When at last I saw him
I could not say
Turn away your gaze.
He watched me
and I could not turn away:
held as if blinded by the sight.
I could not say
Turn away your gaze.
He watched me
as he doffed his clothes
from across a city street away
he watched me
with his eyes ablaze
each garment rapidly disposed
his eyes then sought only me
our rooms so separately far
were suddenly close
Then he had nothing on at all
not one stitch
except his eyes so full of zeal
clothed him you might say
with heavenly light
Naked
as he watched me
he seemed to say
I am prepared for you
but you are far away
He watched me
there is no more to say
On June 23, 1962, in Mansfield, Ohio, the brutal murder of two young girls led to the arrest of Jerrell R. Howell, who admitted to the killings after a struggle to force them “to perform oral sodomy.”
After seeing my first Michael Haneke film, I left the theater sick to my stomach. Perhaps this is not the most obvious compliment to pay a director, but there is a visceral effect to Haneke’s work that I would be remiss in not sharing.
Pipilotti Rist is a master at combining environments, imagery, sound, and video to create an alternate reality.
Originally published in
Nicolas Echevarria, Pam Yates, art by James Nares and Tom Otterness, writing by Daisy Zamora, Kathy Acker, Glenn O’Brien, and more.
Work that is just about the technical or conceptual, personal or political, is fine; it meets the world with what’s in fashion. But there’s something else bordering on magic, that brings an artwork home, makes it land and resonate. You can’t really teach that so much as conjure it.
Kara Walker
