Trashing the Academy

The famous Headington Shark which is enshrined in a roof in an actual street in Leicestershire.

Image 2 - Polaris submarine, made out of tyres. Someone was so enraged by this as to commit an act of arson and set fire to it.
In so doing he set himself alight and was consumed. Dead. Karma. Ars gratia arson?

Image 3 -the other inner sleeve.
Cosey Fanni Tutti, now a respected musician and writer. In those days she was constantly at the vanguard of controversy (flashing the Fanni).
In reverence for her courage, here’s a nice image of her.

Image 4 - A beautiful shot of The Angel of the North. Just imagine the reaction of our MSM to this sculpture.
In a 24-hour period sometime in the Noughties the weird project, Trashing the Academy, was born.

And so, to the musicality that is 14 minutes of pleasure/ torture/ art.
Is it art ?
That is the question……

The Tracks

1. Is it Art?

120 bricks

120 bricks
Carl Andre is the artist in question – in 1976 ( Feb. 16th ) the great art journal, the Daily Mirror, published a front page photo of Andre’s sculpture with the headline
“ What a load of rubbish.” The sculpture was a row of 120 cream firebricks.
Condemnation, all round…wasting public money…Stonehenge, anyone ?

2. Genesis P - Not Very Cosy

Amazing how tuneful some of these are……Back to the inside cover and
Genesis P-Orridge & his girlfriend Cosey Fanny Tutti upsetting the local council
in 1976. Add punk and Throbbing Gristle into the mix….hey…..controversy !

3. Burning Question

Polaris

David Mach constructed a copy of the sub on the South Bank. Made from 6000 tyres, it was destroyed by an angry protester in an act of arson. The protester was also consumed in the ensuing fire. Karma.
Ars Gratia Arson ?

4. Dangerous Diapers

Dirty Nappies
1976 again…and can nappies be art ? Mary Kelly posed the question, being interested in Psychoanalysis & Feminism. I put on my best Alice Cooper at the end, himself awarded in 1975 by feminists for Only Women Bleed.

5. Mickey’s On The Toilet - a sacrifice

Mouse, that is….Oh! Yes ! Even Disney characters end up in this ! The artist John Keane produced a painting in 1991, the Gulf War year, of Mickey on a latrine. Shock all round, with Disney considering suing for breach of copyright. Nice guitar sounds.

6. Not the same

Just to join in with the celebratory nature of the sessions I added my own improvised piece which was not like the others since it never existed in the first place. Seemed like a good idea. Almost in tune, too….

7. Broken Orifice

Zygotic Acceleration
Now there’s a title to bring out the Elvis in anyone…uh…uh…uhhn….
In 1994 /5 Dinos & Jake Chapman produced the incredible
Zygotic Acceleration : Biogenetic, De-sublimated Libidinal Model
Says it all, really – had to have the Elvis workout….
from the man who knows all about spermatozoa….

8. Is That A Shark?

Shark on the Roof
Sung in the manner of ‘Price in a Hodson’ choir, this cheerful ditty is about a street in Leicestershire. Of course there’s a house in this street with a huge shark embedded in its roof. Probably pay Pollock tax !

9. No Cows

Mu
Mysticism at last & a touch of decency, perhaps ?

10. Grounded Angel

Angel of the North
Gormley’s infamous sculpture of the North East near Gateshead. Described as Nazi in the popular Press. Nazi..but nice….

11. Bodies For Sale

Sounds sick? Sounds slick actually. Neat little riff here, methinks.

12. Oh! No! Rosa!

Rosa

Such a romantic-sounding dirge – the Rape of Rosa Velez, a painting by the feminist Sue Coe was the source of this outrage in 1984 in Hull. A local councillor didn’t like her depiction of neo-Nazis raping an innocent.
Could be a lovely song in the right key, but no key suits rape…..

13. Cut me

The unmistakeable sound of a genre in trouble – slasher, that is. But Clover & Creed get the last laugh…..

14. Get A Grip

Always finish with a flourish…and what better way than with an image of a naked man standing proudly in front of his Porsche holding a giant erection.
Naturally this painting by a female graduate caused a suitable degree of offence that it had to be included in this masterpiece.

That’s it…14 minutes later & you’re left wondering…….