UnPop

May 21, 2004 8:16 AM

UnPop : Features such menaces to society/artists as Jim Goad and Boyd Rice. Most works of art and site NSFW.
posted by angry modem (10 comments total)

Maybe this is kind of ironic, but:

True psychos stand alone. The only pioneers are those who give voice to the ugliest corridors of their unconscious without fear of censure from any quarter. The acts that ordinary people commit behind closed doors are beyond the ken of any performance artist. Humans' innate weirdness is far more threatening and entertaining than anything the professional shock mavens could conjure.

From The Underground is a Lie.
posted by angry modem at 8:25 AM on May 21, 2004

Actually, that piece is Goad at his best, angrymodem, I was just gonna link to it myself.
posted by jonmc at 8:36 AM on May 21, 2004

Ummm, so the link you have in the comments, is that directed towards the rest of the crap on their site?

You don't shock me. I shudder with boredom at everything you do, from tattooing your dick to chewing on your own poop. Not only have I seen all of your weak gestures before, I've seen them done better.

This is essentially the same angle that Vince McMann (WWF) has capitalized on. Don't be artistic, don't even be creative. Just do all the shit that no one else dares to do because it's too disgusting, perverse, abhorrently juvenile, or nearly illegal, and people will want to see it for those reasons alone.

That's really great that these people are getting intimate with their (very odd) demons, but frankly I'd be more entertained by getting in an argument with a 10-year-old boy about why women are icky and how cool it is to smash frogs on rocks.
posted by zekinskia at 9:36 AM on May 21, 2004

Don't be artistic, don't even be creative. Just do all the shit that no one else dares to do because it's too disgusting, perverse, abhorrently juvenile, or nearly illegal, and people will want to see it for those reasons alone.

Actually, Goad seems to be arguing something else entirely: Give vent to your sickest fantasies, but don't call it art. Cornhole Barbara Bush, but only if you want to. Sketch your astrological chart with your own feces, but only if it feels good. If you want to do something truly radical, kill yourself… the world will be a better place. . He's using some over the top satire to make his point. Sounds more like a dissection of posturers than a hymn to shockiness.
posted by jonmc at 9:40 AM on May 21, 2004

Ok, Jon then:

How about they don't call it art (the link to their photoshops of Hitler with a Macintosh quote and that stupid magician with "Got Cum" is labeled ARTWORKS.)

And how about they kill themselves?


Am I missing something worth seeing on their site? If so please point it out.
posted by zekinskia at 9:47 AM on May 21, 2004

Only Goad's stuff. If for no other reason than to give any sensibilities you may have a much needed shake-up.

The pther guys I can pretty much take or leave, although Boyd Rice is behind this classic quip:

Secular Humanist: One who follows the teachings of Christianity without actually believing in Christ.

Anarchist: Secular Humanist in a leather jacket.
posted by jonmc at 9:54 AM on May 21, 2004

Goad seems driven to slam anything he currently believes is hep, and that's as far he goes. I found through this site the article claiming that pro-sex feminists who put strippers on a pedestal are insane and that strippers (at least those in Portland) are mostly crazy. There are still, however, plenty of feminists who claim that most strippers are from dysfunctional backgrounds. I get the feeling that if hipster feminists hated strippers, however, Goad would be writing an article in which he expressed solidarity with the strippers. That sort of contrarian journalism has a place, but I don't trust the motives of those who constantly deal in it. It's one thing to be so ornery once in a while. It's quite another to be that way all the time.
posted by raysmj at 10:40 AM on May 21, 2004

It's one thing to be so ornery once in a while. It's quite another to be that way all the time.

Fair enough. But he's just so good at it. I think his main motivation is merely shredding pieties. Which, even if they are our pieties, needs to be done just to keep us honest.
posted by jonmc at 10:43 AM on May 21, 2004

Plenty of inconsistencies to be found in the logic here, but Jim Goad doesn't write for logical consistency (except maybe Redneck Manifesto). This is more about sadistic entertainment.
posted by destro at 11:29 AM on May 21, 2004

Jim Goad has a point, but there's never anything more radical than telling your heart. And that doesn't necessarily mean talking about your demons.
posted by pyramid termite at 3:08 PM on May 21, 2004