Forest/Trees

I Could Be Your Underworld

November 15, 2019

You know Tommy Genesis, the artist. Or, you think you do. You’ve heard her aggressive, astute, and hyper-sexual rap. You’ve seen her striking face on the cover of her self-titled album. But with viral hits, and the modern music industry’s state of media madness, the scope of an artist is often underestimated. A question I try to ask in interviews is, “do you create in other mediums?” It can be a challenging question, often one too vulnerable for an answer.

Tommy Genesis didn’t need me to ask. Last week in Los Angeles, the day before she was to play at Flog Gnaw, she hosted an intimate night at a gallery in the downtown arts district titled You Could Be My Mainstream, I Could Be Your Underworld, presented by Basic Space. Only her friends were there, observing her other manner of expression—sketchy, loose charcoal drawings, often of headless nude forms. There was a carefulness to the crude style, something delicate and deeply emotional in each piece.

Interview by Anna Zanes
Photos by Alexandra Phillips

And for her first time showing them, she hosted a Q&A, and a very sweet one at that. It felt like a round table of family members, personal, jovial, and I felt especially included, even as an observer. After, we huddled in an alleyway behind the space and spoke for a moment. She was open, and sensitive—as one might be on reading someone their diary. In our discussion, below, I learned much about Tommy Genesis—and I believe that by simply seeing her sketches, you might too.

How do you feel now [that your show is up there]?

I feel good. I was nervous because everyone was like, “Oh don't be nervous, you always perform, you always do shows,” but this is the first time I've ever shown my art.

Do you feel like this is more vulnerable?

I just feel like it's brand new. A new experience. I mean, these are things I make anyways, for myself, and then suddenly having them in a public space outside of my apartment…

It seems personal.

It is very personal, it’s like pretty much all just from my mind, not from looking at anything. Sitting down, drawing. I feel like I tend to draw the same thing over and over again, and it’s very repetitive, but that’s meditative. Its crazy because you could have an art show and put literally anything on the walls, in the space. When I went to art school I took sculpture and film and I still use film a lot, but sculpture, not really… making drawings feels more natural.

Theres more freedom in it, it seems. How do you feel like it relates to your music, is it totally separate?

I think it;s something that I do for myself, that I do really privately. It really doesn't have to do with music, or anyone.

That’s healthy.

It's basically my therapy. A meditation, what I do when I’m alone, and want to check out. It's not for sale because to me these are my kids, they’re just for me. It’s not that they're not good, I love them, but its hard to put them in a public space because they were never meant to be there.

You did have a lot of friends here supporting you.

Yeah. I didn't post it, I just sent invites to friends. But I’m glad you liked it. Art is so subjective sometimes. The aesthetic, and composition… but it feels really good.

Art

Summer of Something Special

November 15, 2019

There are special projects, and then there are ssspecial projects. And here at office, more is more, so we’ll choose ssspecial any day of the week. Essspecially when it comes to Summer of Something Special, a new visual diary by Something Special Studios (the studio makers of ssspecial projects). It’s a mouthful, we know, but we love biting off more than we can chew.

So chow down on this: a photography book with a long list of special guest photographers: Nick Sethi, Julian Klincewicz, Jim Mangan, Renell Medrano, Rebekah Campbell, Amanda Fordyce, Beth Garrabrant, Thibaut Grevet, Jules Muir, Bella Newman, Machine Operated, Jamil Baldwin, and Adam Zhu. Dare we say it? It’s an especially exceptional publication and an energetic documentation of how these 13 creatives spent their summers.

Should you decide to spend $40 on Something Special (as in, this book), all of the proceeds will go to the ACLU. And that’s something––well, you already know.

Text by Savannah Whitmer
Photos courtesy of Something Special Studios

Art

Buy Art, Not Cocaine

The show, which pays homage to LAXART’s location as the site of former legendary recording studio Radio Recorders, brought sound back into the space. And music was a common thread throughout the evening, as Walker and musician Kim Gordon caught up outside before wandering down the street in collective exodus to Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, where the night continued with dinner and drinks.

Proclaiming art as a gateway drug to culture, Walker fittingly donned a shirt all evening that said “BUY ART NOT COCAINE,” and said that he aimed to “reproduce the same effects” that he felt around music as he does with visual art. Gordon, who joked that she didn’t “know much about offices,” agreed that music and art provide “more means of expression.”

Over a dinner of tenderly-dressed romaine lettuce and chicken, notable members of LA’s art world came together to celebrate the gallery and support its mission as a free-thinking space for art.

All of a sudden, about halfway through the meal, a hush fell over the crowd, and the grand space became so silent that the shoe-clacking of a lone guest who dared clomp in midway through was enough to raise eyebrows. The hypnotic silence came courtesy of Zsela, who delivered an otherworldly performance that left guests transfixed. There was nary a cellphone in sight or a whisper as the musician sang her set.

Click through for more photos from the evening’s festivities, which brought together the likes of Henry Taylor, Andru Sisson, Francois Ghebaly, Sayre Gomez, Alex Israel, Mary Kelly, Barbara Kruger, Silke Otto-Knapp, Frances Stark, Mary Weatherford and more.