Altered Zones

[Genesis P-Orridge]

By Luke Carrell

MP3: Psychic TV: "Maggot Brain

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge’s résumé does not lend itself to easy summary; a founding member of Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, Genesis is a also a celebrated visual and performance artist, and has been an active player in various forms of counterculture since the 1960s. During a Psychic TV performance in Brooklyn this past December, Genesis appeared on stage in corpse paint and a platinum bob, emitting an intense kinetic energy that was not altogether menacing-- but not altogether playful, either. Sitting in a small restaurant in Williamsburg a few days later, Genesis spoke to me on behalf of a non-gendered, communal "we", and got straight to the heart of the matter before I even had the time to turn on my digital recorder.

AZ: Alright, you’re officially quotable now.

Genesis: Are we officially quotable now? Is this machine recording? Ah yes, I see it ticking.

AZ: Can you tell me about the new Manhattan space you recently started working out of?

Genesis: Ah, well we call the new apartment “The Nest", because it’s so small compared to the last one. It’s just much more comfortable, The Nest. A place to nest into when the current situation collapses.... which will happen, you know.

AZ: The current situation?

Genesis: The current situation: Western materialist capitalism. That’s obviously already failed. It’s been running on an empty tank for so long, and the next step is China of course, which is totalitarian capitalist-- Russia, too. [It's where] you use violent force and threats and fear to control the economy for profit. But all of them are going to collapse; it’s inevitable. You can’t have infinite growth forever when you’re on a finite piece of planet. We thought to preempt all that, we’d start with the patch, hence, “The One True Topi Tribe.”

AZ: You’re talking about new patches on the back of Psychic TV’s jackets.

Genesis: Yes, because in any movement-- be it new or regurgitated or reassembled in a new way with a different emphasis, especially in street culture-- there are certain things that are very helpful. One is to have a great logo. Well, we already had that with the Psychick Cross. It was beautifully ubiquitous. Another possibility is cheap, easy outfits. It’s accessible to everyone who’s willing to make the investment for a patch. That’s why, in the beginning, industrial [style] was old camo and clothing, and it didn’t matter if it got dirty. Actually, being dirty was part of the function. This time, it’s a leather jacket or a denim vest. Slice off the sleeves, put a patch on it, and then decorate it how you wish with your own particulars. It gives you instant recognition and a very easy form of entry into groups, so that you see it and know that these people are probably going to have very similar thoughts to you. That’s why we’re working on that now, in advance of the collapse. A lot of people don’t know, but actually one of the Temple ov Psychick Youth [TOPY] access points was a motorcycle club.