The world at my feet

One of the main works in the exhibition “Design and the Elastic Mind” at the MoMA of New York (until 12 May), Victimless Leather, a small jacket made of embryonic stem cells extracted from mice, has died. The artists, Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr, say the work, that was nourished with nutrients by tube, expanded too quickly and occluded its incubation system five weeks after the show opened. So, the poor, little jacket has been killed. It was one of the works created as part of their Tissue Culture & Art Project, promoted by the University of Western Australia in Perth, that unites art and scientific research.

This story reminds me of a scientist who considered himself all-powerful and created a modern Prometheus: both of them met a sticky end.

Photo by wallyg

Many blogs are talking about Charles Manson’s record released under Creative Commons. It’s well-known Manson not only had a sympathy for the Devil but also for the rock stars. He has finally realized his dreams. I presume many people will download this record, evil is always fascinating. But I advise you against doing it. How will you feel when your notebook throws up and does somersaults? What will you do when your iPod starts “frying” every time you pass by a church or a crucifix? Follow my advice. Nowadays, it’s hard to find an exorcist. Now, I hope Evil doesn’t pick on me because I have spiked his guns. I feel a bit strange.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Ja 

Photo by mondopanno

John Holmes, the most famous male porn star of all time, died on 13 March 1988. The Spanish daily El Pais dedicated a commemorative article to the death of this pop icon. Why is John Holmes a pop icon? For a start, I take myself as an example: I have never seen a porn film, but I know John Holmes. He’s a pop icon because has inspired books, songs (like John Holmes by the Italian band Elio e le Storie Tese) and movies like Boogie Nights and Wonderland. At last, a pop icon usually doesn’t have a long and quiet life. He died of Aids at age 44 and had a fairly full life : drug, alcohol, prison and naturally much, much sex.

The El Pais article tells a few little known anecdotes. He was noticed by a photographer standing next to him at a restroom urinal (porn has its talent-scouts as well..) and in his career appeared in gay films too. He was a gigolo, a stripper, a stool pigeon. For his cocaine addiction, that forced him to snort a line every 15 minutes, he started to keep the underworld and was involved in the Wonderland murders. The rest is story, or rather,  is myth. Little wonder that our times have as a myth a man famous only for his penis. After all, the Greeks already venerated a certain Priapus.

The Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has become famous to the general public with The Weather Project at London’s Tate Modern. In 2003, he lit up the Turbine Hall with an artificial sun that “warmed” 2 million visitors. Now he changes element: he will set up four mammoth, free-standing waterfalls around New York harbour, including one under Brooklyn Bridge. The project, sponsored by the U.S. non-profit organisation Public Art Found, will give an illusion of coolness to the hot Big Apple from mid-July to mid- October. But this is not the first time the artist has probed the power of water. In 2005 he installed a waterfall at the Dundee University. Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s The Gates in Central Park drew more than 4 million visitors in 2005, Eliasson’s waterfalls are the artistic dare of 2008.

The mysterious legends about rock have always piqued me. Is Paul McCartney dead or alive? Are the Led Zeppelin a nice bunch of wizards? Is there room for anybody else in the 27 Club ? What can you do about it? I’m a big sucker. So, when I heard The Mars Volta’s last album was born under malefic auspices, a shudder of excitement ran down my spine. Everything begins with the buy of a plate to invoke the spirits, tracked out in Jerusalem by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, The Mars Volta’s guitarist and mind, and given to the front man Cedric Bixler Zavala. Make a sitting today, make one tomorrow, the little devils begin to get annoyed and to play dirty tricks. The recording studio floods, Cedric undergoes an operation, the drummer and “accountant” of the group is fired on the spot following a disastrous investment which dash a bundle. Dulcis in fundo, Omar has a nervous breakdown. So, for defeating the jinx, the band decides to utilize the words of the spirits, tacking on some positive element, for the lyrics of the new album. I won’t buy this album for sure. I repeat it, I’m a damned sucker and I’m afraid the Beetlejuice on duty visit me. But perhaps this story smells more of money than sulphur. Online there is the game “Goliath The Soothsayer”, exclusive for Amazon and in parallel with the worldwide release of the record. Is it  an advertising action or a real foray in the Unreal? Maybe we could ask the Blair witch or Orson Welles and his Martians about that.