FINE, PROBATION FOR SHOCK ARTIST 2 SHOCK ARTISTS ARRAIGNED IN ROXBURY 3 COLEMAN FACES CHARGES ON EXPLOSIVES 4 WHEN SHOCK ART GOES TOO FAR FEAR AND LOATHING IN THE AUDIENCE 5 OFFICIALS, AUDIENCE, BF/VF REACT AS THE SMOKE CLEARS 7 AUDIENCE FLEES EXPLOSIVE PERFORMANCE 9 FINE, PROBATION FOR SHOCK ARTIST ARTS AND FILM FINE, PROBATION FOR SHOCK ARTIST Jim Sullivan, Globe Staff 266 words 16 February 1990 The Boston Globe THIRD 94 English © 1990 New York Times Company. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved. Joe Coleman , the controversial New York-based "shock artist" who performed at the Boston Film/Video Foundation Oct. 29, pleaded guilty yesterday in Roxbury District Court to possession of fireworks and cruelty to animals. He paid a total of $662 in fines and was put on probation for one year. The charge of possession of an inferno machine was dismissed by the Commonwealth. A count of burning of a dwelling was dismissed by the judge, according to Asst. District Attorney Robert Benson, because he saw no "willful or malicious intent." Coleman's wife, Nancy, a co-defendent in the case is in the hospital and could not appear, her attorney said. Her case will be heard June 15. Coleman's act, which is captured on the "Mondo New York" videotape, consisted, in part, of detonating explosives attached to his chest and biting the heads off mice. "The judge said he cannot come into Massachusetts and perform anything related to animals," said Benson. "My understanding was he's not going to perform any 'shock art' in Massachusetts anymore." Asked about Coleman's demeanor, Benson said, "He was very subdued and respectable toward the judge, very humble. He came in a suit and tie." "I think Joe was satisfied with the outcome," said Coleman's lawyer, Peter Fellman. "He admitted to what the show involved and didn't admit to anything he had not done. He was charged with the appropriate offenses and got the appropriate disposition." JFSULL;02/15 NIGRO ;02/16,14:22 COLEMA16 Document bstngb0020011115dm2g004b3 2007 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved. SHOCK ARTISTS ARRAIGNED IN ROXBURY ARTS AND FILM SHOCK ARTISTS ARRAIGNED IN ROXBURY Desiree French, Globe Staff 404 words 29 November 1989 The Boston Globe THIRD 70 English © 1989 New York Times Company. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved. New York-based artist Joe Coleman and his wife, Nancy, yesterday pleaded not guilty to criminal charges stemming from their "shock art" performance at the Boston Film/Video Foundation last month. Their act resulted in about $500 worth of damage and caused the audience to flee in terror. They were arraigned yesterday in Roxbury District Court and are scheduled to return Feb. 15 for either a probable cause hearing or a trial. Last month the Boston Fire Department charged the Colemans with burning a dwelling, possessing an inferno machine -- fireworks that appeared to be a bomb -- and possessing and exploding fireworks. The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has also filed a charge against Joe Coleman for being cruel to animals. During the performance, Coleman, a 34-year-old painter and performance artist, bit the heads off of live mice and ignited fireworks attached to his chest. Nancy, who often works as his assistant, helped set fire to the explosives, which set off building fire alarms and resulted in several hundred dollars worth of damage. Peter Fellman, a Boston attorney representing the Colemans, yesterday said privately that while the arson and possession charges "are serious," he thinks his clients have been "overcharged" by the fire department. In a conversation prior to his arraignment, Coleman said that he thinks the charges infringe on his artistic freedom of expression. "I can't perform right now. It would be foolish to," he stated, adding that the performance he gave in Boston is what he usually does and what he has done for a while. His wife indicated, however, that the charges have not interfered with Coleman's ability to paint. An exhibit of his work, for example, will open tonight in a New York City gallery, the SoHo Arts Center. Four other paintings that are part of a group show are currently on display at the La Luzde Jesus art gallery in Los Angeles. Jeri Rossi, a local freelance promoter who rented the screening space at BF/VF for the Colemans' performance, joined them in court yesterday. She was arraigned two weeks ago in connection with the performance and pleaded not guilty at that time to a charge of disorderly conduct. Rossi is also scheduled to appear back in court on Feb. 15. FRENCH;11/28 LDRISC;11/29,21:42 COLEMA29 Document bstngb0020011116dlbt00okr 2007 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved. COLEMAN FACES CHARGES ON EXPLOSIVES ARTS AND FILM COLEMAN FACES CHARGES ON EXPLOSIVES Desiree French, Globe Staff 369 words 3 November 1989 The Boston Globe THIRD 56 English © 1989 New York Times Company. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved. The Boston Fire Department has filed charges against Joe Coleman , the New York-based artist whose "shock art" performance at the Boston Film/Video Foundation on Sunday resulted in about $500 worth of damage and caused the audience to flee. Coleman, whose performance included biting the heads off live mice and igniting fireworks attached to his chest, has been charged with burning a dwelling, possessing an inferno machine -- in this case "fireworks that appeared to be a bomb" -- and possessing and exploding fireworks. It is not the first time that the 33-year-old painter and performance artist has been charged with unlawful behavior. About a year ago, he was arrested in New York for "knowingly and willfully biting the heads off two live mice," a violation of the city's administrative code. Coleman pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct and was given a conditional discharge. He did not serve time, nor did he pay any fees. Reached in New York yesterday, Coleman refused to comment on the new charges against him. Howard Ferguson, Boston's district fire chief, said that the charges were mailed to Coleman's New York address earlier this week. "If he doesn't show up for a hearing on November 28," he said, "a warrant will be issued for his arrest." Asked whether charges will also be filed against the BF/VF, a nonprofit group that is dedicated to promoting film and video as art forms, Ferguson said, "We probably will. What we're trying to work on is who we should bring the charges against and for what." Anne Marie Stein, executive director of the BF/VF, yesterday expressed surprise at Ferguson's comments. "I've actually gotten an indication of the opposite," she said, referring to reassuring remarks made to her by other officials at the Fire Department this week. The charges against Coleman were filed in Roxbury District Court late Monday by Inspector John Carey and Lt. Paul Crimmins of the fire investigating unit at the Fire Department. FRENCH;11/02 NIGRO ;11/03,09:54 SHOCK03 New York correspondent Joe Treen contributed to thi report. Document bstngb0020011116dlb300n6u 2007 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved. WHEN SHOCK ART GOES TOO FAR FEAR AND LOATHING IN THE AUDIENCE ARTS AND FILM WHEN SHOCK ART GOES TOO FAR FEAR AND LOATHING IN THE AUDIENCE Jim Sullivan, Globe Staff 1,309 words 1 November 1989 The Boston Globe THIRD 75 English © 1989 New York Times Company. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved. article. Back in 1972, Alice Cooper hacked up plastic baby dolls filled with fake blood during the song "Dead Babies" and later was guillotined during "Killer." A roadie proudly held up Cooper's bloody "head" for all to see: The Killer had paid for his crimes. During Cooper's last tour in 1987 his centerpiece was "Chop, Chop, Chop"/"Gail," about a maniac who tracks women named Gail. He hacked up the baby dolls again, "decapitated" a woman and sent the fake blood spurting a good 20 feet into the front rows. He was hanged this time. "We've upped the ante," Cooper chortled to the Globe at the time. "And the pressure of the valves. I'm becoming the Stephen King of rock 'n' roll, which is not a bad place to be." Welcome to the world of shock art, and the mind of one its most noted progenitors. But, of course, shock art didn't begin -- and certainly doesn't end -- with either Alice Cooper or rock 'n' roll. Generally, shock art -- which aims to disturb, provoke and entertain -- is traced back to the late 18th-century French cabaret Theatre du Grand Guignol, which specialized in short plays of violence, murder and rape. According to the Oxford Book of Theatre, the Grand Guignol came to London in a modified form around 1908, and has since come to signify art aiming for macabre and gruesome effect. Its popularity with both underground and mainstream audiences relates to our desire to glimpse the taboo, to experience a forbidden thrill. It asks the question: How much is too much? How far can too far go? In the case of Joe Coleman , whose literally explosive performance at the Boston Film/Video Foundation Sunday sparked the current controversy, "too far" is the operative term. As the fireworks exploded from Coleman's chest, the danger felt real, palpable. The noise was deafening; embers flew into the crowd; smoke filled the room. If Coleman set out to terrify, he hit the bull's-eye. Shock art appears primarily in film and rock 'n' roll, but also in the world of dance and performance art.