avant / garde / under / net / conditions (vormals: perspektive | issue 43 | 2002 )

code.poetry.loop | dada.lodge | experimental.bungees | < mail.art.ocular > | post.dogmatism | surreal.sheets | theory.proxy | visual.tray
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interview

[/] interview (deutsch)
[/] interview (english)

visual

[/] BLAH POETRY (11.34 kb, jpg)
[/] BLAH SCORE (18.13 kb, jpg)
[/] BLAH ZONE (7.39 kb, jpg)
[/] BLAHISM (10.54 kb, jpg)
[/] Dont talk rubbish (21.86 kb, jpg)



- - - - - - - -< data holders >- - - - - - - - |
> anna banana - [canada]
> vittore baroni - [italy]
> blah brothers - [UK]
> susanna lakner - [germany]
> pips dada corporation - [germany]
| - - -< blah brothers >- - - |


/->/ mailartist group (joe decie & jack dada) // fluxus performances u.a.


>> A postal postmodern garden where, all the trees are fake.
>> / interview /
[question-1] :v: [question-2] :v: [question-3]


> [question-1//perspektive]
avant garde sometimes has to live in a kind of farradayic cage to operate from and test its techniques. to observe the established measures and poltitics. mostly its a kind of conspiracy groupi(e)ng. Blah operates and works in a zone called "Blahzone" with its own stamps and with the "Fake Blah Brothers" as a corporate identity. is your Blahzone a kind of autonomous zone in the sense of hakim beys TAZ? what is the advantage to create such an individual zone?

>> [question-1//response]=[joe descie]

Well, firstly "Blahzone" was a kind of tribute to Fluxus zones. I guess I wanted to be a part of the Fluxus movement but, alas, arrived too late. I missed the boat and so I took a train instead. The train was late and when I did get on board I didn't have the money for a ticket. So I de-railed the train of thought as homage to common sense. At the time Blah was first created, Jack (the other Blah Brother) and myself needed an identity. Like Ray Johnson¹s School of Correspondence or Michael Leigh¹s A1 Waste Paper Co. we to wished to be part of the Eternal Network. We also wished for less pretension in the art world. We did what we did. True, we devised rules and manifestos but these could be instantly changed. By creating our own zone, or movement, we could change the rules as we went along. We could send the train up a siding or divert it to a different station. I have made many mistakes in the past where by setting myself bounderies and making bold "anti this and that" statements I have actually damaged my creativity, and backed myself into a corner. With Blah the only steadfast rule is 'create'. And I break that one all the time. I don't live in the Blah Zone, but I could, as could anyone. It's a free, no copyright place. A postal postmodern garden where, all the trees are fake.

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> [question-2//perspektive]
Blahzone creates its own -ism: Blahism. Blah poetry is much like an unfullfilled program. a residuum of a "file not found error". is your art movement - as you call it - the last parody of avantgardism or is it a tribute to our modern code/computer agreement? is your dada reference a lost hint to not add more "blah,blah" to art/history?

>> [question-2//response]=[joe descie]

Blah poetry is poking fun at poetry, but the poets laugh too. It's a tribute to Charles Bukowski's poem 'It Got Away' - although I hadn¹t read that poem when I created Blah. I work on computers, Mac daddy, but not a pimp. I don¹t sell poems. "File not found" is a frequently used statement in First World society. It also can be taken in many ways out of its original context. Text that says "Oh shit" or "We're so pretty, oh so pretty...vacant." It's a warning sign, all too late. It's a laugh.Yes, I feel there is too much talk of art, and not enough art. Pretentious Artspeak only acts to close the doors of the art world to many. Art should be open to all, not just those who know the current buzz words. A lot of bad art is wrapped up in long words, and pretentious drivel and, da-da! it becomes a great masterpiece. It's too elitist.



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> [question-3//perspektive]
mail art as a movement seems to be strongly involved in former avant garde movements as fluxus and neoism. you state that blah was not written by monty cantsin but this could be possible <ok. it's a parody on the reference to having no reference>. name hopping and multiple names are wellknown strategies of avant garde working. is monty cantsin a fellow in arms for you? who should play on this neoist trace - mail art?

>> [question-3//response]=[joe descie]

You gotta smile haven¹t you? We could all learn from losing our known identities. Trouble is there¹s too much ego. Self. Name dropping, body rocking. I¹m as guilty as the next person. In jokes, the In-crowd, are you invited? I used to know Karen Elliot, before she was famous. She¹s changed now. The fame went to her head. Sorry if my words don¹t sound right, I could never write right. Eat garlic and keep an eye out for Wanda. (OEBye Robin)

A lot of the facts are incorrect. His story becomes history. We all want fame and recognition. It would be nice if we could raise a few laughs along the way. Give a little, or a lot, be less selfish and self righteous. Constantly contradicting, documenting, creating, lying, joking, subverting and just sitting watch the world go by, bye, buy, Beuys.



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| - - - - download: .rtf (37.84 kb) - - - - - |

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