Hot and Busted is a Tumblr page where readers can submit mugshots. Most of the photos submitted (or at least those approved by the editor) seem to be of young, model-y looking white guys (a minority of the prison demographic here in the States, I would venture to say). I find reading what they were busted for to be the most interesting. The guy I thought was hottest had been arrested for murder.

Above: Criminal registration; Below: DUI

While I was housesitting a 15^th-century farmhouse in historical Gascony, with a backyard view of the snow-capped Pyrennees, I decided one bracing morning over a café du lait to hire a bike and make a pilgrimage to one of France’s oddest pilgrimage sites: Notre Dame des Cyclistes.

Looking decidedly uncool in my fuzzy Patagonia jacket, Tintin t-shirt, Gap shorts, white athletic socks, and Rockport walking shoes, I pedaled like a madman, dodging vicious dogs guarding farmsteads, as well as the occasional horse-drawn carriage and crazy Citroen. Since I was also wearing a beret-basque, customary head gear for the Vascones (the prehistoric Gascons), I hoped my lonely ride would not really be noticed by the local populace of the historical Acquitaine, many of them hunters with shotguns who smoke Gitanes and regard foreigners, including Parisians, with suspicion.

Negative Pleasure is a band comprised of visual artists who are currently making music in Queens. Its members are Lionel Guzman, Ed Shawn Herrera, and Emily Wroe. The band combines all of their inspirations, and yet don’t always know why they are doing it; the band therefor bears the qualities of smoke and mirrors, as well as a departure from the creation of a physical product. It is common for them to use muted film as a literal reference during practice, recording, and performance. This video, made for Dossier by Barbara Anastacio, is a view of the studio and the process of Negative Pleasure recording their first LP.

The artist Yinka Shonibare describes himself as a “post-colonial hybrid,” having grown up in both Nigeria and London’s East End. His work deals mainly with these themes of colonial expansion, imperial history and shifting cultural power. I know that sounds heady, but bear with me. Having recently been given a prestigious public art commission in Trafalgar Square, displaying Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, his next exhibit, in New York, takes Lord Nelson’s legacy even further. I’m going to be honest here- I didn’t know who Lord Nelson was but it seems he is one of the most famous British Naval officers, who fought hard enough that he lost one eye and one arm in different battles and kept going. Eventually he was killed in the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Shonibare focuses on Lord Nelson because he believes that we can learn lessons from history as we tend to repeat patterns. The parallel here is that Nelson’s death was the signifier for the fall of the British Empire as we are now in the midst of the decline of the Imperial West. It’s real cheery British stuff, basically. Known for his multi-media work, Shonibrae re-created five photos of traditional death scenes, (which was at one point a popular medium in oil paintings) as well as carefully constructed period costumes that will be on display, made out of the fabric we associate with African prints and textiles, which is actually of Dutch origin; a film where a character of Lord Nelson’s estranged wife, sings the eponymous aria from the last act of Verdi’s opera La Traviata; as well as replicated out-of-existence fetish and sex toys from the time, including the masturbator-preventing device seen below. What I love about this is the way he is gently tweaking history to claim it for the present, which allows us to not only learn from it but to understand both the past and the future in a different way.

Anti-Masturbation Device, 2011. Sterling silver, leather, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, Victorian lock and velvet cushion.


Nelson’s Jacket, 2011. Dutch wax printed cotton textile

Fake Death Picture (The Death of Chatterton – Henry Wallis) 2011

Top Image: Addio del Passato Film Still 3, 2011. Digital Chromogenic Print.

Addio Del Passato opens on Thursday, February 16th and is up until March 24th at James Cohan Gallery, 533 West 26th Street, New York, New York.

The older you get, the more the icons of your childhood become real people, suffering from the inevitable passage of time; a normal thing for everyday folk, but shocking when those you worshiped and idolized as a kid get old, gain weight, or even die. This weekend, when Whitney Houston passed away all too early I was flooded with memories of dancing to her songs as a child, and even watching The Bodyguard 100 times. Today, I’m not sure I would watch anything Kevin Costner was in, but when that movie came out I was obsessed- I went and bought the CD and listened to every song on it on repeat. I have never been a religious person, but my favorite song on that album surprisingly was her version of Jesus Loves Me that she sings for a few seconds in the movie. Maybe it was her gospel roots, but she made that song sound so good. When she died, I googled “Whitney Houston, Jesus Loves Me” hoping to find the studio version, only to discover that the night before she died she unexpectedly got on stage at a pre-Grammy party and grabbed the mic and sang one verse of Jesus Loves Me. Her voice was shot, and she looked almost shy, but somehow I think that is an appropriate and beautiful last performance for a woman who is unfortunately going to be remembered as much for her astounding talent as for squandering it away through drugs and alcohol. I hope that she knew she was loved by many and she has found some peace wherever she may be now. Below is Whitney’s Jesus Loves Me if you want to hear it, as well as the video for I Wanna Dance With Somebody, one of the all-time best Whitney songs ever, although it is hard to choose. It is almost impossible not to be cheered up this video. I think the red skirt is my favorite, but the one-sleeved orange dress is equally fantastic. I also love when she pulls on the chain. Either way, she kills it and this video still makes me want to dance.

I know you are not supposed to post something on the internet that is more than a day old, and this came out way back at Thanksgiving but it makes me so incredibly happy and I thought I might share the love. Again. Cause it’s that good. I never really understood why everyone loved Florence and the Machine so much until I saw this and now I am a total convert. She kills it out of her mind. Hard. So hard, in fact, that she goes crossed eyed for a second towards the end of the video. The crazy thing is this song has been covered so many times- it was originally sung by Bobby Bland, then Gil Scott-Heron, then Jamie xx re-mixed Scott-Heron’s which Drake picked up with Rihanna, which is what is covered here by Florence. Still with me? I included the original version by Bobby Bland and the Jamie xx remixed version just for fun. If you haven’t heard the Drake version, I’m sorry but you live under a rock and you should watch this.

I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid I clipped things out of magazines and stuck them to the wall. I remember vividly having Jodeci, Milla Jovovich and Marilyn Monroe in close proximity. The fact that everything these days is viral and that this might date me makes me slightly sad. I was also sad when the day came to tear down these seemingly un-saveable collage projects from the wall. I implored my mother to briefly save a door once, but eventually it too got thrown away.

Willie Alexander, best known as the keyboardist for the Velvet Underground, also really liked to tape things to his wall. Apparently, he never stopped. Since he was 13 years old, he has been taping and collaging found images together from magazines, newspapers and everyday life. Even while on tour with The Velvet Underground he would obsessively collect daily ephemera and paste it in journals, cataloging his experiences. Back at home, he would stay up at nights tacking images to every possible surface -including the ceilings- perfecting a system with packing tape where once he was done, he could peel the wall (or ceiling) off in its entirety like wallpaper. This week, Esopus, one of my favorite publications who does only amazingly cool, head-spinning things, is displaying these collages for the first time ever. The exhibit goes up on Thursday, but Alexander himself will be on hand next week to meet with people like me who who are excited about this special art form typically relegated to the teenage bedroom. I’ve already started a new wall.

Willie Alexander’s show, Wall Works, is up February 9 – March 13 at Esopus Space, 64 W. 3 St., NYC. There will be an artist’s reception on February 15 from 6-8pm. The space is open to the public Mondays from 12 to 8pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 to 6pm, and by appointment other times.

Image: Willie Alexander/Esopus Space

Neal Medlyn took up residence at The Kitchen this past weekend with his badass show Wicked Clown Love. Based on the Detroit rap duo Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and their followers, known as Juggalos and Juggalettes, Medlyn performed with his two main sidekicks, Farris Craddock and Carmine Covelli, and a cast of Juggalos. This is a continuation of Medlyn’s performance work in which he takes pop music icons, such as Beyonce, Britney Spears, or Phil Collins, and creates an entire piece based on them. ICP provides ready-made mythology and rituals based on their highly developed sub-cult following. Medlyn serves it all up: lunatic clown aesthetic, Faygo showers (ICP drink of choice that’s constantly sprayed on fans and themselves), and recreating their yearly music festival gathering in the woods complete with wrestling and other debaucherous activity. Everything in the world of ICP happens in The Dark Carnival, a space in which the battle between good and evil is proselytized. It’s a space centered upon male bonding and shared knowledge of rituals. At one point in the show Medlyn creates a safe circle for any member to step up and share about anything they need to get off their chest or throw out some rhymes, but first he purifies the space with a spray can of Old Spice.

Breaking character, Medlyn diverged into stories of his early 20’s in Texas, like writing hot checks at Wal-Mart in the middle of the night while high. The structure of his work is very closely tied to that of performance artist Ann Liv Young. They both share a love for singing over other people’s songs, using those songs as a story telling means to push along a narrative, and they break into highly confessional personal monologues that implore the audience to feel a close connection to their lives.

Half the performance is based on watching Medlyn be a karaoke king in his own show. His persona is extremely convincing and he’s actually a good rapper. Whether you can get into his topic or not, the story he’s telling through ICP is one of camaraderie and the human need to connect with one another. Aggressive and nihilistic at first the story gives way to transformation and miracles. Faygo showers are given the power to turn energy from negative to positive, clearing away the past to give way to the future, that sounds like a good ol’ baptism to me. What becomes clear by the end is that the carnival is a space to encounter God, to make a choice between good and evil, and to participate in a community. Through the story telling structure of the six Joker Cards, you are lead through a personal and social battle of whether you can judge your moral behavior by the ultimate end point of entry to heaven or hell. ICP has oscillated from confirming and denying the intentionality of their “God message”. Medlyn made it very clear in one of his monologues that he wanted to talk to us about negation that night. Having vaguely encountering ICP culture in high school, Medlyn’s performance creates a safe space at which to be a second hand voyeur of his re-enactments of Juggalo behavior. I was only too thrilled at the real life Juggalos in the house.

Photograph by Paula Court

The Pass It On Project is a documentary film by Melissa Nicolardi and Kalim Armstrong about education, race, and the relevance of the Civil Rights movement in America today. A three-year labor of love, it is finally being screened this weekend through Filmwax. There will also be a Q&A with the featured students, teachers, and filmmakers.

The Pass It On Project will be screened this Saturday, February 4, from 6 – 8 pm at The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, 53 Prospect Park West.

Molly Donahue, formerly of the band Love Story, recorded her first solo album this year, entitled Metal Alvin, which is due out at the end of this month. In addition to this, Molly also has a photo blog where she records her life separated into different segments- namely, “eats,”(food) “out of doors,”(nature) “animalia,”(animal friends) “noir”(spooky landscapes) and “people and places.” Friend, fan, and fellow flower girl, Frances Tulk-Hart, sat down with Molly to discuss the inspiration behind her new project.

Frances Tulk-Hart: Hey Molls, I had so much fun shooting you for your new up and coming album, Metal Alvin. Can you tell us a bit about it starting with the rather obscure name? Where did Metal Alvin come from?

Molly Donahue: I had a blast shooting, too. Metal Alvin just sort of came out of nowhere one night, hanging out with Renn and Jason (Love Story band members) and leaving obscure comments on websites. I guess you could say I used it as a ghost name and it just sort of stuck. I like the way it looks on paper and think it rolls off the tongue nicely. People will hate it or not understand it and that’s okay. Such is life.

Frances: What was the inspiration behind the album?

Molly: I’m at a place right now where I’m really missing the woods and open land and the quiet, and i think that is pretty evident in the songs. Oh, and birds. They make quite a few appearances throughout the album…

Frances: This is your third album, but your first solo album. How was it working on your own as opposed to collabing with  your old band “the love story”?

Molly: The Love Story was pretty magical. We fed off of one another easily and songs just formed out of thin air, no composing required. That’s a pretty special thing and made it really easy to be in a band. It helps that they are two of my dearest friends. But I started out as an extremely shy musician. Still am, actually. My dad was my only audience until I began sending Renn Cassettes via snail mail. This album has been a long time coming. It’s very quiet in comparison to The Love Story, which is on purpose.

Frances: You are also a rad DJ. Which band or singers do you think you have a similar sound to? And where do you play?

Molly: Hmm… Vocal-wise I’ve been compared to everyone from Dolores O’Riordan to Siouxsie. They’re both huge compliments but I don’t hear it at all. I just hear myself. It’s hard to separate yourself from your own voice. And Metal Alvin live? We shall see. I have mind-buckling stage fright.

Frances: If you could have any pop star, dead or alive, over to your house for a dinner party, who would it be?

Molly: Oh man, Kurt Cobain. I was 14 when Nevermind came out. That’s a shape-shifting age. How about I go with the less cliché answer and say Liz Phair. Exile in Guyville is a perfect album, start to finish. Her lyrics are brilliant. and she inspired me to learn to play the guitar.

Frances: If the race for the presidency ended up being between Sarah Palin and Kim Kardashian, who would you vote for?

Molly: Ha! Wow. That’s a nightmare in the making. Politics are so depressing. If I have to choose I say Kim Kardashian. I’d rather the earth be plastered in makeup than covered in an oil slick, though I guess they are essentualy the same thing. Humans can be such monsters!

Frances: And finally, what was your New Year’s resolution? Did you figured one out?

Molly: Just to live long and prosper. Is that a Star Trek quote?

You can buy a CD, download an MP3, or buy a cassette by clicking here (yes, you read right. You can still buy a cassette).
Photos by Frances Tulk-Hart