The "To Die For" September 2008 issue featuring Jordan Dunn.COLLIER SCHORR curates Freeway Balconies, an exhibition entwining film and photography, with performance art and sculpture.
Text Carolyn Brennan
Photography Collier Schorr
Celebrated photographer and i-D contributor Collier Schorr questions America's cultural obsession with celebrity and spectacle in her latest exhibition Freeway Balconies, named in homage of the beat generation's poet laureate Allen Ginsberg. "After reading Allen Ginsberg's poem Fall Of America I had a fantasy," Collier confesses. "Ginsberg is at a gas station in the south and picks up a stranded traveller who thinks he is part of the Black Panther movement, but actually, he is an actor hoping to get to Hollywood. I guess that conflation of identity is at the heart of the exhibition."
In addition to photography, the exhibition will feature a mix of sculpture, installation and video art by nineteen emerging and established art talents, including Bruce Nauman,Yvonne Rainer, Adrian Piper, Richard Prince and Aki Sasamoto amongst others, offering an intimate glimpse into the private lives of those untouchable deities and luminary eccentrics whose status we have elevated above our own.
See Shinique Smith's adoring fan mail to actor Johnny Depp, Sara Gilbert's photos of Leonardo DiCaprio on the cusp of stardom, Matt Saunders' video study of idol worship and Schorr's own seductive photography study that includes an unexpected photo of Brooke Shields sprawled vulnerably across the carpet.
When asked which is her favorite piece Collier pauses, "If I had to choose, it wouldn't be once piece. I think it would have to be the cover photo from the catalague, which the museum made into a T-shirt. It's me in the early '90s sitting on a motorcycle and failing to look like Marlon Brando. Only now do I realise that everyone is cute when they are young." Entertainment weeklies may claim the stars are 'just like us!' but Schorr's exhibit proves our voyeuristic nature for all things star-studded is far from over.
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ART
GOTHIC: DARK GLAMOUR, FIT Museum, New York
An ode to all things vampy and dramatic, Dark Glamour showcases more than 75 gothic inspired designs by fashion's most beloved enfant terribles. See designs by the likes of Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, Anne Demeulemeester, Anna Sui, Olivier Theyskens, Ricardo Tischi, Jun Takahashi, and Yohji Yamamoto theatrically displayed in labyrinths, laboratories and haunted palaces. The exhibition will also explore the old-school goths of the '80s and the Japanese fixation with Gothic Lolitas. CB
ASSUME VIVID ASTRO FOCUS: Absolutely Venomous Accurately Fallacious (Naturally Delicious), Deitch Studios, New York
Assume Vivid Astro Focus has pieced together a wreckage-filled wonderland exploding with neon sculpture, majestic murals and jagged, crumbling installation inspired by New York construction sites. Though the opening night's Demolition Disco has passed, hightail it to this helter-skelter exhibit before it closes. It's sheer and utter chaos on a wonderful scale. CB
CONSTRACTION, Deitch Projects, New York
A follow-up to Nicola Vassell's Substraction, Constraction - curated by i-D contributor Kathy Grayson - seeks to overwhelm the eyes with conceptual patterns of abstraction, showcasing a maze-like tile floor by Tauba Auerbach alongside large-scale paintings and sculptures by the likes of Joe Bradley, Peter Coffin, Xylor Jane, Mitzi Pederson and Ara Peterson. CB
MUSIC
ONEIDA, Preteen Weaponry (Jagjaguwar)Making music together for more than a decade, these avant-garde Brooklyn noise rockers present a record full of distorted build-up layered with churning guitars and atmospheric fuzz. As the first part of a psychedelic triptych entitled Thank Your Parents, Preteen Weaponry consists of three ten minute-plus tracks of experimental (and mostly instrumental) rock that might just eat you alive. CB
BRAZILIAN GIRLS, New York City (Verve Forecast)The Brazilian Girls (who are neither Brazilian nor all-girls) have stirred up sexy third course of quirky electro bossa nova for those who just want to have a good time, all the time. With infectious beats and melodies paired with the seductive purring of Sabina Sciubba in multiple languages, the Girls have crafted a fitting ode to the city that never sleeps. CB
With the mighty Broken Social Scene to back him up, Brendan Canning can pretty much do no wrong on his debut solo release. Featuring guest appearances by Kevin Drew, Justin Peroff, Metric's James Shaw, Stars' Amy Milan, Apostle of Hustle's Lisa Lobsinger and much more, this gorgeous piece of indie rock warrants plenty of play on your stereo. CB
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