A comprehensive online archive of all things Genesis p-orridge,arguably one of the most important icons of alternative culture of the latter quarter of the 20th Century and beyond ...
the essays, interviews, music and magick that has given "CONTROL" headaches for 60-some years now.
*bear with me as i correct spelling and fix formatting on some of this older material!
Gen's upcoming events and Misc.upcoming projects...
GENS MISC. UPCOMING PROJECTS:Heartworm Press are publishing “Collected Lyrics and Poems of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge – Volume One 1961 to 1971. Later they will publish Gen's first novel, written in 1969, “Mrs. Askwith”. Other books will follow.
We’re elated to announce that Psychic TV / PTV3 has been confirmed for The Electric Acid Orgy, Jus Oborn‘s curated Roadburn event on Friday, April 19th at the 013venue in Tilburg, Holland.
As founder of groundbreaking industrial band Throbbing Gristle, and leader of hyperdelic rock (i.e. psychedelic – or acid rock) collective Psychedelic TV, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge has been pushing boundaries artistic, aesthetic and otherwise, with an unbridled, unique and utterly fearless vision for decades. Whether it’s Genesis‘ one half of a long-running experiment in pandrogynous body-modification with deceased partner Lady Jaye (heartbreakingly documented in the film The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye), or the latest incarnation of Psychic TV, PTV3, s/he has always been at the forefont of the avant-garde, industrial, psychedelia and even acid house.
Since 2003, Psychic TV / PTV3 has been musically leaning towards expansive, improvised psychedelic freakouts that are a real treat for Genesis Breyer P-Orridge‘s wordplay, as s/he rants and rasps her way around environmental concerns, underpinned by piano-like keyboards and sorrowful violin scores. The psychedelia is largely driven by supreme guitar histrionics from Jeff ‘Bunsen’ Burner, with other members throwing in organ chime, booming bass, and thunderous drums.
Presently motivated by a love of performance and recording, Genesis calls the most current line up, led by drummer Edley O’Dowd (of New York’s legendary rock band Toilet Boys), “The best version of Psychic TV ever.”
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (b. Neil Megson) is a musician and artist whose career began in Hull, England in 1969. She was a founding member of the hugely influential bands Throbbing Gristle (founders of Industrial music) and Psychic TV. In 1993, P-Orridge began the art/life project of becoming a single pandrogynous entity along with her (now late) wife Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge.
The two events are as follows:
Friday Nov 16 ...
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (w/ A. Dilloway) at the 'Sco Opening set by Robert Turman 10pm / Free for Students / $7 Non-Students
Saturday, Nov 17 Lecture by Genesis: "Breaking Sex" Mudd Library 050 (A-Level auditorium) 4pm / Free
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"Pandrogeny is not about gender, it’s about union. The union of opposites. One way to explain the difference is very easy: with transgender people the man might feel that he’s trapped... in a woman’s body, or a woman trapped in a man’s body — whereas in Pandrogeny you’re just trapped in the body. So Pandrogeny is very much about the union of opposites, and, through that reunion, the transcendence of this binary world and this illusory, polarized social system." - Genesis Breyer P-Orridge
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Excerpt from "Breaking Sex," by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge, 2003:
(S/HE IS HER/E)
This is the final war, a jigsaw A war to re-possess your SELF. There is NO gender anymore Only P-Androgeny is divine. Sexuality is a force of nature that cannot be contained. Get up. Stand together in perfecting union, Join and love equally the man and the woman separated at b-earth inside you, Their first cries for justice …PANDROGENY! Re-united as one Identity is your only possession, as a being possessed Re-possess your SELF, Be possessed by YOUR self, Any SELF, every SELF you ever dreamed of, Every SELF you were ever afraid of. GET UP! Stop this war of limitations, STOP IT! Now YOU own yourself. Your own YOU own. Now it’s YOU.
...
We are ultra-genetic terrorists. One man is another man or woman. EVERY MAN AND WOMAN IS A MAN AND WOMAN There is a time and place for everything indecent. Redesign yourself. YOUR SELF. End your social and sexual misery, taste the sweet electricity of PANDROGENY!
“This time around you can be anybody”
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You were in your mother’s womb for forty-nine days an androgyne. Who chose your gender? GOD? Society? Family? Only by YOU ending this separation, Returning to that first pure state can real freedom begin. When all are but one sex, one species. This is not about becoming an Other, This is about returning to a state of perfect union.
DVD release of Marie Losier's BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE-Oct 30
DVD release of Marie Losier's BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE on Oct 30, 2012 by New Yorker Films
STANDARD DVD USA (2012) Color In English Dolby Digital Stereo Run Time: 70 minutes Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Rated: NR Number of discs: 1 NTSC, Region 1
SPECIAL FEATURES: 90 Min of outtakes with Interviews (with Lady Jaye, Orlan, Gibby Haynes, and Sleazy), Special Super-8 footage shot by Bryin Dall (of Thee Majesty), Outtakes (featuring Psychic TV3, Tony Conrad, and Peaches), Theatrical trailer, Short films by Marie Losier, Photo gallery, Downloadable press kit PDF STANDARD DVD AVAILABLE AT: AMAZON.com NETFLIX
To call Genesis Breyer P-Orridge chameleonic would be a misnomer. Rather than changing hues at random and reverting to some originary palette, the artist’s extensive body of work continuously transforms and mutates across unknown territories. Aside from being a founding member of germinal and influential bands Throbbing Gristle,Psychic TV, and Thee Majesty, Genesis’ artistic output from the past four decades consists of video, collage, body modification, sculpture, performance, and experimental writing. Now, for the first time ever, the enigmatic visionary has a solo exhibition in Montreal, thanks to Festival Phénomena—formerly known as Festival Voix d’Amériques. La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse, along with curators Mathieu Beauséjour and Peter Dubé, present The Eyes of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, a kaleidoscopic look at Genesis’ collage and video work. Nightlife.ca spoke with Dubé about this monumental exhibit.
Nightlife.ca:For anyone not initiated into the world of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, what can we expect to see from an artist who's so invested in exploring the unexpected and the unknown? Peter Dubé: Genesis’ work is alchemical in the truest sense; I mean by this, among other things, that it works on its materials and ideas through reduction, combination and transformation. For that reason, people who come to look at the images, collages, and videos will see carefully created zones in which wildly disparate elements of life and culture come together and hybridize: sex and spirituality, media and magick, pop and power. The work goes places that are both visionary and uncomfortable, that inspire and unsettle… And I can’t think of a better reason to come see it.
Genesis was in Montreal in 2003 for a ritual performance at Concordia's VAV. However, this is their first exhibit in Montreal. Has the show been a long time in the making? How did you become involved as co-curator?
The show is the result of one of those happy confluences of opportunity and passion. My partner, Mathieu Beauséjour, who is my co-curator on this project, and I are both big fans of Genesis’ work and have been for years. We’re also both involved with the culture biz and the contemporary art world. So, when we heard that the Phenomena Festival was bringing Genesis and Thee Majesty in to perform, we thought it would be a terrific opportunity to show their artwork at the same time. From the idea to the execution was relatively quick, and everybody we contacted about putting the show together was keen to take part. Also, let me offer a big thank you here to the teams at La Centrale and the Phenomena Fest! Photo: Marie Losier Genesis’ artistic and musical career is expansive. Does this exhibit focus on a particular aspect of their catalogue?
From the beginning, we wanted to focus on the visual art, both collage and video. We chose this body of work partly because Genesis’ production with Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV was the better known area of their creative research, and partly because they were performing at the festival with Thee Majesty, so people would have a chance to experience the music and spoken word stuff first hand. The work in the exhibition covers roughly the last twenty years, and was chosen to be representative, but also because we found specific works especially compelling.
Genesis once said, “Everything for me is research; there’s no finished product, there’s just the research and the curiosity to understand something that I felt.” What kind of challenges did you face incorporating the ephemeral nature inherent to large swaths of their work?
Genesis has often spoken of their work as research, and you’re right – in many ways such a focus can pose issues in putting together a show. In our case, we at least partially sidestepped the difficulties by focusing on work that had a fixed, physical existence and showing those in a traditional exhibition format, which was our idea from the beginning. Our thinking was that looking at these works might operate as an entry point into the artist’s larger practice, might open the doors as it were. After all, if one wants to get on a moving train, one has to do it at one particular spot on the route.
As a fan of Genesis’ oeuvre, particularly their indelible sonic contribution of industrial music, how was it liaising with the artist for this show?
Yes, I am a huge fan of their work and have been since I was a lad, really. I think the most important thing I can say about this experience is that my appreciation and admiration of Genesis is only deeper now that I’ve met them and had a chance to hang out and chat a bit. They are as insightful and serious about their ideas as I suspected, and they are as generous, genuine and easy to talk to as I could have hoped. And they’re so sweet too!
There’s something interesting about this meeting of the more politicized mandate/worldly politics of La Centrale and the alchemical/otherworldly ritual element of Genesis’ work. Is there a way to bridge these two elements? Or perhaps they’re all part of the same parcel?
I think that’s a great question; it opens up so much space for thought. I guess my answer here (given our limitations of space, and that it is such a broad area) is that in some ways I see that division – or binary – as a kind of false one. If you look at the historical record, you’ll find “magick” has often been an oppositional force, a zone of resistance. This holds true from the village witch of premodern times, who operated on the fringes of the “official community” and ensured the continuity of older, frequently less orderly, forms of knowledge to contemporary “chaos” magicians. Magick has traditionally operated in a tense dialectic with hierarchical forms of spiritual practice. It has also tended to be a place in which women, queers and gender-variant people have had prominence. So, in a way it made a lot of sense to us to show this magickal and political work at La Centrale, which has so proud a tradition of feminist thought and practice.
In collaboration with the Festival du nouveau cinéma and Cinéma Excentris, La Centrale is also presenting Marie Losier’s documentary The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye. The film follows Genesis and their late partner, Lady Jaye, as the two undergo plastic surgery procedures in order to look more alike and to become one entity.
The Eyes of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge
October 19—28
La Centrale | 4296 St. Laurent | festivalphenomena.com
By
Carrie Battan
on October 15, 2012 at 09:15 a.m.
Video director Grant Singer (Sky Ferreira's "Everything Is Embarrassing", DIIV's "How Long Have You Known") has made a short film whose cast and crew brings together a sparkly list of names from many corners of the music industry. IRL, as the film is called, tells the tale of "a girl who struggles to piece together the events of the previous night over 24 incandescent hours in New York City," according to Singer. It was written by Patrik Sandberg.
That girl is played by Sky Ferreira; her castmates include Genesis P-Orridge (of Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV), Liza Thorn and Matt Koshak of Starred, DIIV's Colby Hewitt, and photographer Sandy Kim. The film also features Damien Echols of the West Memphis 3. Salem's John Holland and Gatekeeper's Aaron David Ross did the score.
Below, watch the trailer, which packs the always-alluring punch of an indie film about beautiful people despairing in a fictional and seedy underbelly of New York.
CSR173CD (November 2012) Psychic TV | Live At Thee Ritz
Recorded on 6th November 1983, this is the complete, mostly unheard document of Psychic TV’s first ever show as a full live band, after their appearance at The Final Academy, with William S. Burroughs in 1982. Originally issued on vinyl only in 1989 (in an edition of 5000 copies), rare tapes have been found to expand to a full double CD set, with updated sleeve notes and never before seen photos. The classic PTV line-up: Genesis P-Orridge, Alex Fergusson, John Gosling, Peter Christopherson, and Geff Rushton.
Track listing:
Disc 1:
1. Welcome 2. Intro To… 3. …Thee Ritz 4. Roman P. 5. Thee Mad Organist 6. Thee Full Pack 7. Oi You Skinhead
Disc 2:
1. Eleusis 2. Twisted 3. New Will 4. Unclean 5. In Thee Nursery This item does not ship until 12th November. Pre-order now!
Psychic TV / PTV3 is proud to announce our upcoming tour dates in support of our new 12” “Silver Sundown Machine vs. Alien Lightning Meat Machine” to be released by Vanity Case Records on November 1st, 2012!
November 9 - Chop Suey - Seattle, WA November 10 - Rotture - Portland, OR December 7 - Europa - Brooklyn, NY December 14 & 15 - The Uptown - Oakland, CA
Earlier this week it was announced that Throbbing Gristle will release a final double album featuring Desertshore, the group's interpretation of Nico's 1970 album Desertshore, and a second disc called The Final Report. It will be out November 26 on TG's relaunched Industrial label.
"CHRIS & COSEY released the TG records without my consent & have kept all the money. We NEVER quit TG.That is UNTRUE.BOYCOTT their records."
-Genesis's Vocal Tracks were deleted By Chris And Cosey for this forthcoming release.
Join us on September 9 at 2:00 p.m. at MoMA PS1 for the conclusion of the Summer School Master Class taught by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. Genesis will be joined by workshop participants in creating a slow, evolving, ritualized ceremony influenced by Pandrogeny and the Cut-Ups.
...and the feed has been added to the top of this archive page to give you the latest news. There are many false facebook and twitter profiles, here at the archive you will see linked all official communications from Gen!
Genesis B. P-ORRIDGE