N-SPHERE a world behind curtains | october 2010 Featuring

Danny Malboeuf

Henry darger

HARMONY KORINE

Luciano Scherer

OUTSIDER ART

Matteo Maculotti N-SPHERE OCTOBER 2010 EDITORIAL TRANQUILIZERS

»Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins.« to tell their stories. The unprofaned You, with flailing arms in puddles of is torn abruptly. Luciano Scherer and rain, with dirty face and ruffled pig- Matteo Maculotti stand in opposite tails, your big eyes shine through corners of the world, Nadir and Ze- ages, your name revolves in waves: nith of innocence and corruption. In- childhood. However frail, however tensely, the lines of odd imagination strong, the inherent innocence (and stretch out recreating the horizons therefore lack of) have stood tall in of artistic endeavors into the realm worlds of incredible wonders and ma- of outsider art, the limit of percep- jestic dreams. tion stretched into past oddities, and weird little towns of weird little The child - an entity in itself, intrinsic forever-and-never grown-up children presence in the lives of yester, a rem- live on in 's dynamic nant of tamed wild beasts, double jewels. sided mirror that looks into itself for all eternity - the child resides in gen- Oh, how sweet the cotton candy erous weirdness. Not the kind, tastes, how bitter after decades, how that you'd tell mommy about cry- fragrant its fading memory. »Grown- ing your little eyes out, but the good ups never understand anything by kind, where princes and prin- themselves, and it is tiresome for cesses live and evil witches appear children to be always and forever ex- in enchanted forests. The weirdness plaining things to them.« that Danny Malboeuf dared depict, through eyes of latter days, through Quotes: eyes of what has been and never Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita. 1955 again return. Inside this world, Henry Antoine de Saint Exupéry. Le Petit vel.thora Darger's pieces would find the path Prince. 1943

| 2 INDEX

october Nox Chains & 2 2010 26 Showcase I 60 Scissors Editorial Luciano Scherer Bittersweet Tranquilizers Brazil Wir, die wir von der Sintflut singen

glass CLOCKWORK eYE 4 showcase 38 Showcase 64 teaser Danny Malboeuf Some Jon Estwards United States Random Thoughts on Canada Outsider Art

stone Hanging 12 showcase 44 Cages The Unreal of Post Childhood Henry Darger Stress United States

moving Nox 20 showcase 48 Showcase II Harmony Korine and Matteo Maculotti the Crippled Cinema Italy

3 | GLASS SHOWCASE Danny Malboeuf

| 4 GLASS SHOWCASE Danny Malboeuf

5 | God girls consistencies contradictions

Name: Music: Much and many genres - Danny Malboeuf except for rap, and school marching Location: bands. North Carolina, United States Currently favourite artists: Occupation: Fernand Khnopff, Arnold Böcklin, Artist Félicien Rops, James Gordon Irving... Definition of personal sphere: Tools of trade: Reflective, reclusive, always Acrylic paint and sable brushes. remembering. Elevating Burne Jones, Current obsessions: and dismissing cezanne. Streetlights, girls in saddle shoes & Artwork in 4 words: knee socks, black hair, cold autumns, God, girls, consistencies, post-dystopian winters. contradictions. Personal temptation: What is inspirational for you: Refer to the answer above, and add Literature: Lovecraft, J.G. Ballard, pizza. William Hope Hodgson, Elizabeth Hough Sechrist.

| 6 photo | Danny Malboeuf. American Golgothic. Courtesy of the artist photo | Danny Malboeuf. Harpy. Detail. Courtesy of the artist photo | Danny Malboeuf. The Child Enthroned. Detail. Courtesy of the artist photo | Danny Malboeuf. Crust of the Sun. Courtesy of the artist photo| 10 | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook photo | Danny Malboeuf. Hyperion. Courtesy of the artist

photo | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook11 | STONE SHOWCASE The Unreal of Henry Darger

| 12 STONE SHOWCASE The Unreal of Henry Darger

13 | »We hate You (Little girls). The Unreal of Henry Darger«

Name: Technique: Henry Darger Collage, painting, writing, pencil and Lived: pen sketching 12th April 1892 – 13th April 1973 Associated with: Location: Naïve Art, Outsider Art, Art brut, Chicago, United States Illustration, Bricolage, Collage Occupation: Obsessions: Hospital janitor and trash collector Little girls, rifles, severed heads, by day, painter and writer by night children games, curls Influences: DIana Daia Elsie Paroubek

| 14 photo | Henry Darger. 18 At Norma Catherine. But wild thunderstorm with cyclone like wind saves them. By James Prinz. 2002 Courtesy of American Folk Art Museum. New York

15 | photo | Henry Darger. 6 Episode 3 Place Not Mentioned. Escape during violent storm, still fighting though persed for long distance By Kiyoko Lerner. 1995 Courtesy of American Folk Art Museum. New York

| 16 We hate you (little girls). Girls, a group of Catholic children liv- turning out to be predictable from With your little curls. ing in a land named Angelina whom the very first pages: children winning are attacked and abused by general and losing battles, arms and legs in- Seven little Catholic Girls, an evil gen- Manley’s troops. jured, battles rendered in saturated eral called Manley, severed heads tones. Both his aesthetic approach and blonde curls, guns and a land I hate your little tits. and naïve narrative invite to a fetish threatened by Glandelinians. Henry I hate your little clits. for surfaces, the Lolita-s simultane- Darger’s body of work has often ously functioning as spectacle and been described in terms of paradox »I must Create a System, or be subjects. and striking dichotomies. An almost enslav'd by another Man's.« In his invisible man by day and painter by manuscript, Darger exposes an up- Although juxtaposing fragments of night, Darger orchestrated a dystop- side down world populated by bod- reality, Darger detaches from any ic universe in a 15143 pages manu- ies without organs. The characters existent framework in creating his script discovered posthumously: In that he portrays, namely the Vivian characters, operating instead in par- the Realms of the Unreal. His book girls, seem to act according to given allel with the societal coda. His tech- renders visible the story of the Vivian patterns of behavior, their actions nique can be termed as bricolage,

title quote: Throbbing Gristle. 1979. We Hate You (Little Girls)

17 | photo | Henry Darger. Untitled (Battle scene during lightning storm. Naked Children with Rifles) By Kiyoko Lerner. 1995 Courtesy of American Folk Art Museum. New York

| 18 questioning and deconstructing wards in the Lincoln County Asylum you little girls« in the manuscript reality by bringing forward a manu- for Feeble-Minded Children with the could therefore be associated with script out of cut-outs and tracings of diagnosis of masturbation or “a heart a castration complex and placed found images. In a naïve manner, he in the wrong place”. Having escaped within a Freudian framework. The nu- creates something new out of seem- his imprisonment at the age of 16, he merous decapitations and Catholic ingly random figments. moved into a small room at Chicago's references would stand as proof for North Side where he lived for the rest a hidden Double gradually exposed I hate your mother too. of his life, until 1973. In the Realms in Darger’s work. However, would an of the Unreal has been afterwards Oedipal analysis suffice for a work In turn, a question arises: how rel- found in his room, thus turning Darg- ultimately based on dissociation in- evant are Henry Darger’s turbulent er into an acclaimed self-taught vi- sofar as the Unreal separates itself childhood and Catholic background sual artist. While analyzing his back- from meaning altogether? for reading into his work? Having lost ground, it can be argued that, to a his mother at childbirth, the young certain extent, significant episodes of Darger spent his early years in a his life surfaced in his artwork. Christian school for boys and after- The apparent pattern of »we hate

text quotes: William Blake. 1804. Jerusalem

19 | MOVING SHOWCASE Harmony korine & the crippled cinema

| 20 MOVING SHOWCASE Harmony korine & the crippled cinema

21 | »Wrecking (Korine) Harmonies«

here are many films nowa- The best example in this case is Gum- days that use the depiction mo, a film that on a level of »disturb- of freaks, street life, sex and ing-ness«, makes films such asMy own drugs as a selling point since private Idaho or Happiness look like a Tit is very easy to take a position that timid nun speaking about anal sex. appeals to the masses and make an emotional film about it, which may On the surface, is ugly, un- not be – in the end – a bad film, but, at pleasant and depressing, but it has its core, just a dishonest one. Amus- an intimate quality, something that ingly enough, these films are either makes the most outlandish of charac- acclaimed or overlooked (by mak- ters convincing. ing a mainstream comedy about sex drugs and freaks even; and the worst For those whom are not familiar with thing is that critics would consider it the storyline, Gummo's plot revolves »unfunny«). However, when a film ap- around a small town (Xenia) – hit by proaches these issues in a more hon- a tornado, three years ago – and its est and disturbing manner, they are inhabitants. Although saying this, I »obnoxious«, »immoral« and so forth. basically reveal nothing since the film was shot without a formalized script Korine's work falls in the »obnox- or a formalized plot, for that matter. ious« category mostly, which is not And while we are given the impres- something entirely new, nor would it sion that we watch an odd documen- be original if it were only that. Nev- tary about a small town that faced ertheless, there is an intimate qual- disaster, the fact is that Xenia is a ity surrounding his films, something fictional town and so are its inhabit- you can't label, can’t work your way ants. And yet, there is something real around it, but yet [if you feel], to in all that outlandishness, that voice, SH A D E whom you feel drawn unto. those gestures, those reactions, in

| 22 other words: the surface, what we »introducing« Werner (Aguirre, der about it. But this doesn't compromise can see for ourselves every day. That Zorn Gottes, Fitzcarraldo, Herz aus the film. The tone is still a contempla- surface is convincing. And here is the Glas) Herzog]. Again, there is no for- tive one, there are sequences of sheer interesting part: most films choose a malized script and the pacing is even beauty playing well by themselves different approach: they either have more contemplative than that from and the plot, even if more concrete an off-the wall character depicted as his previous endeavor. and accessible, is not easy to handle. such from the very beginning, hence Instead of playing with our dark using familiar material to sustain it The film itself doesn't hold a deep corners, this film is playing with our (familiar ideas, fragments of familiar meaning, but it is an honest and dreams and fantasies and the off-the- dialogue, to articulate and bridge heartfelt look at things that most wall moments are here framed in an the gap between the familiar and the people wouldn't be noticing. overall gentle tone. alien), or they start from a character that seems normal and then they re- All in all, Mister Lonely is a welcoming veal his true identity, thus providing »on a level of change of pace, proving that Harmo- the »conspiracy theory« market new ny Korine can shift approaches with- and satisfied customers. Harmony out losing his trademark. Korine doesn't do that, he does not disturbing-ness, label his characters. He does not Two years later, the director resur- judge them, henceforth he does not Gummo makes faced with , which see them as »weirdoes«. Therefore, in marks a return to his early roots with this case, what we first may perceive films such as Gummo. But while Gummo had its as weird becomes familiar. poetic moments, Thrash Humpers is downright nightmarish and horrify- There are some other interest- My own private ing. There is no beginning, there is ing connections: Xenia&Xenius as no end, and while his previous works Zeus&Athena, Athena being the god- Idaho or held an obvious contemplative tone dess of wisdom (in Greek mythology, to counterpart their disturbing side, of course) – wisdom devastated by this one's point seems to make films tornadoes, its seedlings preying their Happiness look such as Mundo Trasho, Multiple Mani- own world(s), anyone? Looking at it, acs or Pink Flamingos look like fairy- this may not seem an implausible like a timid nun tales. scenario. Yet, in some cases the movie can be So what’s up with Gummo, anyways? speaking about quite effective and – depending on the It is not a documentary, although it viewer – a point might emerge. This acts like one, and maybe the same anal sex« film contains only representations, no thing can be said about the actors plot, no rhetoric, no eye-candy visu- too. While some of them are well- Eight years later, Harmony Korine re- als, just the characters themselves, known actors (Chloe Sevigny, Jacob turns with another film called Mister the representations themselves... Reynolds), I think that most of them Lonely. Unlike both Gummo and Ju- were first-timers and remained first- lien, Donkey Boy, Mister Lonely's tone All in all, Harmony Korine's work – timers afterwards, as well. So after is by far not that disturbing. While it even if consisting of only four films which point does the fiction become retains a certain fascination for de- – does a fine job examining aspects a real documentary and the acting picting off-the-wall characters, there that for many people are discomfort- reality? is a childlike touch piercing through- ing and disturbing and there isn’t one out the whole film. We also meet Wer- to be ignored for those whose tastes His next project, Julien, Donkey Boy, ner Herzog again, playing the role of meet movies such as: El topo, Pink however, had a more straightforward Father Umbrillo. Flamingos, Eraserhead, Even Dwarves approach, but this doesn't mean that started small, Begotten and so forth. it entirely became more accessible. It Unlike his previous cinematic endea- still retains a rather bleak tone and vours, here there is a far more acces- photos up & right | Gummo. 1997. the fascination for »freaks«... [and sible plot and a sense of familiarity Courtesy of Harmony Corine

| 24

NOX SHOWCASEI Luciano Scherer

| 26 NOX SHOWCASEI Luciano Scherer

27 | Name: Luciano Scherer Location: sÃo paulo, Brazil OCCUPATION: Visual Artist WEBSITE: flickr.com/incrivel

| 28 photo | Luciano Scherer. Vision. Courtesy of the artist photo | Luciano Scherer. Wolfen. Courtesy of the artist photo | Luciano Scherer. Elephant. Courtesy of the artist photo | Luciano Scherer. Protège-moi. Courtesy of the artist photo | Luciano Scherer. Pope. Courtesy of the artist photo | Luciano Scherer. Pregadores. Courtesy of the artist

| 34 photo | Luciano Scherer. Soul Rescue. Courtesy of the artist

35 | photo | Luciano Scherer. Alchemical Hand. Detail. Courtesy of the artist photo | Luciano Scherer. Esforcartio. Courtesy of the artist CLOCKWORK SHOWCASE random thoughts on outsider art

| 38 CLOCKWORK SHOWCASE random thoughts on outsider art

39 | »Expression transgression outsider art«

Of all the »-isms« of the 20th century, Expression, transgression, outsider art - umbrella term quasi- »Outsider art« interchangeable with art brut or raw Long viewed as simply pathological, art, marginal art, self-taught, visionary symptomatic and therapeutic, the art art, mediumistic art, folk art, contem- of the mentally ill, along with the art of porary folk art, arte naïve, neuve in- the »primitives« and children's art, be- vention - distinguishes itself through came, for the historical avant-garde of its inconsistency and lack of ideologi- the early 20th century, the object of cal or stylistic framework. Within this reassessment and idealization. Radi- article, I will try to outline the major cal anti-traditionalists recognized in problems posed by such a »volatile« it their own ends: the expressive force term, which essentially reflects the of an immediate, pure, spontaneous R ox a n a aesthetic revolution of modernism artistic act, devoid of convention and v a si l e and postmodernism. traditional values. The affinity - be

| 40 photo | Adolf Wölfli. 1910. Irren-Anstalt Band-Hain. Courtesy of the artist tween degeneration or the typical pro- institutions, by individuals with none linked by Hal Foster (critical art his- cess of schizophrenia and the artistic or limited artistic education. torian) to a »misreading« of the art of phenomena can easily be illustrated, mentally ill which informed, however, e.g.: multiple points of views – analytic Since it lacks the stylistic criteria, the avant-garde's need for transgres- cubism or even, tracing back, impres- art brut/outsider art challenges the sion or metaphysical. His main idea is sionism or Cezanne´s studies on light; classical art historical method of pe- that if the avant-garde sought to break no external referentials/self-referential riodisation or the newer geographi- a symbolical order and renounce con- – abstract expressionism; detachment cal approach*. The term essentially ventions, the source of inspiration for – theatre of the absurd, Duchamp; and refers not to any formalistic or ideo- allowing the fostering of these ideals so on. logical traits, defining instead the - the art of the mentally ill, expressed status of the artists. This state not intrinsically the desire of those indi- Perhaps as a legacy of the romantic only increases the difficulties of find- viduals to repair, replace, reinvent a image of the creative genius touched symbolical order, the lost conventions by madness, rethinking the art of the and regain, eventually, the equilibrium psychotic or mentally ill was due to je of the mentally sane. This may imply a growing interest as manifested in that, as a vehicle to provoke and de- such studies: L´art chez les fous (1907 construct art's established spheres – Marcel Réja/Paul Meunier - psychia- and elites, the art of the mentally ill, trist) or the more influential Bildnerei est though brought to mainstream atten- der Geisteskranken (1922 – Hans Prin- tion, was actually obscured. zhorn – psychiatrist and art historian), in parallel with the psychoanalytic ap- un Secondly, its link with the historical proach which sought possible signs avant-garde turned into a backlash of disturbance in artists previously when the notion of avant-garde it- considered sane (Freud´s analyses self was rediscussed in the 50s-60s, on Leonardo and Michelangelo – autre with the dawn of the neo-avantgarde 1910, 1914). A contact with Prinzhorn´s movements. See for instance Leslie study and a tour of the psychiatric Fiedler´s verdict that the avant-garde asylums in Switzerland, where he also was dead, the works of Leonard Mey- encountered the works of Adolf Wölf- non er, Angelo Guglielmi and others. fli, prompted Jean Dubuffet to destroy his previous works and gather in a Finally, outsider art, especially in its personal collection (1945) »brut«, »un- plus folk aspect, has always been existing, civilized« productions, including naïve, as vernacular art alongside the official folk or mentally ill art. Along with An- ing a consensus regarding the defini- art. Mediumistic art goes back to mid dré Breton and other friends, he es- tion of outsider art, but allows to ask 1800s, inheriting the belief in immate- tablished his own Compagnie de l´art ourselves whether the term, under- rial entities. Sometimes, the cathartic brut and organised the first exhibition stood literally, can still be validated in expression is a natural reaction to in 1949, publishing his important text: a world of anti-elitistic cultural plural- one's suffering. L´art brut préféré aux arts culturels. ism, where »anything goes«. Later on, he would consider the brut It is perhaps the modern need of an character as universally defining mod- In addition, there are a few other Other, a stranger to the conventional ern art and develop his style accord- senses in which the term may seem art world, that generated the outsider ingly. ambiguous. Firstly, outsider art was art and the new aesthetic and market (at least until recently) discussed only categories implied. Coined by Roger Cardinal in 1972 through its sustaining role and source as outsider art, the term acquired of inspiration for modern artists (Rous- * but, concerning the historiographical autonomy, a plethora of dedicated seau & Picasso; Wölffli or anonymous problem, a side question arises: could exhibitions, catalogues, monographs artists from the Prinzhorn Collection & outsider art be the subject of a study and evolved into a unequivocal Klee or Dubuffet), since this type of art within the broader history of objects pigeon-hole for anything produced responded to the ideals of immediacy, and images, as proprosed by George outside the art establishment and its rupture, purity etc. This aspect was Kubler in the The Shape of Time?

| 42 photo | August Natterer. 1915. Hexenkopf. Courtesy of the artist HANGING CAGES Post childhood stress

| 44 HANGING CAGES Post childhood stress

45 | »your tiny isolated naïve kingdom«

ome find it difficult to mourn them too. Remember that you’re not over a dead flower. But to only a mere gardener. However, that the truthful naked eye, see- doesn’t mean you got to do whatever ing the petal’s last breath is you want whenever you want. You Sas easy as a walk in the park. Sing hold a high position so, as long as a feeble song for the dear departed you are here, and that is for quite a souls you cannot sculpt anymore and while, entertain the products of your draw thick lines on the blessed retina original recipe fertilizer. Make the as you turn your eyes inside. Black poor worms smile once more in their harps invite you to merge with the miserable lifetime. And hand out stu- sound burnt by sunlight of the dying pid painted ceramic gifts and creepy sky, and take a seat at the head of butterflies under the moon. the table. Assume the office of the lonely gardener and bring forth the That’s how your tiny isolated naïve tools of your justice. kingdom should be run. If you want to be reappointed that is. Pay heed So, may the infants come and play to this free advice I’m giving. I have over the remnants of the soil you no interest in seeing you fail. And tended. They just as well might laugh besides, the family picture would not a little more before dumping their be the same without you, and the nightmares on the concrete walls dressed up children would feel un- of your garden. And do something comfortable without you at their side, about those horrid noises. You should or at least lurking somewhere at the know best how the creatures howl back of the school bus. And the last and squeak as they grow, change thing they need is a karmic get to- b a h a k b skin, develop steel limbs. It hurts gether scheduled in the near future.

| 46 photo | vel.thora. Courtesy of the artist NOX SHOWCASEII MAtteo Maculotti

| 48 NOX SHOWCASEII MAtteo Maculotti

49 | Name: matteo maculotti Location: Milan, Italy OCCUPATION: student CONTACT: matteomac.com

| 50 photo | Matteo Maculotti. The Weight of Time. Courtesy of the artist photo | Matteo Maculotti. The Body is a Cage. Courtesy of the artist photo | Matteo Maculotti. The Twin Brothers. Courtesy of the artist photo | Matteo Maculotti. These Clothes Don't Fit Me Anymore. Courtesy of the artist photo | Matteo Maculotti. Lost Boy III. Courtesy of the artist photo | Matteo Maculotti. Lost Boy III. Courtesy of the artist photo | Matteo Maculotti.The Devil Behind. Courtesy of the artist

| 56 photo | Matteo Maculotti. Wooden Planes. Courtesy of the artist

57 | photo | Matteo Maculotti. An Empty Room. Courtesy of the artist

| 58 photo | Matteo Maculotti. Half A Soul. Courtesy of the artist

59 | CHAIN ZCISSORS

| 60 CHAIN ZCISSORS

61 | vel.thora | bittersweet Diana Daia | Wir, die wir von der Sintflut singen EYE TEASER Jon Estwards Canada

n-sphere magazine ISSN 2068 – 620X Sfere.ro © 2007-2010 all rights reserved. the reproduction of all material presented in the n-sphere is restricted. the photographs and portfolios are property of the respective artists. for editorial matters, please contact the gallery. graphics&layout: diana daia www.in-circles.com words: vel.thora shade bahak b diana daia roxana vasile contact: [email protected]