Il fumo I, digital print, 160 x 90 cm
(click to enlarge)
Post della categoria art.
E chi t’è muort’
On making stuff
Spam II, digital print, 160 x 90 cm
“I’m never not working. Even as I sit here chatting of Kafka or cranberries, sodomy or softball, my mind is simoultaneously glued to the piece I’m currently creating.”
from Facing the night by Ned Rorem, quoted in Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
“Hey! Are you talking to me? Or are you just practicing for one of those performances of yours?”
from Language is a virus by Laurie Anderson
Rock’n'roll, at last
Evolution, music & video by SM, vocals by Kelly X
(right-click and save as a mov file)
This song explores a terrible human condition, showing that there is light at the end of the tunnel. We all have lovely parents, and we’re pretty nice folks ourselves: we would never, ever say bad things about them. We know we’re nice also because there are some gutter white trash, pieces of shit, honky ass, red neck motherfuckers out there, and we sure aren’t one of them, right?
Unfortunately, in this mean world, there are some less fortunate people: the children of gutter white trash, pieces of shit, honky ass, red neck motherfuckers. This song is for them. Remember: no matter how gutter white trash, pieces of shit, honky ass red neck motherfuckers your parents are, you still have hope: just get the fuck out of that fucking barn right now!
Mi dispiace, ma questa canzone è intraducibile. Racconta della liberazione di una ragazza figlia di genitori assai antiquati, razzisti e spiacevoli. La fanciulla, dopo aver lasciato la natìa casetta di campagna, finalmente può disporre della sua esistenza come meglio crede.
PS: Thanks, grazie, merci, danke for the heaps of views, embedding, messages. You’re the best audience there is.
I declare Art
Dialogue:
Dutch Border Guard, holding a cardboard tube about one foot long she just extracted from my bag, while searching it: “What is this?”
SM: “A cardboard tube. It contains Art.”
Dutch Border Guard, looking suspiciously at the sheets of print rolled inside the tube: “Do you always carry around Art like that?”
SM: “Yes officer, I do.”
Dutch Border Guard: “You may go.”
Gangsta art
Los Angeles, mural by Mac, lettering by Retna
(click to enlarge)
PS: Beh, che sorpresone. Grazie a Deemo, a cui non sfugge quasi mai quasi niente, adesso sappiamo che il modello del murale qui sopra è nientemeno che Flycat, MC italo-losangelino della primissima ora (e uno dei pro-motori del primo hip hop italiano). Insomma: vai a LA, fai una foto a un muro e sopra c’è uno che conosci (e saluti: hi dude, whazzup?): tres bizarre.
PPS: Dice sempre Deemo, a cui in fatto di immagini non sfugge mai proprio niente: “La roba di El Mac devasta”. Come dargli torto?
Agonizing beauty
Mr Tamale wants to crash your browser. But, right before it crashes, you’ll see and hear fantastic stuff. Tony Mendoza (aka Mr Tamale) and his accomplices’ latest occupation is to hack publishing platforms, such as Blogger, layering all kind of web content (images, movies, sound, animations, clever html, etc) in a vortex of whipped media that tests the limits of what a browser can handle (and how). The result is startling, very cool to see and hear, and intensely contemporary (plus sort of dangerous, and y’all know I like that). Sometimes it might crash your browser, but never mind: it’s gonna look fabulous when it dies, so much so you’ll want to kill it again and again.
http://triptych.tv
http://imagepirate.com
http://www.subculture.com
http://www.subculture.com/indiction
http://www.subculture.com/anime
http://idiotrobot.com
http://mayhem.net
http://mrtamale.com
Friendly fire
It came out yesterday, both on paper and online: it’s the interview about me/us/Realcore by Luca Celada for the art mag Artillery. It’s a very intimate piece (we’ve known each other for over 30 years) but also very precise and ironic, in classic Celada style.
E’ uscita giusto ieri in versione cartacea e online l’intervista/articolo di Luca Celada su me/noi/Realcore per Artillery, magazine di arte. E’ un articolo molto affettuoso (conosco Luca da oltre trent’anni) ma anche assai preciso e, nello stile del buon Celada (che potete godervi quotidianamente qui), obliquamente ironico.
The © we deserve
Extreme Elvis is certainly one of the most amazing performance artists I’ve ever come across on the Internet. I found out about him around 2001; someone sent me the link, I clicked it and there was a picture, some links and a sentence: “Every generation gets the Elvis it deserves”. Absolutely perfect. The man, who looks like Elvis as much as anyone else, sang these trashy (but extremely sophisticated) versions of Presley’s songs while performing, often naked. The video bit I liked best was him sitting in a wheelbarrow, covered with corn, singing Love me tender while some chicken ate the corn from his body: sublime.
I’ve tried to visit Extreme Elvis’ website again recently, but it was shut by FBI for copyright infringment – in september 2005. You can see the FBI warning sign, still online. My guess is that the infringment wasn’t just in the website but also in the act itself. In which case EE could be in jail, or perhaps out but unable to resume his act. In any case a story worth knowing, and telling.
If you have seen or heard about EE lately, or you know what’s up with him, let un know in the comments. Of course, thanks to Archive.org and its essential Wayback Machine, you can still browse EE’s website throughout the years, and take in all the artistry of this little known but fabulous gem of the American Art landscape.
PS: I searched some more and he seems to be still active: cool, because we certainly still deserve him.
Ill kunst
One of my favorite Dj/producers is DJ Muggs, the man behind Cypress Hill’s best music, as well as the multiplatinum evergreen Jump Around, by House of Pain. Muggs’ label is called Soul Assassins, it has a website and a whole lot of musical goodies in free download: vintage mixtapes, demos, previews – the lot. It’s a fantastic example of how Hip hop communities operate, here on the West Coast and elsewhere. A side note: SA isn’t just a record label; among its artists you’ll find Mr Cartoon, tattoo artist extraordinaire, and the photographer Esteban Oriol. This is a true art collective, exactly the way I feel art collectives should be.
One of my favorite flavors of Hip hop (and House too) is when it’s mixed with Jazz, a la Waldeck for example. On the SA website I found this fabulous Jazz/Hip hop mixtape made DJ Solo & Roger Jao. It’s called Jitterbug Driveby, and it features amazing bits, including Iggy Pop, Parov Stelar, Cab Calloway, De La Soul, Basement Jaxx… It’s truly a crosscultural music experience, that will shake your butt while enlightening you on how very diverse music can bounce together very nicely. Dope art for the 21st.
Benvenuti su Fosforo, compilation di amenità verbali di 
