'Luther Price is an anomaly on many levels. He’s gay but unwelcome by the gay community, which reviled him for the alleged homophobic excesses of Sodom. He invents alter-egos including the short-lived "Fag" and the more enduring "Tom Rhoads." He’s worked as a waiter, played in bands (and started a country band), and "committed suicide" in one of his performance pieces via a candy overdose. Much of his personal history is mysterious, in spite of his frequent use of himself and his family and their history via photos and home movies in his films. He was nearly killed (and was heavily scarred) in a shooting accident in Nicaragua in the mid-1980s. He works in a disreputable format, appears in various guises in his own work from stylized, frozen-faced drag queen to naked performance artist to clown. And he occupies the same contested cultural space as artists like Karen Finley in being so controversial that his work has occasioned the immediate firing of programmers who have dared to show it. Increasingly revered as a filmmaker, he’s also made a strong impact in his sculpture, photography, and performance art.
'Emotionally stark, and at times sexually extreme, the elegant Super-8 films Price produced in the 1980s and ’90s brought him underground renown. Whether creating pummeling juxtapositions from repurposed porn images or with Price decked up in drag or dressed as a clown, his pieces came bounding at you in full heat. They were formally rigorous, relentlessly psychodramatic attempts to work through familial bonds, dark fantasies, and tortured realities. His magisterial use of sound (few make better soundtracks) underscored the beautifully dilapidated images. There are many small masterpieces from this potent era awaiting rediscovery.
'For example, there's his hardcore "Biblical epic"-cum s&m porn flick Sodom (1989), which like all of Price’s films, exists in many versions. His refusal to let the work alone after it’s made, his insistence on the "aliveness" of the film-object, is one of the most exhilarating aspects of his work. In spite of the oppressive, claustrophobic imagery, the films have a strong sense of life. In Sodom, which will be double-projected, this sense comes partly from Price’s consummate interventions, which here take the form of a literal film-within-a-film. He punched holes in the Super-8 frames and meticulously inserted the porn footage, which moves with jackhammer rhythm against the rapid-cut "Sodom" footage and a distorted medieval liturgy score. The conflation of what look like screaming souls in hell with images of edgy queer sex was enough to get the film banned even from the allegedly sophisticated New York and San Francisco gay festivals, but Price’s Boschian vision deserves a wide audience.
'Price’s film work has an oppressive intensity, envisioning an alienated world of often mindlessly repeated rituals and poses that entrap and suffocate his subjects. He sets up a constant dialogue between his compromised victim-subjects (often himself or his own family) and the equally compromised film stock itself. Images of ruptured flesh and ghostly birthday parties are further ruptured and drained of life by Price’s torturous manipulations of the film, which can include chemical processing, filters, optical printing, re-photography, and even holes punched in the frame. What emerges is Price’s great subject — the breaches, breakdowns, and collapse of body, family, and society, and by extension all of life, in the face of unstoppable philosophical forces. What makes it work is the nonstop flow of extraordinary, unforgettable imagery.'-- collaged
Watch SODOM (1989) here.
Watch JELLY FISH SANDWICH (1994) here.
Watch RUN (1994) here.
Watch SODOM (1989) here.
Watch GREEN (1988) here.
Watch WARM BROTHER (1988-1989) here.
Age/Occupation/City:
born 1962........january 26th......in Mass......the night my aunt sally took an overdose of sleeping pills..........37 sominex........and red wine........she was my mother’s younger sister...........she died at 23.........the day i was born.......my death mother..........she was very beautiful..........i have the powder blue suit she died in...........it has a wine stain down the front of it .........i don’t think she meant to kill herself........she crawled from her apartment in cambridge , mass,............died at the hospital.........while at the same time,.....i was being born into this world..............i died when i was 23 too..........i was shot in nicaragua in 1985............while on an artist cultural brigade..............it wasn’t just my guts that spilled out that day on the warm ceramic tiles .....on that balcony of the bombed out mansion we were staying at............the morning we were due to fly back to boston .........june 29th 1985...........i died that day........and as they say .......you see your life flash by..........well it did.........and i saw my aunt sally...........and then i knew what i had always known............she was always with me.....................but that was 28 years ago..............i still don’t know how i survived ..............if i had been shot anywhere else ,....i wouldn’t have.............but my guts are all screwed up.........i was shot through my hip and stomach.......my right leg is paralyzed ......and i live with constant pain.......but to top that off ,...the US...GOVERNMENT TOOK MY PASSPORT AWAY FOR REPATRIATION .....BACK TO BOSTON , MASS.............WERE I SPENT TWO MONTHS IN THE HOSPITAL.......I RETURNED BACK TO MASS ART....THAT FALL ON CRUTCHES........WITH A HOLE IN MY SIDE , STUFFED WITH GAUZE.........THE DRESSING HAD TO BE CHANGED THREE TIMES A DAY, SO I USED THE NURSE’S OFFICE FOR THAT ,....THE ONLY STERILE PLACE........FOR THAT..............AS THE SEMESTER WENT ON ,I BECAME VERY SICK....THE WOUND WAS NOT HEALING................SO DURING XMAS BREAK I ADMITTED MYSELF BACK INTO THE HOSPITAL........THEY FOUND THE BULLET......AND REMOVED IT ...........IT WAS LODGED IN THE DARKNESS OF MY HIP ........NEVER CAME UP ON THE X-RAYS..........THE US OFFICIALS CONFISCATED MY MEDICAL RECORDS FROM NICARAGUA FROM THE DOCTOR WHO TRAVELED WITH ME BACK TO THE STATES.............SO , I NEVER HAD A CHANCE........THE DOCTORS NEVER KNEW THE BULLET WAS STILL INSIDE ME.......ROTTING AWAY MY BONE AND GUTS ........KILLING ME SLOWLY..........BY THIS TIME,....MUCH OF MY HIP HAD TURNED TO A PUSSY MUSH...........AND A LARGE PART OF MY LOWER INTESTINE HAD TO BE REMOVE AS WELL...........MY RIGHT LEG HAD GONE INTO COMPLETE ATROPHY...........AND THE NERVE DAMAGE WAS BEYOND REPAIR...................BUT THE GOOD THING WAS,.......AFTER THEY TOOK THE BULLET OUT ........MY WOUND COMPLETELY HEALED IN 9 DAYS.................I WENT BACK TO SCHOOL IN THE SPRING SEMESTER.....STILL ON CRUTCHES............AND COMPLETED MY LAST LARGE SCULPTURE PIECE............‘EAT FUCK LIVE SHIT WANT NEED’........1986........11 OVER LIFE-SIZED.......HUMAN AND ANIMAL FIGURES .......MADE OF PLASTIC WITH A SKIN OF NEWSPAPER.........WALL WORK...........4 FT X 8 FT PANELS ..........AFTER THAT .......I BEGAN TO WORK IN VIDEO............I CREATED A CHARACTER THAT I BECAME CALLED ‘THE CUNT’..............THIS WAS A PERIOD OF TIME WHERE I BEGAN TO INVESTIGATE MY DOMESTIC PAST..............AND HOW MY MOTHER LIVED HER LIFE AS A SLAVE...............SHE WASHED CLOTHES BY HAND................TO THE POINT THAT HER HANDS LOOKED LIKE THEY BELONGED TO A 108-YEAR-OLD WOMAN.............WE FINALLY GOT A WASHING MACHINE......AND I THINK OUR FIRST COLOR TV .................BEFORE THAT ,.....EVERYTHING WAS BLACK AND WHITE...................
We’re conducting this questionnaire over email, and have been told that you use a stream-of-consciousness style in writing, not dissimilar to the way your films, through their mix of found footage and your own stagings, can be like stray thoughts gathered together. Is there an underlying structure to your art?
Many of your around 200 films exist as only one copy. Because you scratch, burn, and dye them, they can even change from one screening to the next. Film itself is something of a dying art. Do you believe your art and the medium are ephemeral?
You got your start with Super-8 film and then shifted to 16mm, but you’ve recently begun to experiment with slides, exhibited for the first time in the Whitney Biennial. You build them up with dirt and detritus like ants, sprinkles, tape, and hair. Sometimes, you even bury them in the ground to rot. What creative power do you see in this kind of decay?
Has one of your films ever totally wrecked a projector or melted during a screening?
................WELL,...........I THINK I GET A BAD RAP..........IT’S BECAUSE OF THE INKBLOTS AND THE GARDEN FILMS............ALL MY FILM WORK IS ORIGINAL.......I HAVEN’T MADE A COPY OR PRINT SINCE 1995...........THAT CAME ABOUT BECAUSE MOST OF THE GREAT MOM AND POP LABS WERE FORCED TO SHUT DOWN.......AND MOST OF THE BIG LABS WERE FREAKED OUT BY ANYTHING THAT WAS NOT COMMERCIAL...........THIS ,........BOTH PHYSICAL...........WORKING OF THE FILM AS WELL THEY WOULD HAVE A SAY IN WHAT AND WHAT WAS NOT APPROPRIATE AS FAR AS CONTENT ........ MY FILMS WERE RENDERED .......TOO COMPLICATED TO DO A STRAIGHTFORWARD PRINT OR THE SUBJECT MATTER WAS AT ISSUE .............MUCH OF MY WORK WAS DEEMED PORNO...............SO ,....THESE LABS WOULDN’T EVEN DEAL WITH ME..........GONE WERE THE DAYS WHEN A GREAT TECH GUY WOULD TAKE YOUR FILM AND UNDERSTAND THE ART OF IT ........AND IN THE END BECOME A COLLABORATOR WITH IT IN THE PROCESS.........AND A WONDERFUL PRINT WOULD COME OUT OF IT .........I MISS THOSE DAYS................BUT , LEFT IN THE DUST .............I MOVED ON ..........AND TRIED TO MAKE MORE PROJECTION-READY FILMS.........FILMS THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO RUN THROUGH A PROJECTOR..............MULTIPLE TIMES .......AND STAND THE TEST OF TIME...............I’VE ALWAYS HAD GOOD CRAFT IN MY WORK ...., SO THAT WAS NO PROBLEM...........I JUST NEEDED TO STAY AWAY FROM MAKING ‘A FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER’................WORK THE FILM ........BUT , STILL AT THE POINT WHERE IT COULD RIDE THROUGH THE PROJECTOR AS A PROJECTION-READY FILM..................WITH THIS ,....I JUST NEEDED TO MAINTAIN GOOD CRAFT IN SPLICING ........BUT WITH THE INK BLOTS,.......THE ELEMENT OF MATERIAL IS NOW PAINT AND INK..................IT’S A GIVEN THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE ORIGINAL FILMS, THEY WILL LEAVE SOME RESIDUAL MATTER IN THE PROJECTOR.............THAT’S WHAT Q-TIPS ARE FOR..................BUT I USED THIS WONDERFUL INK THAT DRIES REALLY QUICK......SO YOU CAN ROLL IT OUT AND WORK AS YOU GO..........THE THING IS,........ONCE IT DRIED , IT LEFT A POWDERY DUST ON THE SURFACE...................SO ,......I BEGAN HEARING THAT THESE FILMS WERE PROBLEMATIC..............PROJECTORS............WERE NOT HAPPY AND PROJECTIONISTS ..........WERE VERY UNHAPPY.................I READ SOMETHING ONLINE ....SAYING ........‘THE UNPROJECTABLE FILMS OF LUTHER PRICE’...............I RAN FILMS THROUGH MY PROJECTOR AND MY PROJECTOR DIED ................AFTER RUNNING SEVERAL FILMS THROUGH IT..............I REALIZED THIS INK DUST POWDER FORMED.................AT THIS POINT , I KNEW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT............IT TOOK MANY Q-TIPS TO CLEAN MY PROJECTOR BEFORE IT COULD RUN AGAIN.............BUT THAT DIDN’T SOLVE THE PROBLEM.....................I HAD ALMOST 50 INKBLOT FILMS SITTING ON MY SHELF..............THAT WERE NOW UNPROJECTABLE............................AS WELL , MY GARDEN FILMS.............FILM FOOTAGE , THAT WENT INTO THE GROUND............IN FALL AND DUG UP IN THE SPRING..................ROTTED FILMS , WITH BEAUTIFUL DISTORTION AND COLOR....................I WOULD OF COURSE TAKE THEM IN AND WASH THEM OFF IN MY KITCHEN SINK............THEN DRY THEM IN THE SUN .......BUT STILL ............A SLUDGE OF GRIT WOULD REMAIN ON THE SURFACE AND THEN THROUGH PROJECTION,...............WOULD BUILD UP IN THE SPROCKET WHEELS OF THE PROJECTOR .............AND LEAVE A TAR-LIKE SUBSTANCE.................NOT GOOD ....NOT GOOD AT ALL..................ALL THIS NEW WORK.......AND IT WOULD REMAIN ON MY SHELF....................BUT I HAVE GOOD FRIENDS ..............THEY DIDN’T GIVE UP ON THE FILMS AND WOULD SCREEN THEM EVEN SO.................ED .....PATRICK AND MARK..............IT WASN’T UNTIL LAST YEAR.............I FELT I HAD TO TRY SOMETHING ................I FOUND THAT WITH THE INKBLOTS ................, I COULD WASH THEM WITH COLD WATER , TO GET RID OF THAT RESIDUAL DUST...............I FOUND THAT HOT WATER REMOVED THE ARTWORK............AFTER THIS PROCESS,....MY FILMS WERE CLEAN AS A WHISTLE......................AND AFTER THEY WERE DRY AND REELED UP................., I CHECKED ALL THE SPLICES..................CLEANED THEM UP .........AND THEY WERE READY TO GO OUT INTO THE WORLD....................I DID THE SAME WITH MY GARDEN FILMS .........I DON’T THINK THE PROJECTIONISTS HATE ME ANYMORE............... ‘SALLY FIELDS’
Describe a typical day in your life as an artist.
.....................WELL......A DAY IN LUTHER’S LIFE................IT DEPENDS ON WHAT I DID THE NIGHT BEFORE..........MOST TIMES ............YOU WRAP IT UP ...............AND YOU TAKE THOSE UNANSWERED .........UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS WITH YOU..................YOU THINK ABOUT FOOD BUT IT’S TOO LATE.............AND IF YOU TRY TO EAT, YOU CAN’T ANYWAY................KAREN CARPENTER AND I WOULD HAVE BEEN FRIENDS................ONLY , I LIKE FOOD AND WANT TO EAT................I LOVE TO COOK...........FOR MY FRIENDS ...............BUT I MOSTLY LIKE TO WATCH GUYS EAT.............. SEXY.............BUT I HARDLY EAT.................BUT I STILL HAVE A FAT STOMACH , AFTER MY GUN SHOT.................LOST THE WALL OF MUSCLE THAT HOLDS IT ALL TOGETHER.............SO I HAVE A BULGE ..............I WORK MOSTLY ALL DAY....................THINKING ABOUT THINGS AND STINKING IT UP................I LIKE TO HAVE THE TV ON ..............I ONLY WATCH INVESTIGATIVE TV.....................THEN I SIT AND WORK ALL DAY ..................BECAUSE CUTTING FILM .............AND..........FILM MANIPULATION IS NOT A STAND UP JOB.................PERFECT FOR ME................BECAUSE I MOAN AND GROAN WITH PAIN..............BUT MY THREE STRAY CATS,.........GURLY................MR. GREY AND CARTOON............KEEP ME IN LINE...................THEY ALWAYS WANT SOMETHING...............SO I HEAR A SCRATCH AT THE DOOR ......AND IT’S ONE OF THEM....SOMETIMES , ALL THREE ..................THE KIDS ARE GOOD ..............‘DORIS WISHMAN’’’’’’’’’’’’’’,............I’M JUST TRYING TO FIND MYSELF THROUGH MY WORK ....................EACH DAY , BRINGS A NEW DESTINATION..................AND I’M UP FOR IT ............, IF I GET UP..................SOME DAYS , I CAN’T GET OUT OF BED THESE DAYS ..............TOO MUCH PAIN...............I MADE A NICE BED NEST.................WITH A PRINCESS AND THE PEA IDEA ............., I WENT OUT AND GOT LAYERS OF FOAM ...............TO LINE MY BED ...................OVER MY SAGGY FUTON...............I NEED A NEW NICE BED AND A TV....................AND THEN I’LL BE HAPPY .............I MAY EVEN ORDER OUT FOR KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN ......AND DO IT UP BY GETTING THE WHIPPED MASHED POTATOS AND EXTRA GRAVY,...................EAT .............AT ...........MY TV DINNER TABLE ...............AND WATCH ‘LOCKED UP ABROAD’ .................OR ‘ANCIENT ALIENS’...................THEN VOMIT IT ALL UP IN MY KITCHEN SINK AND TOILET....................UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT BUT AN EMPTY PIT IN MY STOMACH................................SO I DON’T THINK I’LL DO THAT...........ALTHOUGH I DO HAVE A CRAVING FOR CALAMARI................BUT THEY NEVER HAVE IT ANYWAY ................VERY TOP SECRET ...........PERHAPS ONE ORDER ...............SOMETIMES NO ORDER ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
.................that got me thinking ,....so i called ‘tings’......and they actually had fried squid.........so , i put in three orders.................mr, grey is saying things ...................he wants to go outside but it’s raining...............the cartoon is content in ..............my studio back room ...........have not seen Gurly yet though.....................IT’S A GOOD NIGHT FOR ALL THE KIDS TO STAY IN..............CAUSE...........IT’S RAINING OUTSIDE ........AND CATS HATE RAIN......................’GURLY JUST CAME IN ......DRIED HIM OFF WITH A TOWEL..............HIS BROTHER, MR. GREY DID ALLEY CAT SONGS WITH HIM...........ANYWAY , MY DELIVERY OF FRIED SQUID SHOULD BE HERE SOON.......I’M NOT WORKING TONIGHT BECAUSE THE ELECTRIC IN MY HOUSE IS SCREWED UP AND THE ELECTRICIAN IS COMING OVER AT 8 AM...........TO FIX THE PROBLEM...............SO TONIGHT , I’M JUST HAVING A BOY’S NIGHT IN .................MY GOODNESS ,..................HOW CUTE WAS THAT GUY................FRIED SQUID IN THE RAIN WITH A YUMMY CUT ASIAN GUY ,....HANDING YOU A BROWN PAPER BAG FULL OF DELICIOSO...........TOO BAD HE HAD TO GO BACK TO WORK......................I LIKED HIS TAN BROWN WOOL HAT............SO ......................I WAKE UP.................EITHER ....ONE OF THE CATS WANTS TO GO OUT OR GET IN................HAVE COFFEE........THINK ABOUT FOOD BUT DON’T EAT ..............I MAKE GOOD EGGS TOO.............LOOK IN THE MIRROR IN DISGUST...............AS I TAKE MY MORNING PISS...............BRUSH MY TEETH AND GAG AT THE THOUGHT OF ANOTHER DAY...............THE ROOMS GET SMALLER................THE TIME BECOMES SHORTER..................THE DUST IS THICKER................THE OCEAN ,...OUTSIDE MY DOOR IS CHURNING FOR SOMETHING,.................JUST WAITING..............TO CONSUME................I TAKE A PEEK , OUTSIDE MY FENCE................JUST TO SEE WHAT IT IS LIKE OUTSIDE...........BUT ONLY FOR A MINUTE.....................SOMETIMES THE TIDE IS LOW AND I CAN SMELL THE RESTITUTION OF THE SEA LEFTOVER ...............OR THE ROARING OF THE WAVES THAT WILL EVENTUALLY BRAVE THE EARTH AND TAKE MY HOME...................I LOOK AT THE SEA AND THE SHORE................AND FIND ROCKS WITH FACES IN THEM......................AND I THINK ...............PERHAPS THIS IS ALL BIGGER THAN WE THINK................PERHAPS WE SHOULD JUST LIVE.............AFTER ALL THAT WAS WHAT WE WERE BORN TO DO.................AND WITH THAT...............A VISION..................A SIGHT...........NO SKIN OFF MY BACK..................I JUST WANT TO SEE...............FEEL AND BE REAL..................AND IF SOMETHING MATERIAL COMES FROM THAT ,.......................AN OBJECT OF SOME KIND,....................FROM THE THOUGHTS OF THE DAY.......................IT WILL HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND A LITTLE BIT OF THAT IN IT.................AND THEN THE DAY STARTS OVER AGAIN................................
What’s the first artwork you ever sold?
..................I DON’T KNOW ,ME ..........I HAVEN’T REALLY SOLD ANYTHING ..............WE SHOULD HAVE A YARD SALE................BUT ,LET ME THINK................LIA SOLD SOMETHING OF MINE ,................I THINK IT WAS A BLOW-UP STILL FROM THE ‘GAR HAR CLOWN’....................THE DR. WHO INVENTED BOTOX...............IT WAS INSTALLED IN HIS WAITING ROOM.................PERFECT ...............I THINK...............
What’s the weirdest thing you ever saw happen in a museum or gallery?
....................I JUST COULD NOT BELIEVE HOW ALL THESE MUSEUM LADIES COULD HAVE NOT ONLY THE SAME HAIRCUTS BUT THE SAME FACES TOO........THEY ALL LOOK LIKE THEIR FACE WAS MOVED TO THE LEFT..............AND ONE EYE ,....LOOKING THIS WAY AND THE OTHER EYE LOOKING THAT WAY.............LIKE GOOGLE EYES AT THE 99 CENT STORE......................BUT I HAVE TO ADMIT,.............THEY SMELLED NICE.............
What’s your art-world pet peeve?
................PET PEEVE..............I’VE ALWAYS BEEN TREATED WELL AND I LIKE WORKING WITH CURATORS.......IF I COULD PUT MYSELF IN THEIR WORLD,........I MIGHT UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH WORK THEY MUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH AND LOOK AT...............BUT THERE ARE HIDDEN GEMS.................RIGHT UNDER THEIR NOSES..................I WOULD LOOK FOR THE UNDERDOG......TAKE A RISK AND GO BEYOND WHAT IS IN YOUR FACE ...............ARCHIVE AND DISCOVER .............THAT’S WHAT A TRUE CURATOR SHOULD DO ....I THINK .....................FIND THE WORK ............GET SOME DUST ON YOU.......................
What’s the last great book you read?
..............CHARIOTS OF THE GODS ..............BY ERICH VON DANIKEN..................SHOULD HAVE READ IT YEARS AGO.......BUT I DIDN’T................
"Meat" by Luther Price, Screening at LOUIS V. E.S.P.
Lecture by Luther Price
Luther Price: SAD DAY GLAD DAY
2012 Biennial: Luther Price
Luther Price KITTENS GROW UP [excerpt] 2007
Luther Price @ Wikipedia
Luther Price @ Callicoon Fine Arts
'The hand made Luther Price'
Luther Price by David Duncan
Luther Price @ Underground Fi;m Journal
'Luther Price: Poetry of the Found'
Book: 'Luther Price: Imitation of Life'
'I'll Cry Tomorrow'
'Kittens, Biscuits, and Blots: Films by Luther Price'
'Postcard from Oberhausen'
'LUTHER PRICE — (WAS) BLEIBT / REMAINS LUTHER PRICE'
'The films of Luther Price' @ Autopsies Research Group
'Luther Price’s latest exhibition is not for the faint of heart.
'Never pass up an evening of Luther Price films.
'Film and Obsolescence'
*
p.s. Hey. ** Kyler, Hi, K. Well, gosh, it's nice to have put a positive spin on your having greeted yesterday, and it was no brainer choice on my part, so coolness all around. ** Keaton, You're already gone or going? That was quick. Okay, well, a face to face was not meant to be, I guess, and there'll be other times, and I just hope you had an awesome time here. Bon voyage. ** Jonathan, Hey! You're back? For how long? We should share some Xmas confections while you're about. Really, about that Aoki branch? That sounds heavenly. Yeah, let's do it. Sweet lists. I noted the things I don't know and will investigate thoroughly. Awesome! See you soon, I hope! ** David Ehrenstein, Thank you, sir! That's a fine list you put together too. I really need to see 'Snowpiercer'. I was really hot to see it, and then people told me it wasn't so hot, but then here it is on a bunch of 'best of' lists by people I respect, so I'll chase it down belatedly. ** Schlix, Hi, Uli. I like the James Hoff. The experiment by which it was made is interesting and fun, and the results are surprising. Lovely lists. Nice that you read all that Danilo Kis. He's so great. And, yeah, again, I'll writing down the things I don't know, so thank you for the upcoming windfall of discoveries. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, T. Oh, the honor is entirely and exclusively the blog's and, by virtue of my position as its overseer, mine. Cool, alert me/us when your list is up, if you don't mind. Do try to see the Godard if it gets screened there again. I think it was my favorite thing in any category last year. ** Mark Gluth, Hi, Mark! Well, dude, 'No Other' is an insanely great thing, so, I mean, yeah, for sure. I don't know Shocking Pinks. Huh. I'll check them/it. Thank you! ** Steevee, Hi, Steve. Yeah, when your film list is up, please give a shout. That is so not a conservative music list, sir. I still haven't heard the Leonard Cohen, I don't know why. I'll get that pronto. Well, I agree with you about the response to 'Exodus'. I guess to me the only interesting aspect to the whole thing is that the film could have been thought-out, cast, directed, produced, etc., etc. with no one seeming to have foreseen that making a Biblical epic as though it were the 1940s and '50s when casting caucasians as non-caucasians was de rigeur would be a significant problem. The naivety and lack of connection with the current state of culture, thinking, attitudes, etc. is completely mind-boggling. If Scott, et. al. had done that as some kind of, I don't know, provocation or misguided statement on racism or even as some kind of aesthetic love letter to the movie-practices of a time when the opinions and feelings of non-whites was the least of Hollywood's concerns, it would be interesting in some bizarre way, but there's certainly no evidence that the decision was thought out at all, much less in those ways. ** Etc etc etc, Thanks, I'll go hear/see the Disclosure thing. Yeah, yeah, that makes total and awful sense about the academe prioritizing bleah. It's really interesting about the mix of big and smaller presses. What's cool was realizing only when I made the lists that some of those books I loved were put out by the publishing giants. When I was reading them, I didn't pay attention to their sources so much, so ending up having a big publisher presence in my list was a big surprise. 'Birdman' hasn't opened in France yet. Neither has 'Foxcatcher'. ** Sypha, Hi. Oh, my pleasure on the compliment, gosh. Your music lists are always so eclectic, and I think that's really exciting. It makes me actually want to listen to Kylie, Minaj, etc., for instance. ** Marilyn Roxie, Hi, Marilyn! So nice to see you! I'm glad you liked the lists. And thank you for the compliment of imagining my 'TMS' is in Blake Butler's mix. Nice music list. I don't know anything about that Peter Christopherson, weird. I'll go find that pretty damned quick. Oh, yeah, the Liars album was real good. I spaced out on that one when I was list-making. I'm very happy you're reading 'Discontents'. I'm very proud of that book. There were a couple of offers to reprint it a few years ago, which would have been really great, but both publishers wanted to reprint it without the comix, and that was an absolute no. ** _Black_Acrylic, Thanks, Ben. I still haven't scored the Consumer Electronics. Will do that fast. Ah, okay, about Dan Davies. That sounds pretty interesting. ** Toniok, Hi, man! So great to get to lay my eyes and mind on you. I loved seeing your old things, and such top notch, impeccable old things. You had a really quality cultural intake year, man. ** Kier, Hi, hi! Oh, wow, really, that's hot! I mean that you'll do a LH post. I'm in heaven already. Thank you, thank you! That's cool about the 3rd 'Jeepers Creepers', but it looks like that weird Salvo isn't directing it, which makes me suspicious since one of the things I like about those films is the weird, repressed pervy stuff that he couldn't seem to help slipping into them. You got a strike! Congrats! Yeah, bowling fun, right? And it's good exercise for the right arm too, if you're right handed. Yes, come to Paris and go bowling with Zac and me! Yesterday was very good. We edited all day, of course, and we didn't finish the rough edit of Scene 1 because it's a very intricate editing job, but I think we will today, and I still think it's amazing. Then we went to a little art opening of photos by Camille, who was our lighting person on our film. Then I came home to discover that my eBook-like novel-like novel project is completely made and borderline ready to go. So that was really exciting, and I think it'll see the world quite soon. Then the composer/musician whom Zac and I had really want to score Scene 3 of our film got back to us and said he loves the scene, and he wants to score it. So that was great! It was quite a fine day, albeit not so interesting to read about. More editing at great length for me today. How was being a vegetable? How did you interpret the role of vegetable? How was today? ** Randomwater, Wow, randomwater! Holy crap, it's seriously awesome to see you! Whoa! How have you been? What's going on? Lucky you on the gaming. I haven't had any time to game in fucking forever, and it's a serious absence. That is a really mesmerizing cl post. It's super beautiful. What an interesting form and way of handling it. Huh. Fascinating, yeah, Thank you a lot, pal, and, yeah, fill me in even further on how you are and what's happening in your world, if you don't mind. ** Paul Curran, Thank you, Paul! I was trying to think of a way to respond to your 'at long last' re: being on my list and, quite horrifyingly, as I was searching for a clever and yet sincere way to say what a long awaited pleasure it is for me, a fucking Beatles lyric popped into my head, and I will share the horror: 'You were always waiting for this moment to arrive'. But, of course, if I were Paul McCartney at this moment, I would be the blackbird, not you. Every time you mention your j-novel, my blood-pressure skyrockets, but in a very good, healthy way. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Thanks, bud. I'm so going to investigate Theo Angelopoulos. And, yeah, Frans Zwartjes = awesome. I'll find the Steve Lehman album, huh, sounds intriguing. The new New Pornographers seemed great, actually, and probably the only reason it wasn't there is because I have hardly listened to it only because my taste for pop/rock songs has been very low this year. I recommend all three of those. I guess, if I have to choose two, I'd say get the Gately and the Puce Mary. ** Ken Baumann, KKKKKEEEEENNNNN! Hi, man! I've missed you so incredibly big time! I've been great. Insanely busy working on four projects at once, but it's all really great. I'm sorry to hear you had difficulty in your past month, but, obviously, you being in the clear gets an audible (it was, really) sigh out of me. What are you going to do on your break? Yay, about the WiiU! I need to get one. At least before they release that new Zelda next year. I've been slobbering ever since I saw the preview footage. What you playing on the WiiU, pray tell? Yes, Ken, so great to get to blab even briefly with you. I miss you! Give my big love to Aviva! ** Trees, Wow, cool, my love of your book, or, rather, my public statement of my love for your book, occasioned your return! Your year sounds really intense. Intense is good, right? At least after it's over? Thank you for the lists. There are a number of things I don't know at all, and my left hand is writing them down in a hopefully readable scrawl as I type these words with my right hand. I only ever type with one finger. But it's a speedy finger. I send you bundles upon bundles of love from Paris, France! ** Misanthrope, No, seriously, every time I have to type the word Bieber, I always have to google him to make sure I'm spelling it right. It seems like during the last, I don't know, six months, longer, people's secret, latent racism and anti-semitism has been exploding out, and it's at once very interesting and very depressing. I don't understand people's need to weigh in publicly with their two-cents about every tiny little news item and celebrity mishap on Facebook, but, Jesus, is it a popular thing to do. ** Gregoryedwin, Hi. Thank you. Oh, you read and loved 'Karate Chop'. I was sort of feeling like I was the only person who was lucky enough to discover that book, cool. Great lists. Yes, I saw your email, and I'll get to it today. I literally have barely been home in the past few days. ** Rewritedept, Hi. Uh, I think 'The Punk Singer' was 2014, now that you mention it. I'm sorry that music is off your agenda, but you sound fine with that, so I guess it's okay, right? Oh, man, while I would love to help out with your fiction thing, I literally have no time. I'm co-editing our film for 10+ hours every day, and it's possible I'll be doing that every day until the 22nd, when I should get a short break. Sorry, I would like to. You could put it in the blog's workshop, if you like? ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, Thomas. Well, yes, of course, man! ** Bill, Hi, B. Oh, you've got some books on your faves list that I've been longing and meaning to read: Brian Allen Carr, Kitchell, Richard Thomas, etc. I'm going to do that at last. And there's a shit-ton of music on your list I don't know in the slightest. Thanks! 'The Weaklings XL' is hard to find anywhere. That press just barely even published it, it seems like. Thanks a bunch again. Have a sweet day. ** Right. Do you guys know the work of Luther Price? If not, it's very worth knowing. See you tomorrow.