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Underground
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SISTERS
by Patricia Falguières
Here we are introduced to the work of the uncategorizable Sister Corita Kent through the tale of her rediscovery by another unique artist, Julie Ault, a co-founder of Group Material in New York in 1980. In SISTERS, Patricia Falguières recounts a recent chapter in art history that suggests some reasons for this ineluctable encounter of two major artistic figures: on the one hand, Sister Corita, a nun working in California in the 1950s and ‘60s in a realm somewhere between pop culture, political activism, and religion, and on the other hand Ault, whose artistic, critical and curatorial work constantly raises issues of exhibition, design, and politics.
Falguières is a French historian who teaches at both the École des Hautes Ètudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris and the École des beaux-arts in Bordeaux.
video
Lux & Ivy Favorites
The Cramps
by Archives 4 taxis
Hey, they look like the living dead!” “Don’t panic! I’d rather think of jellyfish.”
Freshly exhumed from the 4 Taxis archive, this excerpt comes from Lux & Ivy Favorites, a videotape devised by the Cramps at the request of 4 Taxis. A pair of VCRs, as useless as the faded pictures they record, display a frenetic series of events compiled from exploitation films, TV shows, and vintage trailers. To some extent, a guided tour of a supply store designed for the likes of Richard Prince, Paul McCarthy, Mike Kelley & Co…. “Most of these films were made in a garage or living room with basic equipment and were shot in no time,” say the Cramps. “B movies are like going into a trance: they’ve got soul, but ask no questions.” The video piece, which lasts 4 hours and 45 minutes in all, was shown in November 1983 at the Sigma Festival in Bordeaux during a 4 Taxis evening, as an appetizer to the issue devoted to Los Angeles.
When everything is fake, it all becomes real. Brr…. Many thanks to “l’oreille d’un sourd”, a.k.a. Philippe Garnier.
In Search of Pop: From Seductive Beat to Global Ecstasy
by Yann Chateigné Tytelman / Florent Mazzoleni
In this e-mail exchange, Yann Chateigné Tytelman and Florent Mazzoleni discuss what are the stakes of “pop culture” today, extending from art and music to criticism. They address the forms it takes, its economy, its geography and its politics right from the birth of worldwide pop, ranging from the USA to Africa and back again, not overlooking the “French situation.”
Mazzoleni is a writer, journalist and photographer whose publications notably include L’Épopée de la musique africaine (Hors Collection, 2008), Disco (Flammarion, 2007), L’odyssée du rock (Hors Collection 2004) and, more recently Les racines du rock (Hors Collection, 2008).
