Yesterday, I discovered that Melissa Auf Der maur was opening a photo exhibit with Conrad Keely in the East Village.  I swung by last night after work, just before meeting a friend for dinner.  The gallery wasn’t hard to find, nestled on 1st Street just east of 2nd Avenue.  Strangely, I still don’t know its name though it was right next to a brightly-lit gas station (a sure rarity in Greenwich Village).

When I arrived, there was a small group gathered outside, including Melissa herself.  Sipping white wine and talking candidly with her friends, she looked fantastic in riding boots and a blazer.  Wild, curly hair and no makeup, but that woman needs none at all.

The scene inside was lively with a couple dozen or so folks gathered.  The gallery was tiny, no more than ten feet wide.  Conrad Keely’s works were captivating: small blue ballpoint pen works, predominantly of historical noblewomen (real and imagined).

Across the room were Melissa’s photos, organized more like an editorial photo essay than a gallery.  Her works depicted logging scenes, the trees tinted a bloody red.  Yet those shots were intermixed with surreal photographs of men and women in the forest.  The show was touching, both sad and a bit magical.  I most loved the character photographs — she makes her subjects’ skin turn to porcelain.

And of course, on the way out, I smiled and told MADM it was lovely.  Anyone else make it to the opening?

That’s my best attempt at an Onion headline, but truly the picture (again from the Spike “Scream” awards) says it all: the fluorescent tubez have survived the “G.L.O.W.” video shoot intact to comprise a more enduring rock aesthetic!

Also, there was an extra-keyboard dude. He may or may not be Mr. Pooley.

More pictures (from Buzznet user kindofadraag) here.

She casts her eyes upon “the concert poster art scene” and invites us to do likewise.

eBay seller michaels544 can’t seem to decide if his item is significant or not:

[James Iha] had a couple of photographs published in the 1988-89 annual issue of the Loyola undergraduate literary and arts journal Cadence. Like other college lit journals, this one was not really intended for distribution outside the student population, and of course most of the student population couldn’t care less about it anyway…

In the face of such indifference, Cadence continues in operation to this day. Its Geocities website leads with the confusing announcement that “Cadence LVIII is now available!” even though the 1988-89 edition available on eBay says VOLUME LXIII on its cover. I know Geocities is old, but I don’t think it dates to 1983-84.

Via email, British artist JJ Nolan has explained her Zeitgeist “purchase” to HU:

This is a conceptual piece I designed for my BA (Hons) Design course work. I wanted to set myself a realistic brief and heard early last year that the Smashing Pumpkins (a favourite of mine) had announced the title for their forthcoming studio release. I decided to design the cover and a limited edition USB stick for the album and use this as a live brief for my coursework.

I was a little disappointed a few months later when I saw their artwork. It is clear that they wanted to distance themselves from the old Pumpkins image, but I wish they had gone with something more traditional. I think this is why my designs work well with the band.

Alex Boyd is no stranger to our blog archives; the photographer’s beautiful work has been linked here before. However, today his photostream caught my eye with this scan of an article written about “Die Hasenjagd,” a film he created while in school at the University of Glasgow.

“Die Hasenjagd,” released in September 2007, features a soundtrack from former Pumpkin Mike Garson, as well as a contribution of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Le Deux Machina.” The article states that Boyd has contributed artwork for Garson’s solo releases, so the connection is clear.

The film’s content also intrigues me: it is based on a World War II event in northwestern Germany in which Allied forces bombed Celle in Lower Saxony. This resulted in the destruction of a train packed with concentration camp prisoners and their ensuing escape. As the article asserts, there are documented reports of local citizens’ arrests of these prisoners, oft ending in brutality.

According to the article, Boyd seeks to explore the persona and stereotype of the German soldier; to understand the conception of Germany at the time and its self-perpetuation throughout the 20th Century. He states that the film draws artistic inspiration from German art as well as the Smashing Pumpkins — his attempt at reconstructing his own personal perspective of the events in question. Boyd says:

Growing up in Britain, the only Germans I ever encountered were those in War films. They were the only German culture available to me, and I assimilated it without really understanding terrifying concepts like the Holocaust - I built up a false image of Germany… the film is shot in a similar fashion to that of The Smashing Pumpkins’ music video “Thirty-Three,” where the film is made up of thousands of still photographs. “That type of stop-start imagery appealed to me. It is dream-like and was almost surreal.”

Presumably, that surrealism always applies in retrospect, especially in historical events as caustic as this. Notwithstanding, this film has really piqued my interest. See gorgeous stills from the film here and please contribute a comment if you’ve seen this film or know where I can view it myself!

Here is a video of Boyd discussing his film on 07/07/07, coincidentally the original release date of Zeitgeist:

Jack White III (???) and Brendan Benson are back as the Raconteurs, sneaking Consolers of the Lonely onto retail shelves this week.

The “standout” or “only…straight-up bad track” on the new album is “Many Shades of Black”, which would seem to see the Pumpkins’ seven and raise it. Less impressively, the album from White & Co. comes in but one color, a cheery gray. Maybe there truly are many shades of black, but there are totally like seven shades of Zeitgeist.

Here’s a sample of “Many Shades of Black” (courtesy the Detroit News):

Some Chicago bloggers apparently still have a bit of a softspot for the Bollster.

The man who designed the container for The Aeroplane Flies High has posted on his blog some of the “preliminary sketches and snapshots” done for the project.

BONUS: If you are registered at the BlamoNet discussion board, you can also check out these photos - (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) - of a prototype box that made it off the sketchpad, if not into mass production.

Thanks to Bram for the links.

The eye-catching font used on the cover and liner notes of Siamese Dream was a frequent topic of conversation back in the day and rightfully earned a place in the FAQ. The font in those days was best known as “Lansbury” because it was used in the credits of the 1980s CBS TV show Murder, She Wrote starring Angela Lansbury. The font’s official name is Art Gothic and is actually surprisingly old, dating back to 1887 according to this website. To wit, take a gander at this University of Wisconsin “foot ball” ticket from the 1893 season, 100 years before I would purchase my copy of Siamese Dream a few blocks from where this game took place. The Badger 11 won an offense-filled battle 36-30. Woohoo! Football wasn’t for the faint of heart in the 19th century.

(Source: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections)

Thanks to the new sidebar link JJB created to recent eBay auctions for the Smashing Pumpkins, I ran across a handful of interesting signed/numbered silkscreens and lithographs from past tour dates. Hipsters United featured Todd Slater’s Philadelphia print last year - I personally bought once since I went to the shows and it was quite lovely. I thought I’d share a few of my findings. Dibs on the Atlanta poster!

L-R, top to bottom:

Atlanta, GA - Oct. 30-31, 2007 (rescheduled to Nov. 15-16) - buy here or here
Austin, TX - Nov. 2, 2007 (rescheduled to Nov. 13) - buy
Columbus, OH - Oct. 11, 2007 - buy
Columbus, OH - Oct. 11, 2007 - buy
Greensboro, NC - Nov. 8, 2007 - buy
[Billy Corgan] Dallas, TX - Jul. 8, 2005 - buy
[Zwan] New York, NY - Mar. 28, 2003 - buy
Morrison, CO - Sept. 30, 2007 - buy

I remember noticing TheFuturistic stands upon which rested the microphones, keyboards, and electronic drums of Billy Corgan’s 2005 tour. Semi-mysterious blogger Cwan (!) yesterday posted an old article of unknown origin that explains:

Along with himself and his solo band, [Corgan] will be incorporating local metal sculptor Dessa Kirk’s work on stage with him during the performance [at the Vic Theatre]. Kirk specially made 16 vine like pieces for the show, which will grow from the floor to harness the keyboards, and wrap around Corgan’s microphone and mic stand… Corgan and Kirk have actually been fans of each other for quite a while. In the late ’90s, Kirk collected Cadillac scraps and welded them into enormous metallic lilies. Corgan saw them at a gallery show. They eventually met years later at Whole Foods and he told her, “Don’t ever quit making your work.” Kirk believes this happenstance to be kind of profound. “It sounds kind of hokey, but when someone you admire likes your work, you feel like you’re doing the right thing.”

By clicking on “The Stage” at Kirk’s website, you can see some more photos of their collaboration.

Aspirational singer-songwriter Grant Valdes smartly asks if the Smashing Pumpkins are “the last great Romantics”, citing the band’s populism, virtuosity, wild ambition, and…nationalism?

Before you recoil in horror at the idea of a goose-stepping Billy, let me quote Chopin biographer Benita Eisler’s definition that nationalism, for the Romantic, “breathed the poignancy of exile from which a patriot artist… affirmed ties to a violated country.”

Oh, okay, that fits. And I will also nod at this anecdote of Pumpkinheadedness:

I’ll never forget the glee on my friend’s face as he proclaimed, in the middle of an extended Corgan 2007 guitar solo, “Man, I would never accept this shit from anyone else!” I agree with him on principle - there’s too much jamming out there. And yet Corgan’s wild improv held thousands of us transfixed.

They’ve come a long way, baby.

The Smashing Pumpkins have been indubitably tied to fashion - well, at least since Mellon Collie brought financial stability and catapulted them into the Public Eye. But what has impressed me most in the span of their career is the penchant for drama - not simply vain haute couture - that drives their style. They’ve toed the avant-garde line during the Adore and Machina eras with Jean-Paul Gaultier jumpsuits just as dramatically as their fun, costumed tour looks (Jeff Schroeder’s cape, anyone?). The infamous Zero shirt became an icon for moody American teens and the black and white stripes so prevalent last year have started turning up in droves at the Swedish mega-retailer H&M. Let’s hope the mental-ward scrubs Billy Corgan sported last year will never achieve popularity beyond Britney Spears.

But what is this history of this fashion fascination? What is their relationship to cultural couture?

As far back as 1995 and 1996, the Pumpkins worked with Arianne Phillips, a then-barely-known but now Oscar-nominated costume designer. Presumably, Phillips worked with them on their music videos and touring garb as that was her primary focus at the time. In this 1997 article from the New York Times, she explains her perspective on the relationship between fashion and music:

“Getting” a subject’s cultural context, whether it is a portrait she is styling or a character she is defining in a film, is her signature. For instance, she came up with the idea of dressing Ice-T in a policeman’s uniform on the cover of Rolling Stone when his controversial song ”Cop Killer” was released, in 1992.

‘I got disillusioned with fashion for fashion’s sake,” she said. ”The great thing about musicians is, you have an art base to work with. If I work with a new band, I’ll ask for a tape, and they’ll say, ‘Why?’ I’ll say, ‘I’m dressing a band.”

Regardless of the fact that Ice-T now plays a detective on Law & Order: SVU, I would surmise that the cultural contextualization Phillips sought to achieve resonated with the Pumpkins early on. They went on a year after this article was published to perform at the 1998 VH1 Fashion Awards after their music video for Ava Adore received a nod for “Most Stylish Video.” Download their performance of Crestfallen here.

More recently, the band has worked with Elise Overland, who just showed her collection at New York Fashion Week this month. VH1 gave an interview with her recently, in which she discusses her relationship as a designer to the music world — check out that interview here. However, Billy Corgan is not the only band member soliciting designs for the band from Gaultier and famous costume houses, though. The entire band has always been active in the fashion community.

Former guitarist James Iha and designer Anna Sui grew their friendship in the 90’s, with Iha modeling looks for her runway shows and designing t-shirts for her quirky line. Iha, a very public fan of fashion, frequents NYC’s Fashion Week, making numerous appearances at shows for Anna Sui’s collections as well as Benjamin Cho and others. [pictured at left during Fashion Week, Fall 2006]

Former bassist Melissa auf der Maur also follows designers closely. In a fantastic article for W Magazine, auf der Maur explores her love for fashion, reveals how she met the Smashing Pumpkins in 1990, and jokes about cruising local malls’ Sunglass Huts with James Iha on the Machina tour in 2000. Citing Michelle Mason, Arianne Phillips, Zaldy, Olivier Theyskens , and Versace as some of her favorite designers, she too modeled runway fashions for Theyskens and did print modeling for Calvin Klein. She elaborates on her taste in a New York Times Arts Feature - and on her first fashion mentor, Courtney Love:

Ms. Love introduced Ms. Auf der Maur to arena rock, but along the way Ms. Love also opened the door on the world of fashion. Ms. Auf der Maur, who was a thrift-shop devotee who had never worn makeup or tweezed an eyebrow, now wears the clothes of several designers she counts as friends. She even got a taste of the runway in 1999 after the Belgian designer Oliver Theyskens made her a dress she loved, a racy update of a Victorian gown, and asked her to model it in Paris.

“I couldn’t resist,” she said.

The current look on the Smashing Pumpkins tour features Corgan in a floor-length silver frock, emblazoned with varying icons depicting Saturn or the curious “999.” The futuristic look is not surprising to fans, however. We’re used to the theatrics - personally, I think they’re quite fun. In fact, now that I think about it, isn’t the look a kitschy, futuristic Rocket-Music-Video-meets-Machina-Mystery?!

User JRiordan at Netphoria dug up some scarily thorough details about the venue in Austria at which the Pumpkins are performing right now.

Austria’s largest events hall was built between 1954 and 1957 according to plans by the world famous architect Prof. Dr. Roland Rainer. The list of those who have performed in front of several thousand people in the past decades reads like a who-is-who of the international sports, culture and entertainment scene. More than a million people per year visit the event hall on Vogelweidplatz.

This led me to wonder who is this “world famous architect” of whom I have never heard? Well, for those (three) of you (that might be) interested (because you have nothing better to do at work), I dug up a bio:

Roland RAINER (1910-2004)
Austrian architect, urban planner, writer and teacher. He studied architecture (1928–33) at the Technische Universität, Vienna, and then worked from 1937 at the Deutsche Akademie für Städtebau in Berlin. After World War II he began writing books that proposed solutions to urban planning and housing problems. He also established a practice as an independent architect in Vienna, working mainly in the functionalist tradition. During his career he completed more than 50 projects of the most diverse kinds and scale: office buildings, schools, kindergartens, swimming-baths, churches, multi-purpose halls, factories, a radio and television centre and numerous residential buildings including an influential estate of prefabricated detached houses (1954; with Carl Auböck), Vienna, that served as a model for much post-war reconstruction work in Austria. Other well-known examples of his work are his multi-purpose halls: the Stadthalle (1952–8), Vienna, the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle (1962–5), Ludwigshafen am Rhein, and the Stadthalle (1963–4), Bremen, incorporating new construction techniques such as steel suspension and concrete shell roofs. The Puchenau garden city (1964–7) near Linz, also received international recognition. With its houses built round central courts or in terraces, it follows the tradition of the Viennese garden city movement after World War I and is an example of building adapted to the needs of living.

From 1958 to 1961 Rainer was chief urban planner for the city of Vienna, producing the first comprehensive plan for the city in the 20th century. He was also an influential teacher, particularly in his work (1956–80) at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna, where he trained a generation of architects. Of great significance for his teaching was his interest in the vernacular buildings of all countries and periods; he analysed similar types, studying functional order, scale and other elements that characterize them as successful examples of humane architecture. In his 1972 book Livable Environments, Rainer stated that architecture should be integrated with landscape, even subordinated to it, by building with local materials, and making buildings “so unobtrusive that they, in effect, disappear.” Rainer made a significant contribution to the development of Austrian building and architecture after 1945. In 1980 he became president of the Austrian Kunstsenat, a state advisory body.

So, was Rainer the Frank Lloyd Wright of Austria? His design is actually quite pretty and functional; you can purchase a set of stackable chairs for $4200 here, a set of chairs from the Vienna City Hall for an unnamed price here, or an iron-clad minimalist wardrobe for 5,000 Euro here.

The animation artist at Snubby Land released a new work this week to the soundtrack of the Smashing Pumpkins’ Soma. As he answers in the FAQ below, this was also loosely based off of Aldous Huxley’s utopian work. Click the graphic to check out the animation below.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Q: What song is that and who is it by?
A: The song is Soma by Smashing Pumpkins.

Q: Why is it called SOMA HOLIDAY and not Soma?
A: I decided to call it SOMA HOLIDAY instead of Soma because in the book Brave New World the characters take a drug called Soma, and a Soma Holiday is when they take a heap of Soma and pass out and dream about stuff. The movie is the singer from Smashing Pumpkins having a Soma Holiday.

Q: Does it have any metaphorical meanings or is it just random stuff?
A: Well, for the most part it is just random stuff. Just trippy things you might see while on a Soma Holiday.

Q: How long did it take you to create?
It took me around 2 months to make, at 24 frames per second (on doubles) animating about 100-200 frames for days at a time, then taking a break.