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Closer – The Dennis Cooper Papers
23 March – 23 June 2012
‘In collaboration with the Fales Library & Special Collections of New York University, Kunstverein Amsterdam presents the archive of the George Miles Cycle, comprised of manuscripts, journals, posters, correspondence, scrapbooks and videocassettes. In addition, works by artists Vincent Fecteau and Falke Pisano are shown alongside the archive material. Artist Trisha Donnelly has been commissioned to produce new work based on the five novels.’ — KA
DC circa 1988
Closer
Frisk
Try
Guide
Period
Video
John Waters reads from ‘Try’
Bret Easton Ellis reads ‘Wrong’
Stephen Malkmus reads from ‘The Dream Police’
Robert Gober reads ‘Dinner’
Lynne Tillman reads from ‘Period’
Thurston Moore reads ‘Introducing Horror Hospital’, ‘Phoner’, and from ‘Them’
Falke Pisano ‘Cycle’
Geometries of Desire Slideshow (sample projections)
Catalog (sample pages)
Zines (from my collection)
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p.s. Hey. A couple of people asked me if I would restore this post. Seeing as how some technical glitch had caused almost all of the images in the original version to be deleted, I decided to go ahead and do that even though I don’t think of the blog as a place to focus on my own work. The post isn’t very explanatory, but, if you have any questions about it or the stuff in it, I’m happy to answer them. ** Harper, Hey, Harper. I’m shocked, although, at the same time, sadly not surprised, about those pessimistic lecturers. That’s really disgusting. I’m guessing they’re writers who haven’t achieved whatever success they imagined for themselves and are taking it out on you guys? Well, you don’t seem to be in danger of being mis-influenced by them at least. Interesting that you studied filmmaking. Even though I decided to be a writer when super young, I took filmmaking classes in college but quickly realised my talent wasn’t visualising, and I gave up on that other dream until I met Zac who can visualise. Yeah, I mean the boon of being in a program is obviously having the time to write and have other peers around with the same drive/goal. That’s no small thing. If you mean getting by as writer financially day to day, I was lucky to be a young writer at a time when journalism paid quite well. I was writing music and book and film reviews and articles since I was in high school. And I ended up being a Contributor Editor at Spin Magazine and Artforum and other venues for a while. That was my main income, and it wasn’t enough, but it kept me from having to have a 9-5 job. Also my parents were well off, and they had been so awful to me and my siblings when we were kiddos that I could get money from them when I was desperate. So, I was lucky. The writer Todd Grimson also responded to your question if you didn’t see it. ** Todd Grimson, Thanks, Todd, good to see you! ** _Black_Acrylic, I’ve seen a little Tommy Cooper, so, yeah, I getcha. Thanks, and have a swell weekend. ** Misanthrope, When I was living in the East Village in the early 80s, there was this beat cop who was really cool and nice. I had dinner with him a couple of times. And I was usually high on something when I did. Strange. It’s nice when you get a title early. It helps or something. Make sure the weekend is a big shebang then. ** Allegra, Hi. Ah, I see, about Brown. You probably got good stuff from it anyway. Just a context can make a difference. I lived in Amsterdam for a couple of years, and I was totally miserable and fucked up there, but I wrote my first novel during that time, so it seems all positive to me now. No, I don’t know ‘Jawline’. It seems like something I can find without too much hassle. I’ll try and watch it this weekend if I can. Sounds super interesting. Thank you. You have a top weekend too. Did anything extraordinary happen? ** Nika Mavrody, Response. ** Kyler, You were cruising for a bruising there, buddy. Nice to see you. ** Justin, Hi. Maybe I’m very subtly surprising in some way I don’t know since I still have most of my friends around. Oh, yeah, ‘The Lobster’, I liked that too. I just looked at art yesterday, so-so stuff, and ate too much of an awful plate of spaghetti, so we’re even-steven on the yesterday front, it seems. But now there’s a weekend afoot! ** Bill, Cool, happy you dug it. Please do try to squeeze in some of your own projects, man. I’ve heard of Aina Hunter, but I haven’t read them. Does sounds curious. My pile will grow. Enjoy the free time. How did it start? ** Darb👨🚀, What a friendly little person there. Oh, you’re so nice. I’m the same about you. *Knuckle bump* Did M get their meds, and did M subsequently become far more tolerable if not even, dare I ask, nice? The police in France are called ‘gendarmes’, and their nickname (‘cops’ equivalent) is ‘flics’. If you want to refer to them in a more derogatory way, the nickname is ‘keufs’. You drove! Where did you drive? What did you drive? ** Uday, Hi. A good impersonation of Zizek would be hilarious, I can imagine. Much less whilst mewing. My favorite fruit is pears, and I have not eaten a pear in ages, and I wonder if I can. Are they seasonal, I don’t even know? How about you? My mouth’s goal today is chocolate. In fancy form. Maybe yours should be too? I don’t know. Big weekend! ** Okay. You know what the weekend is doing around here, and I will see you again once it’s over.
Now available in North America 
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Hey. Nice to see that as I woke up. I remember when I was there looking for that catalog with no luck, 2019 2020. I was wanting in general to have you as company because I knew you spent meaningful time there and I felt very very lonely it was very impossible to connect with others. It is inspiring place Amsterdam. I felt quite mad, but thankfully it was then that I started doing experiments for the book and started doing it really, what you did see started there doing walks never captured by cameras I will never forget going from completely lost to going somewhere but then I started doing the drawings when I came back in Athens and did undocumented preparation in Amsterdam. I could write another book about this whole creative process This is how rich it felt to me
I would love Love to try automatic drawings right after I read the George Miles cycle again So much. Of course not drawing exactly what I am reading because I would never do that but steps beyond that. But most importantly excited to read it all again… Especially when time goes on and I forget so many things. It is new experience. It is only Closer I remember details and I was obsessing over them for so long rotting in my bed. Soon-ish, sigh
These guys from Frisk scrapbooks are so pretty. The guys kissing remind me of me and my crush in the future. Is it true that Patrick Kearny had fixation with the actor from The little house on the prairie? One picture reminds me of this picture of the Randy Kraft victim on the couch but it’s something else. Does that scale modeling house has to do with the structure of Period? Did someone else do it inspired by the novel?
Love from grim but very sunny Chania Crete
Hi Dennis, thank you and Todd for your very kind words. What keeps me from quitting is that I’m terrible at keeping jobs. But I guess a good trait that I have is that I don’t have the inert need for financial stability. Sure, I worry about money and all that but I’d say I need a lot less than other people to get by.
Yeah my professors are definitely projecting about something going on in their own lives. They don’t really know what to make of me but they can see that I’m doing my own thing. But there are at least two lecturers who have really encouraged my tastes and interests. Funnily enough a lot of my peers don’t really read or write that much. I know that might make me come off as a snob but its by their own admission. Its a kind of inside joke at my university that english lit and creative writing degrees are kind of useless and are only taken by people who have no idea what they want to do. There’s a guy who got in the news who was on the english lit course here and is trying to sue the university for two million or something. Anyway, you and Todd both gave me a lot to think about and thanks again for the advice.
Also, these scrapbooks are amazing. Do you use them before you write to get an idea of atmosphere? I’ve heard of writers drawing characters before they write them in order to create a visual image to work with. Also, John Waters reading TRY must be incredible.
Thanks again,
Harper
This is amazing. Would love to have seen this in person.
Hi Dennis Cooper. Is there anywhere that an engaged could access these materials now? Re-reading George Miles cycle and interested in the notes on structure.
Hi Dennis Cooper. Is there anywhere that an engaged reader could look at these materials now? Re-reading George Miles cycle, in order this time, and fascinated by the structure. Is Fales in NYC the place or ?
Thanks!
-A fan
Hi Dennis,
I wanted a time machine so badly looking at this post. Feel like I could have spent entire days inside that exhibition. The handwritten pages were very interesting to me, but unfortunately I couldn’t zoom in enough to fully see what was going on. Maybe one day they’ll be displayed again, or I’ll go to NYU to see them. And all the structural stuff about the cycle and the individual books… grist to my mill in a big way. Thanks for restoring!
I see in the ‘Guide” manuscript you sometimes put brackets like this: ()
Does that just mean you know something more needs to go there but you don’t want to disturb your flow in the moment? I think I need to develop a similar mechanism.
After finishing McCourt’s “Time Remaining”, and being renewed and energised by it, I’m putting fiction aside again in order to focus on my own. Reading Jack Spicer this morning instead.
Have you ever listened to Amen Dunes? He might be up your street and he’s playing a gig in Paris in early July.
Hope you have a great weekend.
J
Dennis, where is that house with PERIOD written on it? May I live in it? Is it a 3 bedroom/2 1/2 bathroom deal? Thanks for bringing back this incredibly grand day.
Love, Derek
Derek, you’re a jewel! Your books have moved me in various new directions recently. I fear for your life if you move into that house though.
Thanks for the kind words, James!!!
Would love to have seen this show, but this weekend’s post is definitely the next best thing.
This morning had my usual Saturday brunch with my mum, brother and nephew. In 4 weeks’ time my brother will be running the London Marathon, and he’s been getting up at 5am before work for training sessions every day. All this to raise money for the MS Society, which is a disease I live with and I’m very grateful for his huge efforts.
Hi Dennis
Long time reader first time commenter. I have a book coming out in June and I’d love to get you a copy to read if you’d like. I understand if that isn’t of interest to you and I hate to ask you publicly but I’m not sure how else to contact you.
The gasp I gasped when I saw today’s post… Thanks for this, Dennis! I will echo what others have said – I wish I could’ve seen this in person. The scrapbooks/mood boards are so fascinating. Makes me appreciate the cycle even more, if that’s possible. Hope you have a nice weekend. 🤯
Did you continue to lay out photo collages as outlines for your last few novels?
Was the cop you met in the East Village gay?
New song for my next album: “A Buckcherry Tribute Band’s Rhythm Guitarist Ponders His Life!” It’s in 4/3, although I’m not sure if that’s even a real time signature or just a polyrhythm.
This looks like it’d be so cool to attend! Shame I’d’ve been 7. I feel like there were a lot of cool exhibits around that time. I had a pear just today! I think they’re usually in season beginning August. I love a good mango. Hope the chocolate was good.
This is super amazing. I wish I could make it out there to see this! I guess the photos will have to do. I’m zooming in really close. My sister told me that there’s some of your stuff at the Brooklyn Museum right now but I still haven’t checked it out. Thank you for posting!
*Could have…
ciao dennis! ♡
after disappearing for days, i come back here just to see that today’s post is on amsterdam’s kunstverein. speaking about signs, you know..
anyway, i came here to tell you that i have officially started writing the thesis and that i am so so so happy. and to tell you that very probably i’ll be in paris for my birthday, in may. would you by any chance still be interested in having that coffee? let me know, i will book the train tickets next week!
i hope you’re okay, i hope the weather is warmer in paris. thank you for this post.
can i possibly ask you a question also useful for my thesis: which one of your works would you consider the most violent? i’m in the middle of a brainstorming and i kinda need this information in my head.
also, i’ve been obsessed with fever ray, the singer, do you know them?
a presto ♡
Hey Dennis. I love Playboi Carti. He’s cool. Theres this song thats like a fan remix of his that I’ve been so obsessed with … its called Jordan prod. DaDanny. feat. Young Thug. So insane . Do you ever listen to Horrorcore stuff like Three Six Mafia or any of the Memphis type stuff? What about Kanye West? Wish I could have gone to this exhibition also!
Hi Dennis, I hope you have been well.
Thank you for restoring this post, as I had tried about a year ago to go through the original one and could only get the images to load through the Internet Archive—which can be slow and a bit irritating. (The catalog/interview are very great too, I ordered one out to California as soon as I discovered it existed. If only it had more pictures!)
As weird as it is to tell you, I actually attempted a research project on your scrapbooking for one of my classes as part of graduate school last year, as I found “Gone” so fascinating. One of the things that interested me most was Marvin Taylor’s work about the structures of your novels. (It’s a shame that he has not published his presentation, as there is just enough referencing it here and elsewhere to make it seem like something very insightful.)
Do you think you might ever try to get the other scrapbooks published?
hi dennis!! today is my monthly cave emergence, it seems. unfortunately, my cave emergences are less ancient dragon awakening from centuries of slumber to terrorise [INSERT PREFERRED FANTASY REALM HERE] and a little more rat scurrying out of the bins with half a slice of stale pizza.
big, big fan of this post. have downloaded a few of the images to show to these guys I’ve been hanging around with these days. been trying to introduce them to my taste in things, the ones I think they’d enjoy, anyway. they’re dating, but I don’t feel very much like a third wheel when I’m around them. It’s pretty nice, actually.
how’ve things been with you? I hope the good land of [INSERT PREFERRED FANTASY REALM HERE] has prospered during my century of slumber. have things with the film improved at all?
speaking of the film, i recall you mentioning its content being rather divorced from the things you tend to write about. (though I might be misremembering? I can never tell) how do you feel about people’s perception of you in relation to your work? I know within my own life, a lot of the people I create things with get so used to the weird body horror stuff I make that they find it hard to believe I can make anything else. I imagine it’s the same, if not worse with you? maybe I’m wrong
okay, sayonara from the stilt bed, and godspeed :]
Great to see this time capsule, Dennis. Any chance the show would be resurrected in real life sometime?
Just got back from this, wow:
https://www.sfcinematheque.org/screening/luther-price-new-utopia-and-light-fracture/
There’s also a screening of his “Tom Rhoads” films later this week. Will try to go, but my allergies make quiet artsy events more adventurous than they need to be.
Bill