Show & Tell 9.0: I don't think we're in Oslo anymore, Toto

What is it that makes metal Black Metal? One much-argued-upon criterion is that it must be Norwegian, but there are now many American Black Metal bands who would care to disagree.

In a purely sonic sense, the general stipulations for Black Metal (as opposed to Thrash, Death, Speed, Grindcore, Doom, etc.) include distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, fast tempos with blast beat drumming, shrieked or growled vocals, and raw or lo-fi recording styles. Even with this set of standards in mind, there is an awful lot of room for diversity among musical styles. This is perhaps why the point of origin becomes important.

Although it grew out of an eclectic European mix of Thrash Metal bands (Venom from England, Bathory from Sweden, and Celtic Frost from Switzerland), the so-called second wave of Black Metal was comprised almost exclusively of Norwegian artists. This coterie of bands was a tight one which championed exclusivity, elitism, and (in more than one unfortunate case) Nationalism to the point of Fascism.

Given this, it shouldn't be a surprise that many a true Norwegian Black Metal fan has a difficult time swallowing the idea of a Black Metal movement in the United States. When American metals bands first began borrowing the term, the backlash was immediate and the refrain simple: "They're all a bunch of Copycats." Accusations of musical thievery were rampant, and even the most eloquent nay-sayers could do little more than argue that Norwegian Black Metal was just somehow "More authentic sounding."

Despite the theory that US musicians just don't have the elusive "je ne sais quoi" to make it happen, there are more than a handful of Americans getting it done. Here are two groups whose music I enjoy: Lurker of Chalice, an obscure and now defunct San Francisco group; and Liturgy, originally just Hunter Hunt-Hendrix and now a 4 piece from Brooklyn, NY. Check out the music below:

Lurker of Chalice



Liturgy

See Jane get pissed....

I just read Stephanie's blog entry from yesterday, and it inspired me to post a famous campaign that always made me furious. Anybody remember this anti-aids/pro-condom advert from the late 1980s?:

I'm sure the Grandma in Stephanie's Fox News story would take exception with the term "dick," but that's not my issue with this campaign. I first saw it when I was in high school on a field trip to Washington D.C. I'm pretty sure we were in Georgetown at a funky shop called Commander Salamander (now unfortunately closed) when I saw this poster on the wall, and it immediately filled me with ire.

Created by the generally forward-thinking Global Protection Corp, this supposedly humorous ad intends to encourage safe heterosexual sex by borrowing the most ubiquitous children's book couple on the planet.  The only problem is that "Jane" is conspicuously missing from the picture. Instead, we have an utterly dehumanized "fox" . . . she has no name, no agency, no personhood, and no narrative purpose other than to be a disease carrying vector and the cause of poor Dick's untimely demise. I was all of 15 when I saw this, and I remember thinking, how is it that a simple stick drawing could make me feel so utterly alienated?

Disappointing on so many levels..... I'd like to get all the "foxes" of the world to unite and launch their own anti-dick campaign. If anyone has any ideas for copy or stick drawings they'd like to share, please do so below.

Show & Tell 8.0: An Exquisite Corpse

Participants in different musical subcultures usually have a distinctive style, and the more underground the culture the more far-out the uniform. In the beginning (late 1980s), Norwegian Black Metal was not about clothes, props, or make-up, but now the image of a long-haired barbarian in leather, spikes, and corpse paint is inextricably linked to the genre.

I imagine the way this came to be is similar to the time Marc Bolan of T. Rex impulsively put glitter on his face before a TV appearance. Soon after that night, everyone was doing it, and the aesthetic of Ziggy Stardust, Gary Glitter, Queen, Slade, and countless others gave shape to what became known as Glam Rock.

I'm certain a story like this exists with Black Metal, but with decidedly less light-hearted results (see below). This narrative, along with some other bigger and more important ones, will be the subject of my project 7. Stay tuned for more Mayhem.....

Darkthrone via

Gaahl from Gorgoroth via

Emperor via

Burzum via

Immortal via

A horse is a horse, of course of course.....

... unless it's a collection of kitchen utensils, that is.

I've always loved horses, and they've appeared in my art for as long as I can remember--crayon scribbles on construction paper to a multi-canvased painting thesis at MICA. Naturally, I have always been a great appreciator of equine art, so I was truly tickled to come across this last week:

While searching for alternative uses for household items (yes, I Googled it . . . out of sheer desperation), I uncovered this article on epundit about a Japanese-American sculptor, Sakaya Ganz. Because she could not bear to throw away depleted household items (she was worried they'd be sad and weep in the trash), Ganz began turning them into a menagerie of three dimensional work. Besides being ecologically responsible, these sculptures are also incredibly beautiful. The Brave Little Toaster would be so proud!

Show & tell 7.0: I'll tell a tale to you

The first fairy tales I ever heard came from an anthology of LPs popular in the 1970s, Let's Pretend: 1 LP, 2 stories (one on side A, one on side B). Although the stories are traditional, the series was re-adapted from a children's radio show created by Nila Mack that aired in the late 1920s through the mid 1950s. My memories of these stories have a strong visual element that no radio broadcast could ever convey. Of course, a story-telling album endeavors to inspire children to use their imagination and picture things for themselves; but the artwork on these record covers is so extraordinary that it informed not only my ideas of the faces and places of these classic fables, it also informed my most basic understanding of form, line, movement, silhouette and color. The artwork for the entire series of 25 records was created by David Chestnutt (a mysterious fellow, though I think his more recent work can be found here). The style is quintessentially psychedelic, calling upon conventions that had already been established by the artists of the Fillmore and Family Dog Productions in California, Push Pin Studios in New York, and the Beatles-associated Dutch design collective helmed by Marijke Koger known as The Fool. Even though these came into my consciousness when I was very young, these illustrations are the center of my grown-up visual ethos .... and that's about the biggest compliment I can muster.