After gallivanting off to Edinburgh last time out, Yuck 'n Yum make a sensational return to home soil for the launch of the autumn 2011 issue.
We're back in the Hannah Maclure Centre at Dundee's Abertay University, a superswish penthouse plaza address that will house the latest of our exclusive soirees. You can pick up a FREE copy of the latest issue, bathe in the sounds of Alex Tobin's musical mise-en-scène, become an instant style icon by wearing a badge gratis, and also get the full VIP works just by turning up.
We'll be waiting for you from 6pm on the top floor. See you then!
If there's one thing Yuck 'n Yum really likes, then it's zines. Our own particular effort has featured a lot of fantastic art over the years, but now we think it's about time that YOU had a go at zine production for yourself. We want to hear from anyone out there with a proposal for a zine, and the content is entirely up to you: black and white or colour, text or image, photos or drawings... as long as your ideas are good.
We require a 300-word proposal along with a CV, 6 example images and any specifications such as the rough budget, the size and the colour required. Send this to us at zine@yucknyum.com and you could be seeing your zine being published and distributed by Yuck 'n Yum.
Sigil from Austin Osman Spare, The Zoëtic Grimoire of Zos
Extract from Phil Baker, Austin Osman Spare: The Life and Legend of London's Lost Artist
Spare's Sacred Alphabet will never be deciphered completely, because it doesn't fully add up; he claimed in the Fifties to have forgotten the key, and it is likely that many of the characters were invented simply out of graphic pleasure. It would, in any case, be personal to Spare himself, as he always stressed: he wrote in a later book that each of us has our "own arcana" [my emphasis] - our own symbol system, memories, reference points - possibly borrowing the word arcana from tarot cards (which didn't otherwise interest him very much). As one of his best commentators puts it, there is for every individual "the sacred alphabet of the mysteries that each one of us contains." A psychoanalyst, Serge Leclaire, also catches this idea when he suggests that for each person there is an encoded core fragment unique to them, a "jubilatory formula", ...the inaccessible text of the elementary unconscious. It consists of a sort of secret ejaculation, a jubilatory formula, an onomatopoeia... The articulation of this formula, either out loud or in a whisper, connotes a jubilatory movement of the body, such as curling up and then stretching, taking pleasure in the result obtained and then starting again.
It is rare, Leclaire argues, for an analyst to arrive at these secret formulae, "since admitting them is, as it were, a violation of modesty. In general they are oscene or grotesque." And, considered as personal arcana, rather magical.
"Tony Browntown’s life has been made a living hell by a band of local rockers called “The Shithawks”, so one night he decides to put his martial arts training to the test and rid his neighbourhood of these scumbags once and for all."
Over the next few days, this 'ere blog will provide a comprehensive guide to last Saturday's Yuck 'n Yum AGK 2 event. The AGK is the Yuck 'n Yum annual general meeting, only the K stands for karaoke. Artists make their own karaoke videos and perform to them accordingly. As this is my blog, I'll nominate myself to go first.
I performed Suicide - Ghost Rider.
Alex Tobin and your correspondent as Martin Rev and Alan Vega
The song contemplates the existential poetics of proto-punk motorbiking. The video is a psychedelic videogame where real people get hurt.
To the Generator last night for the opening of the group show Burdens of Load, "an examination of the changing socio-economic landscape of post-industrial Dundee". This was followed by a triumphant Zazou.
Charlesworth, Lewandowski & Mann, Untitled (facts not opinions)
Charlesworth, Lewandowski & Mann, Sound System (kick over statues)
Zazou: Djs Il Discotto, Stefan Blomeier and Poupée Flash play forgotten future retro classics from the seediest and most decadent Euro/U.S dancefloors of the 70s, 80s and beyond. Expect gleaming chrome plated Italo Disco, Coke-numb neon synth wave and pumping amyl nitrate scented Hi Nrg.
Since the original Yuck 'n Yum Annual General Karaoke a year ago, the event has taken on an almost mythological status. Did it really happen? Were you really there? Shut up, you're just trying to look cool. And anyway, all that's in the past.
2011 is here so that means it must be time for AGK 2. Bigger and better, with even more spectacular karaoke performances. Prizes! Dancing! Art! Bonnie Tyler, possibly! Yes, it's all here, and we sincerely hope that you are too. This Saturday, the AGK 2 is going to make all your art and karaoke dreams come true.
Perfume is important. I've used it in my artwork, so it must be. When the latest bottle of 2 Man ran dry last week, I felt that a change was necessary. But a change to what? Comme des Garçons is getting too expensive for an everyday fragrance. So I did some research on Basenotes, and happened upon a review of L'Anarchiste. That might bring to mind photos of David Beckham wearing his diamante-studded T-shirt with the Crass logo. Crass, being a legendary anarcho-punk band, were rightly outraged and requested that Beckham make a donation to a political cause they support. He didn't, of course.
But the reviews made for a good sell. "Metallic", "like blood", "a hint of toothpaste". It smells strong and lasts for ages. People will smell it on me and ask what scent I am wearing. "Oh, this is by the French perfumier Caron. It's called L'Anarchiste." I will look cool.
It arrived in the post yesterday, in a box emblazoned with a quote by Antonin Artaud. This is a good start. As for the scent itself, well it's really more for going out on the razzle-dazzle. It does have a cool name though, and there is a definite hint of toothpaste.
To the Dundee Botanic Garden yesterday for n_ilk, a "music & arts micro-festival". Crowds, rain, degenerates wearing flowers in their hair, yes this was a festival alright. Live performances took place in the big Botanics greenhouse which was installed with an amazingly good soundsystem. Musical highlights were DJ duo Baba Gogo and the mighty Stefan Blomeier. Baba Gogo opened their set with the Joubert Singers, a record that found its perfect context here. Blomeier destroyed any lingering audience hippiedom with a righteous, acid-inflected live set.
A greenhouse
Festival fun
Sonny Carntyne
Your correspondent and Ryan share a moment
The crowd contemplate Baba Gogo
Joubert Singers - Stand On The Word (Larry Levan mix)
To the DCA's print workshop yesterday, to begin work on a project that I hope will involve the Dundee MS Therapy Centre on Peddie Street. I plan to get some attendants down for screenprinting classes in the near future, and started on a poster to advertise the event. I'll return next week to carry on some more with it.
With the AGK 2 on the horizon, now seems like a suitable moment to revisit the sights and sounds of last year's epochal event:
The Chambers Suite, Dundee
Over the summer, Yuck ‘n Yum invited karaoke video submissions from musicians and artists throughout Scotland. At the AGK last night, creative types from around the country journeyed to Dundee to do karaoke battle. The Skinny's AGK preview
THE YUCK ‘N YUM EDITORIAL TEAM:
Flash Andrew Maclean
Just Like a Cunt Ben Robinson “The body imagined as an abattoir.”
I posted my karaoke video on YouTube today:
SONG + ARTIST = PERFORMANCE:
Theme from Cheers Richie Cummings with Stacey Hunter and Ross Mclean “Opening Credits from the popular TV series Cheers as re-enacted by folk who were in the Art Bar, Dundee, one Saturday in July”
The Skinny performance prize runner up: 6 tickets for the private and very exclusive Karaoke rooms at Electric Circus in Edinburgh. Coffee and Dundee Sinead Bracken and Fiona Gordon “Milky the Milk Carton (from the original music video for Coffee and TV by Blur) spends the day in Dundee.”
I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) Dawn Campbell “Daniel Pike and myself, Dawn Campbell filmed Stephen Sharp walk barefoot from Dundee to Edinburgh from the 6th of July to the 1st of August 2010. We also gave him his own camera to film a diary of the walk. It is this footage which is used in the Karaoke Video, to Stephen Sharp's approval. The song was chosen because Stephen admitted on an interview that what kept him going on the walk, was constantly singing the song on the video. In the footage it is possible to see the beauty of the landscape as he walks barefoot through Fife, as well as the deteriorating condition of his feet. The rough handheld footage adds a sense of texture, humour and openness, as we join him on his quest.”
Lemon Sole Alasdair Smith “Gammamoth Productions proudly present- in Haggaro Vision- an audio visual odyssey, in collaboration with legendary music icons ‘The Sang Brothers’. For the first time in history the usually secretive duo have allowed Gammamoth access to a Celtic classic from their extensive Caledonian catalogue.”
What Would You Do / Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Sam Blair
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes Catherine Weir “In the style of The Platters, this video features JOH a cuddly bear indeed!”
Birdhouse in your Soul Derek Lodge and Andrea Sayers “Video animation centered on the ‘blue canary’ of the song’s lyrics which was inspired by the songwriters’ childhood nightlight.”
SONG + AUDIENCE = KARAOKE:
Rehab Abi Lewis “The video features “the wibbly wobbly charms of the paintbrush programme”, bringing Amy Winehouse to life.”
Jammied Ma Pelvis (Suspicious Minds) Andy Macvicar "Jammied Ma Pelvis is a salute to all those who have taken to the stage in the garb and spirit of elvis. Shortly before his death, Elvis himself anonymously took part in an Elvis Impersonation contest in a local restaurant he happened to be in, only to come in third place. In 1977 there were 170 Elvis impersonators. By 2002 there were 85,000. At that rate of growth, by 2019 a third of the world's population will be Elvis impersonators. The King is dead, but long live the king."
Runner up prize for best video: 2 years subscription to MAP magazine Debaser Andy Sim / Fear Wasabi “We’ve made you a movie and we want you to know, we’re sewing up eye balls, we’re seeing the words we’re(not the Pixies) fitting our dogs with lasers, don’t know about you but we are debasers.”
The AGK champ receives £300 and a mini residency at the Hannah Maclure Centre performance and cinema space: I’m Your Biggest Fan (Paparazzi) Rachel Maclean “I’m Your Biggest Fan sucks the viewer into a morphing toy town, a sexy sugary space which reinterprets ‘Lady Gaga’s’ hit ‘Paparazzi’. Alluding to the recent internet scandal questioning her gender.”
You Gotta Problem / Dance Yrself Clean (Medley) Alex Hetherington
“A Variety of video edits to accompany songs by Toni Basil and LCD Soundsystem.”
Resident DJ Ben ‘Jack Your Body’ Robinson spins a ‘works night out’ set post Karaoke.
Whigfield - Saturday Night
Tamperer feat. Maya - Feel It
Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee)
DJ Jurgen presents Alice Deejay - Better Off Alone
