When my show Again, A Time Machine opened on 5 April I broke all records for attendance at a Space Studios event in London. I had another great turn out for the close of the exhibition last night. But then that’s hardly surprising. First off there were readings by Katrina Palmer, Bridget Penney and me. I kicked off with a couple of pieces from old books (Memphis Underground & 69 Things To Do With A Dead Princess), and concluded this section of the evening with my usual headstand reading from Blood Rites of the Bourgeoisie. Katrina read a couple of new stories and a passage from The Dark Object – part of the Semina series I edited for Book Works. Bridget read a long passage from Index – also included in my Semina series.
After that there was music in the courtyard (mostly selected by me although after a couple of hours someone else took over on the tunes front) and a barbecue. There was also plenty of booze. But better yet there were kung fu films inside where we’d had the readings earlier. First off Godfrey Ho’s schlock po-mo classic Scorpion Thunderbolt (1988). Fight and sex scenes featuring b-movie micro-star Richard Harrison are cut fairly randomly into a Hong Kong horror movie that’s been bought off the shelf. Copyright is infringed left, right and centre, on the soundtrack – the most extraordinary example being the use of Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygene for a sex scene in a porno cinema!
We followed this with Jimmy Wang-Yu’s Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976) – another copyright infringing martial arts classic! Aside from a shed load of crazy and entertaining fights, the flick also boasts an uncleared kraut rock soundtrack, making it a truly formidable example of cultural hybridity. Many of those present who were unfamiliar with these movies were truly amazed by what they’d been missing out on…. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see them projected onto the big screen because I was talking to more people than I can remember…. I won’t attempt to list them all but among the more recognisable art world figures I will mention Clunie Reid, Elizabeth Price, Simon Bedwell and Chris Dorley-Brown.
And even those who opted for nosh, booze and chat in the gallery courtyard had a great time – since I’d programmed so many groovy sixties and seventies soul sounds. And of course everyone also had a final chance to take a gander at my fabulous mini-retrospective! Yes it was so great someone stole a piece of work at the opening – not that this was the first time this had happened to me; you’d have to go all the way back to the opening of Desire In Ruins at Transmission Gallery in Glasgow (May 1987) to unearth the initial incident of this type in my art world anti-career! And finally many people were left spaced out at Space – suffering from Stendhal Syndrome after getting to take in some of my visual work!
And while you’re at it don’t forget to check – www.stewarthomesociety.org – you know it makes (no) sense!
Comments
Comment by Binky Aéroglisseur on 2012-05-21 20:17:17 +0000
Yes even you too ( but not Bono…) could win the chance to boogie with a cardboard cut-out of Stu inside a miniature model of his world famous geodesic Stendhal Sin Drome, by answering this simple question . . .
Is it –
A. B. or C. ?
Yes… That’s right. . . Well done. . .
Now just send cash* and/or other valuables*
[non refundable*]
to –
P.O. Box
BM Senior
LONDON
WC1N 3XX
UK
[no correspondence will be entered into… the judges decision is final…
other unspecified terms and conditions may also apply]
Comment by Tim Peters on 2012-05-21 21:04:24 +0000
I get Stendhal Syndrome just from reading this blog!
Comment by C. P. Mordex on 2012-05-21 21:56:15 +0000
Last night and this blog are both a gas!
Comment by Sun Ra on 2012-05-22 14:51:51 +0000
space is the place
Comment by Justin on 2012-05-22 15:36:30 +0000
Art, spoken word, kung fu flix, booze, music and good company. In the future all gallery events will be organised this way!
Comment by Stu Murphy on 2012-05-22 15:56:26 +0000
What was stolen?
Comment by mistertrippy on 2012-05-22 16:31:13 +0000
At Transmission in 1987 someone stole a small sculpture in dayglo pink… and Space someone nicked the only one I had left of my I Love Fine Art T-shirts from the mid-eighties (it was in very good nick too – unworn and I can’t replace it now). If you click on this link and look on the right while scrolling down quite a long way then you’ll see a picture of it: http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/art/shirt.htm
Comment by Porno Roberts on 2012-05-22 18:01:59 +0000
Whoever nicked the shirt must really love what you do – possibly they over value culture!
Comment by Nick Calvi on 2012-05-22 18:26:45 +0000
How come this ended. I thought you’d constructed a time machine so we could travel in time and see it whenever we wanted. I’d have gone before the alleged close if I hadn’t thought this was the case!
Comment by Art World Insider on 2012-05-23 00:50:55 +0000
Clunie Reid is hot!
Comment by Mark Fullerton on 2012-05-23 02:02:06 +0000
Anti-copyright is the only way forward – Godfrey Ho led the charge!
Comment by Vic on 2012-05-23 12:13:53 +0000
Wasn’t Simon Bedwell in Bank?
Comment by Jessica Cornish on 2012-05-23 13:20:53 +0000
I get the Stendhal Syndrome every time I look in the mirror.
Comment by Gary Numan on 2012-05-23 22:32:26 +0000
Oxygene will never sound the same again.
Comment by Rolf Harris on 2012-05-23 23:54:48 +0000
Wang Yu’s Oz flick The Man From Hong Kong is even better than Master of the Flying Guillotine!
Comment by H. Badger on 2012-05-24 16:30:05 +0000
Keep Hackney Crap!
Comment by Space Cadet on 2012-05-24 17:25:01 +0000
Don’t crowd me in!
Comment by Pop Picker on 2012-05-24 19:12:17 +0000
Does Julian Cope talk about Master of the Flying Guillotine in his book on kraut rock?
Comment by Andrew Dwoskin on 2012-05-24 23:21:08 +0000
You don’t say anything about the chemical structure of DNA or revolutionary knitting circles in this blog. Why not?
Comment by mistertrippy on 2012-05-25 13:36:56 +0000
I have mentioned knitting in previous blogs but not sure they are on this site… that may have been when I was blogging at MySpace. I have a brief passage on the chemical structure of DNA in my novel Blood Rites of the Bourgeoisie…
@ Vic – yes Simon Bedwell was in Bank along with Millie Thompson and John Russell.
@ Pop Picker – I haven’t read Julian Cope’s book on kraut rock so I can’t answer your question. I did skim through his book The Modern Antiquarian and that was nonsense.
Comment by Ha-Satan on 2012-06-03 18:51:42 +0000
New reports and vivid tales of abducted women. Other topics are trade and financial exploitation.