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SUMMARY:The Bad Trip: Neo-Psychedelic Art and the 'End of the Sixties'. - 
 Dr. James Riley\, Junior Research Fellow in English\, Wolfson College
DTSTART:20111111T160000Z
DTEND:20111111T180000Z
UID:TALK34545@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Yvonne Salmon
DESCRIPTION:In 2003 Loog Records released Panic Movement by the American r
 ock band\, The Hiss. The title was a reference to Mouvement panique\, a pe
 rformance\ncollective active between 1962-1973 that involved the artists F
 ernando Arrabal\, Alexandro Jodowrowsky and Roland Topor. Mouvement paniqu
 e devised confrontational 'happenings' designed to affront the petit bourg
 eoisie sensibilities of Surrealist art. The group performed throughout the
  sixties before developing their ideas into other media\, notably Jodorows
 ky's films El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973). Whilst the convent
 ional\,\ncollege rock of The Hiss failed to conjure the creative chaos of 
 panique\, the album's cover art with its swirling collage of snakes\, bike
 rs\, skulls\nand military insignia offered an accurate visual evocation of
  the group's performances.\n         Examination of the promotional artwor
 k produced by associated post-millennial Neo-Psychedelic' bands reveals th
 e use of comparable\nthemes and imagery. Steve Quenell's cover for Heavy D
 eavy Skull Lover (2007) by The Warlocks and Rob Fitzpatrick's 'Space Skull
 ' posters made for\nThe Black Angels create a visual language of death\, t
 ransformation and (oc)cult activity. Complimenting the musical pastiche ex
 ecuted by the bands\nthemselves\, these motifs accumulate reference points
  associated with the 'End of the Sixties'\, the micro-narrative of apocaly
 pse and violence that\npermeates the representation and reception of certa
 in late-sixties cultural events and artifacts\, such as Jodorowsky's nihil
 istic 'acid westerns' and\nthe enduring connection between 'Gimme Shelter'
  and Atlamont\, 'Helter Skelter' and the Manson murders.\n         Through
  a close analysis of the distinctive visuals that characterise 'Neo-Psyche
 delia' as a sub-genre of contemporary rock 'n'roll\, this paper seeks to m
 ap and interrogate the 21st century\nappropriation of iconic subcultural s
 ignifiers. If we are to see the sixties as a deeply resonant 'long decade'
 \, this paper considers some of the strategies motivating\, and the implic
 ations emerging from\, its\npersistent extension.\n\nAll Welcome.\n\nFor m
 ore information e-mail rjer2@cam.ac.uk\n\n\nNOTE: This talk will feature m
 usic of a psychedelic nature.
LOCATION:Gatsby Room\, Wolfson College
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