weekend links: offensive band names, #YesAllWomen, Dennis Cooper
Artwork by Barbara Kruger. Image courtesy of LA Weekly.
Punk has always been about offending traditional bourgeois sensibilities, and one of the primary ways to do it has been through the choice of controversial names. In today’s conscientious world, though, you have to worry about not just offending the squares and the pigs, but your fellow scene participants as well. Witness April Aliermo of Hooded Fang and Phèdre taking Polaris Prize nominees Viet Cong to task, along with a number of popular ’80s bands whose names you may or may not have realized were offensive. [exclaim]
Remember #YesAllWomen? Of course you do. And in case you forgot, Rose McGowan, Barbara Kruger, Kathleen Hanna, Kim Gordon, and others are putting on an art show to help jog your memory. Timely, especially with the House voting to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood and everything. #VoteEmOut [LA Weekly]
The Wadsworth Atheneum is America’s oldest art museum in continuous operation. It recently underwent a gorgeous remodeling, arguably setting a new standard for museum renovations. Alas, this is still not reason enough for the vast majority of people to ever visit Hartford, CT, so let’s just enjoy the pictures instead. [The New York Times]
Novelist and Marquis de Sade devotee Dennis Cooper is making a movie. Fans of Georges Bataille, J.K. Huysmans, and Lars von Trier take note. If this interview is any indication, it should be a pretty wild ride. [VICE]
The Man Booker Prize shortlist has been revealed, and it may be the most diverse group of authors selected yet. Not bad, considering three of the five judges are middle-aged white guys. Maybe this is what progress looks like! [The Guardian]
Last but not least, here is an interview with one of the stars of Austin’s punk scene, Orville Bateman Neeley III, the namesake behind local powerhouse the OBN IIIs, member of Bad Sports and James Arthur’s Manhunt, and the man behind the recordings of many bands, including albums from the Strange Boys and the Zoltars. Neeley is a man of few words, so kudos to Tim Stegall for getting him to put some quotes to paper. [Austin Chronicle]
—Sean Redmond