Sit at home and listen to a tape player
"Hypochondriacs—and all those fascinated by their own internal processes—are reserved for special scorn."
Last night, I was standing outside the Park Avenue Armory after DOOM: House of Hope, a three hour art performance by the artist Anne Imhof. It’s crazy to have a cool artist doing moving stuff in our day and age. Everyone in our smoking circle agreed: Anne is so cool. We love New York.
Hundreds of viewers had flooded the 55,000 sq. ft. drill hall, which was peppered with brand spanking new Cadillac Escalades and the hottest “teens” I’ve seen in a while, usually coupled off and doing repetitive dance moves. The show had a trance-like sweetness and romanticism. Three hours felt exactly right to me (trying to remember the last time I said that!). It was also nice that, if you wanted a break, there was a bar down the hall.
The plot was a mix of the Virgin Suicides and Romeo and Juliet. There were several sets of Romeos and Juliets in DOOM (some queer couplings). I heard a rumor that one of the couples are actually in love now. Rachel Chandler did the casting, and she has that magic, I think. (There were very, very talented artists in the production, like Devon Teuscher.)
Going to say something controversial here: Youth Culture is best packaged by 40-year-olds. It was a vision of youth where everyone was melancholic and high-cheekboned, with perfectly imperfected Y2K style (the low rise skater jeans with lace tops). It was ethereal rather than visceral. (Greg Araki was brought up by several bystanders.) The music was enchanting, and the live element of musicians playing music really bowled me over.
Tickets are still on sale, and it runs through March 12th. I would describe it as unmissable. Especially good for date night. And for fashion reporters. The fashion in this performance really blows the “personal style” idiots out of the water.
I ate at the bar at Donohue’s beforehand, where I ran into Taylore Scarabelli and Annie Armstrong. We all had the same itinerary in mind!
My Humble Book Club
Thanks to everyone who attended our first Zoom, I had fun but it was also crazy to talk to ~70 of you via Zoom. Unnatural even! The second book club meet-up will be on Sunday, March 23rd. If you’re a subscriber living in downtown New York who has read both volumes of On the Calculation of Volume or wants to lie about having read both volumes, please mark your calendars! E-invitation to come.
The person on Sunday who described volume 1 as a divorce novel is a genius, please identify yourself.
A tape player and special tapes
Substack reader Rian Fossett emailed me last week to ask if she could send me a couple mixtapes. I said yes, but was thinking of them more like objet. When I opened the package, I was delighted to find that she’d sent a portable tape player as well. What a wonderful gift!
Fossett said, “I've had a hobby of making mixtapes for friends as birthday presents for nearly 8 years. I worked at record labels out of college for over a decade and it was a way to keep my love of music alive and not let myself get too jaded with how much the industry has changed in boring, unsexy ways. I've made hundreds and I've been expanding to send tapes to people I admire. I made you 3 tapes—morning, afternoon and late night themed.” I think you should try to strong arm her into taking commissions!
My husband finally arrived in town, and he showed up—quite coincidentally—with a tape that he’s been talking about fishing out of his childhood bedroom for ages now. A random sample will suggest the spirit of the thing: