Monday, August 9, 2010

A-musing: Iggy the Oracle

So, there's a fashion spread in the Italian Vogue.  They've finally found a trend to usurp heroin chic.  It elevates the threat of death (overdose) to a new level:  consumption by oil spill.  Think bird, Gulf, oil soaked, draped over rocks like feathery battered seaweed.  The best part is, the use of black can now be extended from rimming the eyes and the occasional bruise to the whole body...nay, the whole dang mise-en-scene.  Here, see the photos at Styleite and the links to various media stories and takes at the devil's handmaiden Google.

Oh, did I make clear that this was my opinion?  My opinion, it is, I say.  Go look at the pictures.  Share your opinion here, if you like.

While I wait to hear from you, I want you to know that in the Random Connectedness that is my life, one of my favorite websites, Letters of Note (there's been a link to them over on the left practically since I started this blog) happened to publish a rant letter from Iggy Pop himself.  Mr. Pop, as the New York Times would say, had this to offer, and I found it relevant:

I hate the inane worship of gross 'supermodels' and i positively loathe Calvin Klein ads and that whole school of photography. it is not beautiful. Our gods are assholes. 

There are continual 'shock and rage' movements in the performing/conceptual arts, but are they bringing anybody a good time? they bring filth death & loathing of self as fashion. I understand them, though. People are lost and frustrated, AND UNSKILLED. 
I offer you a direct link to that letter here, largely because if you go to the main page you have to scroll through is a slew of amusing screed from a gentleman bossman at Tiger Oil who I think I worked for once, except he was not in Texas but the midwest and the business was entirely different.  If you are ready for diversion, check out the whole site.

Anyway, so there you have it.  The Oracle had spoken.  Our gods are a**holes.

And then yesterday I opened the August 9 issue of The New Yorker.  Guess what The Oracle is up to?  Mr. Pop was apparently at the Barney's Co-Op in NYC, making an appearance in support of a line of t-shirts.  (The author of the piece gets straight to the anachronism; Iggy in ANY shirt?  In fact, he is apparently shirtless at the appearance.  But I digress.  A bit.)  We learn that Mr. Pop is equally dis-fond of underwear and socks, that he is not fond of The Shirts in the music industry, and when he is "the shirt" (minus the "r").

Following that item, comes a piece on the P&J Oyster Company in New Orleans.  A beautiful little bit of straightforward interview of a fifth-generation owner who, as he says, "needs a plan."

As you will recall, that oil spill that made for Steven Meisel's art has already somewhat blackened the state of affairs on the Gulf coast.  Mr. Sunseri, the fifth generation of P&J, is developing an exit strategy. Just in case.

*
I am going to try to learn a lot more about Hove perfumes.  If you want to come along, you can start with this article at Yesterday's Perfume.  I know there are other blogs I go to who have written about Hove; as I turn up the links, I'll add them here.  

5 comments:

Vanessa said...

Thought provoking post! Growing up in Belfast, the concept of "tarring and feathering" had a whole other meaning, but I was also appalled at these shots of oil-slicked models - not so much a case of "heroin chic" as "heron chic" - and herons in distress at that.

As for Iggy, good on him for his eloquent diatribe on the shortcomings of modern culture. Staying in Warsaw will have sharpened his perspective, even in a top hotel.

I am not the least surprised at Iggy's latest sponsorship venture - over here he is most closely associated with his TV ads for an insurance company (in which he is characteristically shirtless).

Have two further Iggy titbits to report, if I may...

Firstly, my colleague's elderly mum was travelling first class from New York to London on a night flight, which was severely disrupted by Iggy's nocturnal antics, prompting her to complain to the steward. "Ah, but Madam, that is Iggy Pop!" To which came the stout rejoinder: "I don't care if he is Piggy Pop or the Man on the Moon, tell him to put a sock in it!"

I must confess to a sneaking appreciation of Iggy, as he and DJ Norman Cook recently covered a song written by a friend of mine, of whose band (The Monochrome Set) I have been a life long fan. He appears in this video - shirtless again! I prefer the original version from the 70s, but still. : - )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX8qYv6WGes&feature=related

And again here, in terrifying puppet form!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2h68VyvH64

ScentScelf said...

:-S (Does that equal a wry smile?)

"Heron chic"--I almost posted three pics along with; one from the Meisel spread, one of Mr. Pop in his heydey, and one of an oiled heron. I do adore some visual communication, but it seemed to trite-en rather than light-en, so I left well enough alone. (Or so I thought...)

Iggy is interesting. Intelligence and conflict; kind of a classic. LOL at "I don't care if he is Piggy Pop!"; I'm rather in her camp on that one, though it does speak directly to the idol culture he speaks of in his letter, no? Again with that intelligence, with behavior exhibiting conflict.

Hey, that is a cool thing, the covering of your friend's song. Would earn personal points with me, too.

At least one of his songs has been used extensively in television advertisements here, too, but I don't think a majority of the audience had any idea who originally recorded/presented it.

Zoiks! That puppet is going to spend some time in my retina memory for a while... ;)

Perfumaniac said...

I'm just surprised Mr. Pop is alive, kicking, and...still shirtless.

I do agree with him about fashion, though, as much as I like to follow it. That world seems to be full of a-holes, unlike the world of perfumistas, who all seem like a jolly bunch. :)

Thanks for the shout-out Scent Scelf!

ScentScelf said...

He looks a bit more like the puppet in the video Flittersniffer shared, all wispy longish blond and sinews starting to come apart, but he is still around, and still clearly himself.

I have a healthy disinterest peppered with an occasional curiosity when it comes to fashion. Not a fan of being told what is "trend," as trends lead to tribalism, etc etc. Plus, a given trend is not going to necessarily flatter *me,* but simply show that I know what the latest trend is. Plus, well, time could be spent doing other things.

That said, obviously the occasional curiosity does creep in...and, since becoming interested in perfume, I run into it more frequently given the perfume/fashion linkage in articles and bloggery.

You can find jerks anywhere, of course. But I am happy to concur with you...have not had even the usual percentages in the perfume world. :)

Glad to see you here!

Kim said...

the oil slick chic is in very bad taste. I love Iggy and want to think of him at his best. He does some- actually quite funny- insurance adverts in the UK. they kind of demean his legacy and stuff but I guess he has to pay the bills. I'm not sure.