Friday, March 30, 2018

Blind Item #8 - Dancing Boy Update

After I clicked "send" on that last update, I immediately had regrets - not because of what I said but because of what I didn't say. I'm talking about that cryptic final paragraph. That's where the bombshell is. As far a certain type of story is concerned, this one could register high on the Richter scale (sorry for the mixed metaphors) - probably in the top three. For people of a certain age, it might be #1.

Maybe, in writing it that way, I was being a little paranoid. After all, should the invitation to the bed-in at the Chateau Marmont be accepted by this person (not the actor, I mean, whose story we all now know), a certain permanent A list entertainer will probably have a bad day, maybe more than one. He's not likely to be happy with us.

Part of the cause for my concerns lies in one of the entertainer's works (with his longtime collaborators) from the 1990s. It teases violence against a person in a particular occupation - the one practiced (in another medium) by that son of the acting family whose real father we all know; the eyes are the giveaway. What's creepy to me is the title of this work, which includes not just a word but a name. Here's hoping it doesn't prove to be prophetic.

But back to the invitee.

As it happens, he is my age, and at roughly the same time I was doing small time kid modeling gigs, and community theater, he - along with other boys our age - was doing videos in a state neighboring his own. These videos were about an alt-sport not involving water, but sometimes practiced in places drained of it.

Then came that fateful year when we were both offered the proverbial part. But while I would end that year nearly famous, he would become actually famous for this one thing. It aired on tv. In fact if you were alive and of a particular age you probably saw it on a specific show.

And while he is credited as an alt-sporter on IMDB, what do you suppose his other role in this production was? Of course, he disrobes less than I did, but by the end of his roughly four minutes of screen time he's at least halfway there.

A note too about the format: obviously it's 16mm (which was at the time the standard for film school gear). I'm guessing that the director, because of his day job,  didn't need to buy or even rent cameras and lenses for the shoot.

Is it all clear now or do I need to s-p-e-l-l it out further (with not dashes but another kind of punctuation)?

PS I dated this person's close friend from teen times - a year or so before that occupational work came out. When they had lived together, in barely legal times, the entertainer when in town would come to the boy's bedroom window. He was jealous of the friend. Maybe I was getting too close to the truth back then.

111 comments:

AvignonVagabond said...

I dont care about "The Dancing Boy". The imagery of the title sickens me and I am sick of this pedo crap.

MontanaMarriott said...

"he one practiced (in another medium) by that son of the acting family whose real father we all know; the eyes are the giveaway." Ronan Farrow, alluding to Frank Sinatra being his biological dad.

Tricia13 said...

Is Ronan Farrow the son(real Father Sinatra?)

sandybrook said...

I definitely think someone is playing Enty with this. I doubt this sees the light of day.

#TEAMGEELJIRE CLASSIC said...

Come back and eat crow when the day comes

GoogleSleuth said...

Enty, are you really receiving enough hits to keep running this tenuous narrative (if you can call it that)? Nothing makes any sense and I’m tired of being part of a focus group.

cheesegrater15 said...

The Ronan Farrow part was the only thing I understood about this.

We're going to need a flow chart for this blind.

Glue said...

Can someone give me a quick synopsis of "dancing boy" and "himmmm's last 87-part blind" he recently posted (j/k i know it didn't have 87 parts to it, but it was a long one, I remember that much). I never read any of the dancing boy blinds, nor himmmm's latest because they are too long and recently I just haven't had the spare time to sit and read them all.

The Woodman said...



Why are any of you complaining? Jeez, look at the stuff he gives us. He's more than entitled to run with whatever he feels like. Don't read it if you don't like it. The title gives you that opportunity. SMDH

Beyond EMF said...

Thanks Kenny. Thought your paths had crossed. Couldn't place you near Chicago when you were young. Pool skating? I know Anthony lived with Adam for a long time, but seems like you may be referring to a friend of his prior. Whoa, see what you mean about the entertainer coming in the window. Yikes.

Unknown said...

Maybe I'm just stupid, but none of this makes sense. I have read it 3 times now, and have only gotten more confused

Sara, Making It Work said...

He's talking about the kid in the REM video. I think someone guessed it in the last blind.
It all comes together now.

Sign Name Below said...

@Glue
I doubt it; not sure at this point who is tracking with the narrative. Full disclosure: I got lost on Day 1 and uncharacteristically decided I didn't care enough to figure it out. Based on comments, we are all equally lost/confused/discoonected/annoyed. So looks like you're on your own. Welcome to the club. 😂

Sara, Making It Work said...

Song is probably What's the Frequency Kenneth. I don't remember and am not looking it up, but IIRC the song was about death threats to some newscaster? Tom Brokaw maybe? Idk

Lucy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sign Name Below said...

Actually it looks like @Sara is staying up to date, and others. They is the smurt group, I is dumb.

Tricia13 said...

I think the death threat may have been to a lawyer(Ronan was is and now does it on TV)
Could it be Dre/Snoop as the 90s collaborators?

Sara, Making It Work said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sign Name Below said...

@Sara I thought the song was Losing My Religion? a phrase used in the Southeast

cheesegrater15 said...

What's the Frequency Kenneth was from a story about Dan Rather. He said some guy high on the bad shit came up to him one day and kept asking "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?!" over and over.

MM39 said...

Definitely REM and Michael Stipe. His talk of spelling it out and using punctuation other than dashes makes me think R.E.M.

Only alt sporter I can think of is Tony Hawk and skateboarding

Sara, Making It Work said...

No it's gotta be Stipe and the video kid (when his blind was posted months ago somebody posted his name), because he was a skateboarder. Plus the clue in the last blind about Rapp singing the REM song. And the spell it out clue.
If they all appear in this movie, they will address the rumor that Stipe raped him.

Sara, Making It Work said...

@sign
LMR from the last installment. He mentions this song as an additional clue to Stipe.
Plus it has his name in it (Ken) and hopes it won't be prophetic. Ie- Stipe won't arrange him to be killed ir whatever.

Tricia13 said...

I hate that damn song

Second Guesser said...

Enough Dancing Boy already. Make it stop. That is all.

Lucy said...

@Glue - himmm's last big blind was about INXS's Live, Baby, Live show at Wimbledon and some crazy-fun times that went on after it. He talked about how much he adored Kim Wild, how much he missed Michael Hutchenche, and even recalled running into Lady Di and her reported lover James Hewitt. A great blind that stirs up some early 90s nostalgia and some awesome behind-the-scenes imagery for anyone who is an INXS fan (which, I am).

Ghost said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lucy said...

@Sara, Making It Work - you rock! Thank you for explaining all this!

Sign Name Below said...

I am lost. Justin Pierce was a skateboarder and popped into my head. No idea if that even fits. This blind made my little headache turn into a full on raging headache. :-( Heading out for Good Friday.

Peace to all.

Sara, Making It Work said...

I am enjoying it. The last ine makes a lot more sense with this added.
I skip anything with reality or teen mom in the first sentence, but don't complain, just keep scrolling....

XRaySpex said...

Is this the kid in the video for It's the End of the World as We Know It? That kid has a skateboard and dances in the empty cabin during the video. Otherwise, I'm lost.

Lucy said...

"He's not likely to be happy with us." perhaps a reference to the REM song, Shiny Happy People?

sandybrook said...

Ginsing or whatever the fuck your name is troll, when I want your opinion about anything I'll ask you directly for it, understand?

atoukzug said...

I'm a little late into the Dancing Boy saga. Is there a playbill for all the characters and roles?

The blinds seem to be written for people with a bit more personal knowledge of the people/events, and leave the rest of us just going< well, that was interesting, but huh?"

Sara, Making It Work said...

That's it, thank you!
For those who missed it last time around.
So DB here is saying that Noah was almost The Dancing Boy himself, so to speak. Then met a similar fate anyway.

Lucy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alli said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alli said...

a certain permanent A list entertainer will probably have a bad day, maybe more than one.

Please don't take a picture?

Unknown said...

This is definitely Michael Stipe, R.E.M and the kid (Noah Ray) in the It's the End of the World as We Know It video. The director and camera format thing give it away. James Herbert who directed the video was Stipe's professor at the University of Georgia thus his ease in getting cameras and gear etc.

The Equalizer said...

It refers to many REM songs.

Music video for skateboarder: "It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)" Watch it on youtube roughly four minutes of screen time, specific show being MTV 90 minutes or the like?

"Bad day" - another REM song

"What's the frequency Kenneth?" About Dan Rather being punched; relates to Ronan.

A dumb idiot said...

Noah Ray, the skateboarder in the video (credited as skateboarder on IMDB)

James Herbert, the director of the video, was a profession of painting and film making at UGA, so would have used the school's 16mm equipment for filming.

Beyond EMF said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lucy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beyond EMF said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lucy said...

I can see how people are getting a bit frustrated with Dancing Boy's mysterious writing because the blinds are obtuse and take brain power, but he is delivering a very powerful message that deserves attention.

I am sitting here stunned if these are in fact about who we are guessing. He was HUGE for those of us who grew up in the 90s.

I am so sorry for these men.

The Equalizer said...

Yep, if this is who I think it is, it's going to be crushing. He was not only a great artist, he was someone people of that age looked up to in a political/social way as well.

Freckles said...

I read and re read, this one is confusing

No One said...

Can someone do a cliffs notes version of these blinds? I've read and re-read them and cannot for the life of me figure out the story(s) as they are written. Thanks in advance!

Anonymous said...

But how do you really feel?

Beyond EMF said...


Very true @Lucy. R.E.M. in their glory were the idols to many. But its obviously long overdue for the truth to be told.

Brilliant work from @Sara, @MM39, @cheesegrater, @Xray, @Dumb Idiot, and @D bag

Glue said...

@Lucy - Thank you! Wow. The last concert I saw of INXS was live baby live! So, I'll have to find some time over the weekend and get caught up on the himmmm story. Now I'm intrigued. Thank you for quicky synopsis. Much appreciated!

Nichole Lafayette said...

Early REM used to be my band. I’m fairly new here. Can someone give me the synopsis of Stipe alleged boy rapist?

Lucy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lucy said...

@Glue - you're welcome! If you were actually at Live, Baby, Live, then you DEFINITELY need to take the time to read the blind! Such a great story about one of the best bands ever!

Anonymous said...

Here's what I gathered from (what I remember of) the DB blinds.

DB is according to popular theory, and pretty much confirmed on his "About Me" on Facebook, a Southern California man named Kenneth Hempel. At one point Kenneth was going to be a child star -- got an agent at 6, but only seemed to book catalog modeling, commercials and maybe bit parts. Until he was 13, when he got cast in a "genre" movie. The director tried to molest him along with the agent, and Ken ran for his life. The film fell apart and he was accused of being on drugs. (as for the film, I have to call bs on some of DB's claims about it. Considering I can't jack-all about it online, and he gave us no clues who the director was or what the film was, I will assume its not the multimillion dollar film he asserts it was, but a low budget regional indie that no one cares about.)

Ken grew up in SoCal, dated some people and had some minor celebrity run-ins as I assume anyone living in that region would. Now he wants to make a film, loosely based on his experiences. A short film. PRobably was called the Little Drumme Boy at one point, but now The Dancing Boy. He claims to have got the support of Taliesin Jaffe and Anthony Rapp in making it, and Jaffe is such a random pull I can only assume he's telling the truth about that.

Ken is not exactly coherent about the structure or plot of the film, so maybe he's working it out as he updates. But it seems to point toward Michael Stipe being a pedo-rapist, using a rather confusing mixed bag of hints culled from various REM songs and videos to spell it out. It seems Ken may know, or at least know the story of, Noah Ray, the boy in "End of the World" video who was raped by Stipe and possibly the video's director, James Herbert, and that will be the subject of his film. (and it makes me think that the "genre director" may have been Herbert, or one of Stipe's filmmaking colleagues, Sandy Stern or Jim McKay,that attempted to molest DB, but I cannot find info on "lost films" of their's).

Okay, so that's the cliff notes version, and of course this is all gossip, rumor and conjecture. Now that we are caught up, let's move on to the next installment of this saga. (Ken, DB, whomever you are -- give us some more info on the director who went after you, please. It may help to start putting pieces into place for us.)

Lucy said...

@Melvin - thank you so very much! Totally helpful!

Unknown said...

@Melvin, thanks much for the summary. Now that people are putting names to the characters, I'd long since lost the thread of who did what when.

Anonymous said...

Yer welcome, Lucy. DB loves him some thick, purple prose, and he loves giving lots of hints that point to people that have nothing to do with his saga, but act as further hints for things he's talking about. Hintception. I just had to prune it away, and. frankly, a lot of you all the did work to help me do that.

Lunchpaillefty said...

Crow makes a tasty dish, if prepared correctly

Lunchpaillefty said...

That and something, something, skateboarding

Kno Won said...

Marinating is key.

Kno Won said...

This whole “bed-in” thing is weird. It also seems completely pointless.
These people aren’t John & Yoko. No one will give it a second glance.

Beyond EMF said...


@Lucy, the CDAN pros are doing an awesome job of decoding the recent DB blinds. I couldn't quite keep up on this one. Yes, he is DB, and lists himself as writer of the story on his FB page. I confused Anthony Rapp for Noah in this blind because he referred to him as the "invitee". DB dated Noah's close friend, who seems to have disclosed to DB of Michael's window visits to Noah.

From the previous blind it is a possibility that Anthony may participate in the film. He was a good friend of mine when I lived in NYC, c. 1991. Losing My Religion had been released, and it was 5 years prior to Rent. Anthony's boyfriend at the time was a very kind soul.

Spacey's reach probably exceeds what we know so far. Stipe was offered Spacey’s role in David Fincher’s ‘Se7en’. Clearly they have a bond.

http://chasingspacey.tumblr.com/post/101995640347/kevin-explains-something-very-important-to-michael

Lunchpaillefty said...

The skater named Gator, became a born again Christian and promptly raped and murdered a teenage girl. That is not some conspiracy-revenge story.

Nichole Lafayette said...

You rock! Thanks for filling in us newbs.

No One said...

Thank you so much Melvin!!!

NancyFromNebraska said...

@sandybrook That was an unnecessarily vile reaction. Please don't do that.

Lucy said...

@Beyond EMF - thank you so much for getting back to me on my original comment. I think I deleted it because I wasn't sure if I was prying too much for your liking, but I certainly appreciate you responding! I have always loved Anthony since seeing him in Adventures In Babysitting and am so glad to hear he's a nice guy in real life. And very, very interesting re: Spacey and Stipe's Se7en connection - I had no idea. I really wonder if all this will eventually come out one day. Spacey did...I can only wonder who might be next.

gauloise said...

I think this is referencing that blind about Stipe abusing the kid from the end of the world as we know it video.

He is a skateboarder (non water alt sport in practiced in drained swimming pools) and in that video he was almost half dressed by the end of the video.

s-p-e-l-l = R.E.M.

the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY

Sara, Making It Work said...

It is devastating to me. The first time this came up, I could dismiss it as conspiracy theory, but more and more mentions breaks my heart.

aanjheni said...

Just a few thoughts on this....

1. I wonder if Mr. Hedge will be funding the short? Didn't they both start submitting blinds to Enty about the same time?

2. Alton Brown directed one of REM's videos...I think the Losing My Religion one. I swear to all that is holy, if he is messed up in any of this shit, I will have a breakdown.

Himmmm, can you tell me, is AB one of the good guys?

asb said...

alton brown from food network???!!!

Anonymous said...

Are you on drugs. Tarsem directed LMR. His style is unmistakable.

Squizgig said...

If you check dbs Facebook friends list you'll find Mr hedge 😉

ModFun said...

It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by R.E.M. Skateboarder Noah Ray
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1130488/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

aanjheni said...

@asb yep Alton "Good Eats" Brown

@Normal ....my bad! It was The One I Love. I should have known better than to rely on memory. I am getting old!

@Squizgig... Good catch! I was wondering if there was a tie-dye.

aanjheni said...

Ugh ...tie-IN

Halloweenie said...

Welp that it's the end of the world as we know it has a definite pedo whiff to it. That kid could have easily been given a shirt to wear, no? And stipe has always done that, is he gay is he not I'm fluid, I'm ambiguous thing that pedos seem to love. James Franco for example and his alleged love of young teen girls. I almost had a brain aneurysm reading his quotes about being a gay man up until actual sex then he's straight. Wtf does that even mean? Shady people stay shady.

Sara, Making It Work said...

Great recap!
Few more points of note:
DB's father was in the industry, but he never pushed him into acting. But his friends and other showbiz types groomed him from a very young age.

Following the attempted molestation on the movie set (a role that he is now saying the Noah kid was up for as well), he was forced by the studio into a mental hospital where he met a young actress going through the same thing (believed to be Amanda Peterson). He got out once he recanted the molestation story and said he was on drugs and suicidal. His shrink believed his story, but put him on psychotropics which he did not take.
In his later teens he became a drug addict and street prostitute in San Francisco.

I hope his short film sheds some light on the people who abused him.

wade-o-potatoface said...

True. They won MTV video of the year in 1991

John Doe said...

I'm trying hard to empathize with Dancing Boy and I just can't bring myself to care. I still have no idea who he is, and I am finding that I don't care anymore. I feel sorry for him, and I wish him well though.

Jojo said...

🤣😂

Jojo said...

So are we supposed to all be waiting for a movie or doc named drummer boy?!? That’s as up to date as I am on this exhausting blind.

Southern Man said...

I went to school with some of the REM guys at UGA. Used to see them for free or a $1. Sometimes 40-50 people at a show. And yes, I knew right away they would be huge.

All I know from personal experience is that MM and BB are good, solid guys. Can't comment on the other two, no personal knowledge of their character. Always heard lots of weird things about MS though. He's a very strange guy.



Sher said...

I am not following some things/not getting it.

What is a 'bed-in"?
Why would the Chateau Marmont let people do it (whatever it is) when they come with a "throng of media"? (even in a script)

And finally...
Who is this referencing? (from yesterday's BI)

" don't know if he (as in another person referenced in a blind item a few months ago, and in some way connected with the content of this update) will go through with it, but if we are joined midway through the scene in question by him, it could suggest that a longstanding rumor is true."

I am confused as to who the invitees to the bed-in are. Good guys? Bad guys? 3 people? More? It reads to me as though the scene is going to write itself and we will all be surprised if some person shows up in it, including Dancing Boy himself. ???? That can't be right.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can make sense of this for me!

Sara, Making It Work said...

Nice find!

paulfooff said...

There were rumors about Michael Stipe for years online. If you look through old Data Lounge postings you'll find pretty much all of the stuff that gets posted on here. I'm somewhat reluctant to put much stock in it. It seems like a lot of people have an irrational hatred towards him.

Considering that Jonathan Rhys Myers career has not been going well as of late, I don't see why he wouldn't spill beans at this point.

Noah Ray is in his own band. He seems to like the fact he was in REM videos, even though he likes heavier music.

Maybe they signed NDAs, but the more I read about these Stipe allegations the more it seems like there is nothing there. Stipe is also an openly "queer" artist who is politically active. He's not exactly someone like Spacey or Singer who likes to hide.

Most of these rumors began when Stipe was more relevant in music, which some people hated. If he did any of these things I hope it does come to light, but I can't help but think a lot of people hate him for dumb reasons and are latching on to old rumors from other people who didn't like him very much.

Teaching in the trenches said...

ThIs FREAKING SITE KEEPS CRASHING!!! Dammit!
Not going to lie, The DB blinds are confusing, to me.
I do know a few “Alt Athletes” who rode around empty pools:

Mat Hoffman BMX Freestyle
Dave Mirra-BMX Freestyle
Paul Rodriguez, Jr-Skateboarder
Jason Lee-Skateboarder
Spike Jonez-Skateboarder

Guesser said...

@Sher,in the early seventies John and Yoko had a bed in to protest the Vietnam War. Like a sit in,only in bed. They invited the press in,it was big news back in the day, by all means look it up,I lived it in real time. But they were the only ones in bed,I assume this is for publicity for the revelations, and for the documentary.

Stupidpervs said...

Good grief..these dancing boy blinds are all over the place with no revel in sight. Losing interest fast

Sher said...

@Guesser

Thanks! I wasn't born yet at that time but it is what I first thought of when reading this blind. (though I actually had thought they only did it mocked up storefront window - but they used a suite too)
However, that was freaking John and Yoko! Super mega famous and on their honeymoon inviting certain guests to gain press for peace.

I just don't get how that same gimmick works in this story.

If I was raped, the last place I am holding press interviews is a bed. The hotel isn't going to be nice about "throngs of media" appearing. I'd be kicked out before it started. Game Over.
Then again, it's a script.

AKA said...

+1 if you don't want to read it then just move on w/ your life. Really no need to comment.

Glue said...

@Lucy
Seventh row - center - I was in HEAVEN! Michael Hutchence made me SWOON! I think I just drooled the whole night in between singing the words to the songs.

Yeah .... /happy sigh thinkin' about those days/ ... INXS was a huge part of my late high school and univ years (I was in Europe at the time, which made it a thousands times better).

/nostalgia setting in...happy fuzzy feelings/

Glue said...

Quick clarification: Saw INXS in 1991 Daytona Beach shortly after moving from Germany. My post above sounded like I saw them in Europe - although would have loved to have seen them in europe instead of the states. Better venues and more 'lax rules.

Mem said...

Which part of this is an update? We already got the Michael Stipe reference last time.

The Adventures of... said...

🙏 THANK YOU for decoding these blinds. Who knew Stipe could be like this? The entertainment industry is a breeding ground for human vermin

Sara, Making It Work said...

It's supposed to be a clarification of the last paragraph of the last one. It was too cryptic and people thought Stipe was only to reference Rapp, not to reference the guest (Noah).

Aimless Spectator said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aimless Spectator said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aimless Spectator said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Based on some comments, I think I'm the only person here old enough to remember the Kenneth incident.👵👵👵

Schneiderisnext said...

This is another open secret within the industry. Michael Stipe has an unhealthy obsession with pictures of nude children...

"Video has also helped Stipe to transmit CODED MESSAGES. Most of last year's interviews with him focused on his sexual proclivities, but nine years ago when he directed the overtly homoerotic video for "Finest Worksong", his sexuality was as much of a mystery as his lyrics. As with the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant in pre coming-out promos like "Rent" and "Domino Dancing", video became an area where Stipe could explore desires which, for whatever reason, he had yet to articulate elsewhere.

The TENDER IMAGES of the YOUNG SHIRTLESS SKATEBOARDER in the video for "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", recently PROMPTED DISSENT from the gay American writer PAUL RUDNICK, who ACCUSED THE SINGER OF PROMOTING "PAEDOPHILE CHIC" along with film-makers GUS VAN SANT (My Own Private Idaho) and LARRY CLARK (Kids). Rudnick's attack is hard to substantiate. Instead of voyeurism, there seems to be a real joyfulness in those videos where Stipe is surreptitiously divulging another self. Why else do you think he looks so happy as a hitchhiking cowboy who gets picked up by a trucker in the video for "Man on the Moon"?"

the title of this article from 1996: "DANCES WITH CHICKENS"

This is a reference to Michael Stipe chicken dancing. This Act itself is a Pedophile in-joke.

The title again: Dances WITH chickens

Chicken-lover/Chicken-hawk: adult male pedophile who prefers young boys

Chicken: young boys

#StipeIsNext

Unknown said...

Then flip the page. No one is forcing you to follow it.

MattDaddy said...

“Crow is a dish best served cold.” — Klingon proverb

Schneiderisnext said...

Michael Stipe is a "longtime patron" of Sally Mann, a photographer who specializes in nudes of her children.....

http://articles.mcall.com/1992-11-01/entertainment/2889169_1_mann-child-pornography-children/2

The threat that de Grazia alludes to is very real. In April 1990, photographer Jock Sturges, a colleague of Mann's whose work also features nude children prominently, was arrested by the FBI. His apartment was ransacked and thousands of prints, negatives and photographic equipment were confiscated. All charges were later dropped, but much of the confiscated materials -- a lifetime of artistic work -- were irreparably damaged.

Understandably, Mann is unwilling to subject herself and her family to a long and costly court battle. But if she ever found herself in Sturges' position, she would not hesitate for a moment. "I would fight like a she-wolf," she said convincingly. "I have the arrogance to believe so strongly in my photographs and my family. The context of my photos will protect me."


If Gov. Bill Clinton is elected president, Mann sees an end to the cultural war that has been prosecuted by the likes of Jerry Falwell, Donald Wildmon and Pat Buchanan -- a war that crucified the late Robert Mapplethorpe and made a relatively minor artist like Andres Serrano a household name, while bringing the chilling hand of government censorship to the mouth of the artistic community.

This year Mann stood triumphant on the very battleground of the cultural war, The National Endowment for the Arts. "I received one of the big grants this year," said Mann, who received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1987. "I was a canary in the mines for the NEA."

Still, even Mann has had her doubts about the impact of her work on her children. Last April she decided against publishing "Immediate Family," choosing to wait 10 to 15 years, "when the kids won't be in the same bodies," when her children could fully grasp the implications of the work.

"We were at a public library and we saw kids that were Emmett's age and they were looking at an art book and giggling and laughing derisively," she said, recounting the motivation for her decision. "I thought about how painful this could be for the kids even if they are supportive and appreciative of the work. But when I told them, they were horrified. They were disappointed that I didn't include them in the decision."

She decided to go ahead with the book, but as a precaution, Mann sent the children to a psychologist to make sure they understood the issues at hand.

Perhaps as a result of all the controversy, the demand for Mann's work has grown immeasurably. The Houk Friedman Gallery in New York City has taken orders for more than 300 prints, which works out to more than $500,000 worth of photographs -- and the waiting period for purchased prints is one year-plus. MICHAEL STIPE of rock band R.E.M. has been a long-time patron of Mann's work.

When asked to comment about Madonna's new "Sex" book, Mann found herself torn between artistic license and parental discretion, which is the line her own work treads somewhat precariously.

"I respect her bravery and efforts to shake up the middle class, which is always in the back of my mind," she said. "But as the mother of a daughter nearing puberty, it makes my job more difficult, especially when I'm trying to explain the difference between provocative art and sexuality.

"In a way I can understand Tipper Gore. When you are a parent, you become irrational. You don't want your kids exposed to certain things, but they know when something is bogus. Kids are much smarter than you think."

"Sally Mann: Immediate Family" continues through Dec. 31 at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, 118 S. 36th St., Philadelphia. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. For information, call 898-7108.

Schneiderisnext said...

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/magazine/the-disturbing-photography-of-sally-mann.html


NYT article from 1992 reads like a primer for what elsagate became. NSFW. Imo it contains child porn. Regardless of how "artful" moms naked photos of her kids are. She is pimping out their images. Disgusting.

This lady and family fetishises child abuse and poverty


"The family portraits began in 1984, when Jessie came home from a neighbor’s, her face swollen with gnat bites. Mann put her against a wall, took a dead-on picture and called it “Damaged Child.” “That picture made me aware of the potential right under my nose,” she says. The next day, with Jessie’s face still lumpy, she arranged props around her and took more pictures. From its inception, the family series has played around with these two antagonistic elements: factual documentary and contrived fiction.

For some time, Mann had been PHOTOGRAPHING YOUNG GIRLS in and around Lexington, several of whose parents had been delivered into the world by her father, for the book published in 1988 as “At Twelve.” She wanted to catch the tension in their bodies, eyes and gestures as they passed into the confused state when girls become women. The PICTURES DRAMATIZE BURGEONING SEXUALITY, while implying the more forbidden topics of INCEST and CHILD ABUSE. Mann’s laconic captions lend a parental concern, honed with a feminist edge. Some of the poses seem casual; others, carefully directed.

In her pictures of her own family — like "DAMAGED CHILDREN,” with its IMPLICATION OF BATTERING, and “Flour Paste,” in which Jessie’s legs resemble a burn victim’s — Mann punches the buttons of her viewers. Upon discovering that she has stage-managed a scene, some people feel cheated, as if their emotions have been trifled with. “I hope you can get past that,” she argues. “You learn something about yourself and your own fears. Everyone surely has all those fears that I have for my children.”

Mann has been criticized for treating violence with an esthete’s dispassion, for bringing out the subtle texture of blood and bruises without offering a clear political statement along the way. The IMAGERY OF DEATH fascinates her. A picture of Virginia with a BLACK EYE moved her for a long time because “you couldn’t tell if she was living or dead. It looked like one of those Victorian post-mortem photographs.” In 1987, Emmett was struck by a car and thrown 50 feet. Though he escaped critical injury, Mann saw the real thing as a warning not to pretend again. Still, “Immediate Family” includes a picture from 1989 that may be the most gruesome so far: a NUDE VIRGINIA seeming to havE HANGED HERSELF BY A ROPE from a tree."

Schneiderisnext said...

Seems like we have another case of inter generational abuse:

"As she writes in the introduction to “Immediate Family,” Sally Mann inherited the role of provocateur from her father, Robert Munger, a doctor who made house calls in an Aston Martin and delivered hundreds of babies in Lexington. A renowned gardener, with shrubs and trees from around the world, he was also an atheist and an amateur artist whose keen sense of the perverse delighted his two sons and daughter. For a long time he kept a white, snakelike figure on the dining-room table; only slowly did anyone realize it was petrified dog excrement."


"It was he who instilled a shameless attitude toward the flesh in his daughter, photographing her nude as a girl — “terrible art pictures,” says Mann with a groan — and posing himself unclothed for a recumbent sculpture that now occupies a shelf in his wife’s den. Mann’s introduction expresses stronger memories for the black woman, Virginia Carter, who oversaw her upbringing than for her own mother. Elizabeth Munger, a dead ringer for her daughter, says, “Sally may look like me, but inside she’s her father’s child.”

This is the same issue Berger writes about in Ways of Seeing. Art has historically objectified the subjects it depicts. Images of Children and women both are for the male viewing eye.

Stop pimping out images of your kids. Whether on Facebook feeds or fine art shows

Unknown said...

Take a really good look at him. I know Mia confessed that she and Frank hooked up for many many yrs after they divorced and there were rumors. When the Weinstein thing came out I was like, Yep! That's Ol' Blue Eyes in there.

Unknown said...

@ Melvin Thank you for the quick synopsis!👏👏🙌

Unknown said...

All this sounds like the paranoid ramblings of a schizophrenic.

LetTheTruthStand said...

River Phoenix - Stipe

LONG read.. do a find on River
https://web.archive.org/web/20170414071336/https://midnight-rant.com/waterfall-at-the-viper-room/

Advertisements

Popular Posts from the last 30 days