"Love Never Fails."

No on Prop 8

MIXTAPE MONDAYS: Songs for Brian Evenson

(Every Monday at Tragically Hipster we'll feature a look at a band, performance, or vague musical concept, with an accompanying virtual mixtape for your listening pleasure. There's no need to thank us; it's just one more service we like to provide for you, our dedicated readers. Most of whom also write for this site.)


A month ago, I didn't have a single book by Brian Evenson. Today, I own almost all of them.

About three weeks ago I received a copy of the latest issue of McSweeney's Quaterly Concern. As I wrote at the time, Brian Evenson's fable "The Book and the Girl" was compelling enough that it inspired me to purchase a copy of his short story collection The Wavering Knife off Amazon in the hopes that the rest of his work would be as interesting as that single, brief story. And it was, more so than I could have hoped.

Before I even finished The Wavering Knife I put in an order for his first story collection, Altmann's Tongue, and then found myself adding his novel The Open Curtain to the cart (for the free shipping, of course). The next day, annoyed that my books had not yet magically arrived at my door, I traipsed down to the local used bookstore and picked up copies of Father of Lies and Contagion. I'm now knee-deep in Evenson books, and once I finish the four currently residing on my nightstand I still have Dark Property and The Din of Celestial Birds to purchase, and then I'll have to really buckle down and try to scrounge up a copy of his limited-run chapbook The Brotherhood of the Mutilation, which already sits high upon my list of Greatest Titles Ever. (If anyone out there in the internetdom can aide me in my chapbook-quest, please drop a note in the comments. It's my understanding that Mutilation has forevermore dissipated into the ether, but maybe one of you kindly hipsters can help a brother out.)

There's a future blog entry coming that will no doubt find me wallowing in the sickening hyperbole of my Evenson-love, but for the time being I'm going to satisfy myself with subjecting you good folks to a playlist comprised entirely of music that sounds, at least within the narrow confines of my own twisted imagination, like Brian Evenson's stories read.

Consequently this week's mixtape features chaotic noise-rock; dark southern-gothic country; murderous yarns; surrealistic narratives; industrial drones; much talk of religions and God and Jesus, none of it comforting; angry cellos mimicking angrier guitars; German horror-a cappella; forebodings of deaths and plagues and apocali; black humor and witty wordplay; all washed and spattered with a river's worth of cynicism and human hemoglobin. Many of these songs are amongst my all-time personal favorites, so it's perhaps little wonder that a writer whose work fits snugly in amongst them might curry some considerable favor with me.

On the Mixtape:

1) "Indestructible Life!" by Old Time Relijun
2) "The Plague" by Scott Walker
3) "Time Jesum Transeuntum et Non Riverentum"
by Nick Cave and The Dirty Three
4) "Halber Mensch" by Einstürzende Neubauten
5) "Everybody Knows" by Leonard Cohen
6) "What We All Want" by Gang of Four
7) "Riding" by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
8) "Altmann's Tongue" by Brian Evenson, Tamarin & Xingu Hill
9) "Emission Curve" by Bruce Gilbert
10) "Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb" by Sterling Jubilee Singers
11) "Misery is the River of the World" by Tom Waits
12) "One" by Apocalyptica
13) "Death to Everyone (Peel Session)" by Will Oldham
14) "The Order of Death" by Public Image, Ltd.
15) "Hallelujah" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
16) "Session #13-1" by Hiroyuki Nagahsima

Quick Notes on Select Songs:
*Nick Cave and Brian Evenson have a similar obsession with religion, violence, and language, so its perhaps no shock to find two Cave songs on the mixtape this week -- and, indeed, I had to restrain myself from putting even more. Both "Time Jesum Transeuntum et Non Riverentum" and "Hallelujah" share that certain kind of surrealistic bent common to Evenson's storytelling: they seem to take place in a distinct world all their own, operating under very specific rules which we're never quite privy to. The result is a pair of songs premised in uncomfortable beauty, lovely in melody but with a strong undertow of confusion and despair lurking just beneath the surface.

*In 2005, Brian Evenson recorded an album with Tamarin & Xingu Hill based around readings from his book Altmann's Tongue. The titular story is read here in its entirety, and gives a good sense of what you're in for when you delve into Evenson's short fiction.

*A group of four cellists with a mean Metallica fetish, Apocalyptica manage to rise above the so-so conventionality of the "string quarter tribute to…" albums and deliver a cover of Metallica's "One" that somehow seems even darker and more oppressive than the original, this despite being a more elegant, spartan arrangement.

*"Session 13-1" is taken from the soundtrack to Shinji Aoyama's Eli, Eli Lema Sabachthani, about a future world that is reeling from a plague that makes all those who become infected with it lose all interest in life, and eventually commit suicide. There's no cure for it, but a pair of quasi-free-jazz musicians have found a way to minimize the effects through creating bizarre noise-pastiches that somehow mimmic the feeling of death within infected listeners. Much of the film's run time is spent watching these musicians at work building their songs, which can make for either a fascinating or deeply annoying viewing experience, dependant upon your interests and your temperment. It's not out on DVD domestically, but excellent subtitled copies can be obtained fairly readily through eBay.

LINKS:
Songs for Brian Evenson Mixtape
Brian Evenson's Official Website
Brian Evenson short stories online at Web del Sol
Brian Evenson's books on Amazon.com
Catharsis in Crisis by Old Time Relijun
Boy Child: The Best of Scott Walker 1967-1970 by Scott Walker
B-Sides & Rarities by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Halber Mensch by Einstürzende Neubauten
I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen
Solid Gold by Gang of Four
Sings Greatest Palace Music by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Altmann's Tongue by Brian Evenson, Tamarin & Xingu Hill
Ab Ovo by Bruce Gilbert
Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb by Sterling Jubilee Singers
Blood Money by Tom Waits
Inquisition Symphony by Apocalyptica
This is What You Want... This is What You Get by Public Image, Ltd.
No More Shall We Part by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Interview: Shana Lutker

All images of artwork are courtesy the artist and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects.

In Fall of 2006, I went to the opening of the OCMA Biennial, not really knowing what to expect. I mean, I knew to expect Sonic Youth's performance to be fun (though tiring after a while), and I knew OCMA tried really hard for some of their shows, but I hadn't always been excited by visits there, and hadn't been to one of their Biennials yet.

The show was incredible. Easily one of the best art shows I have ever been to. I would, sincerely, stack it next to the inaugural BCAM installation. Yes, there was a lot of frustratingly shallow work that made you think either (a) we weren't seeing the artist's best, or (b) something was being shown as the result of a backstage connection. But overwhelmingly the show was beautiful, funny, odd, surprising, deep, clever, and mindful.

Chief above all in my mind was the installation "May Have" by Shana Lutker, a room-like (though open on some sides) installation that reached from the floors to the tables, lights and wallpaper. There were a few different connections between the pieces, Which I would categorize in two groups: (1) Dreams and (2) Newspapers. The Newspaper piece was a giant reproduction of all of the advertisements "with something to say" from the New York Times over a certain period. No true editorial, and no sales-oriented advertisements. The paper became a new paper, one made up solely of alternative editorial views, as well as views that had paid for their audience. This was fascinatingly woven into the table along the spine in a way I can't describe.

The "dreams" work was the majority of the pieces: beginning with two books recording her dreams every night for two years, then moving throughout the room with "Art That I Dreamt I Made," including large yellow balls resting in the corner of the floor. In the center of the room was a model of the house she grew up in, populated entirely by art she dreamt, such as a series of models of Oedipus. Yes, Oedipus. Ms. Lutker's not just telling us her dreams in a self-expressive or journalistic way, she has an interest in Mr. Freud, Oedipus and what dreams as a whole might represent.

I've read some press about the installation and no one seems to capture the interesting "hand-made" vibe about it, not in a punky DIY way, but in a craftsman or interior designer kind of way. The room was considered, not just a receptacle. Warm, light browns and unstained wood abounded.

I was so enamored of that room I visited it several more times, and upon learning Shana would be a part of this year's Biennial too, I wrote right away asking for an interview. I will definitely be at the Costa Mesa event she mentions below, I hope to see you there.

----------------

What will you be showing at the OCMA Biennial this time?

Under the umbrella of the California Biennial 08, I will stage a performance in Santa Barbara and Costa Mesa and I will have an exhibition at the University Art Museum at UCSB. I’ll also have a preview of the performance, a mini-performance, at the opening party for the Biennial at the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA). I won’t have an installation at the main OCMA site, but will be part of these satellite exhibitions that will be taking place all over the state. The performance, called “Hear It Here II” is a re-working of a piece first staged in Miami last December, and it will take place at the Contemporary Arts Forum in Santa Barbara on November 6, and at the Lab, a mall in Costa Mesa, on January 10 2009. The basic set up is this: there’s 2 actors wearing headphones on a stage, waiting for lines, and the audience is asked to supply them. The audience is able to tell the actors what to say through microphones that go directly into the actor’s headphones. The actors repeat everything that they hear, without filtering or editing. Essentially, “Hear it Here” is an opportunity for an audience to create the action on stage, immediately. It’s unscripted and unplanned — a snapshot of the audience’s imagination or unconscious at that moment. Both performances are free and open to the public, in nontraditional art spaces, so the crowd should be pretty diverse — a mix of tourists and students and art people and locals. The topics and themes of the “play” on stage could be anything. The exhibition at the University Art Museum at UCSB takes up the themes and ideas behind the performances. There’s a miniature stage curtain, a sculpture called “The Pillars of Society,” some text pieces etched in mirror that deal with speaking and presence and translation, and a floor that covers the gallery.




“Hear Here”
2008



“Curtain, Take 1”
2008



“Pillars of Society”
2008


Do you "finish" with a theme? i.e., are you still working with your dreams and newspapers?

I don’t think I do ever finish with a theme. I would say that I work in widening circles, where each new element looks both forwards and backwards. Dreams and newspapers are almost always at the foundation of my work, because for me, the dreams stand for freedom from interpretation, and the newspapers stand for linear time and history—the subjective and the objective, the private and the public, the unfixed and the fixed. Those are the two elements that are always in play for me, and most of my work has to do with the balance between the two, or pointing to the imbalance. A lot of things that we think are very real are completely imagined, and vice versa. The narrativization of events by journalists and historians always affects the story, there’s always some level of interpretation of information, it’s always mediated. So you start to think it should be rare to have real experiences. But there’s this element of surprise in life that is constant -- everyday, listening to the news, I think, “I can’t believe this is really happening,” but I don’t think this is new. We live in a really dramatic world, and it’s always been this way, filled with war and death and accidents and coups and flood and famine. But somehow it continues to be surprising and surreal to us. And, it’s hard to believe that the chaos and drama factor has not been increasing as of late— it feels like it gets crazier and crazier out there.





2 views of “May Have”
Installation at the California Biennial 2006
Orange County Museum of Art, October 1 – December 31 2006


Is it rare for an artist to be featured in two Biennials in a row? What's been your experience behind the scenes?

I think that this might be the first time that the California Biennial includes artists from Biennials past. But there are a number of repeats – Walead Beshty, My Barbarian, Joel Tauber, Karl Haendel...there might be more. And I think that each of us are working off-site, and not repeating installations at OCMA. The CA Biennial is driven by the curators, and this Biennial’s curator, Lauri Firstenberg, seems to have decided that inclusion in past biennials should not be a reason for exclusion from this one.


As a non-native, do you think life in L.A., or L.A. art history affects your work in any way?

Yes, I think the geography of LA and it’s art historical legacy has definite influences. I’m from the East Coast and even after more than 6 years here, something about this latitude and all the sun and dust and space make the pace of life different – there’s not the same pull from the seasons or from being in contact with other people to keep me on a regular schedule. And in spite of that, I think it’s a great place to work, because once you start working, it’s easy to build momentum and keep going. And it’s a good time to be an artist in LA. The influence of LA artists of the past 40 years is finally being recognized and the support system that is in place here through the network of art schools and institutions have led to a more stable and sustained interest in art from LA, from both inside and outside the city. When I moved here to go to graduate school I was sure I would head right back to New York when I was done. But once i was here for a while, it’s became impossible to give up the good things about LA for the bad things about New York.



“Cluster”
2008
lightjet print
30 x 24 in



“Group Formation No. 1”
Installation view form “The Commiffioners,” Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, May 10 – June 14 2008



“Re-formation and Counter Re-formation (study no.2)”
2008
lightjet print
24 x 27 inches

What other artists are you excited about right now? Who else are you looking forward to seeing or meeting at the Biennial?

There’s a lot of stuff happening in LA right now. I was hibernating over the summer and didn’t see all that much, but this fall I am looking forward to seeing the Martin Kersels shows, Martin Kippenberger, Louise Bourgeois. The California Biennial is rather enormous this time, and while I am personally excited to see the installations and work of Edgar Arceneaux, Justin Beal, Andrea Bowers, Jed Caesar, Sarah Cain, Piero Golia, Karl Haendel, Mark Hagen, Skylar Haskard, Mary Kelly, Elad Lassry, Amanda Ross-Ho, and Joel Tauber (to name a few), I am also looking forward to the surprises too, and work I don’t already know.

Visit Shana Lutker's Website

Speak to her dealer about purchasing

Keep your eye on the Biennial page for more info on her performances

Laugh Riot - Laugh Yoga

Dr. Madan Kataria, M.D. started a new kind of yoga called "Laugh Yoga." He was always a man who preached that laughter is the truly best medicine. For someone who wanted to be able to practice what he preached, he started a group to do just that. Every morning in India crowds of people meet with the doctor before their day begins in order to make silly faces, talk in gibberish... and laugh.

Here is a video of the man himself:

Hillary Kimblin, a Vedic healer and massage therapist studied under Dr. Kataria to obtain her certificate in order to be a Laugh Yoga teacher. Once a month she leads what she calls a "networking party" where people from all over California come to participate in her guided Laugh Yoga. The session lasts about an hour, is free of charge, and there are always little nibbles beforehand.

I recently went last week and found the experience to be as fun and rewarding as the website promises. People of all ages and colors were there and the atmosphere was warm, fun, and... funny. As a comedian I was very doubtful that these strangers were gonna get into my funny bone, but the yoga is not about jokes, it's about silly. And the silly works! By the end of the session I was crying from laughing so hard.

Even John Cleese agrees that laughter is the best medicine. Check out this video where he visits Dr. Kataria in India.

For more information on the monthly meeting/ Hilary/ and how you can attend,
visit: http://yogaunderthetrees.com/laughter.html

Plastic Jesus No More

LINKS:
Paul Newman Dead at 83 (New York Times article)

The Ditty Bops at McCabe

The Ditty Bops just announced an upcoming show at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. They will be performing a few songs as part of McCABE'S 50th ANNIVERSARY SHOW
along with Jackson Browne, Richard Thompson, Odetta, David Lindley, Jennifer Warnes, The Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Ricky Jay, Peter Rowan, Peter Case and more.

Info:

Friday October 10
8:00pm
McCabe's Guitar Store
3101 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
All Ages
Tickets $20, on sale NOW
http://www.mccabes.com
or call (310) 828-4497

Your National League West Division Champion Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles

The established hipster code of ethics would decree that we who contribute to this site must conduct ourselves with a certain level of decorum, never allowing our enthusiasm for the things we bring you to curl the corners of our mouths in to more than a sly grin. The essense of Hipsterism is the appearance of foreknowledge, the air of finding nothing shocking, nothing too surprising. Certainly we here at Tragically Hipster take this idea and turn it on its ear, not really pretending to be anything but enthusiastic about what we share with you the reading public. Therefore I find no shame in declaring my unabashed, fanatical, unhinged joy at the prospect of seeing my LA Dodgers, YOUR LA Dodgers, make it back to the playoffs in 2008. If you don't know about Man-Ram, Dre, Russell Nathan Jeanson Coltrane Martin, Bills, D-Lowe, Nomar and the rest, it is time for Hipster Re-education. This is the most exciting team on the field, and when they aren't on the field, they are dancing in the dugout.
Contrary to popular belief, this game AND this team are definitely worth watching! If you need further instruction on the beauty of baseball and the 2008 Dodgers in particular, I will make house calls. VIVA LOS DODGERS!!!!!

Tragical Hipster: pomegranates

She might feel uncomfortable posting about herself, like it's advertising, (and we're all greatful for that kind of thoughfulness), so I'll do it for her: buy awesome new drawings like this from pomegranates at her etsy store. All are the real drawing, not a print, and are $12-$15.

Seen: Official Graffiti

Kids, take pride in your community. Don't spray paint everywhere, it looks ugly. Leave that to the people who get paid to do it.

Word power: "Yep" vs. "Yes"?

Untitled

From the New York Times, January 17, 2007

TONIGHT -- Hitchcock-esque Burlesque

...featuring many fine and wonderful ladies, including friend-of-the-blog Dahlia DeLust (A.K.A. Lacy Bottom, A.K.A. Voodoo Dahlia).

MIXTAPE MONDAYS: Musique Français

(Every Monday at Tragically Hipster we'll feature a look at a band, performance, or vague musical concept, with an accompanying virtual mixtape for your listening pleasure. There's no need to thank us; it's just one more service we like to provide for you, our dedicated readers. Most of whom also write for this site.)

Tragically Hipster music idol Serge Gainsbourg,
taking a cigarette break and generally looking cooler than you.

DECLARATION:

The music on the mixtape this week is all in French, and was for the most part recorded in France. Most, though not quite all, of the performers heard here are themselves French nationals. Some of the music was recorded this decade, and some during decades past.  Much of the music is pop-oriented. Some of it is hip-hop. Two of the pieces are instrumental. At least four have been featured on movie soundtracks. 

Thank you for your continuing patronage.

DÉCLARATION :
Toute la musique sur le mixtape cette semaine est en français, et pour la plupart a été enregistrée en France. Les la plupart, cependant pas tout à fait toutes, des interprètes entendus ici sont eux-mêmes les ressortissants français. Une partie de la musique a été enregistrée cette décennie, et certains pendant des décennies au delà.  Une grande partie de la musique sauter-est orientée. Une partie de elle est hip-hop. Deux des morceaux sont instrumentaux. Au moins quatre ont été décrits sur des bandes sonores de film. Si vous trouvez la qualité de cette traduction manquant, gardez svp vos plaintes à vous-même. 

Merci de votre patronage continu.

On the Mixtape:

          1) "Mon Clan" by Shurik'n
          2) "Faust 72" by Dynastie Crisis
          3) "Requiem Pour un Con" by Serge Gainsbourg
          4) "La Marquise" by Guesch Patti
          5) "Disco Science" by Mirwais
          6) "Laisse Tomber Les Filles" by April March
          7) "Ne Me Quitte Pas" by Jacques Brel
          8) "La Bête et la Belle" by (The Real) Tuesday Weld featuring David Guez
          9) "Regarde" by IAM
          10) "Je Suis Bien" by Los Super Elegantes
          11) "Cybele's Reverie" by Stereolab
          12) "Milky Boy Bourgeois" by Stereo Total
          13) "Pop Fashion (B.O.F. La Piscine)" by Michel Legrand
          14) "Tel Que Tu Es" by Charlotte Gainsbourg
          15) "Oh Malheur Chez O'Malley" by Sébastien Tellier
          16) "Nid De Guêpes" by Akhenaton

LINKS:
Musique Français Mixtape
Ou Je Vis by Shurik'n
Ocean's 12 (Soundtrack) by Various Artists
Production by Mirwais
Paris in April by April March
Ne Me Quitte Pas by Jacques Brel
I, Lucifer by (The Real) Tuesday Weld
L'Ecole du Micro D'Argent by IAM
Channelizing Paradise by Los Super Elegantes
Emperor Tomato Ketchup by Stereolab
My Melody by Stereo Total
Easy Paris by Elisabeth Butterfly
5:55 by Charlotte Gainsbourg
L'Incroyable Verité by Sébastien Tellier
Black Album by Akhenaton