not really in any festive mood at all but will try to tick at least one or two seasonal movies off over the weekend. Any favourites?
The Anish Kapoor one here is great. Terrifying stuff haha
Hi!!
So we can safely say that two days in Hof would’ve been more than enough – the first two, definitely.
Then you get to enjoy Paris for a bit! Apart from the weekend trip. How do you handle all these trips? Don’t you get exhausted? I’m an absolute hermit, and just reading about so many trips abroad exhausts me, haha.
Ah yes, Dent Schoolhouse also looks amazing!
Certainly a great accomplishment on love’s part, haha! Love learning the word “trypophobia,” which is “an aversion to the sight of repetitive patterns or clusters of small holes or bumps,” Od.
I do like the Viktor Popović motor oil installation. Back in the days of the YBA era, the Saatchi Gallery at St John’s Wood in London played host to a motor oil installation by Richard Wilson titled 20:50 that reflected the architecture of the building in a kind of evil sublime. Think the piece is in Tasmania now but it made for a memorable experience whenever one paid the original spot a visit.
That CDG Concrete fragrance is just in a little sample bottle so thankfully I won’t be smelling of condensed milk on a longterm basis. Maybe I should just cruise eBay for a used empty?
*Pop* Now this is a blog post exactly for me thanks this year lot of bangers on the blog Mr.Cooper! Hum omg this will be the second time ever I’ve dressed up so here’s a hint{spider man 3}. Next vlog will be a pill its my version of a Vogue 73 questions Aquarius Rising TV makes so much sense after moving out of the WhiteHotRoom. What else hum Freddy or Jason who’s scarier I think Jason’s kinda sexy cause he’s big so that’s my stance. Also what’s the first scary movie you saw and when and where? TTYLXOX
AquariusRisingTV Origin
From MuseMenaceTV came COOPERATION_boy, who ventured outward seeking expansion. Through this journey he discovered The White Hot Room, a field of reflection and transmission. For a time he swam back through the Absolute Sea, learning gratitude for all he knew and all he did not.
With his Closed Practice refined, he returned carrying the sparks of Practice Wear and much more to share.
a bit of meta narrative for you as well I’ve been working and making this rebrand the best yet.
Hey Dennis! Those stairs are so awesome. The Boiffard is amazing too, I love that sort of necrotic looking photography. I saw the new Frankenstein recently, and it had some super good gory imagery in that vein.
I’ve been good. I’ve had a lot of free time, so I read Pnin recently (really nice), and I decided to start reading Proust as a follow-up. Are you a fan?
Glad your festival was mostly good, very much deserved. Thanks for the clarification about Try and Guide. I kind of wondered if Frisk had any relation to Bresson’s “Pickpocket”, haha.
What a surprisingly chaste assemblage of holes. But you’re right, my potential book cover photo would’ve fit right in there.
UnCollected Press just established direct contact (outside of the Submittable platform) & I’m excited to see what comes next. New territory for me, this world of publishing.
Ah yes, no wonder the Germans never heard of home haunts. Spaniards seem quite into Halloween, judging from the ample decorations I keep seeing here. I wonder if there are any haunts or events that aren’t just aimed at kids. I keep seeing a “Velez Misteriosa” ad on FB, which refers to Velez-Malaga, the nearest larger town. Looks like one of those nocturnal tours with local ghost lore telling & what not. Hardly my thing. I’ll probably end up staying home & watching “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. Weird alignment with that one, Halloween & Spain: a couple of years after returning from the U.S. I made a failed attempt to move out here before. Got an offer for a teaching job in Cadiz & made it out there, but then I damn near lost my mind. Back then I hadn’t gotten a handle on my depression yet & it kicked back in with full force, hand in hand with a savage drinking relapse. My memory of that bottom is hazy, but certain things stick out vividly, including Halloween. I came home really late, a complete mental wreck, & turned on the TV to the last 20 minutes of “Texas Chainsaw” playing on some Spanish cable channel. The extent to which those scenes mirrored or echoed my mental state is hard to describe, but I feel it to this day.
hi Carsten, Spaniard here! Halloween is predictably super foreign to us which might actually be why you keep seeing decorations lol, it’s like the larp of a larp. never seen a haunt here but if you manage to find one i predict it’ll be mega cheesy, which is a pity cause we traditionally love our horror. i too caught Texas Chainsaw late one night, not depressed but my chronic condition had started banging on the door or whatever and i still didn’t know what it was but everything was weird body-wise so the film felt, uh, premonitory. hope we’re treating you well here in Al Andalus and glad to hear you’re at peace and everything these days.
Hey Laura, where in Spain are you at &/or from?
I’m just about to finish my Duende Day for the blog here & yeah, based on the art & music I really feel like Spaniards get terror on a deep level, though when applied to foreign festivities like Halloween it turns cheesy. Maybe because Halloween feels fake or commercial to many non-Americans to begin with.
Andalusia’s been a real blessing so far. Since the days described above I’ve learned to honor & integrate my demons, so this time I actually get to enjoy it here.
Valencia via the SWANA region! where in Andalusia are you? glad you’re having a good one. i actually believe the first ever slasher might have been Spanish, La Residencia/The House That Screamed by Ibáñez Serrador. and ofc Children of The Corn is a rip off of Quién Puede Matar A Un Niño/Who Could Kill A Child by the same guy. def think we live in dreams as a nation or smth so the terror would be part of it. the tongue in cheek stuff? not so much, tho Almodóvar does it well when he goes there. totally have some nice huesos on Todos Los Santos, best if not too sweet, so, like, splurge ^_^
ah! so relieved this wasn’t trypophobia fodder lol, when i saw Kapoor was in there i knew everything would be ok. very nice straight-faced hole but i’ll never ever ever forget standing in (?) his egg thing and feeling like i’d died in outer space yet my mind had survived or something- i’d thought going in it might be Newman-ish but it totally wasn’t, that one just makes me feel super aware of my body. in that vein do a line post sometime soon to go with this one! we’ve got the water, now we need the rods etc <3
Acid reflux is leading to insomnia. It was so painful last night that I was awake till 5 AM. Thus, I had to cancel my plan to have lunch with a friend. I have a list of instructions about changing my diet, but seeing my doctor next week should clarify my treatment options.
The more you describe Hof, the more depressing it sounds.
Dennis! Ugh, I’ve just been so fucking busy. Work has been a nightmare. Tons of work because of the new legislation and two new coworkers I’m training who can’t seem to retain anything. Or maybe they’re just refusing to do things the way we do them, which is a big no no in tax forms and publications. A real headache. Plus 2 1/2 hours in a car every day. I sleep a lot on the weekends, even with getting fairly good sleep during the week.
I just got the epidural steroid injections in my neck today. So far, so good. There aren’t any restrictions on activity or anything like that, so I should be good to go, barring any unforeseen, rare setback.
David. Yeah, I won’t be handicapping myself with anything when I make my way to NYC. Or not making things worse than they could be. About 2 weeks ago, he went nuts after taking way too much fentanyl. Destroyed our bathroom. Punched holes in the walls. Screaming, yelling, cursing, howling. I’d just paid $2,200 to get our toilet fixed and he knocked that loose. My mom was home alone and got scared and called the police. He ended up in the hospital for evaluation. They let him go, he did more stuff, and started acting up again. Woke me up and I had to read him the riot act.
But…a glimmer of hope? He had Kayla take him to a treatment place last Monday. He’s been doing outpatient treatment since then. He’s on suboxone now and has been “good.” Let’s hope it continues. If it does, I’ll have no problem bringing him to NYC. If it doesn’t, he’ll be staying home.
I’ve taken my mom credit cards and debit card. She’s not allowed to drive him anywhere anymore. I’m not budging.
Otherwise, things are okay, haha. How are you?
Holes are so fun unless they are endless holes or unexpected and jagged. My friend fell into a sewer once. I really like how ive spun that story into “my friend fell into a sewer” every time I bring it up now…I suppose its semi-true.
Hey how are you in Paris? What is the first spooky thing you saw today?
Did my Armis Meiwis joke made you grin? I don’t know why I’m curious. It was cringe. We have been fostering kittens there are four of them and they are the cutest things.more on that if your interested. im a cat person obviously. Friday I’m going to see Boris and although I was hoping I would have been on testosterone by then(big reason why I’ve been so upset about this guardianship lately) , considering I should’ve had my competency test restored by now, it will still be fun. im just going to hold on to all my interest and the very few friends I made this past month and put that towards my will to live.
did u get around to reading what I wrote in the German town? Alles gute
Hi Dennis.
I don’t wanna drag on the dream stuff but my friend (the one who I relayed her reading of Closer to you) had a dream about you last night where you got angry that she spilled coffee on a couch, you were also angry that the coffee was canned. I don’t know if you have any strong feelings regarding canned coffee but in the dream it was considered an irredeemable sin of some sort. All this happened at a screamo show/movie theatre thing(?)
Her mind is a stranger place than mine. She prays to William Blake before she sleeps so maybe that has something to do with it.
I hope to see you well in Ghent. I won’t mind if you are a bit out of kilter. I don’t know what a person in kilter is like tbh.
peace.
I have the opposite of the above discussed trypophobia and find some sort of odd pleasure in the things said to trigger it. Maybe I should seek out a health professional?
I finally got around to listening to that ‘Lucre’ EP by Dean Blunt and Elias Ronnenfelt that you shouted out a while back. It’s so good, I’m obsessed. All of the songs are stuck in my head. Ronnenfelt has a new solo album too, I don’t know when I’ll get around to it. I haven’t properly given time to any thing he’s done since Iceage. Same with Dean Blunt actually, I only really know his early stuff, I’ve got some catching up to do.
The job thing is so nerve racking. Every week I have to explain why I have no source of income yet and they try their best intimidation tactics. The whole thing is such a ball of stress that I’m probably not even going to care much if they kick me out. I just hate to have people on my back, you know? And what they’re giving me is hardly worth the stress in the long run.
Holes on the Dennis Cooper blog and it’s not the middle or the end of the month! Cool, cool post. I doubt I’ll have time to go to haunts this year but that is very sweet and I will certainly take you up on it next Halloween. I’m performing in Rocky Horror, in whose liberatory power I seem to believe in less than other people, and it’s taking up time. Real romances disappoint, whereas imagined romances don’t, or don’t unless you make them, and you can make them disappoint in creative and interesting ways. I think. I don’t even know if this is an imagined romance, maybe one made fascinating by its absence? I’m not really sure what to think of it and the friend I’ve asked to help me investigate has so far been unhelpful, which is fine. He’s very sweet and somewhat busy, so I’ll give him some more time, but I’m beginning to think that it’s high time this was resolved one way or another. My day was full of trees and apples, but no apple trees. I’m not the apple picking type, or really idyllically inclined at all, believe it or not, except with mountains. I’ve been thinking a lot about how Rimbaud must have felt looking back at his childhood in his later years. Off to edit an essay that was due half an hour ago, and which I needed a break from!
Hi Dennis! How are you doing? It’s beautiful to see Room Temperature being out in the world finally, how incredible and what a astounding achievement. I’m so grateful I was able to donate to the post-edit fund, it feels truly magical seeing everything unfold now. I can’t wait to see it. We should try to plan a screening in Vancouver at one of our indie theatres? My buddy Sean B just saved one of our oldest theatres that shut down, and the city was miserable. Well here we are, Summer is over — it’s cold again! It’s also crazy how you know The Hanleys! I’ve had a wild year, I’ve been offline, questioning everything but I feel more confident these days, the most optimistic I can be. Also love that you did an interview with my girl Britt for The Creative Independent. Congratulations on everything and sending all the love.
Hey there, D, Who doesn’t like Halloween? I was a pumpkin carving machine tonight. I love spooky shit. Oh, you know, I wrote you that long-ago email if you want a more in-depth explanation, but I’m basically writing a novel that’s in conversation with your work. Maybe a bit like Skelley did with Acker, or something? Or, better, maybe it’s my Ulysses to your Odyssey, but that sounds crazy pretentious, but I’m no Joyce (or would want to be). Anyway, it’s unlike anything I’ve written, and I’ve been into it for two years now, so… that’s a good, obsessive sign? Oh, yeah, way back when, I had plenty of run-ins with fists flying at me, for sure, but I’m from Nevada, and that was a normal Friday night. But I was like you and walked (hustled) the other way. Guns? Nope, never had one pointed at me… when did that happen to you? Eek. Also, happy to know ‘Guide’ is your likewise all-time. Love that book, same with ‘Closer,’ and the language in ‘The Marbled Swarm’ is…well…I don’t know how you did that. Such interesting, awesome, bananas sentence structure, which perfectly serves the story. I’ll have more Qs sometime soon, if these holidays don’t drag me away from the computer. Take care, man, Don
Hey Dennis, what a cool selection of artwork. I really like Campbell’s Boom Boom piece, I feel like if I were to lay down on the floor there I’d feel like those holes would absorb all of my stress and problems. Quite soothing visual! Somewhat hole related, I just got back from a pumpkin carving contest at a leather bar. Me & a friend tied for first place, my design was a nail being hammered into a dick (the staff encouraged perverse designs ahahaha).
In regard to the book I recently purchased, it was “Special”, which I’m interested in because I haven’t seen much about it online (though recently someone uploaded an old ad for it to tumblr, I’m yet to scan through it). From the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like Steve read the whole book, or if he did, he was very sure to keep the books binding in tact. There’s one segment where the book is split open, but no annotations anywhere. Definitely an odd artifact to possess, but relevant to my feature screenplay I’m still trying to work out.
Next time I visit the leather archives I’ll be sure to read “My Mark” from safe. How has your Halloween season been, have you rewatched any favorite horror films of yours? Hope your day goes splendidly!