L'art est ennemi naturel de tout "ordre des choses". Il faut que l'art continue à être un scandale, dans un monde où l'on crève de faim, d'ignorance, d'hébétude et d'abandon.
Romain Gary, Journal d'un irregulier
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Happy New Year 2010
Vicious Vitamins wish you a happy 2010 and let you think over this Romain Gary's statement:
Monday, December 14, 2009
Arrache Toi Un Oeil: serigraphy on wood (exhibition)
Arrache Toi Un Oeil, the printing collectif based in Paris that was featured in Vicious Vitamins #1 in the rock poster article, opened a space in Paris 11. They organize their first exhibition of serigraphy on wood and other works. Please see below the flyer.
Private viewing Saturday 19 December from 17.00.
Address:
Atelier ATUO
80 rue du Chemin Vert
75011 Paris
Métro Voltaire
Monday, November 30, 2009
Damien Hirst, Nothing Matters - Cruel press clipping !!!!
OK, let's put it that way: we don't care about Damien Hirst and we think there so many more better artists than him (and cheaper !!! there's justice for collectors !!). We gathered some cruel statements from the press and some of them are hillarious !
Charles Darwent, The Independent
Bad Painting, done well, has a solid place in 20th-century art. But there is Bad Painting and bad painting, and Hirst's work is the second.
Could the younger man's return to paint on canvas mark an admission that the Britart experiment has, in the end, been a failure? Seen like this, the dreadfulness of Hirst's painting might be excused as intentional, a sign that something has been lost in British art and that that loss is irreparable.
I left with a sense of sadness that a man whose pills and diamond-covered skull will remain icons of his time should have been laid so low.
Jonathan Heaf, GQ Magazine
Hirst - now less 'Bad Boy' and more the 'Bono' of Brit art'
Laura Cumming, The Observer
Hirst has no feeling for the things he paints, so nothing here has the graphic force and register of his sculpture, and the images are the opposite of what collage (his modus operandi) should be – subtle, coherent, significantly arranged. You can't get any feeling off these cannibalised Bacons at all.
But there is, I think, something profound at stake for Hirst himself. In the portrait of Angus Fairhurst, there is a palpable sense of effort, struggle, genuine perplexity. The fear of death, at last, is not theatrically faked.
Charles Darwent, The Independent
Bad Painting, done well, has a solid place in 20th-century art. But there is Bad Painting and bad painting, and Hirst's work is the second.
Could the younger man's return to paint on canvas mark an admission that the Britart experiment has, in the end, been a failure? Seen like this, the dreadfulness of Hirst's painting might be excused as intentional, a sign that something has been lost in British art and that that loss is irreparable.
I left with a sense of sadness that a man whose pills and diamond-covered skull will remain icons of his time should have been laid so low.
Jonathan Heaf, GQ Magazine
Hirst - now less 'Bad Boy' and more the 'Bono' of Brit art'
Laura Cumming, The Observer
Hirst has no feeling for the things he paints, so nothing here has the graphic force and register of his sculpture, and the images are the opposite of what collage (his modus operandi) should be – subtle, coherent, significantly arranged. You can't get any feeling off these cannibalised Bacons at all.
But there is, I think, something profound at stake for Hirst himself. In the portrait of Angus Fairhurst, there is a palpable sense of effort, struggle, genuine perplexity. The fear of death, at last, is not theatrically faked.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Wish you were here...
The picture below is a fragment of the giant drawing (2.5m x 12m) of Artus de Lavilleon. This drawing was used as a dance floor at the Art Posthume party last Friday.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Art Posthume Party !!!
Party with artists from the Art Posthume group (Artus de Lavilleon, Daniele Tedeshi, Alexis Cavaillez, Nicolas Levy) at Salons du Louvre, Friday 20 November from 22.00 'till late.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Jarvis Cocker at Village Underground 9-11 November
This week Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday , Jarvis Cocker will be at Village Underground in Shoreditch for three days of music and art. The program is below. Vicious Vitamins will be there...
MONDAY 9th NOVEMBER
NOON – 1pm REHEARSAL
The band makes sure that all the technical bits & pieces are working
1pm – 2pm BRING AN INSTRUMENT
Bring your own instrument & work on some music with the band. Amplification is provided.
2pm – 3pm LIVE GRAFITTI
Charley from the nearby Pure Evil gallery will work on a large-scale piece (which may or may not reference the fact that today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall). Live musical accompaniment.
3pm – 4pm BRING AN INSTRUMENT (PART 2)
4pm – 5pm POLE-DANCING WORKSHOP
Lucy Misch will perform a routine & also provide instruction for those wishing to learn a few basic pole-moves. Appropriate dress required. Live musical accompaniment.
5pm – 6pmSPECIAL SURPRISE GUEST
TUESDAY 10th NOVEMBER
NOON – 1pm REHEARSAL
The band gradually warm up by running through some of the songs to be featured in Wednesday night’s concert.
1pm – 2pm YOGA
Jivamukti Yoga is a physically demanding spiritual practice. It is performed to music. Here is your chance to take part in a session hosted by one of its foremost practitioners, Durga. Appropriate clothing is essential & you should bring your own exercise mat if at all possible.
2pm – 3pm BRING AN INSTRUMENT
Bring your own instrument & work on some music with the band. Amplification is provided.
3pm – 4pm SPOKEN WORD
Various poets/performers will read their work over a live, improvised musical backing provided by the band.
4pm – 5pm LIVE GRAFITTI
More live creativity hosted by Charley from the Pure Evil Gallery
5pm – 6pm HULA- HOOP WORKSHOP
Learn to hula-hoop or hone your skills over a live musical backing. Hoops provided.
WEDNESDAY 11th NOVEMBER
NOON – 1pm REHEARSAL
The band gradually warm up by running through some of the songs to be featured in tonight’s concert.
1pm – 2pm BURLESQUE DANCE WORKSHOP
Jo King , a burlesque performer with over 30 years experience, will pass on some of her knowledge with live musical accompaniment provided by the band. Skirts (for female participants) & shoes with a bit of a heel are recommended.
2pm – 3pm BRING AN INSTRUMENT
Bring your own instrument & work on some music with the band. Amplification is provided.
3pm – 4pm STRANGE INSTRUMENT HOUR
David Coulter & Max Eastley will demonstrate the capabilities of a number of unusual instruments including the musical saw & the Aeolian harp. The band will back them.
4pm- 5pm ROLL UP, ROLL UP
Anything could happen as the room is prepared for the day’s final event….
5pm – 6pm CIRCUS CIRCUS!
Students from the Circus Space training academy on Coronet Street in Hoxton will perform a specially-devised show with live musical accompaniment. Afterwards there will be an opportunity to try your hand at a number of circus skills.
& DON’T FORGET!!!!!!After the Circus Hour the venue will begin to transform itself in readiness for the concert to be given at 9pm by Jarvis & the band. Tickets for this one-off show will be available throughout the occupation of the gallery.
PLEASE NOTE !!!This is a ROUGH running order only & is subject to change at the drop of a hat. Check nearer the time for exact details. Or just come down anyway….what have you got to lose?
Monday, November 2, 2009
Conor Harrington at Lazarides (London)
London gallery Lazarides is currently showing "Headless Heroes", a solo exhibition of Conor Harrington. Internationally renowned for combining graffiti with fine art, Conor's new works move away from the solitary male figure shifting the focus to the confluence of the hero with the forces of every day life.
Lazarides: 11 Rathbone Place, London, W1T 1HR
Tuesday-Friday 11am - 7pm and Saturday 12pm - 5pm
http://www.lazinc.com/
Lazarides: 11 Rathbone Place, London, W1T 1HR
Tuesday-Friday 11am - 7pm and Saturday 12pm - 5pm
http://www.lazinc.com/
Artus released !!!!
French artist Artus de Lavilleon spent two weeks hiden at day in a cabinet at Paris department store Citadium and at night in another box left at his home. On Friday 30 October, Artus celebrated the end of his performances with friends and fans. (Photo Didier Clain)
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Vernissage Artus de Lavilleon
CONSUMERISME
Friday 30 October, 8.00 pm
at Citadium (50/56, rue Caumartin 75009 Paris)
Thursday, October 15, 2009
"Consumerisme" by Artus de Lavilleon, 15-30 October 2009, Paris
French artist Artus de Lavilleon will live and sleep hiden in a piece of furniture (90cm x 90 cm x 200cm) of the Paris department store Citadium. Press release in French below. Everyday during the period of the performance, Aleksi Cavaillez will publish a drawing inspired by the performance on his personnal blog: america.dirloz.net.
Chronique d’un enfermement volontaire dans une surface minimum vivable dans un temple de la consommation moderne, et de ses suites.
Dans quelques heures je serais m’isolerais complètement dans une boite au sein du magasin Citadium et y passerais en moyenne dix heures par jour sans en sortir, sauf crise grave, du 15 au 30 octobre 2009.
De 10 h à 20h du Lundi au Samedi à l’exception du Jeudi ou le magasin ferme à 21h, et du Dimanche ou je me baladerais dans Paris.
J’arriverais vers 9h50 vêtu d’un costume blanc, au 104 rue de Provence et en repartirais vers 20h10, sauf le premier jour ou j’arriverais à 9h30, et le deuxième ou je partirais plus tôt pour des raisons personnelles.
La boite fait environ l0,90 x h0,90 x L1,90 m et est placée horizontalement à l’entrée gauche du magasin, non loin de la vitrine ou se trouve la peinture « Consumérisme ». Elle est opaque et sert de stand.
J’y amène tous les jours le journal « Le monde », et y dors sur le même matelas sur lequel dormais ma mère, avec une couette, deux oreillers, un réveil, des boules kies, un réveil, une lumière, un stylo et un carnet de notes. Trois bouteilles d’eau, dont une vide.
Pour le cas ou des personnes trouvent ce stand qui est « caché quelque part dans la boutique », le vendeur leur interdira de me déranger et pour toute explication leur montrera le livre « Coyote » sur la performance de Joseph Beuys de 1974, que j’ai découvert aujourd’hui, et qui, dans mon idée, fait étrangement écho à la mienne.
Mon téléphone, ainsi qu’une liste des amis qu’il contient, et mon ordinateur portable seront laissés, le temps d’une rapide consultation, à disposition du groupe de personnes qui ont accepté « d’enquêter (peut-être sous forme d’interviews) sur les raisons qui peuvent pousser un homme, moi, à réaliser une performance artistique qu’il dit ne pas comprendre lui-même ».
Mon emploi du temps entre la boite installée chez Citadium et celle installée dans mon ancien appartement ne concernant que moi, je ne donne pas l’heure précise de mon arrivée. Mais je tâcherais d’y être tous les jours avant minuit et ce jusqu’à 8h du matin.
J’y travaillerais à écrire à des textes, dans cet autre espace vital minimum, faisant l0,70 x h2,0 x L1,50m, placée juste derrière la porte d’entrée et bloquant l’accès à l’appartement.
Sur la table que je possède depuis mon enfance : une machine à écrire et des rubans, du papier, un réveil, « La stratégie du choc » de Naomi Klein, « L’art conceptuel » de Tony Godefrey (ed Phaidon souple) qui m’ont fortement influencé, « Le Coyote », et mes « mémoires ». Une tasse, du thé, une théière, et une bouilloire.
Sous la table, une bassine, du savon et un gant, un tube de dentifrice et une brosse à dents, pour me laver brièvement la nuit dans la cour.
Mes repas, déjeuner et dîner, seront principalement pris à l’extérieur, sur le chemin d’une boite à l’autre.
Dans le cas ou le vernissage prévu par le magasin Citadium et « la boite de jour », quelques jours avant la fin de la performance, a effectivement lieu, probablement le mercredi 28, je me réserve le droit de sortir de ma boite de façon définitive et de l’exposer ouverte aux yeux du public.
Une photo sera prise avant et après la performance, de la détérioration du costume blanc que j’aurais porté sans relâche.
Les textes écrits dans la seconde boite seront à disposition de qui s’y intéresse, et n’auront pas forcément de rapport avec cet enferment choisi et subit.
« Dans la seconde acception, le consumérisme désigne l’épistémè associé à la société de consommation. Il s’agit d’une idéologie où la consommation de biens revêt une importance capitale. Cette acception de consumérisme est largement rattachée à la notion de post-modernité.
Le consumérisme est par métonymie appelé société de consommation et en tant que tel violemment critiqué depuis la fin du xxe siècle, que ce soit par les mouvements écologistes ou par les « anti-pubs »... » Wikypédia.
« Il y a un moment ou les idées cessent d’être bonnes pour être juste nécessaires. C’est le moment ou la perte de sens devient la plus évidente, et parfois aussi la plus intéressante, socialement, artistiquement, et humainement ». Artus.
Dans quelques heures je serais m’isolerais complètement dans une boite au sein du magasin Citadium et y passerais en moyenne dix heures par jour sans en sortir, sauf crise grave, du 15 au 30 octobre 2009.
De 10 h à 20h du Lundi au Samedi à l’exception du Jeudi ou le magasin ferme à 21h, et du Dimanche ou je me baladerais dans Paris.
J’arriverais vers 9h50 vêtu d’un costume blanc, au 104 rue de Provence et en repartirais vers 20h10, sauf le premier jour ou j’arriverais à 9h30, et le deuxième ou je partirais plus tôt pour des raisons personnelles.
La boite fait environ l0,90 x h0,90 x L1,90 m et est placée horizontalement à l’entrée gauche du magasin, non loin de la vitrine ou se trouve la peinture « Consumérisme ». Elle est opaque et sert de stand.
J’y amène tous les jours le journal « Le monde », et y dors sur le même matelas sur lequel dormais ma mère, avec une couette, deux oreillers, un réveil, des boules kies, un réveil, une lumière, un stylo et un carnet de notes. Trois bouteilles d’eau, dont une vide.
Pour le cas ou des personnes trouvent ce stand qui est « caché quelque part dans la boutique », le vendeur leur interdira de me déranger et pour toute explication leur montrera le livre « Coyote » sur la performance de Joseph Beuys de 1974, que j’ai découvert aujourd’hui, et qui, dans mon idée, fait étrangement écho à la mienne.
Mon téléphone, ainsi qu’une liste des amis qu’il contient, et mon ordinateur portable seront laissés, le temps d’une rapide consultation, à disposition du groupe de personnes qui ont accepté « d’enquêter (peut-être sous forme d’interviews) sur les raisons qui peuvent pousser un homme, moi, à réaliser une performance artistique qu’il dit ne pas comprendre lui-même ».
Mon emploi du temps entre la boite installée chez Citadium et celle installée dans mon ancien appartement ne concernant que moi, je ne donne pas l’heure précise de mon arrivée. Mais je tâcherais d’y être tous les jours avant minuit et ce jusqu’à 8h du matin.
J’y travaillerais à écrire à des textes, dans cet autre espace vital minimum, faisant l0,70 x h2,0 x L1,50m, placée juste derrière la porte d’entrée et bloquant l’accès à l’appartement.
Sur la table que je possède depuis mon enfance : une machine à écrire et des rubans, du papier, un réveil, « La stratégie du choc » de Naomi Klein, « L’art conceptuel » de Tony Godefrey (ed Phaidon souple) qui m’ont fortement influencé, « Le Coyote », et mes « mémoires ». Une tasse, du thé, une théière, et une bouilloire.
Sous la table, une bassine, du savon et un gant, un tube de dentifrice et une brosse à dents, pour me laver brièvement la nuit dans la cour.
Mes repas, déjeuner et dîner, seront principalement pris à l’extérieur, sur le chemin d’une boite à l’autre.
Dans le cas ou le vernissage prévu par le magasin Citadium et « la boite de jour », quelques jours avant la fin de la performance, a effectivement lieu, probablement le mercredi 28, je me réserve le droit de sortir de ma boite de façon définitive et de l’exposer ouverte aux yeux du public.
Une photo sera prise avant et après la performance, de la détérioration du costume blanc que j’aurais porté sans relâche.
Les textes écrits dans la seconde boite seront à disposition de qui s’y intéresse, et n’auront pas forcément de rapport avec cet enferment choisi et subit.
« Dans la seconde acception, le consumérisme désigne l’épistémè associé à la société de consommation. Il s’agit d’une idéologie où la consommation de biens revêt une importance capitale. Cette acception de consumérisme est largement rattachée à la notion de post-modernité.
Le consumérisme est par métonymie appelé société de consommation et en tant que tel violemment critiqué depuis la fin du xxe siècle, que ce soit par les mouvements écologistes ou par les « anti-pubs »... » Wikypédia.
« Il y a un moment ou les idées cessent d’être bonnes pour être juste nécessaires. C’est le moment ou la perte de sens devient la plus évidente, et parfois aussi la plus intéressante, socialement, artistiquement, et humainement ». Artus.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Download Vicious Vitamins #2 !!!!
The second issue of Vicious Vitamins, October 2009, special London and Paris art weeks, is now available to download !!!!
Hard copies will be distributed at Zoo Art Fair in London and Slick in Paris and in a number of galleries, bars, restaurants, exhibitions and parties in London and Paris...
Faites comme Sandrine, lisez Vicious Vitamins !!! (photo Didier Clain)
Friday, September 25, 2009
OUT SOON !!!!
Vicious Vitamins #2 is on its way !!!! We sent everything to the printing company yesterday, the magazine will be out in bars, restaurants, galleries and shops of London and Paris from Saturday 10 October, just before Frieze.
This second issue will rock !!!!!! A London/Paris art magazine with Danish activist Superflex (inviited at Frieze), Hubaut x Hubaut par Jerome Sans, the Vicious Vitamins Artist-watch list, Artus de Lavilleon....! As usual, fairs Directors (Frieze, FIAC, Zoo, Slick) will be interviewed... Also, night crowd pictures of Londoner Billa Baldwin and Parisian Paul Blind...!!!!
This second issue will rock !!!!!! A London/Paris art magazine with Danish activist Superflex (inviited at Frieze), Hubaut x Hubaut par Jerome Sans, the Vicious Vitamins Artist-watch list, Artus de Lavilleon....! As usual, fairs Directors (Frieze, FIAC, Zoo, Slick) will be interviewed... Also, night crowd pictures of Londoner Billa Baldwin and Parisian Paul Blind...!!!!
ART SHOULD NOT BE BORING !!!!!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Museum of Everything - London
One of the show we are very excited about this year during the Frieze week is the Museum Of Everything which initiators will be interviewed in the hard copy of the next Vicious Vitamins. The Museum Of Everything is the first London’s first and only public space for artists and creators living outside the boundaries of mainstream society. From janitors to jailbirds, mediums to miners, The Museum of Everything features over two hundred drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations presented within a 10,000 sft former dairy and recording studio, located minutes away from the Frieze Art Fair. The Museum of Everything formally opens its doors on 14th October 2009, with a gala event on the preceding evening featuring a DJ set by Jarvis Cocker.
More info and program on the museum's website: http://www.museumofeverything.com/
Museum of Everything: Corner of Regents Park Road and Sharpleshall Street in Primrose Hill, London NW1.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Charles Saatchi interview
It is rare enough so we've got to mention it. Phaidon published a book-long interview of Charles Saatchi: all the questions journalists dared to ask to this enigmatic art lover about art, advertising, himself, his career, collecting, YBAs and much more... Whatever you feel about the person, it remains an interesting and quick-read book. Our favourite bit is by far:
"By and large talent is in such short supply, mediocrity can be taken for brilliance rather more than genius can go undiscovered."
Friday, September 4, 2009
Vicious Vitamins - New Issue SOON !!!!!
Hi there !
We're working hard on the new issue of Vicious Vitamins which is due to release for the London and Paris art fairs in October. You will find the magazine in a limited number of places in London and Paris: Zoo Art Fair, Slick Art Fair, Show-Off, galleries, shops and restaurants in Shoreditch and accross Paris...
We can now reveal the content of the magazine !
- Danish artist activists Superflex;
- An Hubaut x Hubaut interview by Jerome Sans;
- The Vicious Vitamins artist watch-list;
- Artist focus on Artus de Lavilleon including an exclusive drawing that Artus did just for us and interviews of Artus' friends about him;
- Interviews of the fairs' Directors: Matthew Slotover (Frieze), Soraya Rodriguez (Zoo), Martin Bethenod and Jennifer Flay (FIAC), Johan Tamer-Moreal (Slick);
- Booth selection at Frieze, FIAC and Slick;
- Picture of London and Paris night life by Billa Baldwin for London and Paul Blind for Paris.
Being the Paris/London issue, the magazine will this time be largely bilingual French/English.
And we disclose above the picture we'll use for the cover of the magazine. The picture was of course chosen from Billa Baldwin's portfolio !!!!
We look forward distributing the magazine...!
With much love from London town !
Antoine
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Trident Way: A Departure Gallery residency and exhibition
D E P A R T U R E G A L L E R Y
Trident Way: A Departure Gallery residency and exhibition
Departure Gallery has invited 14 artists to inhabit an empty warehouse on a busy trading estate on the outskirts of London. Throughout September they will develop artworks in response to these surroundings, culminating in an on-site exhibition. This project offers artists a unique opportunity to experiment with the aesthetic, sculptural and conceptual possibilities of this vast space, which is dominated by dramatic, pier-like storage structures.
The importance of the trading estate as part of our urban landscape is often overlooked. It is a site of distribution and exchange; a liminal stage between industrial producer and public consumer. Here, light industry takes place side by side with the local community, yet is kept out of bounds to the public by fences and barriers. Trident Way provokes a re-examination of the cultural complexities of this familiar yet under-explored environment, highlighting the mystery in its functionality, the beauty in its vulgarity and the theatricality in its mundaneness.
Trident Way follows the success of Boeing Way, a similar site-specific residency and exhibition organised by Departure Gallery, which took place in an adjacent 32,000 sq ft warehouse on the same estate in March/April this year. We are planning ongoing projects on this estate throughout 2009/10.
Artists: Louise Ashcroft, Helen Barff, Nathan Birchenough, Anka Dabrowska, Elizabeth Hancock, Doug Jones, Helene Kazan, William Mackrell, Beatriz Olabarrieta, Neil C Smith, Jeni Snell, David Snoo Wilson, Jennifer Taylor and Sara Twomey.
Artists will be in residence on site throughout September 2009. The exhibition runs 3rd-5th October 2009. Please call Louise Ashcroft on 07861375101 or email louiseashcroft@departuregallery.com if you would like more information.
Artists will be in residence on site throughout September 2009. The exhibition runs 3rd-5th October 2009. Please call Louise Ashcroft on 07861375101 or email louiseashcroft@departuregallery.com if you would like more information.
7 Trident Way, The International Trading Estate, Southall, UB2 5LF.Private View: 2nd October 2009, 6pm-9pm (a minibus shuttle will transport guests from Southall Station). Exhibition runs 3rd-5th October 2009, 11am- 5pm.
Departure Gallery is a nomadic platform for contemporary art, which temporarily reclaims empty urban space to provide unique architectural contexts for exhibitions showcasing work by exceptional emerging and established artists.
www.departuregallery.com
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Liquid Architecture Music: New album coming soon
Jerome Sans and Audrey Mascina are currently working on the second album of their band, Liquid Architecture Music. The first single of the album, Give Me Something To Love, is already available worldwide on all good digital platforms and the clip is shown on MTV. The band has also created a pair of sunglasses, in collaboration with the designer Thierry Lasry and artist Thomas Lelu, on sale on the website of Paris concept store Colette.
The clip is available here:
More news to follow...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Billa Baldwin's new serie for Reebok and Namalee Bolle
Billa Baldwin, the eye of East-End nights and one of Vicious Vitamins favourite photographer, has released a new serie of pictures for Reebok and fashion muse and singer Namalee Bolle. Have a look below or check out Billa's website and flickr page: http://www.shitbilla.com/ and www.flickr.com/billa.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Dash Snow (1981-2009)
Dash Snow: RIP
Peres Projects website:
Peres Projects website:
"Dash was the gentlest of souls and one of the most sensitive artists of his time. He found beauty where most would not know to look. We are forever grateful for all that Dash leaves behind, both in the body of artwork he created and of course also in the extraordinary family he so dearly loved. We will treasure his life always."
A Dash Snow Memorial is being prepared and about to open at Deitch Projects in New-York. More info on Peres Projects news page: http://www.peresprojects.com/news/
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
New-York Premiere of "Died Young Stayed Pretty" at IFC Centre !!!!!
Died Young Stayed Pretty, the DIY film about DIY art of rock-posters will have its New-York Premiere at IFC Centre (323 Sixth Avenue at West Third Street) on Friday 17 July. Eileen Yaghoobian, Director of the film, will be here in person. Do not miss it !!!!
Eileen Yaghoobian was interviewed in the first issue of Vicious Vitamins. Here is the interview if you want to learn more about this truly underground art practice:
Can you please introduce yourself and explain how you came up with the idea of a documentary about gig posters art?
My name is Eileen Yaghoobian and I directed Died Young Stayed Pretty. My movie is about rock posters and the people who make them. The film opens a window onto a group of talented artists who try to use the tools of graphic design to shock and inspire. In 2001 a renaissance happened in the rock poster world spurred on by the launch of Clayton Hayes' website Gigposters.com, a web portal that catalogues all the rock posters made from 2001 onwards. My film captures this creative comeback of rock posters. My interest in the posters lies in the cultural dialogue that lives in them. The idea came at a dark time in my life...my second brother had died and I was living in his place. To cheer me up, an old friend (Michael Humphries) sent me a link to Gigposters.com and I instantly connected to the imagery. The way the Rock Posters re-envision all cultures. A Turbenegro poster presents Elvis as a gay sailor! A post-apocalyptic city surrounds bunnies walking into a bonfire for an Andrew Bird show. M&M's as the ultimate hero because they can walk into a building in flames to save people because they only melt in your mouth! They're fireproof! Bullets shot through a big red target on a poster printed on metal. The target equally symbolizing the Japanese flag for the band Teengenerate, a Japanese punk band playing on Pearl Harbor day! Twisted stuff!! And beautifully powerful. I decided to go for it, and made a feature film with out of pocket money! I took a risk, and lone - wolfed the project...travelled solo for three years filming on location from Austin, Chicago, Nashville, Seattle, Providence, Calgary, and all across the USA and Canada. Kinda like a band on tour. I tried to match the energy of Rock, and equally cut my film like a Rock Poster.
The gig posters scene is niche made of thousands of artists and independent printers. On which criteria did you select people that feature in your film?
I love the way imagery used in Rock Posters to represent rock n roll. People think that if you make a film about rock and roll, and pop culture and art that it would be an easy combo for entertainment, but actually it was really hard to make it work as a feature length doc. Maybe in a short it could sustain itself, but It was difficult to keep the pace and I sweated over that in editing, cutting down 200 something hours of footage. With a film like this, you can easily get caught in the traps of the glitter and gloss of rock and roll. If you're not careful it can sink you! I had enough material for four docs, but I chose to go with what I love most about music and rock posters. My movie is about the community of poster makers and the cultural dialogue that lives in the posters. The poster makers are like Dr. Frankenstein. Their posters are built from past memories and experiences. Like Frankenstein, the posters are made of found or dejected fragments; a ruin made up of ruins. They alter pieces of other people's forgotten dreams into a poster for a rock band. They create a "monster" (a new artifact) that has to deal with the living again. And that "monster's" quest and function is to promote rock and roll! Ultimately the goal of a poster is to be cool and Frankenstein is super cool!
Emails/internet, gentrification of urban spaces and increasingly precarious music business are challenging poster art. Is it something that you came across while meeting all the artists and people involved in poster art?
I think we're saturated with it! I think information is so fast and so readily available, and it can disrupt isolation and the need for a creative bubble. For example, Poster Makers, hypothetically, will at a certain space in time, avoid pink like the plague because of its recent use or overuse. The collective subconscious is rampant and more calculated now. But what's lovely is that regardless of all of these things, the poster makers post their ideas, loves, passions, voices, views, and politics on a telephone pole; advertised illegally, strewn in urban landscape. These personal pieces of propaganda become part of the street, and erode with the street; stolen and attacked by people, and broken down by weather and time. They live short lives, placed in odd circumstance, and they're really only there for the purpose of a rock show! Pasted to gritty surfaces they reshape space; it's beautifully powerful!
In the meantime, is it true to say that those challenges have actually increased the quality of the posters produced - probably as they were less promotional tools and more collectibles...?
Yes, because in most towns it's illegal to poster. Posters once had functionality to them; they were made cheaply as B/W fliers, Xeroxed and stapled to a pole on the streets. Now, if you can say, they have an "underground" existence online. Before Gigposters.com, the posters were made for one show for one night and maybe a 100 people saw it. But now they are archived on this site and the world can see the poster. Because of this, they have become valuable collectible items; they're hand done, color silk screened. Art Chantry in my movie talks about posters as artifacts, because they're considered advertising for a show, they can't really be "art". After the show is over and the band breaks up what's left is an artifact. Funny enough, the process is very archaic and primitive...like archeologists they are the collectors of the golden era, of our Modern times. The poster artists are an ultimate paradox: a powerless subculture with power. They are powerful because they are thieves of their past; they steal and appropriate from popular icons, ad makers, and illustrators from old magazines, acting as "gods" to engineer a band's image. They have learned a powerful way to communicate through promotion and advertising, but they use their skills to promote a band they love. They are true fans.
I see in all the people interviewed in your film a kind of Resistance: resistance to commercial rational of art and music business, resistance because their passion for both their art and the music community they belong to is the most important thing. Do you have this feeling when standing back and thinking about all those people?
Yes their passion for art and music is what drives them, but as far as resistance goes it really depends, subversive celebration is inherent in poster culture. I love the fantasy of the "Underground." I wanted to see if it existed, and to see if the feelings derived from posters mark out a physical space in comparison. Where is "off the radar?". Art Chantry speaks in my movie about a Dead Kennedy poster, and that they're name alone caused a mass reaction of people tearing the poster from the street. The power of artists to reevaluate culture, and throw it back in its face has been stolen back by the power structure. Chantry says that being President (referring to Bush) is the new punk. That he's put into office to destroy the culture around him and that he's the ultimate punk! Tom Hazelmyer, talks a lot about that in my film...how it's the death of innovation and the coolest thing a kid could do now is wear a brown shirt and walk around...simple and plane... Anyway punk is in the malls now! But he does say that he things rock posters are the new punk!!!
What's next for your film: festival, international distribution, DVD release? And for you: another film maybe?
A UK distribution is coming soon in the Fall! DVD is released in Canada and coming soon internationally! OMG! I'm so excited about my next feature...it's a narrative and I've been collaborating with a writer in Portland for the last year and half. It's a Gothic love story about an extraordinary young woman who is a survivor and comes to terms with her extraordinary-ness!!! She is a tenant of Dr. Peter, who is as old as Satan, and a taxidermy Doctor. His old house is filled with his obsession, his collection of the native animals of the region. He comes from another world, like a pulp fiction novel from the 30's or 40's. Anthony is the boy she thinks is cute, an anti-heroic western man! He's a pizza delivery boy and he's repulsed by her flaws but something happens and.... Well more to come soon! And this one hopefully will be made with financing!!! No more out of pocket productions... But hopefully people will like it enough to want to help me with my next movie!
April 2009
Info: www.diedyoungstayedpretty.com
Monday, June 15, 2009
Basel art fairs week 2009
Danish artist Troels Carlsen reading Vicious Vitamins at the Kunsthalle Bar
Volta party
Vicious Vitamins, Troels Carlsen (artist) and Peter Funch (photographer and second half of Copenhagen-based V1 Gallery)
Nacho Valle (Director of Valencia gallery Valle Ortí), Spanish artist Fermín Jiménez Landa and Volta press relation Creixell Espilla-Gilart
Troels Carlsen, Peter Funch and Amanda Coulson
Performance at VoltaThursday, May 28, 2009
Vicious Vitamins #1 - Some pictures...
Here are some pictures that will be published in the first issue of Vicious Vitamins. This issue will soon be available for download on-line and will be distributed for free in Basel during the Basel art fairs early June.
Dunk, Copenhagen (Denmark)
Lowsalt, Glasgow (Scotland)
Centre for Visual Introspection, Bucharest (Romania)
Poster Uffie by Powerhouse Factories for the Lollapalooza Festival
Poster by French artist Antoine Bernhart
Poster for Kap Bambino gig by Paris-based design studio "Arrache Toi Un Oeil"
Troels Carlsen, Sipping from the Mirror (pencil and collage on blank antique bookpages, 2008)
Troels Carlsen, Crânes (acrylics on antique anatomy print, 2008)
Troels Carlsen, Crânes (acrylics on antique anatomy print, 2008)
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