Listening to Glenn

At the opening of  « Dressed For Art » at fi:af, Glenn O’Brien arrived with a large bag, from which he pulled out a bullhorn to read some of his poems.

Plain

Give me a plain.

Make it a medium plain.

No, I don’t want anything in it.

You don’t have any medium ?

Only large, extra large,

But don’t fill it up all the way

 Glenn is the only poet who understands the relationship of Fashion and the commercial world. Once I heard he read « Beatnik  Executives », one of my favorites,  inside the Barneys store.

I saw the best minds of my generation

Depressed by lawsuits, dieting, sober, all dressed up,

….

Angelheaded hipsters renegotiating the social contract,

Trying to renegotiate the lease on life

And cool this microwaved world.

Excerpt from « Beatnick Executives », in Soapbox, Imschoot Uitgevers

Besides having been photographed in his pants by Andy Warhol for the cover sleeve of Sticky Fingers, he is the only poet who has been writing on the subject of « How to Be a Man », a philosopher’s take on sartorial subjects that extend unto questions like « the correct insult » or « what to do after death and how to deal with eternity. »

Most poets try to bring you down to make a living, but Glenn provides workable solutions for life:

When I get confused or dismayed or bored I always think : but what if this was an art movie.

In « Toward a More Bohemian Lifestyle », Soapbox, Imschoot Uitgevers

 

A color pencil interpretation of “The Happening”, an oil painting by Jean-Philippe Delhomme echoing Glenn’s reading. 

Philosophy on-the-go-go at Indochine party

Andy and Jean-Michel

I like to think that once upon a time at Indochine people like Warhol or Basquiat were sitting in these very same booths, beneath the banana leaf murals and eat the very same delicious entries. (Althought I don’t know if they were really into eating).

It used to be a place for artists, my friend Glenn told me.

Carine, André, and Anna

Then the artists were joined by the Fashion people, but as he pointed out, nowadays, Art and Fashion are more or less the same.

And it’s true that people who think of one at the exclusion of the other are usually not very funny, or much artistic. This works both ways.

Friday night was Indochine 25th anniversary party and I skipped a philosophy lecture to arrive early.

The charming Nadine, orchestrating the guests.

Some people in amazing costumes were already waiting anxiously outside the tent, and then once inside we queued in front of the stairs into the restaurant where most of the action seemed to happen. At irregular intervals the charming Nadine would appeared from behind the curtains, and with the magnaninous power of a blond goddess saved a few human beings by letting them in.

The tenebrous Lady Fag

Once saved, I elbowed my way to the center of the booming crowded room. But most of the guests were too gorgeous –or too tall, as is the case with some of the superstar drag queens – to be pushed on the side, and I finally had to retreat in the basement bar and dance floor, which some insiders refers to as Under-chine and had not seen open for decades.

Todd’s straw hat state of destruction is far more sophisticated than one would thought.

Casey, one of the best dressed men of the night, was wearing a thrift store $10 suit

The elegant and cool Jean-Marc, hero of the party.

The amazing Sophie-Anne, from Paris.

With a moustache, Hamish revealed an entirely different personality.

Gabi and Adi wearing their own extraordinary designs

I’m not so much of a dance person. I would rather read a book, or talk to someone, so I went up to the go-go dancer poles and asked one of the prettiest go-go girls if it would bother her if we had a little chat while she was working. I had  to shout over what I recognized as an old  B52s tune, without the certainty to be heard. She shooked her head, but it was not clear what the answer was.

From Art, or Fashion, I insisted, what do you think is… It seemed she meant go-go dancing is an Art form, like everything else.

For those who missed the party, a commemorative book has just been published by Rizzoli : Indochine, Stories, Shaken and Stirred. The limited edition available at Indochine even comes with a free set of labelled paper napkins and two pairs of chopsticks.