In between stints with hugely influential bands Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV,
Genesis hung out with William Burroughs and Timothy Leary, spent 6 months in Katmandu
feeding hungry Tibetans, and was raided by Scotland Yard. The past few years have sent
Genesis embarking upon perhaps his most controversial art project yet, with the aid
of plastic surgery he intends to meld himself and his wife into one
'pandrogynous' being.
One would expect such a larger than life persona person to be snide and
intimidating, but Genesis was the exact opposite. In between questions he
lovingly confirmed dates and incidents with his wife, Lady Jaye, and graciously
gave advice how to handle my recently broken ribs, as well as diet tips that
enable him to maintain a 24 inch waist. I only wish he'd write a how-to book for
young girls.
Please check out these useful links to learn more about the life and ongoing works of Genesis P-Orridge:
genesisp-orridge.com
Wikipedia.com
Tuula I'm pleased you still have your accent. There's nothing sexier than a man with an English accent. Do you miss England?
Genesis Not really, but Jaye and I do go back and visit me mum.
There's a sense of grounding here in England that comes from people living
in the same spot for hundreds and thousands of years.
Tuula I hear you have a garden in New York. Is it on a rooftop?
Genesis No, it's an actual garden. We've got some tomatoes and herbs and
organic little flower beds. I'm trying to figure out which plants take well to
New York soil. If you can call it soil (laughter). Do you garden?
Tuula No, I have what you would call a black thumb. I'm Canadian and we're not really known for our gardening.
Genesis In Britain, it's still huge. There's all these gardening shows,
and keep in mind we only get 5 channels. A good number are devoted to gardening
and fixing up your house. I find it very relaxing every time I go back home and
visit me mum, helping her with her garden.
TuulaDo you think it's kind of a backlash to the modern era we live in?
Genesis Well, one of our new slogans is 'evil not evolution'.
When we started doing pandrogyny, Jaye and I, that was our primary objective,
to evolve. It was an experience that went deeper than we realized.
There seems to be a basic disconnect in the human species and the environment,
in historic times the species was in some regard struggling to survive and in
order to survive, we developed the flight or fight mechanism. Back then we
needed aggression to survive when the environment was very dangerous, it was
an essential aspect of human behaviour. Something that would attack in order
to survive, like rearing children, defending territory and so on. At that
point in our evolution it was okay for violence.
Tuula So we've now outgrown our instincts.
Genesis Yes, now it's hundreds of years later, human beings are behaving
in almost the same routines, but now we've created this futuristic, miraculous reality,
an environment where those instincts are no longer required constantly. Technology is
so far ahead, the cell phone, how we regularly go into space without thinking about
it when we board an airplane, but we haven't applied the same amount of time to our
behaviour. We still say, if it's different, attack it. And if it's different and
we don't understand, use violence to oppress it.
Tuula How do you deal with the outside's world's prejudice or
confusion when they have an issue with your appearance? You had mentioned earlier
that a doctor looked at you and said, "I don't treat people like you".
Genesis The day before I got cheek implants, I stood and looked at my
face in the mirror and I thought, 'I've had this face for forty odd years, I have no
problems with this face. Tomorrow I wont have this face.'
Just the principle involved made me realize, what is at stake is too great.
I had to move past the fear of letting go of my old face. Fear is the true devil
of the human species, fear of the future, fear of unknown, fear is the weapon.
And there's something very liberating in letting go your attachment to the physical body.
Tuula It seems like such a gift you are giving your partner, almost
sacrificing your mutual identities. The two of you are literally morphing into one being.
Genesis Exactly! The overall response has been supportive, we've
not really had anyone tried to ridicule us, at least media wise.
Most of the mainstream newspapers all agreed what an amazing thing
and how it needs to be done. that it was a very important discussion
that has been needing to happen - should we evolve or should we just disappear
into entropy and destroy? We propose that pandrogyny is about healing and
looking for similarity instead of fighting difficulty.
Tuula How has your music evolved along with your physical appearance?
Genesis Well, we actually just were invited to play a concert at the
Tate Gallery, believe it or not. It's amazing for a band that started out in the
basement with the notion to destroy the whole structure of rock and roll.
Now, all these years later, it's being vindicated. The Tate is pretty close
to "the" establishment here in England.
Tuula Now you're rock royalty. (laughter)
Genesis You know, I was just reading about Paul McCartney, it was quite
interesting, he still does the same songs at gigs, and I thought, "wow, that must be
boring". (Laughter) But it was interesting, he never ever got credit. I always thought
how avant garde Sergeant Peppers' was, and growing up in England it was easy to
not notice music I was constantly surrounded by, the Beatles being a perfect example.
Just the regular songs one always hears on the radio. But this article went more
into detail and it was fascinating, there's always a depth to the way that a
band works that isn't apparent until you look at all the many layers, all the
different aspects of human communication. Just like a family.
Tuula Ala
