The blog of author Dennis Cooper

Puke

______________
Millie Brown Vomits (2018)
‘Millie Brown’s artistic expression has gotten many audiences to question if it is really a form of art. An example of this would be on April 8th of 2011, where Millie Brown performed a piece within a company called SHOWstudio where she first showcased her art through a live studio video. The video is around five minutes long and contains Millie Brown drinking a series of 8 different artificially colored milks (ranging from different shades of colors such as yellow, purple, green and blue) and purposely throwing it up on a canvas. In the background of her performance are opera singers Patricia Hammond and Zita Syme singing a symphonic and soothing piece.’

 

_________________
Jakub Julian Ziolkowski Sick of Love (2018)
‘Polish artist Jakub Julian Ziolkowski’s series Sick of Love sees the artist turning to ceramics in a bid to explore vases and vomit. Ziolkowski’s vases provide a “metaphoric receptacles for a cathartic purge” after the excesses of infatuation. Each is decorated with symbols of that physical anguish that accompanies failed relationships, evoking shamanistic and visceral themes.’

 

_________________
Kristofer Paetau Art Forum Accident (2005)
‘I started to feel really bad at the opening of the Art Forum 2005 Art Fair in Berlin. And suddenly I couldn’t help myself, I had to vomit.’

 

_________________
Johannes Kahrs Untitled (‘Nauseous Girl 1’) (2007)
‘The paintings of Johannes Kahrs are always based on photographs or film stills. For years already he has been collecting images from magazines, newspapers or films, and he himself sometimes also picks up a camera.’

 

_________________
Jake & Dinos Chapman Like a dog returns to its vomit (2005)
‘With characteristic self-assurance and thoroughly post-modern irony, Jake and Dinos Chapman get their retaliation in first. ‘Like a Dog Returns to its Vomit’ appropriates a hostile, dismissive cliché, in the tradition of previous collections, ‘Insult to Injury’ and ‘The Rape of Creativity’. The indignant will find more to outrage their delicate sensibilities here. Even the arrangement of the etchings is designed to infuriate; stand back from the walls of the White Cube and one set suggests a dog defecating, the other a dog vomiting (or doing as the title of the show indicates).’

 

_______________
OKEH x Mighty Jaxx Vomit Kid FastFood (2017)
‘In a red, yellow and white theme, Vomit Kid (Fast Food Red) reminds us of a familiar fast-food restaurant mascot. He is painted vanilla-milkshake-white with clown-like nose and lips, and chili-red hair to complete the look. Turn this bad boy around and you’ll find a smiley face imprinted on the back of his red t-shirt, reminding us of the happy mealtimes we had as kids at fast-food restaurants.’

 

_______________
Arthur Simms Portrait of a Politician Vomiting (1992)
Rope, Paper, Wire, Charcoal, Pastel, Pen, Glue, Plastic, Metal, Glassine, Felt, Scre 1992ws, Wood, Burlap, Paint, Lucy Fradkin Drawing, 53 ½ x 55 x 22″

 

_______________
assume vivid astro focus always vomit after formalities (2016)
‘A “uniform” performance that will dress viewers up to other performances on the same night. It is a sort of game with the initials of our pseudonym (a.v.a.f) – a process in our work that is very dada like – by following an inspiration idea by Tristan Tzara: collect different local newspapers from the week of our performance will be happening; then collect words from these newspapers with the a.v.a.f. initials; separate the words in different buckets (two buckets for A words, one for V words and one for F words). These avaf words will be assigned to each visitor and written on aprons given out to them. The audience will be wearing the avaf aprons the whole night long together with black oval masks.’

 

_______________
Gilbert & George VOMIT (2014)
‘They’ve eaten at Mangal, a Turkish restaurant in Dalston, every evening for years on end. “We’re very loyal”, says George. They never look at the menu. “We order the same thing night after night until we’re nearly vomiting, and then we change.”’

 

________________
Peregrine Honig Pukers (2010)
‘The mixed media pieces depict vomiting individuals, their colorful ejections symbolizing the release of excesses acquired in a culture of consumption. Honig admits that she sometimes felt ill when making these works, and we can see in the spirited and sometimes chaotic pieces the emotional and physical force of the artist.’

 

________________
John Knuth Various (2013 – 2015)
‘An artist has created a disgusting collection of work by making more than 50,000 flies vomit on his canvases. The artwork is made by encouraging flies to throw-up sugar, water and watercolour paint. Artist John Knuth, 35, says he is taking advantage of flies’ digestive system to create the paintings – the largest of which measure up to 6ft tall and 4ft wide. Mr Knuth takes advantage of the fact flies cannot chew. Instead, before it can eat, the insect must first regurgitate a mixture of saliva and partly-digested material onto what it is about to consume. This liquidises the food, allowing the fly to suck it up, and leaving ‘flyspeck’ – a small splash of fly vomit. Mr Knuth’s method is to mix sugared water with watercolours to ensure the flies regurgitate sugary paint onto his canvasses.’

 

________________
Daniel Joseph Martinez We Are Dogs in Love with our Own Vomit (2006)
Animatronic sculpture, variable dimensions.

 

________________
Jon Pylypchuk You Live in a Pile of Vomit (2003)
sand paper, fabric, paint, glitter, fur, and pencil, on wove paper. approx. 10 x 8 1/2 in. (25.4 x 21.6 cm)

 

________________
Nathaniel Mellors The Vomiter (Ourhouse) (2010)
‘An animatronic head hooked up to an alimentary system of tubes and vomiting some nameless spume into a bucket. It never stops throwing up, as if permanently sick with itself.’

 

_________________
Unknown Taino Manatee Bone Vomit Sticks (1000 to 1500 CE)
‘Taino spirituality, which focused on the spirit of the ancestors and the god of cassava, their primary crop, was mediated by a class of priests (bohiques), who often engaged in the taking of hallucinogenic drugs to aid in rituals and ceremonies. The Cohoba ritual required this type of special object, designed to induce vomiting to help a shaman purge themselves; this, coupled with fasting, allowed the shamans to have the most pure high from the Cohoba powder. Many of these vomiting sticks were made from the rib bones of West Indian Manatee.’

 

________________
William Hogarth Francis Matthew Schutz in His Bed (c.1755–1760)
‘Extensive analysis undertaken when the painting was acquired by Norwich Castle in 1990 revealed two sets of retouches, one dating from the first half of the nineteenth century and the other from the early twentieth century, with significant overpainting of the central area carried out around the mid-nineteenth century. Once the painting was cleaned and the overpainting removed, an astonishing detail was revealed, which transformed the whole meaning of the painting: Schutz was in fact depicted in the less dignified act of vomiting into a chamber pot, aching head resting on his hand. Moreover, a nineteenth-century label on the reverse of the painting tells us that this is no ordinary sickbed portrait: Schutz’s wife Susan, exasperated with her husband’s addiction ‘to the vice of intemperance’ and ‘under the hope of reforming him’, had commissioned Hogarth to paint him while suffering the after-effects of his debauchery.’

 

_______________
Mike Parr Displacement Activities Part III vi The Emetics (Primary Vomit): I am Sick of Art [Red, Yellow and Blue] Blue (1977)
‘Parr has done more than 240 performances, some of which parodied 1970s minimalism, as when he pushed a line of tacks into his leg at precise intervals; others that parodied himself, as with 1977’s The Emetics (Primary Vomit); I Am Sick of Art [Red, Yellow and Blue], when Parr made himself vomit in primary colours. “I was exploring limit states,” he says. “I wanted to throw out all the crap and get back to the most basic impulses behind self-expression, and induce those sensations in the audience.”‘

 

_________________
Alejandro Almanza Pereda Horror Vacui (2017)
‘Alejandro Almanza Pereda’s Horror Vacui (2010–17) series appropriates existing Romantic-style landscape and genre paintings sourced by the artist from within Istanbul. In the series, each painting is hung on the wall, with a lump of concrete stuck onto it, partially obscuring the image, as though part of a wall is hanging on the painting and not vice versa. Liquid concrete is then splattered on the painting and surrounding wall.’

 

_________________
Emetophilia is a paraphilia in which an individual is sexually aroused by puking or observing others vomit. This is commonly referred to as a vomit fetish or puke fetish. Some emetophiles put their perversion of choice into practice by actually doing the technicolour yawn, often on a sexual partner.

‘Vomiting as a sex act is sometimes called a Roman shower, after the commonly held but mistaken belief that regurgitating food was an integral part of Roman feasts. In this urban myth ancient Romans are alleged to have thrown up after binge eating so that they could return to their feasts to eat more!

‘Some emetophiles find the act of chundering arousing; for them, the sequence of “spasm, ejaculation, relief” in retching is erotically charged. Other emetophiles are aroused by seeing, hearing, and/or smelling others heaving up their guts.

‘Some puke fetish enthusiasts desire a partner who will barf on them, while others wish to induce hurling in a partner, or even to force them to throw up. Wanting to be vomited on may be related to a desire to be dominated, while wanting to make someone else puke may stem from a desire to dominate the partner and it can be seen as a form of erotic humiliation. Emetophiles may have any combination of these desires at any time.’

 

_________________
Cory Arcangel Vomit / Lakes (2015)
1920×1080 H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 looped digital file (from 11 lossless TIF masters), media player, 70” flatscreen, armature, various cables

 

_________________
Stuart Pearson Wright Various (2017-18)
‘Brian Sewell described Wright’s paintings as “images of such eccentricity and even madness that they fit perfectly the English tradition of the odd man out: the Blake, Spencer, Cecil Collins line, and the largest of them should at once have been bought by the Tate”. The Evening Standard called him “A Hogarth for our Times”.’


Halfboy Nauseous (2017)

 


Halfboy Vomiting in Debenhams (2108)

 

_________________
Lisa Holzer I come in you (2018)
‘Food has to do with body, and desire, and destruction, and painting as well. What do I tell, the pictures me? Are they weak enough? Vulgar? I have difficulties with/at parties. I have difficulties with a certain way of happiness or lightness. What is the common ground thing? What do parties have to do with regression? It still seems wrong to me to work at parties. As teenager I cried a lot at parties. Emily Sundblad said: “But I think also people drink too much to really cause a revolution. They get too drunk, and they cannot do anything.”’

 

_________________
Martin Creed Sick Film (2006)
Sick Film allows us to see the physical differences between men and women vomiting, but the process of the function is the same for each individual. Individuality is not lost and equality is gained. This equality may influence the spectators’ reactions as they connect the films to their intersubjective muscular memories and, perhaps awkwardly, find themselves in a public audience of individuals observing the films.’

 

_________________
Beth Cavener In Bocca al Lupo (2012)
Stoneware, Mixed Media

 

_______________
Gorillaz Sick Vomit Sticker (2016)
Perfect for phones, laptops, computers, or whatever needs a dose of originality.

 

______________
Barbora Kleinhamplová Sickness Report (2018)
‘The whole ship trembles in nausea and discomfort. Stillness can hardly be distinguished from vertigo and acceleration boosts motion sickness of both the crew and the very deck carrying the tortured bodies and minds. For those in pain, it doesn’t sound like a solution to just wait for the boat to fall apart and then start building a better one from scratch. It might take too much time. It might never even happen. Time might bring irreversible damages. The ocean might not be very accommodating. Still, they are the ones on board, while others are drowning. More and more prescriptions of diverse medications clearly aren’t capable of bringing structural change. The symptoms are reoccurring, copy-pasted, spread out on most of the ships sailing turbulent seas. Drowsiness, dizziness, discomfort, restiveness, repetitive yawning, malaise, nausea, pallor, sweating, headaches, fatigue, chest pains or tightness, palpitations, insomnia, apathy. Reducing symptoms has proven easier than searching for causes.’

 

______________
Elijah Burgher Liam vomiting ectoplasm (2011)
‘apart from the fact that it’s comforting to see that other people see ghosts and other unnamed 4th world entities (!!), our new motto: artloversnewyork short on funds, but never short on paranormal activity . . . !! it’s interesting to note his recent shift from magic realism (!!) to magic diagramming (!!) – completely in sync with a SATURN BLACK WATER DRAGON kick-ass start-off week. the dragon, a mythical beast – exists in the mind – remember ? plus it’s cool to see his literature background . . . where dragon myths loom large and colorful.’

 

______________
Armağan Kilci External | Throwing Up Series (20100
Acrylic on Colour Photograph 57×80 cm

 

______________
Bhakti Baxter Imploded Ball Barf (2011)
‘My father was a professional soccer player and later became a professional soccer coach. He traveled to Italy in 1990 as a photographer and literary journalist for a sports magazine. The photos were really good. I remember some shots he captured of Diego Maradona hitting on a super model and they were priceless. Soccer is ever present in the home of Argentinians. Screaming!!! Wild guttural screaming. Simultaneous emotional outbursts erupting from my dad and his friends. But let me be clear, when I made these I was not thinking about fútbol in any way. It was about tearing the old ball open, flipping it inside out (implosion), filling it with concrete, paint, resin, and letting it all meld together. I was thinking of the weight of stars. The scene in the movie Aliens where the eggs start to hatch.’

 

______________
Pretty Puke Various (2020)
‘Pretty Puke’s pictures are flesh caught in flashlight, strange bodily contortions and lewd acts frozen in the shocking brightness emitted with each shutter release – It’s LA at its seediest. But it’s in another space that the pictures have found their following. These images of debauchery have collided with the digital realm, and have been fast absorbed into internet culture. Pretty Puke has gained the attention of thousands of internet users, engrossed in what they see on the glow of their screens.’

 

______________
Brian Zimmerman Sketch for neon (2019)
Sculpy, plastic, paint 8″ x 2.5″ x 5.5″ tall

 

______________
Abel Azcona Utero (2014)
‘In the beginning of the piece, Azcona entered, nude, and began struggling with the coils of a thirty-foot length of coarse rope tied to an overhead beam. After writhing, biting, sucking and twisting with fury and abandon, Azcona tied the rope around his neck and ran through the crowd, to be jerked backwards with a horrible gargling cry, like a mad dog at the end of a short chain. There are many contexts in which young people, particularly young men, express themselves through personal endangerment: from suicide bombing to skateboarding. Where do you draw the line? Unlike many endurance actions, in which the level of danger builds slowly, allowing plenty of time for intervention, the potential of this particular action to turn suddenly, unintendedly fatal was too great. This time, he survived. After three harrowing runs, members of the crowd, feeling as I did, blocked his way, wrestling him to the ground and untying him, allowing him to crawl to a washtub of dirty water in the main gallery, where his wallowing, vomiting, and slithering came as a relief.’

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** Scunnard, Hi, Jared. Oh, good! ** h (now j), Hi. Yes, Tofu Mantra was a fave of mine. We’re having unseasonably cool, lovely weather here for as long as that lasts, and I’m enjoying it as much as I can before the inevitable heatwaves start striking. Crossroads in a great festival. The SF Cinematheque is amazing, and its maestro Steve Polta is a total hero. Stay undercover from your sun. ** David Ehrenstein, Ah, yes! ** John Christopher, Hi, John! I’m doing pretty okay, and how about you? Oh, great, the site/magazine is up! I’ll go visit and start regular visits as soon as I exit this p.s. Congrats! Everyone, John Christopher has a hot tip for us who are interested in being inspired and informed. John: ‘Remember I mentioned my class had a magazine coming out w/ Morrisroe stuff (& many other cool stuff) well it’s finally up & breathing! arcmagazine.org will be updated every Friday. I think the Morrisroe stuff will be up next week but not totally sure.’ Highly recommended that you use that link and bookmark the page for your ongoing pleasure. The name June Caldwell doesn’t ring an immediate bell, but I’ll start my acquaintanceship with the story you’re publishing. Great! You have a very fine weekend! ** _Black_Acrylic, Ha. Glad you liked it. Hope you like seeing it all come back up this weekend. Have an excellent coupla. ** Misanthrope, I think the baker still makes those baby cakes, and I think the baker is based in London, if I’m remembering right, so, next time you head over there, if US citizens are ever allowed to cross the Atlantic again, you can find out. I was always quite logical even as a little kid. Saved my mental health a bunch of times. July 4th is almost as overrated as New Year’s Eve. Well, enjoy the cook-out should that happen. I’ll be spending just another weekend over here. Our ‘July 4th’ is in a week or two. ** Bill, The chicken chair was definitely the source of much discomfit bordering on nightmares. Not sure if/how Bastille Day will be configured. I live near Concorde, and they’re building the big viewing stands there for the President and dignitaries to watch the big parade, so that seems normal. Otherwise, I think other than closed stores, etc., the only other big thing is the fireworks over the Eiffel Tower, and I’m pretty that’ll happen. ** chris dankland, Hi, Chris! Yeah, Ed Atkins’s stuff is pretty cool. Your aliens/food thought would make an extremely interesting movie. Maybe a better movie than a novel for some reason. Hm. A bit too plot and action oriented for Zac and me to tackle, otherwise … Not so evil, really, or, well, maybe evil. You tell me. And have an ultra-safe but fun-filled 4th of some sort, pal. ** Steve Erickson, Hi. Will do. Everyone, Mr. Erickson’s thoughts have weighed in on Ulrich Köhler’s film ‘Beginnings’, which is ‘ now available to stream in the US.’ I’ll check the Cinematheque’s site. I believe it reopens for actual, in-person film screenings in a week or something, gloriously. I’m not surprised that Damon Packard’s brain has gone that ridiculous route whatsoever. ** Corey Heiferman, Hey, Corey. Glad you liked all the stuff, natch. I … think those LACMA cakes were fund raising, auctioned off things? Hope you get to do that interview. Yeah, what a nice to be queried about. And of course the bear meets bear coincidence hits the spot with a sparkle. This weekend? Today there’s a tentative plan to look at art with Gisele, Zac, and our friend the film director Lucile Hadžihalilović, but I’m not sure if that’s happening. Tonight a powwow at Hard Rock Cafe with a Paris gallerist who wants to show my GIF work. The ICA in London is doing some kid of launch event about ‘Zac’s Drug Binge’, so I’ll coordinate with them. Uh, emails, enjoying the strangely wonderful cool temperature, This and that. You? ** Okay. Here’s the other half of the ‘Food’ post for you all to spend a portion of the next two days with. Strike your fancy, did it? See you on Monday.

9 Comments

  1. Ian

    Hey Dennis, love the puke art. Reminds me of when I was younger and used to make spit art. It would last for a day on the pavement before disappearing and leaving a blank canvas again.
    I got married last weekend and life has been very busy. Not much time for reading the blog or doing and writing. Hoping that will change this upcoming week. Keep well, love from Canada. Ian

  2. Scunnard

    Hi Dennis, today is the perfect payoff of yesterday. haha thanks. Can I pick your brain, or anyone else? What are the literary blogs you pay attention to these days? I’m out of date… what ever happened to htmlgiant and the ilk? You’re always more keyed in and I need a tune up. How’s everything else? Any interest in a To build a house that never ceased day?

  3. David Ehrenstein

    Re Today: In the immortal words of Auntie Mame “How vivid.”

    Latest FaBlog: Fiat Diver — Rushmore

  4. KK

    Hey Dennis!

    To answer your question a couple days ago I’m doing fine…waiting to hear back about a potential job so basically I’ve just been hanging out at my place reading a lot and fucking around. Yeah so I finished ‘Death Sentence’ and it was incredible. A new all-timer for me, for sure. I want to read it again, and I want to know how it was even constructed. It felt so narrative driven at times and then completely warped. I want to understand it’s structure. Speaking of warpings I’ve started Michel Butor’s ‘Degrees’ yesterday. Loving it so far.
    Only two comic books? Wow. I started reading manga after reading Tosh Berman’s reviews of authors he liked. Do you know Reza Negarestani? He has a comic book here: https://www.e-flux.com/journal/95/227164/chronosis-exordium/ and I think it’s getting released next year. Might be something you dig.
    So i’m in Bud Smith’s workshop. It’s going well. He’s really nice and has good advice. I definitely feel like the odd ball because the kind of writing I’m enjoying leans away from the narrative drip, and sometimes I’ll insert random takes on the intersection of klezmer and jewish a capella music. but it’s been fun.
    Any updates about the new novel? Mega excitement, as far as that goes for me.

  5. Bill

    Dennis, this is a fine followup to yesterday’s theme gallery! That Abel Azcona, whew.

    A few years ago, a friend took me to Gilbert and George’s regular restaurant in Dalston. (I didn’t know anything about Mangal beforehand.) We ordered, my friend told me about the illustrious regulars, then minutes later G&G walked in. The food was very good, but it’s not a good vegetarian destination. No, they didn’t vomit that night.

    Dennis and h (then j), I eat lots of meat, but I can’t imagine sitting on that chicken chair. Good to hear of the free ac, h! I don’t know Stan VanDerBeek; let me look him up on goodreads. Wow, sounds like I should spend more time exploring his work. My journey into abstract film/video is pretty strange, so I can be embarrassingly oblivious of much pioneering work.

    The holiday movie binge started with Rey, directed by Niles Atallah, who also produced The Wolf House. A little uneven, a little Guy Maddin-esque, but definitely worth a look.

    Bill

    • h (now j)

      @Bill, wow, I got a preview link to The Wolf House a few months ago and opened it just a few days ago (but haven’t got a chance to finish it.) But I’ve been meaning to see it fully soon. Will find out Rey, also, asap. Maddin-esque. Intriguing. And lovely to see that word, “Maddin-esque.”

      Oh, I have met some of video artists who haven’t seen any of VanDerBeek’s works yet so that’s not strange to me. The book where I contributed my small piece is not really known in the world. It’s just out actually after the pandemic got here, so only a few involved people know the book’s existence. And it’s a catalog art book. The link here: https://www.biblio.com/book/vanderbeek-vanderbeek-chelsea-spengemann-sara-vanderbeek/d/1298100827
      If you’re interested I can send you my text only bc the book itself is copyrighted for the museum and the archive. Personally, I’m very fond of VanDerBeek’s dance films that feature dancers from Merce Cunningham Dance Company, but they are rarely exhibited…I felt lucky to see them to write my essay for the book.

      I hope the 4th evening went well (and safely) for you and other SFers!

  6. h (now j)

    Dennis, whoa. I’ve been having a low appetite issue, but after seeing this post I suddenly felt better and ate quite a bit. Maybe now I feel ready to puke, too!

    That’s great that Paris’s weather has been treating you nicely. Yes, very glad to hear it! Today it wasn’t that bad here in NYC, either, but I just turned on my dear friend AC to get some serious work done. See you next week!

  7. _Black_Acrylic

    That Martin Creed film is maybe my favourite of his works. I like that there’s a definite continuity with his other stuff.

    Still in self-imposed lockdown here in Leeds, despite English pubs being open from 6am yesterday. I’m happy just shielding here at home while the world carries its own way onwards outside. Plan to get started on something for my writing group later today. Meanwhile Leeds United remain top of the league so I’m fairly content right now.

    Been doing my exercises up here in the attic, soundtracked by this new Helena Hauff – Kern Vol. 5 2CD mix. It’s a relentless 150 bpm gabba-infused thrillride that is truly hardcore.

  8. Steve Erickson

    Did you hear that there’s a TikTok challenge based around Gaspar Noe’s LOVE, 5 years after its release? Apparently, teens are watching its opening sex scene and filming their response, amazed that “porn” is accessible on Netflix (combined with the huge popularity of the Polish softcore 50 SHADES knockoff 365 DAYS.) I found that funny because for a long time, Netflix recommended LOVE, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, NYMPHOMANIC, and IMMORAL TALES in a row to me every time I signed in.

    The 4th was rather depressing and boring. But someone was busy setting off fireworks in the East Village till 2 AM. Do you plan anything for Bastille Day? The Cinematheque reopening sounds really exciting, although I would be wary of moviegoing. Their website has a pretty extensive selection of free movies.

    I wrote a song today, “East Village Pyro,” whose title comes from that, but this is the first time I’ve tried polyrhythms. I looped a sample of congas through the whole song, and sometimes layered two of them slightly out of time. It started off as a bunch of noise, and then I wrote a chord progression. Here’s the link: https://soundcloud.com/user-229390367/early-morning-pyro.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© 2024 DC's

Theme by Anders NorénUp ↑