Photographer Linda Troeller caught up with Rufus Wainwright last Thursday at Susanne Bartsch & Kenny Kenny’s weekly dance party, Keno 41. According to Michael Musto, Wainwright made the crowd uncomfortable in a good way with his new single, "Going to a Town." Keno 41 happens every Thrusday at 10:30 p.m. at 135 West 41st St., NY NY. This week METRO POP MAGAZINE RELEASE PARTY (featuring fury). Show by London based performance artist La JohnJoseph.
Photographer/gal about town Linda Troeller has done it again. She caught Patti Smith’s late show at the Bowery Ballroom Tuesday night. Patti’s new album, Twelve
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Sometimes life intervenes and we have to get to leave the Chelsea for a while. Last week, we 
were in San Francisco. Since we’re bookworms at heart we were able to hook up with some like minded folks Thursday night. Coincidentally, Kemble Scott, editor of SoMA Literary Review, which published a story by Ed a few years ago, was reading to promote his new book, SoMa. So we headed out to The Rickshaw Shop, a venue primarily known for punk shows. On our way down Market Street—past all the 
homeless people and crack addicts (reminiscent of the bad ol’ days in New York)–we walked by a crowd of people waiting for tickets to see Iggy Pop & The Stooges. We stopped and debated: should we try to get tickets or not? But God only knows how much they would be—a lot, for sure. Ultimately, we decided to go with the less expensive entertainment option.
While we were trying to figure out which way to turn on Fell Street to get to the bar, we ran into a social worker originally from Philadelphia and she helped us out. When we gave
her the address she asked “Are you going to a punk show?” “Do we look like people who go to punk shows?” “No, not really, she replied.” She also warned us that we were not in a safe neighborhood and if the show went too late we should go directly to Market Street and get a cab. Well, we’re from NYC and don’t scare easily.
Once we got to the bar we were surprised to run into Todd Zuniga, editor of Opium Magazine, whom we know from the New York literary scene. Todd told us that he stayed at the Chelsea last fall and he and his friends shot a crazy video here. It’s somewhere in the bowels of youtube.com. We also met a young woman, whose parents almost moved into the Chelsea in the mid-1980s, but decided that they could do better. She remembers staying at the Chelsea briefly when she was 9 years old, in a rundown room with an old refrigerator and a 
hot plate. She likened the experience to something out of “The Shining.”
The readers that night represented an all star line up of the alternative literary scene. Jennifer Blowdryer told about spending the day at the Crematorium, where, apparently, you can rent a little space to display your urn along with mementoes from your life. In choosing a space one must be careful not to get stuck next to the spaces displaying tasteless tchokes (sp) such as porcelain pigs.
Beth Lisick read a story from her book from Manic D Press: back in the 90s, when she lived in a warehouse in the mission district she arrived home from vacation to find that the pipes in the SRO above her had broken and sewage was spilling from above all over her possessions. She freaked out thinking that all of that shit from was from the junkies, etc. living in the SRO—though really, it would have been bad enough if it was Vanderbilt or Whitney shit.
Manuel Jimenez read a story about surfing and getting buffeted around by the waves. To preface his reading he announced that he was the worst reader in the world—generally a mistake to say so even if it’s true—and then self-fulfilled his prophecy by chewing gum as he read, loudly smacking it in the microphone!
Kemble Scott read a story from his book which was about a guy getting his body waxed and trimmed. To illustrate the sound of hair ripping from a body he ripped a file folder in half. Very effective 
sound effect! We bought Scott’s book so we’d have something read on the plane back to New York. It’s about life among the down and out in San Francisco’s infamous South of Market district, and should be of interest to anyone who is drawn to such sketchy places as the Chelsea Hotel. I was flipping through it and came upon a cool part about a place called the Argent Hotel, with floor-to-ceiling windows to provide the ultimate in voyeuristic pleasure. (Readers of this blog are of course aware of our fascination with the concept of the Peek-a-boo bath, but it seems in this regard the Argent may have us beat! Has anybody else stayed there? Let us know.)
Oh, by the way, as it ended up, we didn’t have to brave the bad neighborhood on the way back to our hotel, as Scott and his friends were nice enough to give us a ride—saving us from death, or a worse fate. Thanks Scott.
Rotund comic Stephanie Peters spotted a totally cool—no other way to describe it—gigantic 
psychedelic 3-D album cover of Cream’s immortal “Disraeli Gears” in the window of Dan’s Chelsea Guitars and just had to have it. She was in town from Providence—I think that’s right—for the Last Comic Standing competition.
I was sitting up by the counter in Dan’s, interviewing him for the Chelsea Now article, and shooting the breeze with the regulars, when she walked in with her two-man entourage. “So did you camp out overnight?” I asked. There had been a gaggle of comics, clowns and funny men lounging up and down 23rd street in the freezing cold weather since the afternoon before, hoping for a chance to showcase their tomfoolery for three minutes before a national TV audience.
“No, I had a private interview,” Stephanie said. She was loud and brash—as a comic should be–but seemed like a genuinely nice person.
“How’d it go?” I asked.
“Not so well,” she said. “One of my judges was the comic Ant, and after my first joke he butted in and said, ‘You’re not just going to tell a bunch of fat jokes, are you?’ Can you imagine the nerve of that guy?! All he ever tells are gay jokes!”
“You should have started telling a bunch of really mean gay jokes yourself,” I said.
She ignored me. “What a jerk!” she bellowed. “And it was a good joke too! You wanna hear the joke?”
We all said we did.
“OK, here it is: I’m always trying to lose weight. I’ll try anything. So when they came out with this new diet dog food, I figured why not, I’ll give it a shot. So I ate the stuff for a week, and I didn’t lose any weight. But I found myself really beginning to like the smell of ass!”
Everybody cracked up laughing.
“You see!? Funny, right?!” Stephanie said. “See what I mean?!”
The Disraeli Gears poster, by an artist known as 3-D Bob (a long-haired fellow who turned up the next day, wearing two ties, a black one knotted over a red one), was rather expensive, and Stephanie was undecided as to whether or not she should buy it. Dan drug a bunch more of the 3-D works out of the back: an Allman Brothers “Eat a Peach,” a Miles Davis “Bitches Brew” and a smaller version of the Cream album, to name a few. They were all great, but the Big Cream was by far the most spectacular.
While she was making up her mind, Stephanie entertained us with excerpts from her comedy act. She said that one of the things she would often do on stage was to remark that she was hungry and then extract a cheese sandwich—smashed and heated, almost grilled–from her ample bosom and have a bite. This always went over particularly well when someone from the audience would agree to share the sandwich with her!
Still undecided, Stephanie left the store to walk around for awhile, and then when she came back an hour later she had made up her mind: she would take the big one! — Ed Hamilton
Monday, A
pril 23,
Philip Glass, the Bill Frisell trio, the Clogs, and other perform while experimental gems — including Harry Smith’s "Abstractions" are screened. Jonas Mekas, one of the Film Maker’s Cooperative’s founders will accompany his own films on vocals and with the band Now We Are Here.
Angel Orensanz Center for the Arts, 172 Norfolk St., NY NY
Tuesday, April 24, 6:00, 8:30 & 10:30
Patti Smith will perform three 30-minute concerts which will include acoustic music, spoken word performances, and in-concert surprise shows.
Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, NY NY
Wedn
esday, April 25, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Shin-pei Tsay and Lisa Chamberlain invite one and all to raise a glass to Jane Jacobs on the first anniversary of her passing, April 25, at the White Horse. Darren Walker, VP of the Rockefeller Foundation, and Alex Washburn, the first ever Chief of Urban Design for NYC, will both talk for a few minutes.
White Horse Tavern, Hudson & West 11th St., NY NY
Wedneday, April 25, 7:00 p.m. (refreshments at 6:30 p.m.)
Chelsea Tenant Action Committee Bilingual Housing Forum. Learn how you can protect yourself from landlord harassment and more. Panelists include Benjamin Dulchin (Deputy Director for Neighborhood and Housing Development), Wassim Lone (from the Good Old Lower East Side) and Lauren George (from the Citizens Committee for New York City). Daniel Peckham will also speak.
John Lovejoy Elliott Center, 441 West 26th St., NY NY
Thrusday, April 26, 10:30 p.m.
Susanne Bartsch and Kenny Kenny say goodbye to Tuesday and hello to Thursday with Kino 41. Kino 41 starlets: Amanda Leopore, Lady Fag, Moondust, Furey and Andre J. Cine Sounds & Show: TBD . Life is Like a Movie. Stop by every Thursday for your close up.
135 West 41st, NY NY
Saturday, April 28, 8:00 – 10:00
Patti Smith and Sam Shepherd will take the stage along with spoken-word poet and musician Saul Williams, Nona Appleby (aka Victoria Roberts, cartoonist for The New Yorker), and one or two other surprise guests. Pull up a chair, grab a martini from the bar, sit back, and enjoy the show.
The Bowery Ball Room, 6 Delancey, NY NY
Sunday, April 29, 4:30 p.m. – FREE
Two compositions by Gerald Busby, The Beard Songs and Speak, a saxophone quartet, is being 
performed by an ensemble of students from the Manhattan School of Music. Gerald Busby is best known for his film score for Robert Altman’s "3 Women," which received international critical acclaim and was issued as a DVD in the Criterion Collection of classic films. His dance score for Paul Taylor’s "Runes" has had hundreds of performances since its premier in Paris and was featured on the PBS Great Performances series, Dance in America. It is now available on the Nonesuch label. With playwright Craig Lucas, Busby wrote the opera Orpheus in Love, which premiered in New York at the Circle Repertory Company. Gerald also hosts a radio show, "Collaborations." (Photo of Gerald is by Mia Hanson)
John Stevenson Gallery, 338 West 23rd St., NY NY
If you have an event appropriate for "All Tomorrow’s Parties" send an e-mail to chelblog@yahoo.com
Kate Marie Meyer, a student at the University of Kansas recently wrote a comprehensive paper on the life and career of long time Chelsea resident and printmaker Robert Blackburn. This month marks the four year anniversary of Blackburn’s death and Kate has allowed us to publish an excerpt from her work. (Photo: Robert Blackburn in his workshop.)
We asked Kate why she chose to write about Bob and she explains, "I was given the opportunity to discuss Blackburn as a way to demonstrate the interconnectedness of print culture and print history for my doctoral comprehensive exams. I was given a few questions to pick from, but that option seemed by far the most exciting. His career
connects the Harlem Renaissance, the Arts Students League, U.L.A.E., and the Printmaking Workshop, which, while amazing, is surprisingly typical of printmakers. Their careers seem to cross quite a few paths. I also find the concept of master printer as fellow artistic collaborator to be both significant and frequently overlooked in the consideration of prints from the last 50 years. (Photo: Robert Blackburn, Man with Load, 1936)
I guess the short explanation is that if a person wants to write about why prints are neat and interesting, Bob Blackburn is a great person to talk about. I actually enjoyed writing that essay, and comprehensive exams are usually not much of a picnic!"
Robert Blackbun grew up in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance and the economic hardship of the 1930s. While studying at the Art Students League, Blackburn was frustrated by the division between printing and printmaking, and volunteered to assist his teacher Will Barnet so that he might learn the process of printing lithographs. With this lithographic training, Blackburn emerged as an artist-printer and opened Bob Blackburn’s Printing Workshop in 1948. At the Printmaking Workshop, Blackburn taught classes but also provided space for artists to work together and share ideas. He catered neither to money nor the market, and the Workshop often struggled financially. Regardless of limited commercial recognition, by 1957 Blackburn’s reputation earned him the opportunity to print for Tatyana Grosman as she entered the world of collaborative workshops with the establishment of ULAE. After 1963, Blackburn returned to teaching and serving as the central figure at his Printmaking Workshop. Blackburn’s artistic concerns drive the Workshop’s continued emphasis on teaching and collaboration rather than commercial gain. The Printmaking Workshop investigates printmaking as a medium rather than a commercial opportunity. As a non-profit organization since 1971, the Workshop’s funding and distinctively non-elitist environment attracts a racially diverse audience, particularly younger artists.
Robert Blackburn died in 2003. By 1997 the artist and his assistants had taken steps to secure the Workshop’s future, adapting it to become a program of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts. Additionally, Blackburn donated most of his extensive personal print collection to the Library of Congress, with smaller samplings also given to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Museo del Barrio. The Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop’s mission today attests to its founder’s legacy, committing to “inspiring and fostering an artistic community of racial, ethnic and cultural diversity for the making of fine prints within an environment responsive to exploration, innovation and collaboration; and to promoting the global appreciation and understanding of the fine art print.”
Ron Adams, born 1934, Blackburn, 2002 color lithograph Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, Lawrence Lithography Workshop Archive, 2003.0010
Adams produced Blackburn, at the Lawrence Lithography Workshop under the guidance of master printer Michael Sims. An artist and a printer, Adams trained under master printer Ken Tyler at Gemini G.E.L., worked at Editions Press in San Francisco, then founded his own press, Hand Graphics, Ltd., in New Mexico, which he operated until 1987 when he chose to devote himself to his own art. Blackburn can be seen as a tribute from one master printer to another, who happen to be the only two African American master printers in the country. — Kate Meyer
We’ve written before about how Leonard Cohen’s "Chelsea Hotel #2" is the most covered song on You Tube. However, I’m a big fan of musician Dan Bern and he recently released a new album with his "Chelsea Hotel," song, which has a bit in common with Leonard Cohen’s song. Finally, someone covered Dan’s version. What do you think?
For our interview, Mikkel Astrup wears a futuristic black vinyl track suit. He has two favorite art works in the lobby: the Chelsea Dogs, and Robert Lambert’s painting of the man feeding the chickens. A Samuel Beckett scholar, when Mikkel discusses his discipline, most of what he says is rather hard to follow (which is probably inevitable given the notorious opacity of Beckett), much less transcribe, but I managed to get a bit of it down, hopefully without misrepresenting Mikkel’s thought too egregiously.
I’m from Oslo, Norway and I’m a research fellow at the University of Oslo. I’m working on my PhD. dissertation on Beckett and sickness. My field may be described as Literary Theory, or Cultural Theory. I work with doctors and psychoanalysts, discussing the relationship between literature and health, the arts and medicine. I am also interested in Beckett’s relation to Abstract Expressionism.
Is this your first time at the Chelsea?
Yes. I usually stay with friends when I come to New York, but I thought I’d try the Chelsea this time. I had heard about the Chelsea from some people who had stayed here long ago, and I wanted to see if it was the same as they said it was, with all the creative people. I found that this was still the case. It is exciting, a good place to work, and very central. I have been spending my days doing a lot of writing.
How would you describe the atmosphere of the Chelsea? There is an atmosphere of creative freedom which is permissive, yet discrete. One is not stifled or oppressed here. But at the same time I can blend in and do my work and not be distracted by the festivities. In the lobby I feel like part of the furniture. I can go there when I’m stuck in my work and get unstuck. People here can have a relation that is a sort of non-relation that I find liberating.
What is Beckett’s connection to New York? New York is not directly connected to Beckett. I came here to learn about contemporary art. I’ve been going to museums and galleries and events for two months. I wanted to understand all aspects of the art world, especially the financial situation, the distribution networks, the hype, and the potential pratfalls.
Did Beckett ever stay at the Chelsea? I’m pretty sure he didn’t. He only came to New York one time, to make a movie about perception, Film, with Buster Keaton. He said of the United States: “This place is too weird. I’m going back to Europe.” [Editors Note: Ha!]
What is Beckett’s relation to abstract art? His biographical relation to the Abstract Expressionists is quite boring. He looked at them to learn production strategies that he could transfer to his own writing. Theoretically, they are important to his quest to abstract a language expressing levels of human organization that can’t be perceived directly.
What artists has Beckett influenced? Bruce Nauman, Damien Hirst, and especially Frank Stella. Among Chelsea Hotel residents, I know that Burroughs was very interested in Beckett, though Beckett did not think Burroughs’ work was important.
Could you describe your project?
I’m trying to expand the notion of health beyond that of physical and psychiatric illness. There is also pragmatic illness, which is a reaction to certain forces, and can be brought more to the forefront of the health discourse as a supplement to these other notions. I want to communicate to doctors and psychiatrists that their cure may not be the absolute cure. In some instances, the medical gaze can be replaced by the aesthetic gaze. In my study I employ all of Beckett’s major novels, from Murphy onwards, focusing on three important aspects of his fiction that can be brought to bear on this notion of changing paradigms of illness. These are: his non-progressive teleology, the shifting essence of his characters, and the fact that his characters have their own level of reality which doesn’t intersect with more common levels.
Has anything exciting or interesting happened to you here at the Chelsea? While working late one night in the lobby, I noticed the wide variety of people passing through the doors, and this transformed my way of looking at what is normal. Although I don’t have a very strict theoretical framework as to what constitutes normalcy, my practical view was previously somewhat constricted. It has now been broadened considerably.
Have you encountered any ghosts while you’ve been here?
No, those who encountered them must have been indulging in some illicit substance.
Remember, anything can happen when you celebrate your birthday at the Chelsea Hotel. You may end up kissing Hawk Alfredson’s painting. Let’s hope she didn’t get lipstick stains on it!
Stefan Brecht, who lives in the Village, kept a studio in the Chelsea Hotel throughout the seventies, 
eighties and nineties. He says his first studio was very nice, but his second, on the 10th floor, had a huge hole in the floor. His friends included the avant garde filmmaker Harry Smith, and David Remfry and his wife Caroline Hansberry. (Photo: Stefan & Bob Nichols)
I have a piece on Brecht’s recent two-book party appearing in last week’s The Villager. Debbie and I both went to the reading, an Australian film crew in tow. (They were filming a documentary about the Chelsea Hotel.) The crew had me wired like a stool pigeon for the event, but I don’t think I got anything scandalous, and anyway, unfortunately, I don’t have access to the tapes. But here’s a few choice quotes (scribbled down by hand) on Stefan’s photographs of the 8th Avenue sidewalk that I had to cut out of the final version of the article:
When posed the question of whether of not Brecht’s photos represent a sort of historical record of the time, artist David Remfry—who shared Havana cigars with Brecht in the Chelsea Hotel—says, “No, they’re not a record. The photos are focused on the moment you’re walking over that stretch of pavement. There are not many clues. They could be documents of London or Moscow or anywhere.” 
And Susan Birkenhead, the Broadway lyricist responsible for “Jelly’s Last Jam,” says, “I look down at the sidewalk all the time. I think maybe it’s because I have a dog.” Birkenhead doesn’t think the 8th Avenue sidewalk has changed physically since the eighties, though she does agree with her husband, Jerold Couture, that the sociological character of the neighborhood has certainly changed dramatically.
On the other hand, fiction writer and activist Grace Paley, who has lived in an apartment on 11th Street in the Village since the early 80s, says that when she first moved in there were no trees on her street. While Brecht kept his eyes on the sidewalk, Paley was closely watching another physical aspect 
of the neighborhood. “I always kept my eyes on the trees,” Paley says, considering the presence or absence of trees, and the extent of their growth, to be indicative to the health of a neighborhood. “Back before that they never thought to plant a tree. When I moved in they planted some of the first ones on my street, then they started planting them all over New York.”
Most revealing, however, was poet Robert Nichols remark that the photos reminded him of Australian aboriginal paintings, which, though they look like abstracts, are actually maps of physical and spiritual landscapes recognizable only to someone who has grown up in that culture and that locale. — Ed Hamilton (Photos: Mai Lei checks out the book. Wally Shawn greets a fan.)
