a tribute to zane grey

I recently acquired a very large collection of books by zane grey. among other things, he reminds me how much i love the movie "the third man".

A tribute to Zane Grey

Bang bang, oh I’m a good guy.
Dammit, I’m a bad guy, huh?
Food? Water dammit! That’s what we need, some water.
Kerpow!
Dammit.
You’re such a damn sheriff
about everything.

Plywood Curtains by Jennifer Bolande

I generally like Jennifer Bolande's art work. While the past few years, at least what i've seen, has kinda been on the hit or miss tip for me, I'm always drawn in by her conceptual directions. Love it. Taser F'in Factory. Perfect example is her site-specific Plywood Curtain installations around Los Angeles...Mainly utilizing unused commercial property...I can say as much about the effect as i can about the implied layers of concept, etc. They're beautiful. and apparently will be on view until sometime next year....I spotted the installation at the ICON, and decided to hit up the art reserve site for these images. thanks art reserve...

bigger thanks: http://jbolande.com/

2 notes about preparing things and readymade art...

i spend a great amount of time walking (with my feet). it's a good chance to put things on top of other things, or at least see things that are perfect for things to be put on top of, find things that are perfectly centered for one's own appreciation without the need of things put on top of it.
first, here's some fun google / googly photos from LA artist Corrie Siegel. i love this. reminds me of 2 of my favorite bands ever: fat worm of error and boredoms. it reminds me to put on one of their records. found. prepped. enough said, enjoy.view (much) more here:
http://corriesiegel.blogspot.com/

secondly, me.i'm always the first to say that i'm a terrible photographer. i think i have even started conversations using that line. recently i've realized that the signs surrounding this mentality point in 2 directions:
1.nobody cares.
2.it doesn't matter.

so here we go. this is what i've been up to. i think they're fun and funny. i'll save the discussion on the duchampian approach, recoil, and other bullshit...view (abit) more here:
http://kneeshy.com/kennedyph/

p.s.- corrie siegel is also involved with a fantastic, collectively run art space in LA's chinatown, called Actual Size. it's small!

in search of space...

right! so i just walked down the california pizza oven that is sunset blvd, to vacation vinyl to witness the over-overwhelming white hills, for a free in-store performance (backed up by colt 45's promise of quality). what luck! instead of tears of joy, i should've been shedding some bucks for a performance of this intensity.
i, a former space rock guitarist (see: the mosaic fog...i.e.: you guys remind me of hawkwind), should been better equipped. i mean, their "heads on fire" was rad as fuck, and i guess now i need the self-titled piece from thrill jockey, but live, like this...doors were blown back. pure awesome!

good time for sure, as white hills plowed out heavy, heavy course settings with unabashed, continuous riff obsession, relentless electric swirl, and enough overtly tactful drum fills to smear action moments into oblivion.

they call brooklyn home, and any lines that can be drawn on the level of location sharing contemporaries mark only the best...oneida?...seeing a band like this, unbending under the influence of so many effects, at ground level is always a treat. heavy psych / space rock junkies gotta be up on this, but regardless, check yr calendars for local dates!

it's pretty incredible to see one band save hard rock single handedly. totally taser factory.

white hills online? check it!

phil me up...

i know i'm not the first to use that dumb-ass title. screw it, it's late. anyway, after years of hearing folks cautiously approach the subject of phil collins and genesis with closet-y, speakeasy terms of admiration, it's great to see an influx of out and out phil collins fans.

Norwegian TV show Lydverket came up with some charming footage.



there are many us...but there has always been an equal or greater number of haters...which i can totally tolerate, but it's always been the closet cases that drive me up the wall.

just say it, man. it's fine. see, he looks like some guy i know in real life here.

is/was phil collins not cool? hip-hop artists apparently like him. is there an underlying reason to be ashamed of liking genesis, or the man himself? sure, he seems rather conceded, and not what i would call "warm"...actually, that sounds like me...who knows.
i'm sure this isn't the first time i've put the taser factory torch to mr. collins, and i doubt it'll be the last.

additionally, i am a fan of peter gabriel fronted genesis.

book burning for dummies- from phiffer books

Finally! Book burning made easy...for normal folks, like you and i! That’s right bitches, you don’t have to be a lunatic from Florida (together with Utah and Alaska= the 3 states i can pick openly pick on as a Californian) to blaze some pages.

Seriously, this product by Jen Phiffer of Phiffer books is pretty hot...especially if used to full capacity, which i have had the pleasure of doing. Match book <> Book match, get it?! Simply remove from it's little match box home, and strike the this tiny guy, and voila! fire!

So, in celebration of the 1st amendment, 9/11, and fun, i highly suggest this product! I mean it’s only $12. Might as well join the crowd, or stock up for this time next year. A perfect gift for pyro writers...or just pyros, or just writers.

I’ve thoroughly discussed the possibilities of further research and extended products with Ms. Phiffer, so any idea thieves should feel free to step off.

Order here, and check the other bound products from Phiffer Books. Pretty taser factory stuff.

This is truly fun stuff.

Eat It.

david yow "SOLO" exhibition...closing reception.

recently, i have been impressed, again and again, by the quality of physical/visual artwork presented by folks who have built their notoriety (...and fame? fortune?) through other creative means (i.e.: acting, sound-making, etc.)...

what david yow has brought to the table is absolutely no exception...
{a bit of background>>>extremely energetic frontman for: scratch acid/jesus lizard/qui.}

in august, he opened his first solo exhibition, aptly titled "SOLO", here in los angeles, at echo park's DIY Gallery. it's a collection of visual work cut from a blend of the stuff that many will somehow interpret from his recorded styles and a deeper cutting into a very self contained, internal store...a things-i've-seen / how-i-saw-them type of view.
after digging a bit more, i found that i should've expected this. yow was a hangnail away from a BFA before punk rock hijacked the plane (yes, it is 9/11 weekend). i did recall some poster art here and there, and maybe an album cover or 2...but as a side note, yow has held it down for years doing photo retouching, a skill which pours through in parts of this set.
several pieces here contain subtle digital droplets, and with close (and prompted, for me) examination, the truth is right there in plain view. skin tones may prove to be actual skin tones, fly wings may be actual fly wings, and that other thing was definitely made out of image sections of a wasp, etc.

this is a fucking taser factory collection of solid fulfilling visual work...straight up...paintings...digital works...collaged out action...hanging on walls, and worth a view of your own. however, don't waste any time cuz the exhibition closes this weekend: SATURDAY. SEPT. 11TH!!!

here's some short details:

DIY GAllery
DAVID YOW "SOLO"

1549 West Sunset Boulevard 90026

Los Angeles, CA

Closing Reception September 11 2010
Doors Open @ 7:00 pm...
and long
...
David Yow "SOLO" The works created for this show are rooted in Yow’s personal and psychological history, and feature a broad spectrum of mediums. From acrylic, pencil, charcoal, crayon, hair, bugs, collage, and tar on wood, to line drawings digitally combined with photographic textures, Yow reveals an uncommon artistic perspective.

Alongside the exhibition, drinks will be served on the back patio, Musical performances by Instant Pussy and Stepfather !!

In addition to original works for sale, DIY is offering signed prints of Yow’s poster for an August 2010 Queens of the Stone Age / Eagles of Death Metal fundraising concert for bassist Brian O’Connor, who has cancer. All proceeds from poster sales will go directly to Brian’s medical fund.

THIT...sounds from the fantum jukebox.

about a year ago, goatmother industrial moved out of it's watery grave-type underground workshop beneath bloomington, indiana's russian recording studio....
that seems like a good thing. not that that was a bad thing before, but the action has been go ever since...not that it wasn't before...

screw it! i seem to not be able to write this intro, so here it is!

thit is it!the fantum headress from THIT.

thit is a new-ish addition to the golden glow which emanates from providence-based artist mark rice's ever-sprawling, preter-conglomo art DBA, goatmother industrial...probably one of the most taser factory things on the market.

this sound container is a super fun listen (via myspace for now), and it come decked out with corresponding imagery for each track. a neat package indeed, as many such deals throw-up too much, or fall stupidly short on effort. this is perfect-o, and it effectively relates the art mentality of mr. rice and the goatmother aesthetic. perhaps not in full, as there is ultimately way too much ground to cover there, but this cross section proves to be a fine testament/statement/thing.

so, go jam it out here THIT, and stop by www.goatmother.com to see the big picture or catch some updates on activities.

i recently received my own personal "kevinator" (the title of one of the tracks). i consider myself a lucky motherfucker.my own personal kevinator.

"...did you ever consider randomly murdering dogs? i don't know?"

doraemon lives!

after believing the doraemon solar powered car model had been dead for the past few years, i was proven wrong. doraemon lives!

though a bit weak, with barely enough strength to move itself across the small table (not the big table). this studio is obviously a haven for "green" technology.

i hear that the full scale version has been restored as well!

let's knife!

we like knives.

they like knives.

sean "sci-fi" connery

uhm...movie shit: ok, so i admit, we have netflix. blah, whateva... it's pretty rad in a town where video rental has taken a corporate color to an opaque degree.
it's cool for reasons like this...
i try, and succeed, at finding terrible movies, and recently i've come across a few sean connery fronted sci-fi titles that are simply terrific (terrible and terrific are interchangable terms for me, as many already know).
let's start with 1973's "Zardoz"...... directed by john "Noxzema" boorman, this post-apocalyptic gem has our favorite scotsman running around in a smashingly revealing red leather get-up, chasing after a giant floating stone head. it looks great, but from what i can tell, the story line reads like a bad RPG. incredible!
there are many amazing quotes, many of which have been picked thru the years by outsider sound-making acts..."the gun good...the penis is bad...", etc.

next is "Outland"

, a more discernable low point in the post-Bond career. In 1981, somebody directed this, and actors went along with the idea. the result is a (quite) depressing inter-Sol knock off of "High Noon", which apparently won a Saturn Award...whatever that is. i love it, and that's what i'm trying to convey. my favorite part is when his wife leaves him, and then he talks to peter boyle. i would do the same...great minds think alike.

note: i'm plugging these movies. NOT netflix.