Minor Histories: Statements, Conversations, Proposals

(Paperback)

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What John C. Welchman calls the "blazing network of focused conflations" from which Mike Kelley's styles are generated is on display in all its diversity in this second volume of the artist's writings. The first volume, Foul Perfection, contained thematic essays and writings about other artists; this collection concentrates on Kelley's own work, ranging from texts in "voices" that grew out of scripts for performance pieces to expository critical and autobiographical writings. Minor Histories organises Kelley's writings into five sections. "Statements" consists of twenty pieces produced between 1984 and 2002 (most of which were written to accompany exhibitions), including "Ajax," which draws on Homer, Colgate-Palmolive and Longinus to present its eponymous hero; "Some Aesthetic High Points," an exercise in autobiography that counters the standard artist bio included in catalogues and press releases; and a sequence of "creative writings" that use mass cultural tropes in concert with high art mannerisms - approximating in prose the visual styles that characterise Kelley's artwork. "Video Statements and Proposals" are introductions to videos made by Kelley and other artists.

Author Bio

Mike Kelley is a Los Angeles-based artist, noise musician, and writer. He is a member of the graduate faculty in the M.F.A. program at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena. John C. Welchman is Professor of Modern Art History in the Visual Arts Department at the University of California, San Diego. He is the editor of Minor Histories- Statements, Conversations, Proposals, a collection of writings by the artist Mike Kelley (MIT Press).